Multicultural Counseling: A 10‐Year Content Analysis of the Journal of Counseling & Development

The emphasis on multicultural counseling during the past 20 years has influenced the increase in scholarly publications on this topic. The authors report the findings of a content analysis of 102 multicultural‐centered articles. Journal of Counseling & Development issues spanning 1990–2001 were evaluated. Findings are reported for methodology, populations discussed, applied settings, and authors' roles and institutional affiliations. Findings indicate that there has been an increase of multicultural‐focused publications since 1990 and that publications are more exploratory and developmental rather than pathology‐oriented.     

A comparison of semantic and syntactic event related potentials generated by children and adults

The present study employs event related potentials (ERPs) to verify the utility of using electrophysiological measures to study developmental questions within the field of language comprehension. Established ERP components (N400 and P600) that reflect semantic and syntactic processing were examined. Fifteen adults and 14 children (ages 8-13) processed spoken stimuli containing either semantic or syntactic anomalies. Adult participants showed a significant N400 in response to semantic anomalies and P600 components in response to syntactic anomalies. Children also show evidence of both ERP components. The children's N400 component differed from the adults' in scalp location, latency, and component amplitude. The children's P600 was remarkably similar to the P600 shown by adults in scalp location, component amplitude, and component latency. Theoretical implication for theories of language comprehension in adults and children will be discussed.     

Environmental factors associated with a spectrum of neurodevelopmental deficits

A number of environmental agents have been shown to demonstrate neurotoxic effects either in human or laboratory animal studies. Critical windows of vulnerability to the effects of these agents occur both pre- and postnatally. The nervous system is relatively unique in that different parts are responsible for different functional domains, and these develop at different times (e.g., motor control, sensory, intelligence and attention). In addition, the many cell types in the brain have different windows of vulnerability with varying sensitivities to environmental agents. This review focuses on two environmental agents, lead and methylmercury, to illustrate the neurobehavioral and cognitive effects that can result from early life exposures. Special attention is paid to distinguishing between the effects detected following episodes of poisoning and those detected following lower dose exposures. Perinatal and childhood exposure to high doses of lead results in encephalopathy and convulsions. Lower-dose lead exposures have been associated with impairment in intellectual function and attention. At high levels of prenatal exposure, methylmercury produces mental retardation, cerebral palsy and visual and auditory deficits in children of exposed mothers. At lower levels of methylmercury exposure, the effects in children have been more subtle. Other environmental neurotoxicants that have been shown to produce developmental neurotoxicity include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides, ionizing radiation, environmental tobacco smoke, and maternal use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and cocaine. Exposure to environmental agents with neurotoxic effects can result in a spectrum of adverse outcomes from severe mental retardation and disability to more subtle changes in function depending on the timing and dose of the chemical agent.     

The functions of aggression by male teenagers

A selectionist theory states that violence by males toward male peers originally served specific functions and violence to female peers served others. Differences in self-reported victimization and perpetration in studies of 1.452 high school students were hypothesized. In Study 1, male-to-male aggression was reported to be more prevalent than male-to-female aggression. For male-to-male aggression, perpetrator reports agreed with or exceeded victim reports, and victims were more often strangers than close friends, In contrast, for male-to-female aggression, there were consistently fewer reports from perpetrators than from victims, and victims were less often strangers than girlfriends. Study 2 obtained similar findings for reported frequency, number of victims and perpetrators, and sexual aggression. Study 3 showed that girls' aggression contrasted with that by boys with respect to intra- versus intersex aggression and perpetrator victim agreement.     

Uncertain genesis. The academic institutionalization of American psychology in 1900

The new discipline of psychology had been established at a number of American colleges and universities by 1900, but it usually existed in a more rudimentary form, as compared with the familiar autonomous department of psychology found today. The current form took quite a number of years to evolve: A century ago, a survey of these schools would have shown psychology programs to have existed mostly at early stages of development. Many of the schools were still teaching some form of moral or mental philosophy or only one or two courses in psychology. A few of the schools had established psychology laboratories. Fewer still were offering the doctor of philosophy degree in psychology, while a mere handful had independent psychology departments.     

Editorial synthesis for counseling psychology and relationship science: Making connections and expanding disciplinary diversity

The field of relationship science began with understanding the role of attraction and has expanded to examine factors associated with relationship initiation, development, and maintenance. Despite the growth of the field, recent reviews of topics present in relationship science have revealed a dearth of literature examining sociocultural contexts that may impact relational processing, especially for traditionally underrepresented groups in science. Notably, given the theories, frameworks, and methods applied in these disciplines, counseling psychology and relationship science are at the forefront of examining such contexts. To this end, the goal of the special issue was to bring together scholars whose work is either an application of or showcases how the contemporary foci of counseling psychology, including but not limited to intersectionality, social justice, cultural competence/humility, identity, strengths-based approaches, and social power hierarchies are applicable to the study of relationships broadly defined. This editorial synthesis provides a brief summary of the four articles that are included in this special issue and ends with recommendations for future research that intersects counseling psychology and relationship science.     

Adlerian Personality Priorities: Psychological and Attitudinal Differences

This study investigated the relationship between Adlerian personality priorities (pleasing, achieving, outdoing, detaching, avoiding) and several selected psychological and attitudinal variables theoretically linked to those priorities. Two hundred sixty-two undergraduate students completed measures of personality priority, locus of control, social interest, self-esteem, and dysfunctional attitudes. Results revealed significant differences between the various personality priorities on measures of self-esteem, social interest, internal locus of control, and dysfunctional attitudes. These findings lend empirical support for the use of personality priorities as a tool for conceptualizing clients. Implications for counseling practice and future research on personality priorities are presented.     

An empirical approach to the classification and treatment of maximum security psychiatric patients

Treatment approaches with forensic patients have traditionally been nonspecific and have been based primarily on legal or diagnostic categories. The current study, stimulated by the need to reorganize treatment and assessment services, examined the incidence among 189 maximum security psychiatric patients of 70 problems commonly exhibited either in the community prior to admission or within the institution. Through a series of factor and cluster analyses, a model for the placement and treatment of these patients was developed that included assaultiveness, level of functioning, social withdrawal, and active psychotic symptoms.