Learning Styles of Mexican American and Anglo-American Elementary School Students

The learning style characteristics of Mexican American and Anglo-American elementary school children are identified and the implications for counseling and learning are discussed.     

Sex and sex-typing effects on computer attitudes and aptitude

Previous research has supported a sex difference favoring males on computer-related variables. This study examines the potential mediating effects of psychological sex typing on computer variables. One hundred twenty-five undergraduates were administered measures assessing sex typing, computer experience, computer attitudes, computer self-efficacy, and computer aptitude. When the effects of specific computer experience and sex-typing variables were removed using analyses of covariance, male/female comparisons on computer aptitude and self-efficacy variables were no longer significant. Participant sex as well as masculinity and several computer experience variables were significant in the computer attitude analysis.     

Long-term family therapy: A developmental approach

The emphasis in family therapy literature on brief therapy has given a false sense of what family therapy can accomplish. While it has helped to develop different theories of change and refine techniques to deal with resistance, it has caused many clinicians to mistake technique for treatment. A long term developmental approach is advocated in which the family therapist is the general practitioner rather than the specialist. This paper is the result of a 30-year caseload in which there was a group of multi-therapy families.     

Female attractiveness and eating disorders: Do children's television commercials play a role?

The differential rate of eating disorders in males and females has been partially attributed to gender socialization. Media influences, even in children's programming, may contribute to the greater emphasis on physical attractiveness for girls compared to boys. Commercials from Saturday morning cartoon programming were analyzed for the number of male/female main and supporting characters, sex of narrator, sex of intended consumer, and appearance enhancement of person, doll, or animal. A majority of the commercials (60.6%) were for food products. Chi-square comparisons revealed significantly more male than female main characters and narrators in these commercials. Of those commercials (13.8%) scored for appearance enhancement, all male/female chi-square comparisons were significant with more female supporting characters, female main characters, female narrators, and female consumers. With the combined emphases on food and, for girls, on appearance, support for possible influences of commercials in eating disorders is noted.     

An Evaluation of the Ability to Voluntarily Reduce the Heart Rate after a Month of Yoga Practice

The study aimed at determining whether novices to yoga would be able to reduce their heart rate voluntarily and whether the magnitude of reduction would be more after 30 days of yoga training. Two groups (yoga and control, n = 12 each) were assessed on Day 1 and on Day 30. During the intervening 30 days, the yoga group received training in yoga techniques while the control group carried on with their routine. At each assessment the baseline heart rate was recorded for one minute, this was followed by a six-minute period during which participants were asked to attempt to voluntarily reduce their heart rate, using any strategy. Both the baseline heart rate and the lowest heart rate achieved voluntarily during the six-minute period were significantly lower in the yoga group on Day 30 compared to Day 1 by a group average of 10.7 beats per minute (i.e., bpm) and 6.8 bpm, respectively (p < .05, Wilcoxon paired signed ranks test). In contrast, there was no significant change in either the baseline heart rate or the lowest heart rate achieved voluntarily in the control group on Day 30 compared to Day 1. The results suggest that yoga training can enable practitioners to use their own strategies to reduce the heart rate, which has possible therapeutic applications.     

Peer-Delivered Models for Caregivers of Children and Adults with Health Conditions: A Review

Peer-delivered health models may hold important benefits for family members, yet their prevalence, components, and outcomes are unknown. We conducted a review of peer-delivered services for families of children and adults with serious health problems. Studies of interventions published between 2000 and 2016 were included if the intervention contained a component for family members. Of 88 studies that were assessed for their eligibility, five met criteria. Familial components included information about the health condition and management, strategies to enhance communication and stress, and the provision of emotional support. Outcomes were largely favorable, including reductions in distress and symptoms of trauma, enhanced quality of life, and positive perceptions of the peer therapeutic alliance. Peer-delivered services for family members may hold important benefits to caregivers; however, the research base remains thin. A research agenda to develop and examine these models is discussed.     

Tacit coordination in monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins and virtual twins: Effects and implications of genetic relatedness

Game theorists have long been interested in why some partners are more successful at achieving mutual goals than others. The present study was conducted to determine if tacit coordination (non-negotiated consensus) varies as a function of genetic relatedness between social partners. The sample included 7–13-year-old monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (n = 53), dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs (n = 85) and virtual twin (VT) pairs (n = 42; same-age unrelated siblings). Co-twin agreement on questions completed under individual and coordination conditions was compared across the three groups. MZ twins showed significantly greater overall agreement than DZ twins and VTs, using multiple criteria. The implications of these findings are considered with reference to behavioral-genetic and evolutionary theories of behavior.     

First record: a methodological approach to counter sampling bias

One goal of survey research is to optimize sampling procedures so that the collected data will produce accurate population estimates. In this context, sampling bias is a primary threat to a study's validity. If individuals who do not respond are a random sample of the population, then the estimates obtained from such a subsample are unbiased. However, as the percentage of nonrespondents increases, the assumption of unbiased estimation becomes increasingly tenuous. At this point an investigator has two choices: delete all subjects who have not provided data as part of the first data collection, or allow a respondent's point of entry to define his baseline measures for the study. No previous discussion of the latter option has been noted in the methods literature. Therefore the authors have termed this approach to baseline the "first record". Conditions under which the "first record" technique would be appropriate or inappropriate are discussed.