Foster Parents’ Knowledge of Child Trauma: An Exploratory Study

To promote trauma-informed professional supports and services to maltreated youth, it is imperative that researchers explore foster parents’ knowledge of child trauma. However, there is a dearth in the literature related to this topic. This exploratory study utilizes a convenience sample (N = 219) of foster parents in one southeastern state. Variables of interest include actual and perceived knowledge about child trauma. After a terse review of background literature, this paper will explicate key results, discuss these findings, and identify salient practice and policy implications derived from this study. The paper will conclude by delineating apposite areas for future research.     

The influence of depth segmentation on colour constancy

In real scenes, surfaces in different depth planes often differ in the luminance and chromatic content of their illumination. Scene segmentation is therefore an important issue when considering the compensation of illumination changes in our visual perception (lightness and colour constancy). Chromatic adaptation is an important sensory component of colour constancy and has been shown to be linked to the two-dimensional spatial structure of a scene (Werner, 2003 Vision Research 43 1611 - 1623). Here, the question is posed whether this cooperation also extends to the organisation of a scene in depth. The influence of depth on colour constancy was tested by introducing stereo disparity, whereby the test patch and background were perceived in either the same or one of five different depth planes (1.9-57 min of arc). There were no additional cues to depth such as shadows or specular highlights. For consistent illumination changes, colour constancy was reduced when the test patch and background were separated in depth, indicating a reduction of contextual influences. An interaction was found between the influences of stereo depth and spatial frequency on colour constancy. In the case of an inconsistent illumination change, colour constancy was reduced if the test patch and background were in the same depth plane (2-D condition), but not if they were separated in depth (3-D condition). Furthermore, colour constancy was slightly better in the 3-D inconsistent condition than in the 2-D inconsistent condition. It is concluded that depth segmentation supports colour constancy in scenes with inconsistent illumination changes. Processes of depth segmentation are implemented at an early sensory stage of colour constancy, and they define visual regions within which the effects of illuminant changes are discounted for separately. The results support recent models that posit such implementation of scene segmentation in colour constancy.     

Immunizing the self: self-concept stabilization through reality-adaptive self-definitions

Processes of self-concept immunization are introduced as a way of reconciling self-concept protection against threatening information with the necessity of acknowledging own failure or losses. Self-immunization works by adaptively changing the subjective operationalization of personal traits, such that skills that individuals believe themselves to be good at are conceived as highly diagnostic, whereas skills that persons do not believe they possess are considered less diagnostic. Three studies are presented to investigate this stabilizing process. Correlational as well as experimental and longitudinal data support the assumption that self-immunization stabilizes central and abstract aspects of the self-concept without ignoring negative information on concrete skills.     

Book reviews

Women in the Footsteps of the Buddha. Struggle for Liberation in the Therigāthā . Katheryn R. Blackstone, 1998, London, Curzon Press xiv + 186 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0962 2

The Supreme Wisdom of the Upanisads. An Introduction. Klaus G. Witz, 1998, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass xxv + 558 pp., hb Rs 700, ISBN 81 208 1573 4

The Original Analects: Sayings of Confucius and his Successors. E. Bruce Brooks & A. Takeo Brooks (Trans.), 1998 New York, Columbia University Press 368 pp., ISBN 0 2311 0430 8     

The Relationships Among Counselor-Trainees' Gender,Cognitive Development,and White Racial Identity: Implications for Counselor Training

In a study of 82 White counselor trainees enrolled in 3 graduate programs, gender and the lowest stage of cognitive development were found to significantly contribute to the variance in lower levels of the White racial identity. Male trainees who tended to think in dichotomous terms and look to authority to provide the correct answers tended to report attitudes about race reflected in lower levels of White racial identity. Significant relationships were not found between higher stages of cognitive development and higher levels of White racial identity. Implications for training are presented and discussed.     

Book reviews

Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity: moral education and economic culture in Japan and the four mini‐dragons Tu Wei‐Ming (Ed.), 1996 Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press ii + 418pp., hb £28.50, pb £12.50, ISBN 0 674 16086 X (hb)

The Recluse of Loyang: Shao Yung and the moral evolution of early Sung thought Don J. Wyatt, 1996 Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press xii + 340 pp., hb (price not given), ISBN 0 8248 1755 9

Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School and questions of nationalism James W. Heisig & John C. Maraludo (Eds), 1995 Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press hb $40.00, pb $19.95

Untying the Knots in Buddhism. Selected essays Buddhist Tradition Series Volume 28, 1997 Alex Wayman 1997 Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass x + 618 pp, hb Rs. 495; ISBN 81 208 1321 9

Historical Dictionary of Hinduism Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 13 Bruce M. Sullivan 1997 Lanham, MD & London, The Scarecrow Press xviii, 346 pp, pb £46.55, ISBN 0 8108 3327 1

Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion. Eastern and Western thought (New and enlarged edition; first 1980) William L. Reese, 1996 New York, Humanities Press xiv + 856 pp., pb, ISBN 0 391 03864 8