Timing and stiffness in speech motor control of stuttering and nonstuttering adults

Twelve stutterers and 12 nonstutterers were investigated in order to measure speech movements of the jaw. They spoke the nonsense word /papapas/ with stress on either the first or second syllable and with three speech rates (fast, moderate, and slow). During these trials, jaw movements were analyzed with a selspot-like optical tracking system. It was shown that stutters and nonstutterers applied the same strategies for realizing jaw movements of accented and unaccented syllables. The first strategy (stiffness variation) was used to achieve fast jaw movements while the second strategy (timing) was used in order to realize jaw movements for accented syllables. These results were taken as evidence for the assumption that, in general, stutterers and nonstutterers used the same control strategies when speaking fluently. However, it was also evident that stutterers produced lengthened jaw opening and closing durations as well as reduced peak velocities and maximal opening and closing displacements. This deviating movement pattern was supposed to reflect motor compensations necessary to achieve fluent speech rather than anomalies of the speech neuromotor system.     

Artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization

This paper explores some of the ethical (and legal) implications of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. In both cases the emphasis is on the interests of the potential child. It concludes that in neither case is great optimism or great pessimism appropriate. About AID, much of the legal and ethical concern has been other than child-centered, and has focused mainly on the interests of parents and donors. Three aspects expecially remain troubling: donor selection, record-keeping and disclosure and the testing of frozen semen. About further IVF research, approval appears justified, as long as remaining concerns about risk/safety and need are satisfied.     

Anorexia nervosa: A pastoral update

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder of unknown etiology that is a complex of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes occurring in individuals who starve themselves. The incidence of this disease has increased dramatically in the last twenty years. Most patients seem to be unaware of or unconcerned about their emaciation. After presenting a case, this study reviews the most recent findings about this disease, including the symptoms, social characteristics of its victims, increaed incidence, history, and prognosis. Suggestions are offered for pastoral care and counseling.     

Genetic analysis of avoidance learning by means of different psychological testing systems with inbred mice as model organisms

Summary The genetic basis of active avoidance learning was investigated with mice as model organisms by means of different test systems such as the Shuttle-Box with light and sound stimulation and the Skinner-Box with light stimulation. Six inbred strains of mice and their offspring (F₁) as well as selected second and third generation progenies (F₂ and F₃ resp.) were used in this study. Furthermore we induced environmental modifications such as embryonic transplants in opposite behavioral phenotypes, crossfoster breeding as well as enriched and impoverished environment. The results enable us to postulate a monogenic inheritance of Shuttle-Box performance with codominant mode. The gene expression could not be disturbed by environmental manipulations. Therefore, the learning in the Shuttle-Box has a very simple genetic background which might underly a multiple allelic system.     

Pastoral supervision today

The introduction of clinical pastoral education as a prerequisite to many forms of ministry and the initiation of D. Min. programs in theological schools call for a reappraisal of the process and substance of pastoral supervision. Effective models of supervision for D. Min. programs have not yet been identified, yet a CPE model is inherent in the requirements for the degree. The meaning, goals, content, and styles of supervision are discussed. A scale is included to assist students and supervisors to evaluate supervisory conferences.     

Considerations of the religious dimensions of emotional disorder

This author seeks to investigate some of the possible forms of relationship between religion and emotional disorder-instances in which a person's religious life appears to have been one of the sources of an emotional disorder, the influence of faith as an organizing center for one's life even in the midst of emotional disorder, and delusional systems and hallucinatory experiences in which traditional religious material in some form is an obvious component. The conclusion is drawn that while religious factors may be interwoven with the etiology of disorder they are neither predisposing nor precipitating causes per se, that the religious material exhibited in a pathological form is basically unrelated to earlier religious life, and that religious faith and its practice may in fact be ego-supportive. Implications of these findings for individual psychotherapy, for pastoral consultation, and for worship are discussed.     

Marriage preparation and marriage enrichment: The preventive approach

Premarital counseling and marriage enrichment are viewed as two areas of a life continuum prevention program. Premarital counseling is seen as the first step in preparation for marriage, to be followed six months to a year after marriage by a neomarital counseling experience. Content and process for the counseling are elaborated. Marriage enrichment groups are recommended at various points during the life of a marriage. Three models for enrichment are presented. Prevention programs are viewed as vital experiences for personal and relationship maintenance and growth.He is also a member of the faculty of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Waterloo, Ontario.