CHILD LABOUR: AN UNDERDEVELOPED TOPIC IN PSYCHOLOGY

Certain issues concerning child labour are raised: Why do psychologists do so little research on children working, despite the fact that it is widespread? Does work harm the child's development or deprive the child of necessary opportunities for play? How should research on child labour be conducted?     

The structure of informed consent in psychiatric research

The manner in which the informed consent process is structured was explored by means of intensive interviews with 17 experienced psychiatric researchers. Despite differing views on informed consent, investigators displayed a commonality of practice. Most investigators were themselves not usually involved in obtaining consents, relegating the process to lower-level assistants. They did not closely monitor the process and generally were unaware of problems that may have arisen. Most protocols called for repeat contact with patients so that a relationship would develop and information could be provided before obtaining a formal consent. The actual signing of a consent form often reflected a decision that had been made much earlier in the process. These findings have significance for both sides in the dispute over informed consent in research. Those who favor tighter controls over psychiatric research will have to consider the implications of monitoring, without destroying, a prolonged and complicated process. Those who argue for a reliance on investigators' integrity must deal with the apparent lack of involvement most investigators have in the consent process.     

Disorders of attention in school children: recent results of classification, diagnosis and pedagogic-psychologic perspectives for intervention

Attention disorders in school children are a frequently occurring phenomenon in the work of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. The new approach (DSM III) emphasizes the role of attention deficit with/without hyperactivity in contrast to the Hyperkinetics syndrome (ICD 9) and offers an alternative interpretation. Based on experimental results and clinical observation, the following characteristic features of this class of disturbances are accentuated. A deficient central activation (probably related to "weakness" of central norepinephrine and the locus for stimulant drug action), an inadequate inhibitory control function, and a (secondary) disturbance of perceptive and logic processing strategies. A method of cognitive-behavioural intervention is offered which may be applied separately of in connection with drug treatment.     

Health Beliefs and Intentions: Predictors of Return Compliance in a Tuberculosis Detection Drive1

A prospective design was employed to study the ability of various factors to predict return compliance in a tuberculosis detection drive. Five hundred fiftythree participants in the drive were asked to complete a questionnaire tapping their views of TB (based on the Health Belief Model) and their intentions to return for the recommended skin test reading. Behavioral intention was found to be an important predictor of return rates, and the inclusion of the HBM variables aided in the classification noncompliers. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

A revised model of learned helesspleness in humans1

The present paper presents a revised model of learned helplessness in humans. The conditions under which performance deficits (helplessness) or enhanced performance (facilitation) will result from exposure to objective noncontingency are defined by a number of variables that have been shown to have an impact on human helplessness. The reformulated model specifies the operation of moderating variables as they affect a number of relationships: that between objective noncontingency and the perception of noncontingency; that between the perception of noncontingency and the future expectancy of response-reinforcement independence; and finally that between the expectancy of response-reinforcement independence and the behavirol deficits associated with learned helplessness. It is argued that exposure to noncontingency can affect both the value of future reward and the perceived probability of obtaining it. Performance deficits or enhanced performance will result from the perception of noncontingency depending on the nature of this double-edged effect of exposure to noncontingent delivery of reward.     

Influence of marihuana on storage and retrieval processe in memory

Following presentation and immediate free recall testing of 10 20-word lists, 48 Ss were divided into two groups, one of which received an oral dose of marihuana extract calibrated to 20 mg of Δ¹-THC and one of which received placebo. One hour later, all Ss were administered delayed recall, recognition, and order tests on the first set of words. Presentation of another set of 10 lists followed, and there were immediate recall and delayed recall, recognition, and order tests on these words. Performance of drug and placebo Ss did not differ significantly for any of the first delayed tests. However, the performance of drug Ss was poorer than that of placebo Ss on immediate recall, delayed recall, and delayed recognition of the second set of lists. We concluded that retrieval of information relevant to the occurrence or nonocurrence of an event was not affected by marihuana intoxication. Storage difficulties probably account for memory deficits due to the drug, and these difficulties appear to occur in the process of transferring information from short-term to long-term memory.     

Maternal Attitudes and the Non-Achievement Syndrome

This study investigated the relationship between the mother-child relationship and academic achievement. The population consisted of 45 male achievers and underachievers from a local suburban high school and their mothers. The nature of the mother-child relationship was measured by the Mother—Child Relationship Evaluation. Generally it was found that mothers of achievers were more accepting of their children than were mothers of underachievers. Further, achievers and underachievers differed in the ability to perceive accurately the maternal attitudes. These findings were interpreted in terms of the etiology of underachievement as described by Roth and Meyersburg in the Non-Achievement Syndrome. These dynamics involve maternal rejection and the attempts of the underachiever to maintain a dependent relationship with the parents, and the avoidance of adolescent independence via underachievement.     

The Non-Achievement Syndrome,Group Therapy,and Achievement Change

174 selected failing students at Illinois Institute of Technology were provided group counseling as a condition of their remaining in school. The assumption of the psychodynamics of the non-achievement syndrome was made regarding these students and a group counseling approach (NAS therapy) derived from an approach delineated by Roth and Meyersburg seemed appropriate and was utilized. 52 male subjects in this population were randomly selected for study as were 52 probationary, noncounseled males who were used as a comparison group. The results indicated that the counseled group increased their GPA's significantly and that these changes held over time. The GPA's of the comparison group did not increase significantly. The differences were attributable to the counseling experience.