Nursing: Significance for spiritual care

Nurses can be seen to contribute significantly to the spiritual objectives and programs in hospitals and other health agencies under religious auspices. One impressive example is nursing involvement with and cooperation in the pastoral care program at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. At this hospital the nurse is both an assistant to and a coworker with the chaplain and functions in many ways as facilitator and supporter in his spiritual mission.     

Equationally definable implication algebras for orthomodular lattices

The fact that it is possible to define three different material conditionals in orthomodular lattices suggests that there exist three different orthomodular logics whose conditionals are material conditionals and whose models are orthomodular lattices. The purpose of this paper is to provide equationally definable implication algebras for each of these material conditionals.     

Direct versus indirect response-reinforcer relationships in teaching autistic children

One possibility suggested by the literature for maximizing the efficiency of behavior modification procedures concerns the relationship between target behaviors and their reinforcers. Therefore, in this experiment three severely autistic children were taught a total of six new target behaviors (in a multiple baseline design) employing two different response-reinforcer relationships: (1) those where the target behaviors were a direct part of the response chain required to procure a reinforcer (e.g., opening the lid of a container to obtain a food reward inside the container); and (2) those where the target behavior was an indirect part of the chain leading to the reinforcer (e.g., the therapist handing the child a food reward after the child had opened the lid of an empty container). In all cases, the results showed rapid acquisition only when the target behavior was a direct part of the chain leading to the reinforcer. The results are discussed in terms of several possible conceptualizations concerning efficient reinforcement contingencies, and in terms of their implications for teaching autistic children.This investigation was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grants MH 28210 and MH 28231, and by U.S. Office of Education Research Grant G007802084 from the Bureau for the Education of the Handicapped. Portions of the results described in this article were discussed in a presentation at the 13th Annual AABT Convention in San Francisco, 1979. The authors are particularly grateful to Andrew Egel, Roberta Elman, Janis Costello, and Karen Britten, for their helpful comments, and to Jody Fisher and Gina Richman, for their assitance in the data collection.     

A twin study of specific behavioral problems of socialization as viewed by parents

Our study focused on the etiology of specific behavioral problems rather than on a global syndrome such as hyperactivity. As a first step in studying specific behavioral problems, we revised the Conners (1970) Parent Symptom Rating questionnaire to improve its factor structure. Our revised instrument and the testretest reliabilities of its 12 scales are described. A classical twin analysis comparing intraclass correlations for 54 pairs of identical twins and 33 pairs of same-sex fraternal twins indicated substantial genetic influence on behavioral problems in schoolaged children. We wish to express our gratitude for the Spencer Foundation's support of this research.     

Implications for phonetic symbolism: The relationship between pure tones and geometric figures

In studies of phonetic symbolism, the most commonly cited attribute of speech relevant to the phenomenon has been frequency. The present study was conducted in order to examine the relationship between pure tone frequencies and geometric figures. A pure tone oscillator was constructed which produced tones in a continuous sweep from 40–12,250 Hz. Six geometric shapes were employed and varied along three binary dimensions (size, complexity, and density) producing a total of 48 stimulus figures. Twelve male and twelve female subjects adjusted pure tone frequencies until they best fit the visually presented geometric figure in a complete within-subject, block-randomization design of 48 trials. There was consistency in the assignment of pure tone frequencies to the dimensions of the geometric figures. Round figures (circles and ellipses) generally received lower frequency assignments than other figures, and the shape by size interaction was also found to be statistically significant. The results are interpreted in light of recent research in psycholinguistics and in particular to the hypothesis of a universal phonetic symbolism.This research was a portion of a Master's thesis submitted to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by Michael W. O'Boyle, who is now at the University of Southern California.     

Environmental dispositions and the evaluation of architectural interiors

The Environmental Response Inventory (ERI) was developed, in part, to assess dispositions toward everyday physical environments and to aid in explaining variance in response to settings. The eight ERI scales were examined and resultant hypotheses were tested in a design involving evaluative ratings of 10 everyday public building interiors briefly presented in sequences of color slides to 118 participants. Settings were arranged in three levels of generality. Results support the ERI as a promising tool. Biographical items also correlate with ratings. Environment evaluation is discussed as a complex phenomenon, in which rater differences play a significant part.     

Follow-up on welfare benefits received by Job Club clients

A follow-up was made of the welfare payments received by AFDC clients who had received job-finding counseling. At the 6th-month follow-up, welfare payments had been reduced by about one-half for the Job Club clients vs 15% for the control group.