A Spanish-language prenatal family health evaluation questionnaire: Construction and pilot implementation

The Family Planning Council of America has constructed and implemented a genetic history questionnaire, the Family Health Evaluation, to elicit risk factors, to increase clients' knowledge about reproductive choices, and to improve access to genetic services. The objective of the present study was to develop and implement a Spanish-language version of the Family Health Evaluation for data collection and risk assessment. The content of the Family Health Evaluation was modified to more clearly reflect the risks, exposures, and medical needs of an Hispanic, largely Mexican-American, population. In the present study, the questionnaire was administered to women presenting for prenatal care. The data collected in this pilot study indicate that the questionnaire is effective in identifying individuals and families who would benefit from receiving additional information about a medical condition in their families, from genetic counseling or from a referral for high-resolution ultrasound or other diagnostic procedures.     

EXPERIMENTER CALCULATION ERRORS: A POTENTIAL FACTOR AFFECTING INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS1

Following a study of socially withdrawn children, it was noted that checks of experimenter calculations indicated discrepancies. The present study investigated the magnitude and direction of experimenter errors in data computations. Two full-time research assistants, who served as experimenters, processed the behavioral observation data. These experimenters were referred to as the subjects in this study. Standard data values, against which the subjects' computations were compared, were established by two other research assistants and a computer staff. The results indicated that experimenters' original data values disagreed with the standard data values. The daily errors showed considerable variability for both experimenters. The specific factors accounting for this variability could not be identified, although frequency of experimenter responses required to obtain rate and duration data, time spent calculating, and complexity of task were suggested as possible contributing variables. While disagreements occurred across all experimental days, the magnitude of differences was generally small. An examination of direction of differences in both experimenters' data showed no systematic trends in favor of the experimental hypothesis. Rather, there appeared to be a trend in the other direction. This study suggests that the same research decisions would have been made during the original investigation using either set of data.     

The octopus in the laboratory. Handling,maintenance, training

Octopus maya lives well for long periods in a small tank containing a plastic house in which it can be carried without disturbance to and from an experimental situation. Data are reported on the growth of animals kept under these conditions as a function of feeding schedule and on their food intake as a function of deprivation. Some animals were trained in a runway with food as reward, and others were trained in a simple maze with return to sea water as reward.     

An automatic feeder for liquids and wet or dry solids

An inexpensive and simple, remote-control conveyor-belt feeder is described. The feeder handles liquids and wet or dry solids.     

Modifying impulsive responding to four WISC-R subtests

The modification of impulsive responding to WISC-R subtests was investigated using a procedure which forced the child to delay before responding. Boys, ages 8-0 to 8–11, were screened on the basis of cognitive tempo. Two experimental groups, Impulsives and Reflectives, were formed, each with 30 subjects. These subjects were then tested on four WISC-R subtests under two administration conditions — normal and forced delay. The forced delay administration significantly improved the scoring of Impulsives but not of Reflectives.     

Reactions of Participants and Observers to Modes of Adjudication1

An important aspect of conflict resolution by judgment of a third party is the extent to which participants and observers are satisfied that both the procedure and the outcome are fair and impartial. Male undergraduates participated in a business simulation, which resulted in a controversy placing them in the position of defendants in a trial. An examination was then made of the effects of adversary and nonadversary procedures, prior belief about guilt, and favorableness of the judgment on participant subjects’perceptions of the adjudication. Another group of subjects who had no prior information about the guilt or innocence of the defendent served as observers. Participant subjects viewed the adversary procedure as most fair and satisfying. They were also most satisfied with judgments resulting from the adversary procedure, independently of pretrial belief or favorableness of verdict. Participants also preferred innocent to guilty verdicts, regardless of their pretrial belief. Subjects who held a pretrial belief of innocence were particularly dissatisfied with guilty verdicts and with the nonadversary trial procedure. Observers also found the adversary procedure to be most fair, and expressed a preference for innocent verdicts.     

Co-operative parenting post-divorce: possibility or pipedream?

Research shows that, after divorce, children do best when they retain a constructive relationship with both parents. Hence, mediation services and recent reforms in family law seek to encourage parents to co-operate fully and amicably, and to share parental responsibility for the care and well-being of their children. There is a danger that a vision of 'happy-ever-after' post-divorce families ignores the complexity of transitions facing separating families, and the emotional, social and economic stresses which parents experience for many years.
Drawing on years of research with divorcing families, this paper invites practitioners to consider whether too much is expected of divorced parents, and whether existing services for separating families adequately address the needs of different family members.     

Three near-death experiences with premonitions of what could have been

We analyze three near-death experiences involving a unique type of prophetic vision that has not previously been reported in the literature. These visions involve a brief glimpse of what circumstances would have been like for the near-death experiencers' family in the aftermath of the experiencers' deaths, had they actually died.     

A simple behavioral treatment program for psychogenic encopresis

A treatment program based on behavioral psychological principles which can be explained to parents in one session and supervised by letters and phone calls each week was found to be highly effective in completely eliminating the problem of psychogenic encopresis. A controlled study and extensive clinical use have indicated 100% effectiveness for the program when carefully adhered to.