Reference frames and haptic perception of orientation: Body and head tilt effects on the oblique effect

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of body and head tilts on the haptic oblique effect. This effect reflects the more accurate processing of vertical and horizontal orientations, relative to oblique orientations. Body or head tilts lead to a mismatch between egocentric and gravitational axes and indicate whether the haptic oblique effect is defined in an egocentric or a gravitational reference frame. The ability to reproduce principal (vertical and horizontal) and oblique orientations was studied in upright and tilted postures. Moreover, by controlling the deviation of the haptic subjective vertical provoked by postural tilt, the possible role of a subjective gravitational reference frame was tested. Results showed that the haptic reproduction of orientations was strongly affected by both the position of the body (Experiment 1) and the position of the head (Experiment 2). In particular, the classical haptic oblique effect observed in the upright posture disappeared in tilted conditions, mainly because of a decrease in the accuracy of the vertical and horizontal settings. The subjective vertical appeared to be the orientation reproduced the most accurately. These results suggest that the haptic oblique effect is not purely gravitationally or egocentrically defined but, rather, depends on a subjective gravitational reference frame that is tilted in a direction opposite to that of the head in tilted postures (Experiment 3).     

The Towers of Silence: creative and destructive issues for therapeutic teams dealing with sexual abuse

Intra-familial sexual abuse of children is a peculiarly potent area for subsequent inter-agency responses and interventions to become inappropriate, irrational, and damaging. A major component of the damaging responses by the inter-agency system is the mirroring processes which occur between that system and the family.
A case example is presented in some detail to illustrate the ways in which such mirroring processes also effect therapeutic teams dealing with such families. Some therapeutic techniques from an experiential base are described. It is argued that productive therapeutic work can only occur if the mirroring processes within the inter-agency system, and the therapeutic team system, are considered systemically.     

Ways of coping with excessive drug use in the family: A provisional typology based on the accounts of 50 close relatives

This paper outlines an eight-fold typology of coping actions based upon a qualitative analysis of the accounts provided by 50 close relatives of people with drug problems. In a number of different ways relatives draw attention to the contrasts between these distinguishable ways of coping. Emphasis is placed upon the provisional nature of this typology and upon the compromises between, and combinations of, ways of coping that are often used by relatives in practice. Different ways of coping represent alternative choices for relatives, often explicitly expressed by them as difficult dilemmas. Links are suggested between the ways of coping identified here and those discussed in the literature on coping with other disorders and disabilities in the family, with ways of coping described in the general literature on coping with stress, and with types of social action appearing in general models of interpersonal behaviour. Implications for counselling close relatives of people with drug problems are also outlined.     

Subitizing and counting depend on different attentional mechanisms: Evidence from visual enumeration in afterimages

Two experiments showed that, when selective eye movements were disabled by the presentation of stimuli in the form of afterimages, increased inspection time and facilitative stimulus configurations failed to increase the subitizing limit of 4 objects. Afterimages of two to eight dots induced by a photographic flashgun were shown to 3 adult subjects. For more than 4 objects, enumeration errors occurred at a rate of 20%–30%. Enumeration was effectively perfect for 2–4 linearly configured dots, with occasional errors surprisingly occurring in that range when dots appeared in groups of up to 3 items. No errors occurred in nonafterimage control conditions. Enumeration errors were attributed to failures of individuating dots to be counted due to the deactivation of selective eye movements in afterimages. A third experiment supported this interpretation by disabling eye movements with briefly presented stimuli and producing results much like those of the afterimage conditions.     

A family‐therapy approach to child abuse: countering resistance

Abusing and high-risk families have been seen over three years at a new treatment resource with a family therapy orientation. The families present with established resistance to any treatment intervention and many have defeated a succession of previous helping agencies. Initial typology and treatment strategies are described with the aim of more systematic selection of therapeutic techniques.     

