Is This Relevant? Physician Perceptions,Clinical Relevance,and Religious Content in Clinical Interactions

Despite wide support among physicians for practicing patient‐centered care, clinical interactions are primarily driven by physicians’ perception of relevance. While some will perceive a connection between religion and patient health, this relevance will be less apparent for others. I argue that physician responses when religious/spiritual topics come up during clinical interactions will depend on their own religious/spiritual background. The more central religion is for the physician, the greater his or her perception of religion's impact on health outcomes and his or her inclusion of religion/spirituality within clinical interactions. Using a nationally representative sample of physicians in the United States and mediated path models, I estimate models for five different physician actions to evaluate these relationships. I find that a physician's religious background is strongly associated with whether or not he or she thinks religion impacts health outcomes, which is strongly predictive of inclusion. I also find that not all of the association between inclusion and physicians’ religious background is mediated by thinking religion impacts health outcomes. Issues of religion's relevance for medicine are important to the degree that religious beliefs are an important dimension of patients’ lives.     

Transmettre la relation de service par l’interaction tutorale: le cas des facteurs

Based on data gathered from naturalistic observation, the article analyses the communicative activity implemented by postmen involved in tutoring users and their apprentices. The occupational situation observed is that of mail distribution, and the critical moments selected are those which bring customer relations into play. We examine the role of the other in the way three tutors pass on their customer relations skills. We show that their means of interaction and understanding situations differ widely.     

The reinforcing properties of aggressive vs nonaggressive social interactions in isolated male ICR mice (Mus musculus)

Isolated male ICR mice in a T-maze consistently selected the goal box which enabled them to fight another mouse if the alternative goal box allowed no social interaction (Experiment 1). However, if the alternative choice enabled the isolated mice to interact with another mouse through a mesh screen which prevented fighting, the preference for the opportunity to fight did not appear (Experiment 2). Because the visual, olfactory, and auditory stimuli available through the screen appeared to be as attractive as the stimuli provided by the additional opportunity to fight, it is not necessary to conclude that the stimuli reinforcing the choice behavior in Experiment 1 were provided by fighting. Since there is no compelling reason to conclude that fighting is a primary reinforcer for these isolated mice, it is not necessary to argue that the high incidence of isolation-induced fighting is the reflection of a primary aggressive motive.     

The Prevention of Children's Maladaptive Fears

The authors address the prophylactic value of behavioral techniques in relation to children's maladaptive fears. The major settings of interest from the viewpoint of preventing children's maladaptive fears are the home, school and health-care settings. Encouraging findings have been reported in the use of film-modeling with children about to undergo dental treatment, tonsillectomies, injections, etc. Several theoretical explanations (stimulus pre-exposure, reciprocal inhibition, reinforcement contingencies, self-efficacy) of the success of such interventions can be advanced to affect the outcome of maladaptive fear prevention programs.     

Temperament in early childhood and peer interactions in third grade: The role of teacher–child relationships in early elementary grades

Children's interactions with peers in early childhood have been consistently linked to their academic and social outcomes. Although both child and classroom characteristics have been implicated as contributors to children's success, there has been scant research linking child temperament, teacher–child relationship quality, and peer interactions in the same study. The purpose of this study is to examine children's early temperament, rated at preschool age, as a predictor of interactions with peers (i.e., aggression, relational aggression, victimization, and prosociality) in third grade while considering teacher–child relationship quality in kindergarten through second grades as a moderator and mediator of this association. The sample (N = 1364) was drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results from structural equation models indicated that teacher–child conflict in early elementary grades mediated links between children's temperament and later peer interactions. Findings underscore the importance of considering children's temperament traits and teacher–child relationship quality when examining the mechanisms of the development of peer interactions.     

Generalization in a child's oppositional behavior across home and school settings

A 9-year-old clinic-referred boy, his mother, and his teacher were observed in 38 home and 38 school sessions on the same days. Categories of the boy's oppositional behavior and the inappropriate social attention of his mother and teacher were graphed to visually inspect changes during baseline, a parent-training phase, a follow-up phase, and a final parent-training booster phase. Parent-training phases produced reductions in the mother's inappropriate attention and in the boy's oppositional behavior, whereas the follow-up and baseline phases were associated with higher rates of these categories. Generalization occurred in the school across these home phases, as seen in the increase in rates of the boy's problem behavior, despite the lack of change in his teacher's attention. Correlational analyses of proportion scores reflecting the boy's home-school oppositional behavior and mother-teacher social attention suggested his responsiveness to relative changes in adult social contingencies across settings.