Integrating mindfulness as self-care into counselling and psychotherapy training

Aim: Within the last 10 years, mindfulness has quickly moved into the mainstream of behavioural medicine, psychotherapy, and counselling. This article examines the potential of applying mindfulness practices to the training of counsellors and psychotherapists. Method: Several qualitative research projects conducted over the past nine years are summarised. Findings: Mindfulness training can enhance the physical and psychological wellbeing of trainees. Implications for training: Mindfulness training is a specific way that training programmes can teach students strategies of self-care that can help prevent burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatisation.     

阅读困难可否补救? 两种理论驱动干预方案的比较(英文)

本研究是一个进行中的纵向实验的一部分,该实验旨在比较一个认知干预方案(PREP:PASS阅读促进方案)和一个主要关注语音、命名速度和意义成分的神经心理方案(DEST-RT:DEST补救工具)在阅读困难补救中的效能。从320位儿童构成的初始样本中,选择4组儿童,并一年级接受四周干预后,对他们在许多认知、语言、阅读和正字法测量上的表现进行比较:两个实验组共28名伴有阅读困难的儿童(每组n=14),平均年龄6岁6个月,分配到PREP和DEST-RT补救方案中,两组儿童基于年龄、性别、父母教育水平、非言语和言语能力进行匹配,同时也考虑他们的认知和语言表现剖面;一个阅读水平匹配组(RA-C,n=19),也存在阅读困难,不接受任何处理;一个实足年龄匹配组(CA-C,n=30)。结果表明,所有四组儿童在所有认知、语言、阅读和正字法测量上均随时间而改善;与CA-C和DEST-RT相比,PREP组在继时性加工上进步显著;在正字法选择,这一在单词加工中利用视觉-字形信息的正字法加工任务上,PREP组的表现也优于DEST-RT组;最后,在语音敏感性、字母数字的RAN、单词阅读(真词和假词)及段落理解等方面,PREP和DEST-RT的表现均显著优于CA-C和RA-C。讨论部分,则着重讨论设计理论驱动的低成本且能有效改善阅读表现的补救方案的必要性。     

Reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task in a primary school classroom setting

This study evaluated the reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) in a single-sex Australian primary school. Seventy-five male students (mean age 5 11.82 years, SD = 1.12) completed two 5-min PVTs using a Palm personal digital assistant (PDA) in (1) an isolated setting and (2) a classroom setting. Of this group of students, a subsample of 37 students completed a test-retest reliability trial within the classroom setting. Using a mixed-model analysis, there was no significant difference in the mean response time (RT) or number of lapses (RTs ≥ 500 msec) between the isolated and the classroom setting. There was, however, an order effect for the number of lapses in the isolated setting, with the number of lapses being greater if the isolated test was conducted second. Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) in the classroom setting indicated moderate to high reliability (mean RT = .84, lapses = .59). Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic difference between the two settings. Findings suggest that the 5-min PDA PVT is a reliable measure of sustained attention in the classroom setting in this sample of primary-aged schoolchildren. The results provide further evidence for the versatility of this measuring device for larger interventions outside the laboratory.     

The association of racial attitudes and spiritual beliefs in post-apartheid South Africa

Previous research has investigated the complex association between religious beliefs and racism. Many studies have found that fundamentalist religious beliefs are positively associated with racial prejudice among European and European American populations. However, few studies have examined whether this association is found in other cultures or whether the association also characterizes spiritual beliefs. Data from 493 South African university students from three racial backgrounds revealed significant differences among the groups. A positive association between fundamentalism and racial prejudice was found among participants, but general spiritual beliefs were negatively associated with racist attitudes. The results emphasize the need to address contextual factors that influence the association between religious beliefs and racism within a given culture.     

Global Predictions of Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease: Evidence for Preserved Metamemory Monitoring

Previous researchers have argued that there is a metamemory monitoring deficit in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because patients tend to overestimate their recall performance on a word list. We propose that these previous results are a misleading by-product of the methodologies used, rather than evidence of an underlying metamemory deficit. In two experiments, AD patients and older adult controls made predictions of performance both before and after encoding a to-be-remembered list. Metamemory function was measured by observing the shift in predictions made with, and without, an opportunity to monitor the list. Experiment 1 found that although there were differences between the groups’ accuracy for their prestudy predictions of recall, both groups were equally accurate after encoding. Experiment 2 explored this using four lists that varied in item difficulty and semantic relatedness. This experiment replicated the findings of Experiment 1, and it was also found that the AD group became more accurate at predicting their performance with more exposure to study-test trials. These studies suggest that metamemory monitoring is intact in AD, because AD patients utilize information gained during processing the to-be-remembered items to revise their predictions of subsequent performance.     

Do friends always help your studies? Mediating processes between social relations and academic motivation

Previous studies suggest that social relations can increase one’s motivation to learn in school. However, other evidence showed that having more friends may also distract from one’s academic involvement. To understand the mechanisms behind this apparent contradiction, this study identified and tested the effects of a potentially important positive and negative mediator between social relations and academic motivation. A total of 226 university students were used to test the hypothesized path model. Results showed that the impact of social relations on students’ academic motivation was negatively mediated by alcohol use, but positively mediated by their place attachment to the university, although the model fit differed for women and men. Implications for social relations, school policy and freshman orientation programs are discussed.     

Russell T. McCutcheon's manufacturing religion

Jeremy Carrette. Religion and Culture by Michel Foucault (selected and edited by Jeremy Carrette). Manchester University Press. 1999.

Jeremy Carrette. Foucault and Religion: Spiritual Corporality and Political Spirituality. London and New York: Routledge. 2000.