An experiment in social engineering in serving the families of predelinquents

One hundred and two predelinquent adolescents were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an experimental condition in which behavioral contracting services were offered both at home and in school or a control condition in which clients were told that they could not be accommodated by project therapists and were informed about the possibility of their receiving treatment in other programs in the community. Most of those who were assigned to the control condition did not avail themselves of services in these other programs. Results indicate that, relative to the controls, the behaviorally treated youth scored small but statistically significant improvement relative to the controls on five measures: ratings of school behavior by the person who originally referred them for service, by their teachers, by their mothers, and by their fathers, and ratings of their parent—child interactions as measured by their mothers. Gains were also reported in mothers' ratings of their children's behavior at home. The failure of significant gains to be made in two measures of school performance grades and attendance is explained by the failure o f the treatment techniques to over-come an age-related deterioration in these areas found among most children in the participating schools. The failure of fathers to find significant improvement in their relationships with the referred adolescents is viewed as a consequence of unanticipated changes in the intrafamilial balance of power resulting from contracting services. Finally, a subsidiary analysis showed that the contracting service appeared to offer the greatest gain to the demographically defined sub-groups of youths who are among the population-at-risk in many juvenile courts.This study was supported by Grant R01-MH21452 from the Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency, National Institute of Mental Health. The authors wish to thank L. Nilles, who served as general administrator of this project, and C. Faller, S. Iman, P. Ippel, L. Lott, J. Marsh, C. Stephenson, J. Tanter, D. Virtue, and R. Welter, who served as therapists.     

The use of co-working (co-therapy) as a training method

This paper formed the basis of a Workshop at the A.F.T. Conference 1981, although the bulk of the theoretical material was not presented in the Workshop. The primary aim of the Workshop itself was to enable participants to think about how they themselves would use the co-working method as a way of training and to test these thoughts out to some extent in role-play.
The experimental part of the Workshop fell into two sections. In the first the aim was for participants to consider in pairs what they might wish to teach by this method and how; and in the second it was intended that they test out in pairs an attempt to teach a specific aspect of family therapy.
In practice members found in the first part some of the difficulties that this method presents, as shown in my research, and thus for the second part they felt it essential to focus on the issue of developing a contract between the two potential co-workers in order to clarify and confirm the nature of the training relationship. This was no doubt as it should be, since there is evidence that to press ahead with trying to teach a method in this close working relationship when there are substantial problems in, or uncertainty about the relationship can be disruptive. Hence the workshop as a whole was much concerned with the nature of the training experience rather than the actual transmission of family therapy skills.     

Personality, learning style and work performance

Just over two hundred telephone sales staff completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ). Extraversion was highly correlated both positively and negatively with three of the four LSQ measures. The lie scale from the EPI was also systematically correlated with the Activist and Reflector scales of the LSQ. Both the EPI and LSQ traits were modestly correlated with two criteria: ratings of Actual Performance and Development Potential. Regressions were used to determine the best predictors of the two ratings measures. Personality variables (extraversion, neuroticism) and certain learning styles (reflector, pragmatist) were statistically significant predictors of rated performance, though they accounted for less than 10% of the explained variance. The results concur with recent meta-analytical studies that show personality variables account for a small but important amount of variance in measures of work performance.     

Do young boys and girls have distinct and different approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development?

Difficulties are outlined in how to consider whether boys and girls have distinctive approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development, especially the lack of any agreed definition of spiritual development and the nature of the research literature relating to gender. I explore this without presupposing, or excluding, any particular definition, arguing that, whatever one's assumptions and beliefs about spirituality, these influence, and are influenced by, assumptions and beliefs about gender, and vice versa. I present empirical evidence on aspects associated with personal well‐being indicating outcomes strongly differentiated by gender. I examine research evidence in relation to gender within a range of areas commonly associated with spirituality and highlight some gaps. I argue that considering spiritual development through the lens of gender and gender through that of spiritual development can illuminate one's understanding of both concepts. I suggest some possible implications for future research and for teachers of young children.