Does the use of dolls facilitate children's memory of visits to the doctor?

Age differences in children's recall of salient experiences have frequently been documented, but these findings have routinely been based on studies in which verbal interviews have been employed. Because verbal interview protocols may underestimate the memory of young children, the purpose of this research was to compare the effectiveness of such an interview with two alternative protocols that involved the use of a doll. Using these contrasting protocols, 3-and 5-year-old children were asked to remember the details of a routine physical examination. Neither doll protocol facilitated 3-year-olds' recall of the features of the check-up. In contrast, 5-year-olds who were asked to demonstrate with a doll what happened in their examination showed enhanced recall. The inclusion of a doll had no effect on older or younger children's provision of elaborative detail about their visits to the doctor. Various measures of individual differences (e. g. temperament, language skill) predicted some aspects of the children's recall and elaboration. The findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive skills necessary for effective use of dolls in the assessment process, and are related to problems associated with interviewing young children who are involved in legal proceedings.     

The NCATE Process and behaviorally-based special education

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has long sought to identify effective programs for teacher preparation in this country. Recently, the Council has revised its standards to be more rigorous and demanding. This revision presents new and challenging standards for the accreditation of programs preparing educators. The most problematic but most important of these new standards is the requirement of a well-articulated knowledge base supporting a program's content and processes. Development of the knowledge base statement involves the articulation of the program's philosophy, theme, model, goals, objectives, primary research base, wisdom of practice, and evaluation procedures. A behavioral model serves well in meeting these requirements, particularly since behavioral applications in education are well researched and the approach is compatible with the emphasis on specific goals and objectives and evaluation of effectiveness. Effective educational methods are available and are mostly behavioral. The articulation of the NCATE knowledge base encourages education faculty, traditionally nonbehavioral, to examine the effectiveness of their programs and to demonstrate research and professional support for content and instructional methods. A behavioral knowledge base statement appropriate for NCATE is demonstrated through examples drawn from Gonzaga University's knowledge base for special education.     

Post-extinction conditional stimulus valence predicts reinstatement fear: Relevance for long-term outcomes of exposure therapy

Exposure therapy for anxiety disorders is translated from fear conditioning and extinction. While exposure therapy is effective in treating anxiety, fear sometimes returns after exposure. One pathway for return of fear is reinstatement: unsignaled unconditional stimuli following completion of extinction. The present study investigated the extent to which valence of the conditional stimulus (CS+) after extinction predicts return of CS+ fear after reinstatement. Participants (N = 84) engaged in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and were randomised to reinstatement or non-reinstatement. We hypothesised that more negative post-extinction CS+ valence would predict higher CS+ fear after reinstatement relative to non-reinstatement and relative to extinction retest. Results supported the hypotheses and suggest that strategies designed to decrease negative valence of the CS+ may reduce the return of fear via reinstatement following exposure therapy.     

An initial investigation of baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a moderator of treatment outcome for young children born premature with externalizing behavior problems

The aim of the current study was to examine the moderating effect of baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) on Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a behavioral parent-training intervention, for young children born premature. In this pilot randomized controlled trial, 28 young children (mean age of 37.79 months), who were born <37 weeks gestation and presented with elevated externalizing behavior problems, were randomly assigned to an immediate treatment or waitlist control group. RSA, which provides an approximate marker of individual differences in cardiac vagal tone, was measured during a baseline period. Past research has generally shown that higher levels of baseline RSA correlate with various positive psychological states (e.g., empathy, sustained attention), whereas lower levels of baseline RSA correlate with less optimal psychological states (e.g., higher externalizing behavior problems). Results indicated that baseline RSA significantly interacted with treatment condition in predicting changes in child disruptive behavior. Specifically, low levels of baseline RSA were associated with greater improvements in child disruptive behavior following PCIT. While acknowledging the caveats of measuring and interpreting RSA and the need to include a sympathetic-linked cardiac measure in future research, these findings provide preliminary evidence that children with lower capacity for emotion regulation receive even greater treatment gains. Future research should also examine the moderating effect of RSA in larger samples and explore the potential mediating role of RSA on behavioral parenting interventions.     

