Dimensions of Problem Behavior in institutionalized retardates

A factor analysis of teacher ratings of 55 items of deviant behavior in a sample of 252 institutionalized retardates resulted in the emergence of three interpretable factors. Two factors clearly represented the broad-band dimensions of conduct disorder and anxiety-withdrawal, while the third reflected psychotic behavior. Only conduct disorder was related to age, sex, trace, or intellectual level.     

Attitudes towards single women

Empirical studies of attitudes towards, and the sociopsychological characteristics of single women have been neglected by social scientists. As a minority group, subject to normative judgements of their sex-role behavior, single women are vulnerable to prejudicial evaluations by married people of both sexes. The present study investigated aspects of the social environment which have positive or negative consequences for single women. A survey was conducted of N=48 male and female married subjects in an Australian city. Major findings were that (a) married people have little or no contact with single women; (b) males tend to be more negative in their evaluations of single women than females; and (c) most females can allow for the possibility of a major sex role other than that involving marriage.     

Discussions on the large group

At the heart of this article are dialogues with three distinguished large group leaders: Patrick de Mare, Earl Hopper and Lionel Kreeger. They address, with Yvonne Agazarian, some of the major issues in leading large groups: terror and chaos, projective identification, annihilation anxiety, and the impact of size, structure, and boundary management on the potential for change and transformation in the large group. Also discussed are the twin heritage of both psychodynamic and sociological theory and the influence of psychoanalysis, basic assumption theory, information theory, general systems theory, and field theory on the current understanding of large group as the context for therapeutic change. The authors also introduce a theory of living human systems, which views the large group as one system in a hierarchy of isomorphic systems and identifies the subgroup as the fulcrum for change. From this systems-centered perspective, changing the structure and function of communication within subgroups simultaneously changes both the large group and the individual subgroup members.FAGPA is a consulting affiliate of Friends Hospital and maintains a private practice in Philadelphia. Dr. Agazarian has spent the last 30 years developing the theory of living human systems and systems-centered group and individual therapy.Frances B. Carter, M.S.S., is a consulting affiliate of Friends Hospital and maintains a private practice in Philadelphia.     

Evaluation of the diagnostic interview for children and adolescents for use in general population samples

This article presents evaluative data on the use of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and AdolescentsRevised (DICAR) to classify DSM-IIIR disorders in the general population. Data for the analyses came from a probability sample (N=251) of parentchild/adolescent dyads aged 6 to 16 separately administered the DICAR on two occasions, 10 to 20 days apart, by trained lay interviewers and child psychiatrists. Data are presented on prevalence,testretest reliability, parentchild/adolescent agreement, and trained lay interviewerchild psychiatrist agreement. High prevalences of oppositional defiant disorder derived from parent assessments and overanxious disorder and dysthymia derived from adolescent assessments suggest that these disorders may be overidentified. Interview data provided by 6 to 11year olds to classify the internalizing disorders were too unreliable to be useful. Agreement between parentchild/adolescent dyads was generally low while agreement between trained lay interviewerschild psychiatrists was generally high.This work was supported by funds from the National Health Research and Development Program (grant number 6606-3760-42) and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, and was carried out by the Child Epidemiology Unit, Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University and the Child and Family Centre, Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Boyle is supported by a William T. Grant Foundation Faculty Scholar Award; Dr. Offord by a National Health Scientist Award, Health and Welfare Canada; Dr. Szatmari by a Research Fellowship, Ontario Mental Health Foundation; and Dr. Fleming by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award. The authors wish to thank the Hamilton Board of Education, particularly Mr. Keith Reilly and Mr. Owen Jackson; principals and teachers of the Board; and parents and students for their help on this project. Our appreciation also extends to Ms. Barb Hall who assisted in the analysis of the data.     

University Campus Consultation: Opportunities and Limitations

Consultation on a university campus is an important adjunct mental health service to individual and small-group counseling. It serves as a preventive and an early identification resource for both emotional-social and educational-vocational problems. Interventions with faculty, staff, and campus organizations are made possible with a consultation service. Consultation projects have enhanced support networks for ethnic-minority students and increased the humanization of the campus for all students.     

