VALUING OUR FOOD: MINIMIZING WASTE AND OPTIMIZING RESOURCES

The magnitude of the global food waste problem is staggering, yet it receives little mainstream attention. We waste nearly half of all food produced—more than one billion tons annually—yet nearly one billion global citizens are hungry. Our values are out of balance; we need to properly value our food. Urgent change is needed, beginning with heightened awareness and a sense of responsibility to people and planet. Feeding nine billion people by 2050 is a tremendous challenge, but also a tremendous opportunity to develop new levels of innovation and collaboration to eradicate hunger, improve the environment for future generations, and create a more unified, secure world. A new, durable, multifaceted approach to reducing food waste is needed in the form of a global network. This global network should be anchored by a sense of shared responsibility among consumers, businesses, governments, and global institutions to optimize resources in the quest to provide for nine billion people by 2050.     

“Why Won't My Parents Help Me?”: Therapeutic Assessment of a Child and Her Family

We present a case study of a child's psychological assessment using the methods of Therapeutic Assessment (TA). The case illustrates how TA can help assessors understand the process and structure of a family by highlighting how maladaptive family processes and interactions impact a child's development. It also illustrates how TA with a child can serve as a family intervention. In this case, it became apparent that the child's social difficulties were significant, not minor as initially reported by the parents, and were rooted in an insecure attachment, underlying depression, an idiosyncratic view of the world, and longing for attention, all of which were hidden or expressed in grandiose, expansive, and off-putting behaviors. In addition, the familial hierarchy was inverted; the parents felt ineffective and the child felt too powerful, leading to enhanced anxiety for the child. Intervention throughout, punctuated by the family session and feedback sessions, allowed the parents to develop a new “story” about their child and for the child to experience a new sense of safety. Following the TA, the parents and child indicated high satisfaction, enhanced family functioning, and decreased child symptomatology. Subsequent family therapy sessions allowed the family to further implement the interventions introduced in the TA.     

Family Sessions as Part of Child Psychological Assessment: Goals,Techniques, Clinical Utility,and Therapeutic Value

Including a family session in a child assessment can significantly advance the assessor's and parents' understanding of the child's problems and enhance the likelihood that parents will follow through on recommendations after the assessment. A family session allows the assessor to observe the child in the family context, test systemic hypotheses, better understand the meaning of individual test results, and try out possible interventions. A family session may also help parents see systemic aspects of their child's problems, help the child feel less blamed, foster positive experiences among family members, and offer the family a glimpse of family therapy. We describe methods and techniques for structuring family sessions and offer guidance on preparing for and conducting such sessions depending on one's case conceptualization. Detailed case examples illustrate each technique and demonstrate the immediate and subsequent impact of family sessions as well as their therapeutic value. We also address common clinical and pragmatic issues.     

A Self‐Regulatory Model of Behavioral Disinhibition in Late Adolescence: Integrating Personality Traits,Externalizing Psychopathology,and Cognitive Capacity

ABSTRACT Two samples with heterogeneous prevalence of externalizing psychopathology were used to investigate the structure of self‐regulatory models of behavioral disinhibition and cognitive capacity. Consistent with expectations, structural equation modeling in the first sample (N=541) showed a hierarchical model with 3 lower order factors of impulsive sensation seeking, antisociality/unconventionality, and lifetime externalizing problem counts, with a behavioral disinhibition superfactor best accounted for the pattern of covariation among 6 disinhibited personality trait indicators and 4 externalizing problem indicators. The structure was replicated in a second sample (N=463) and showed that the behavioral disinhibition superfactor, and not the lower order impulsive sensation seeking, antisociality/unconventionality, and externalizing problem factors, was associated with lower IQ, reduced short‐term memory capacity, and reduced working memory capacity. The results provide a systemic and meaningful integration of major self‐regulatory influences during a developmentally important stage of life.     

Framing effects on metacognitive monitoring and control

Three experiments explored the contribution of framing effects on metamemory judgments. In Experiment 1, participants studied word pairs. After each presentation, they made an immediate judgment of learning (JOL), framed in terms of either remembering or forgetting. In the remember frame, participants made judgments about how likely it was that they would remember each pair on the upcoming test. In the forget frame, participants made judgments about how likely it was that they would forget each pair. Confidence differed as a result of the frame. Forget frame JOLs, equated to the remember frame JOL scale by a 1-judgment conversion, were lower and demonstrated a smaller overconfidence bias than did remember frame JOLs. When judgments were made at a delay, framing effects did not occur. In Experiment 2, people chose to restudy more items when choices were made within a forget frame. In Experiment 3, people studied Spanish—English vocabulary pairs ranging in difficulty. The framing effect was replicated with judgments and choices. Moreover, forget frame participants included more easy and medium items to restudy. These results demonstrated the important consequences of framing effects on assessment and control of study.     

Suicide by Teenagers in Middle School: A Postvention Team Approach

Volumes have been written (American Association of Suicidology, 1998) and programs have been developed (Befrienders International, 2000) to deal with the prevention of and intervention for teen suicides in middle school. Less prominent is attention to postvention efforts in the aftermath of these acts. The authors describe a child's suicide through the eyes of the school counselor, identify issues unique to teenagers, present symptoms common to presuicidal youth, and suggest a postvention CAPT (counselors, administrators, parents, and teachers)Team Approach.     

Individual differences in the response to forgone payoffs: an examination of high functioning drug abusers

This study evaluates the effect of forgone payoffs in decision‐making tasks used for studying individual differences. We investigate whether the disclosure of forgone payoffs (defined as payoffs associated with un‐chosen alternatives) has selective effects for drug abusers. Evidence suggests that drug abusers are hypersensitive to signals of positive reward. Accordingly, because the forgone payoffs of risky high‐variability options include rewarding outcomes, this may create a distraction and lead drug abusers to make more risky choices. In a controlled experiment, we examined the behavior of high‐functioning drug abusers and healthy controls using the Iowa gambling task. The results showed that in a forgone payoff condition, drug abusers made more risky choices. The results demonstrate that adding information about forgone payoffs can be useful for studying individual differences, and that studying individual differences can be valuable in evaluating the effects of forgone payoffs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.