Life outcomes influenced by war-related experiences during the Gulf crisis

This study examined the life outcomes of children exposed to the Gulf crisis in 1990–1991. We expected war-trauma exposure and psychological distress symptoms to predict poorer educational and occupational outcomes. Participants were 151 Kuwaiti citizens who were assessed during childhood (in 1993; M age = 10.6 years), and who were reassessed 10 years later in young adulthood (in 2003; M age = 21.2 years). Participants completed measures of intelligence, war-trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, intervening life events, and life outcomes. Results indicated that war-trauma exposure negatively impacted children's educational and occupational outcomes as young adults. Boys with higher levels of war-trauma exposure were less likely to attend University. Posttraumatic stress and anxiety symptoms also predicted poorer educational and occupational outcomes. However, this relationship was not significant when we accounted for children's intelligence. Depressive symptoms were not predictive of children's educational or occupational outcomes. Results suggest that war-trauma exposure may have life-altering effects on children. Tailored, early interventions are needed for children exposed to war traumas.     

What’s Love Got to Do with It? A Qualitative Grounded Theory Content Analysis of Romance Narratives in the PG Era of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Programming

Although numerous studies have examined cultural representations of love and romance in myriad media sources, scarce attention has been paid to such representations in the genre of sports entertainment. As the most popular brand within this genre, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an important conduit of cultural knowledge in which to investigate narratives about modern romance. Using qualitative grounded theory content analysis methods, the current study examined representations of romance narratives in WWE’s two highest rated programs (Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown!) over a 6 month period. Fifty-two episodes comprising 105 h of televised programming were analyzed. Data analysis revealed evidence of six central romance narratives (Prince Charming, Dark Romance, Femme Fatale, Gold Digger, Cougar, and Woman Scorned). The meanings of these narratives were frequently contradictory in nature, revealing complex ideas about the nature of heterosexual romance. Many of the romantic relationships presented contained elements of multiple narratives, suggesting conflicting presentations of heterosexual gender relations not just across but also within individual relationships. Implications of these findings through the lens of social learning and schema theories are provided.     

Stress in Doctors: A Pilot Study of the University Teaching Hospital,Lusaka, Zambia

This study had the objective of explored the stressful aspects of a doctor's job at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia. Stress can have a serious effect on the work output of a doctor and on their physical and mental health. The data were collected from 41 doctors at UTH using the Perceived Stress Scale and a stress check list. The results revealed that out of the list of 14 possible stressors, Zambian doctors in this sample identified an average of 7.3 aspects of their job (SD=2.7) as being stressful. Lack of resources to carry out their job, the workload, the low level of reward and the long working hours were most frequently identified as stressors.     

The Effect of Group Therapy for Mothers on Their Children

Abstract

The present study reports on the findings of a Canadian survey of group therapists. The survey was conducted to solicit their perspectives of psychotherapy research. The goal of the survey was to identify topics and issues that were important to group therapists. Findings from the survey suggest that group therapists are interested in research, perhaps more than one might expect. However, respondents identified a number of factors that limit the appeal of research or impede the integration of research findings into practice. Several suggestions were offered for future research and for methods of communicating the findings of research to clinicians. The survey findings call for improved communication and collaboration between researchers and clinicians in order to achieve a more meaningful integration of science and practice in the group therapy field.     

Here and now: My perspective1

In this paper the author describes her particular perspective in doing analytic work. She stresses working in the here and now. For example, making interpretations that grow out of what the patient says or does in the sessions, keeping the patient’s history in mind, but not letting it lead interpretations. The analysis tries to understand why something is being said now, in this way, and what impact it may have or be designed to have in the analytic relationship. The term ‘here’ refers to what is going on between patient and analyst in the room while not leaving out the patient’s immediate reality in the outside world, his everyday life. The word ‘now’ implies awareness of time that is not just of the past and future but of the patient’s situation at the moment in analysis, which is constantly shifting.The author believes that by working primarily in the present the patient will feel more anchored, both patient and analyst can observe what is going on, for example how anxiety arises or decreases, how defences are mobilised or lessen. Both analyst and patient experience movement and change rather than relying on more theoretical explanations.