Asian American families' collectivistic coping strategies in response to 9/11

Our study investigated the use of individualistic and collectivistic coping strategies among Asian American family members of victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on September 11th, 2001. Interviews were conducted with 11 Asian Americans who had lost a member of their family in the WTC attacks. Using the Discovery-Oriented Research analysis (Mahrer, 1988), results indicated that Asian Americans utilized the following collectivistic coping methods to deal with their losses: individualistic coping, familial coping, intracultural coping, relational universality, forbearance, fatalism/ spirituality, and indigenous healing methods. Additionally, our research found that cultural stigmata, privacy issues, and lack of culturally responsive counselors were factors in participants not utilizing available mental health services. Implications for culturally appropriate services, counseling, and research are discussed.     

Telephone-administered cognitive behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Exposure with response prevention and cognitive behavior therapy are widely recognized as effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Unfortunately, many people with obsessive-compulsive disorder--particularly those living in rural areas--do not have access to therapists providing these treatments. Accordingly, we investigated the efficacy of telephone-administered cognitive behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Two open trials are reported, for a total of 33 people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (without major depression). The first trial consisted of 12 weeks on a waiting list followed by 12 weeks of treatment (delayed treatment). The second trial consisted of 12 weeks of immediate treatment. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms did not change during the waiting period. Symptoms declined from pre- to post-treatment, with gains maintained at 12-week follow-up. For the pooled sample our pre-to-post-treatment effect size was as large or larger than those obtained in other studies of reduced contact treatment, and similar to those of face-to-face exposure with response prevention. Our proportion of treatment dropouts tended to be lower than those of other reduced contact interventions. The results suggest that telephone-administered cognitive behavior therapy is effective and well-tolerated, at least for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder without major depression. It remains to be seen whether this treatment is safe and effective when comorbid major depression is present.     

Methods of data collection,perceptions of risks and losses,and motivation to give truthful answers to sensitive survey questions

Two experiments examined survey respondents' concerns about risks and losses when answering sensitive questions in a survey. In Experiment 1 subjects watched one of eight different versions of a videotaped staged interview of a woman being asked about abortion and drunk driving. Experiment 2 was an actual survey interview about women's health issues, including abortion. In Experiment 2, a large proportion of the sample had a recent abortion for which validation information from the clinic was available. Results of both experiments indicate that, when responding to questions about sensitive topics, survey respondents are concerned about risks and losses other than those covered by standard confidentiality assurances and that these other concerns affect truthful reporting. Experiment 1 showed the importance of privacy in surveys of sensitive behaviours. The experiments suggest that under some circumstances interviewer‐administration of sensitive questions may produce data as good as or better than self‐administration. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bayesian Extended Redundancy Analysis: A Bayesian Approach to Component-based Regression with Dimension Reduction

Abstract

Extended redundancy analysis (ERA) combines linear regression with dimension reduction to explore the directional relationships between multiple sets of predictors and outcome variables in a parsimonious manner. It aims to extract a component from each set of predictors in such a way that it accounts for the maximum variance of outcome variables. In this article, we extend ERA into the Bayesian framework, called Bayesian ERA (BERA). The advantages of BERA are threefold. First, BERA enables to make statistical inferences based on samples drawn from the joint posterior distribution of parameters obtained from a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. As such, it does not necessitate any resampling method, which is on the other hand required for (frequentist’s) ordinary ERA to test the statistical significance of parameter estimates. Second, it formally incorporates relevant information obtained from previous research into analyses by specifying informative power prior distributions. Third, BERA handles missing data by implementing multiple imputation using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, avoiding the potential bias of parameter estimates due to missing data. We assess the performance of BERA through simulation studies and apply BERA to real data regarding academic achievement.     

The Hawthorne experiments and the introduction of Jean Piaget in American industrial psychology, 1929-1932

The Hawthorne interview program between 1929 and 1932 was one of the most significant industrial studies in the United States. The Hawthorne researchers applied Jean Piaget's clinical method in their extensive interviews with tens of thousands of workers. Chiefly responsible for the program's methodology was Elton Mayo, an Australian who saw interviewing as a means to promote social cooperation. Previous discussions of the Hawthorne experiments have ignored the influence of Piaget in the social sciences. This article provides an account of Mayo's and the Hawthorne researchers' efforts to fuse Piaget's innovation with burgeoning American industrial psychology. The endeavor was not an isolated event but rather drew on the theories and practice of Janet-Piaget psychology, on the support of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation, and on the discourse among social scientists about Piaget's work.     

Role of structure and component in judgments of visual similarity of Chinese characters

Skilled readers of Chinese participated in sorting and visual search experiments. The sorting results showed that under conditions of conflicting information about structure and component, subjective judgments of the visual similarity among characters were based on the characters' overall configurations (i.e., structures) rather than on the common components the characters possessed. In visual search, both structure and component contributed to the visual similarity reflected by the search efficiency. The steepest search slopes (thus the most similar target-distractor pairs) were found when the target and the distractor characters had the same structure and shared 1 common component, compared with when they had different structures and/or shared no common components. Results demonstrated that character structure plays a greater role in the visual similarity of Chinese characters than has been considered.     

Sheldon H. White (1928-2005)

Sheldon "Shep" Harold White, one of developmental psychology's most distinguished scholars, died on March 17, 2005, at the age of 76. He is perhaps best remembered for his sharp intellect, generous spirit, good humor, and warm compassion. Shep's principal work lay in three intermeshed areas: children's learning and cognitive development, social programs and policies, and the history of developmental psychology. Shep White is sorely missed by his family and friends, and countless children have unknowingly benefited from his research, scholarship, and contributions to public policy.     

儿童状态社会创造性的跨文化研究:基于中美文化的比较

从中国和美国中部地区选取小学儿童236人,采用状态社会创造性开放问卷和教师领导方式结构式问卷考察了儿童状态社会创造性的文化差异及其与教师领导方式的关系。结果表明:(1)总体上,美国儿童在社会性问题解决中表现出较强的流畅性和变通性等创造性思维品质,但中国儿童表现出较强的适当性、有效性和冒险性等社会适应和人格状态;(2)状态社会创造性总体上存在着国别与年级之间的交互作用,美国的四年级儿童状态社会创造性得分显著高于五年级儿童;(3)教师领导方式的各个维度均不存在显著的预测作用。中美儿童的状态社会创造性既有相似之处又有不同之处。