Deconstructing 'brainwashing' within cults as an aid to counselling psychologists

With the approach of the new millennium there was increased activity within many of the new cultic movements. Many of these organizations promise a future paradise on earth, and can be identified as millenarian cults. Others predicted the end of the world with the focus for this event being the new millennium, the beginning of which is mutable, some claiming it for the year 2000 others the year 2001. The date for the end of the world can by quite idiosyncratic. It was, for instance, believed by the Movement for the Restoration of the Twelve Commandments to be due in March 2000, when over 1000 members of this particular Ugandan cult lost their lives, many through strangulation. The death toll was a stark demonstration of what appears to be some form of extreme control exercised within such groups. It has been estimated that there are between 500 and 800 different cults active in the United Kingdom with membership ranging from under ten people to thousands. This activity indicates that counselling psychologists need to be aware of the problem of the psychological damage with which some members or ex-members of cults continue to present and of the techniques of control practised within the cult and the effect that these techniques have on members. These types of techniques and the resultant negative psychological consequences are the focus of this paper. This paper aims to begin to educate counselling psychologists in the techniques used within cults which effect social control. It intends to equip counselling psychologists to work with a group of clients, that they will meet on an increasing basis as the new millennium, whatever date is allocated to it, approaches and passes. That is if heaven on earth or the earth's destruction does not materialize.     

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP ) and the Malleability of Ageist Attitudes

The Psychological Record - The current study examined the malleability of implicit attitudes using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). In Experiment 1, “similar” and...     

Modeling the Bullying Prevention Program Preferences of Educators: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

We used discrete choice conjoint analysis to model the bullying prevention program preferences of educators. Using themes from computerized decision support lab focus groups (n = 45 educators), we composed 20 three-level bullying prevention program design attributes. Each of 1,176 educators completed 25 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of the study’s attribute levels. Latent class analysis yielded three segments with different preferences. Decision Sensitive educators (31%) preferred that individual schools select bullying prevention programs. In contrast, Support Sensitive educators (51%) preferred that local school boards chose bullying prevention programs. This segment preferred more logistical and social support at every stage of the adoption, training, implementation, and long term maintenance processes. Cost Sensitive educators (16%) showed a stronger preference for programs minimizing costs, training, and implementation time demands. They felt prevention programs were less effective and that the time and space in the curriculum for bullying prevention was less adequate. They were less likely to believe that bullying prevention was their responsibility and more likely to agree that prevention was the responsibility of parents. All segments preferred programs supported by the anecdotal reports of colleagues from other schools rather than those based on scientific evidence. To ensure that the bullying prevention options available reflect the complex combination of attributes influencing real world adoption decisions, program developers need to accommodate the differing views of the Decision, Support, and Cost Sensitive segments while maximizing the support of parents and students.     

The Quest for ‘A Common Word’: Initial Christian Responses to a Muslim Initiative

To a world experiencing heightened suspicion and distrust between Christians and Muslims, a call for dialogue and understanding between the two faiths may seem a welcome event. Such a call was issued in October of 2007 when 138 Muslims from around the world sent an invitation to Christian leaders to cease their mutual fear and diatribe, find some measure of theological common ground, and work together for world peace. What motivated such an initiative, and how has it been received? In this essay we will examine some of the reasons for the call, the content of the invitation, and the kinds of responses given by Christian individuals, denominations and communities.     

Acquired equivalence in human discrimination learning: the role of propositional knowledge

The current study investigated the role of propositional knowledge in human acquired equivalence effects. Across 5 experiments, human adults were trained to associate different visual stimuli. Subsequent procedures presented training that was either consistent or inconsistent with the previous associations. More accurate responding in the consistent versus inconsistent condition reflected an acquired equivalence effect. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that a previously reported divergence between verbal and associative processes was likely due to instructional control. Experiments 2-5 further examined the role of verbal processes and demonstrated that acquired equivalence may be produced with verbal instructions alone and critically through a combination of instructions and actual stimulus pairings. The current data not only challenge a purely associative account but actively support an interaction between verbal and associative processes in producing the acquired equivalence effect in humans.