Psychometric evaluation of the eating disorder inventory (edi) in a clinical group

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) with a clinical sample of 79 female clients seen at an outpatient eating disorder program. The means and standard deviations for the bulimia nervosa subgroup in this study (n = 48) compared favorably with the bulimia group in the EDI Manual Supplement (1986) on all eight subscales, except Drive for Thinness. The present non-student sample had significantly lower scores on this particular subscale than did the norm group (mostly students). Another difference was that the local bulimic subgroup had significantly higher present and minimum weights (as a percentage of the expected average weight according to height). The EDI subscales also displayed respectable internal consistency reliability with this sample. In contrast to previous research, however, only five factors were found in a factor analysis rather than eight corresponding to the original subscales for the EDI. Differences between bulimic and a not-otherwise-specified (NOS) diagnostic groups were also found on both the EDI Ineffectiveness and Bulimia subscales (NOS had lower scores). The results of this study are discussed in terms of the importance of undertaking local standardization of tests in clinical settings.     

Learning and Recall of Story Content and Spatial Location After Unilateral Temporal-Lobe Excision in Children and Adolescents

The present study examined verbal and spatial learning and memory in children and adolescents who had undergone unilateral temporal lobectomy versus controls. All participants were trained to criterion before a delay to assess learning efficiency. There were no significant differences between the groups in rate of learning the verbal task. The right temporal-lobe group, but not the left, had difficulty learning spatial information. These findings indicate a specific effect of early right temporal-lobe lesions on spatial learning. As material-specificity is more often found in adults for verbal information, the present results highlight the unique role of the temporal-lobe in development.     

Some reflections on the links between psychoanalysis and literature

Abstract

I taught literature to students from overseas for a number of years before entering the world of student counselling. Both experiences helped to develop and clarify thoughts that I had long held, albeit in a rather vague fashion, about the ways that literature and psychoanalytic thought can reflect our inner worlds. In the first part of this article I look at certain ideas that I think they have in common, what they both can illuminate and how they can contribute to opening up a therapeutic relationship. Then I give an example, from my work experience, of how I was able to draw on some of these ideas in such a relationship with a student. The psychoanalytic process and the reading of a literary text touch at frequent points: both are ways of finding out about oneself, about one's inner and outer worlds, and how they interact. They enable us to ‘read’ our experiences. They have, therefore, a certain congruence of direction towards self-knowledge. They search for a particular kind of understanding. In exploring the literary text one is discovering oneself, gaining insight into the complexities of the multifarious self. Katherine Mansfield, commenting on the creative act of writing, said that a writer tries to go deep, to speak to the secret self we all have (Lee 1985: xv). Symington (1986: 15) speaks in terms of psychoanalysis occurring ‘at the centre of the individual’, but occurring only ‘through a personal act of understanding’.     

Learning at Workstations in the Zoo: A Controlled Evaluation of Cognitive and Affective Outcomes

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to test the cognitive and affective benefits gained through the provision of educational materials at workstations in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. Structured learning materials were developed for use with visiting school groups. The materials focused on the adaptations of 6 selected groups of bird species and were organized as a self-guided learning environment (workstations). The value of the materials was assessed in terms of cognitive (learning and retention) and emotional (interest, well-being, boredom, anxiety, contentedness) variables. The authors measured prior knowledge (1 week before the zoo visit), learning effect (1 week after the visit), and retention (8 to 9 weeks later). A total of 103 students (6th graders aged between 11–12 years) participated in the study, 77 receiving a treatment about adaptations in bird species and 26 receiving a treatment about reptiles which served as a control. Students had similar prior knowledge, but 1 week later students receiving the bird unit scored significantly better and this persisted into retention. Girls achieved higher scores than boys, both 1 week and 8 to 9 weeks after the visit. Surprisingly, students in the control group reported higher interest, well-being and contentedness, and lower boredom than those in the treatment group.     

A Feminist Analysis of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995

This study is an extension of the contentanalysis conducted by K. Peirce [(1990) AFeminist Theoretical Perspective on the Socialization ofTeenage Girls Through Seventeen Magazine, SexRoles, Vol. 23, pp. 491-500]. Her study examined thecontent of Seventeen magazine for the years 1961, 1972,and 1985, and the impact of the feminist movement fromthe 1960s through the 1980s. The present study explored the content of Seventeen magazine in the years1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985, and 1995 to determine ifthe articles that are presented have changed in responseto the feminist movement from the 1940s to the present day. These results would supportthe contention that there is a relationship between thecontent of Seventeen magazine, in terms of traditionalvs. feminist messages, and the women's movement. However, these changes are slight and still donot reflect the various roles of teenage girls.Implications for further research arediscussed.     

Effects of stimulus duration and intensity on the rate and specificity of behavioural habituation

Tone stimuli were presented to rats once per day until habituation was reached. Neither the duration nor the intensity of the stimulus affected the rate of habituation. Habituation was specific to both these stimulus parameters as shown by the distraction produced by either an increase or a decrease in the original stimulus value. It is suggested that some of the discrepancies in the literature might be resolved if a distinction is drawn between habituation of orienting responses and the decrement of more specific responses.     

Does Sex-biased Job Advertising “Aid and Abet” Sex Discrimination?1

Two studies are reported which indicate that both sex-biased wording in job advertisements and the placement of help-wanted ads in sex-segregated newspaper columns discourage men and women from applying for “opposite-sex” jobs for which they might well be qualified. Both studies were originally conducted and presented as part of legal testimony in actual sex discrimination cases.