Parental,child-centered attributions and outcome: A meta-analytic review with conceptual and methodological implications

Eight empirical studies which bear on the relation between parents' child-centered attributions for children's problems and parental satisfaction or child adjustment were meta-analyzed. The parental attributional dimensions of stability and globality garnered the most support as correlates of parental satisfaction and/or children's adjustment; the dimensions of intent, selfish motivation, and blame received initial support and warrant further study. Important methodological and conceptual issues were identified and improvements are suggested. The need for prospective designs aimed at determining the causal relation, if any, between parental attributions and outcome, thorough assessment of attributions and the events which impinge upon them, detailed measurement of symptom and satisfaction variables, a wider array of child diagnoses, and establishment of parental diagnoses, are emphasized.     

Repression-sensitization and emotion control

The internal structure of the Repression-Sensitization (R-S) Scale was examined by means of factor analysis. Following a scree test, four factors were extracted: lassitude/depression, extraversion/confidence, guilelessness/trust, and emotional lability. Concurrent validation using the Emotion Control Questionnaire and the Eysenck Personality Inventory showed that the factors extracted from the R-S Scale were related in predictable ways to existing personality constructs, but the results argue against the use of the overall R-S score as an index of emotional response style.     

Influence of a Cross-Cultural Training Course on Racial Identity Attitudes of White Women and Men: Preliminary Perspectives

The authors examine the influence of cross-cultural training on the racial identity attitudes of 35 White graduate counselors in training (10 men and 25 women) and the impact of gender on training. A pretest-posttest comparison of responses to the White Racial Identity Attitudes Survey (WRIAS) was used. Results indicated that the cross-cultural training course (a) influenced racial identity attitudes of White counselors in training and (b) racial identity attitudes were influenced by gender.     

An injection olfactometer for humans and a new method for the measurement of the shape of the olfactory pulse

An injection olfactometer for human psychophysical experiments is described. The olfactometer is capable of presenting, either mono- or birhinally, single odorants and binary mixtures. The pulse form of the olfactory stimulus at the exit of the olfactometer approaches a rectangular form, which makes the olfactometer well suited for olfactory reaction time measurements. Since stimulation periods are independent of the subject’s inhalation, time-intensity measurements over prolonged periods of time are possible as well. In the second part of this paper, a new technique is described for the measurement of the stimulus pulse form at the exit of the olfactometer.