Reasons for Not Helping

Second-grade, fourth-grade, sixth-grade, high school, and college students (N = 140) were asked to describe situations in which they would not help someone else and their reasons for not helping in those situations. Younger subjects used perceived self-incompetence as a reason for not helping more frequently than did older subjects. In contrast, older subjects more frequently cited a desire not to violate another's personal situation and/or their own internalized values, laws, and rules as reasons not to help than did their younger counterparts. For a majority of the not-helping categories, however, no significant effect of age level was found, and indeed, some individuals in even the youngest age group expressed subtle and insightful reasons for not helping.     

Age Differences in Coping Resources and Satisfaction With Life Among Middle-Aged,Young-Old,and Oldest-Old Adults

The authors examined age differences in perceived coping resources and satisfaction with life across 3 older-adult age groups (45-64, 65-74, and 75 years and older). The 98 participants represented healthy, socially active, community-residing adults. Group comparisons were made on 12 individual coping scales, and an overall coping resource effectiveness score was computed. No significant differences were found for 11 of the coping resources or for overall coping resource effectiveness. Similar consistencies in life satisfaction were found across the 3 age groups. The findings indicate that (a) for healthy adults, the oldest old cope at least as effectively as their younger counterparts, despite their likelihood of encountering increased levels of stress; and (b) psychologically, old age may be viewed as a time of resilience and fortitude.     

Situational and Dispositional Goal Adjustment in the Context of Metastatic Cancer

Striving toward goals is associated with higher levels of subjective well‐being; however, many potential roadblocks to goal achievement exist. The current study extends the understanding of goal regulation processes in its examination of the relationships between dispositional and situational goal adjustment to a profound stressor and their associations with psychological adjustment. Women (N = 103; M age = 57.2 years; 82% Caucasian) with metastatic breast cancer completed semistructured interviews and self‐report measures at study entry and 3 months later. Measures of dispositional and situational goal reengagement were significantly correlated, but dispositional and situational goal disengagement were unrelated. Greater dispositional and situational goal disengagement abilities were associated with fewer cancer‐related intrusive thoughts at Time 1. Dispositional and situational reengagement were positively associated with life satisfaction and sense of purpose and negatively associated with depressive symptoms at Time 1. However, greater initial situational goal disengagement predicted an increase in depressive symptoms over time. Both how an individual typically responds to goal blockage, as well as how an individual is currently responding to a specific blocked goal, appear related to psychological adjustment.     

A Note Regarding the Validity of Lee's Typology of Love

In the present study, we investigated how well Lee's (1973/1976) typology of love characterized response data that adult subjects provided on selected items written by Hendrick and Hendrick. Results suggest that the model represents response data reasonably well and that Hendrick and Hendrick's (1986) measure ought to be valid.     

Attentional and behavioural responses of spider fearfuls to virtual spiders

This study employed an immersed virtual environment (IVE) in the Nijmegen RIVERlab to study spider fearfuls’ attentional and motor reactions to virtual spiders. The participants were exposed to virtual spiders while completing an unrelated task, walking freely through a virtual museum. Compared to non-fearful controls, spider fearfuls showed an increase in state anxiety, they spent more time looking at spiders, and they exhibited spontaneous behavioural avoidance of spiders and visually similar objects. The results extend, and to some degree contradict, those of earlier studies with static pictures, and they speak to the usefulness of state-of-the-art IVEs in fundamental anxiety research.     

Foundations of the human sciences 1 : Beyond reductionism: The emerging holistic paradigm in education

Abstract

Modern educational theory and practice are grounded in an objec‐tivistic, reductionistic world view, particularly a “natural science” conception of human development. Holistic education is a radically non‐reductionistic approach based upon a person‐centered, ecological, global and spiritual world view. As such, the holistic paradigm is an alternative not only to the scientistic reductionism of the modern age, but also to the intellectual reductionism of postmodern thought. Holistic education is a humanistic as well as spiritual critique of the dominant culture.     

Psyche and Cinema: “Go Ask Alice (or Neo); I Think They'll Know”

The Walt Disney version of Alice in Wonderland is a musical animation beginning in a semi-pastoral setting with butterflies, birds, and daisies. Alice is bored with the textual reading of classical history being given by her uptight Victorian sister. Instead, she wants images, pictures in a book. She sees image as world. “In my world, books will have nothing but pictures,” she declares. This thought takes her further into her imagination and the deconstructive realm it creates. “Everything will be what it isn't and not be what it is.” Finally, she looks into a pond and the reflection of a white rabbit dressed in a frock coat passes by. The mirror of the water surface has released an image of the “other,” an animal, difficult to catch and associated with luck, fertility, and the underground. Alice follows the rabbit into a hole and takes a fall, a radical descent into the underworld. She speculates about descending through the earth to the other side and walking around upside down. She finally lands in front of a door with a punning knob that takes three linguistic “turns.” For Alice, it is impassible but not impossible. Stuck and distraught, she finally gets caught up in the flow of her tears, and rides through the door on her stream of consciousness.     

The lived experiences of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in relation to exercise

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Seven active exercisers with MS participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their exercise experiences since diagnosis. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith?&?Osborn, 2003 Smith, JA and Osborn, M. 2003. “Interpretive phenomenological analysis”. In Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods, Edited by: Smith, JA. 51–80. London: Sage.  [Google Scholar]). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The results and interpretations of narratives revealed a number of functional limitations due to the severity of MS symptoms, which were found to have a major effect on the ability of the participants to exercise. Furthermore, psychological problems and the heightened behavioural adjustments to the progressive disability led to re-appraisal of ability to exercise. Previous, relevant exercise experience made participants more determined to continue to be able to exercise after diagnosis. The wider exercise experience narratives were related to concerns about safety, dependability on others to overcome the challenges, and potential environmental hazards. The loss of spontaneous opportunities to exercise because of these actual and perceived barriers was key to this population. This research highlighted the need to rethink the health and social service arrangements in relation to exercise provision for individuals with MS.     

high-resolution electron microscopy at a (113) symmetric Thermally activated step motion observed by tilt grain-boundary in aluminium

Grain-boundary migration is demonstrated to proceed by lateral propagation of a small step in a (113), [110] symmetric Al tilt grain-boundary. In-situ high-resolution (transmission) electron microscopy (HREM) at 523K allowed the study of atomic-scale detail at video rates during the migration process. The grain-boundary translational states on both sides of the step are identical, which leads to a step dislocation. This defect can move laterally by a combination of climb and glide. Dynamic HREM images indicate considerable atomic agitation within the dislocation core. A detailed temporal analysis of the step movements shows small random displacements of the dislocation core.