The Science and Art of Integrating Psychodrama and Bernard’s Discrimination Model

This article presents the useful technique of Jacob L. Moreno’s psychodrama in counselor education supervision training. This article addresses how psychodrama can be used with student supervisors who are not sure which of Bernard’s discrimination model roles they are using in supervision. Bernard’s model uses three roles that help supervisors function successfully in their relationships with supervisees. Psychodrama may help student supervisors decide what action would be the most appropriate in a given supervision session. Student supervisors may also benefit from psychodrama in processing internal conflict they may experience in their supervisory role. Faculty members training new supervisors may use these techniques to help their student supervisors gain more awareness on how they view their relationships with supervisees.     

Self-control in children with autism: response allocation during delays to reinforcement.

This study examined the use of a progressive‐delay schedule of reinforcement to increase self‐control and decrease disruptive behavior in children with autism. When initially given the choice between an immediate smaller reinforcer and a larger delayed reinforcer, all participants chose the smaller reinforcer. When access to the larger reinforcer required either no activity or engaging in a concurrent task during the delay, all participants demonstrated both self‐control and preference for a response requirement. Disruptive behavior decreased during delays that required a concurrent task compared to sessions without an activity requirement.     

The Effects of School Bonding on High School Seniors’ Academic Achievement

The authors examine the effects of school bonding on academic achievement (measured by math achievement scores) in a sample of 12th graders from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 ( Ingels, Pratt, Rogers, Siegel, & Stutts, 2005 ). Components of school bonding have proximal and distal effects on academic achievement. Attachment to school and school involvement had direct effects on achievement; attachment to teachers and school commitment behaviors had indirect effects on achievement through school‐related delinquency and prior achievement. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

“You throw like a girl:” The effect of stereotype threat on women's athletic performance and gender stereotypes

Objectives“Stereotype threat” occurs when people perform worse at a task due to the pressure of a negative stereotype of their group's performance. We examined whether female athletes may underperform at an athletic task if prompted to think about gender stereotypes of athleticism. We also explored whether gender stereotypes regarding general athletic ability would be affected by a standard stereotype threat induction.DesignWe used a 2 (participant gender) × 2 (stereotype threat manipulation) factorial design with task performance and gender stereotypes of athleticism as dependent measures.MethodFemale and male tennis and basketball college student athletes performed two athletic tasks relevant to their sport: a difficult concentration task and an easier speed task. Participants were told beforehand that (1) there was a gender difference on the tasks (to induce stereotype threat) or (2) there was no gender difference (to remove any preexisting stereotype threat).ResultsOn the difficult task, women performed worse than men only when stereotype threat was induced. Performance on the easier speed task was unaffected by the stereotype information. Interestingly, women's beliefs regarding women's and men's general athleticism were also affected by the manipulation.ConclusionsWe concluded that one minor comment regarding a very specific athletic task may sometimes impair task performance and alter gender stereotypes of athleticism among women. Some implications for preventing negative stereotype threat effects are discussed.     

Caring,final ends and sports

In this essay I argue that sports at their best qualify as final ends, that is, as ends whose value is such that they ground not only the practices whose ends they are, but everything else we do as human agents. The argument I provide to support my thesis is derived from Harry Frankfurt's provocative work on the importance of the things we care about, more specifically, on his claim that it is by virtue of caring about things and practices, really caring about them – even loving them – we are able to regard and treat them as final ends. Sports, I claim, are paradigmatic examples of practices cared about and loved in these deep ways, and as such deserve to be considered, rather than dismissed because of their supposed triviality, as one of those ends around which a life most worth living can be legitimately forged.     

Doing Well: A SEM Analysis of the Relationships Between Various Activities of Daily Living and Geriatric Well-Being

An existing large data set, the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) with the subsequent addition of the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS) data, provides a rich data set for the examination of the activities of older adults. In this study HRS and CAMS data are used to examine relationships between various activities of daily living (ADLs) and well-being in older adults. Using structural equation modeling, influences of direct and indirect factors that affect older individuals' cognitive and emotional well-being are analyzed. The data suggest ability to perform ADLs has little to do with cognitive well-being, but is an influential factor in determining emotional well-being.     

Sources of Social Support: Examining Congregational Involvement,Private Devotional Activities,and Congregational Context

Previous studies examining the relationship between religion and providing social support have claimed that religious involvement and social networks explain the higher levels of social support among religious Americans. By limiting its focus to attenders of religious congregations, this study seeks to understand if private devotional activities and congregational context also matter for predicting the provision of social support in a highly religious sample. Utilizing a sample of attenders and their congregations from the 2008/2009 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, a national survey representative of American congregations, this study uses multilevel models to examine the relationships that congregational involvement, private devotional activities, and congregational context have with providing social support. Results suggest that, among attenders of religious congregations, congregational involvement and private devotional activities matter for predicting the provision of social support, but two aspects of congregational context—size and theology—do not.     

Anxiety and performance in runners: Effects of stress and anxiety on physical performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of state and trait anxiety on physical performance under both neutral and stressful conditions. In Study I, 43 male and female track athletes answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and twice underwent ergometric testing in the physiology laboratory after receiving a neutral or a stress-inducing instruction. In Study II, these 43 runners completed the state scale shortly before a test run in a practice session and once again just before the start in an official competition. Results showed a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety under the stress condition in both the laboratory and the field setting. At the same time, the mean physical performance, measured as physiological performance parameters (maximum oxygen intake, physical work capacity) or as running performance, significantly deteriorated under stress. The induced stress affected the heart rate in addition to the mere physical work load, with no sign of compensation occurring during the entire period of ergometric testing. Effects of anxiety on performance were tested by separate 2(trait) × 3(state) ANOVAs for each situation. For both laboratory situations, and for the practice situation as well, no significant relationships, neither linear nor nonlinear, were detected. In the competition situation, however, an inverted-U relationship was found in the low trait-anxious subgroup.     

Residents' Attitudes About On-Site Religious Activities: A Comparison of Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Two States

ABSTRACT

Twelve older adults were interviewed in two continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), one in Florida and the other in Wisconsin. Only the residents in Wisconsin maintained contact with local congregations, probably because most had always lived in communities not far from the CCRC. On-site religious activities such as worship and study groups were important because of the ways they ordered the week and the opportunities they offered for social interaction. In both locations, Protestant residents appreciated the opportunity to worship in ecumenical services conducted by clergy of different Protestant faith traditions. Catholic services were also available in both locations. Suggestions are offered about ways that faith communities can nourish the spiritual lives of persons living in CCRCs by working with chaplains and by conducting small prayer and study groups.