A validity study of existential/dialectical marital questionnaire [EDMQ]: A psychometric questionnaire for assessing marital interaction

This paper reports the successful development of a psychometric questionnaire for analyzing marital functioning and interaction based on an existential/dialectical model originally presented by Charny as the basis for a clinical model for rating couples,Existential/Dialectical Marital Profile [EDMP]. The clinical model and psychometric questionnaire address five main areas of functioning in marriage: family management, companionship, relationship and communication, attraction and sexuality, and parenting; as well as five main dimensions of marital relationship: competence, commitment, respect, power, and closeness.Presented at the Conference of the International Family Therapy Association, Amsterdam, May, 1993. This study was completed as a master's thesis by Shlomit Asineli in collaboration with and under the supervision of Professor Israel Charny at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University.     

Ⅱ型糖尿病患者的行为特征研究

使用修订行为特征问卷调查了１１２名Ⅱ型糖尿病患者和１４７名健康对照组。结果表明： １．男性患者比健康人更加抑郁;２．女性患者比健康人更加焦虑、抑郁和愤怒;３．不论是男性 还是女性,此问卷可显著地区分这两组,越抑郁的人,越不焦虑的人,越缺少合理化这种心理 防御机制的人,越可能是糖尿病患者。结合其它的研究结果,认为存在着Ⅱ型糖尿病易感性 行为特征,主要表现为：高抑郁;低焦虑;对应激的唤醒水平低;不善于使用心理防御机制来 保护和伪装自己;寻找一些有趣的事情：回避痛苦事件;不善于延迟的满足,要求马上得到满 足;注意易分散等。     

Optimizing Expression of the Common Human Genome for Child Development

Molecular biology has moved the gene-environment issue in behavior genetics to how and when expression of the human genome is triggered and maintained. How does environment influence gene expression? How many genes are expressed in producing a given behavior? The genome is a data bank and does not automatically create a working brain. The body and brain grow well when (a) endocrine hormones initiate and promote the expression of genes, (b) nutrition is sufficient to sustain the production of proteins, and (c) stress does not suppress gene expression. The growth of brain synapses also requires appropriate neural stimulation. To study gene expression, it is essential to view the complex biology of the cell from a system context that includes the entire genome plus the biological and psychological environments. Optimizing geneexpression for child growth can be achieved by a balance of medicine, nutrition, and appropriate physical, educational, and psychological environments.     

Organizational response to recommendations based on a study of stress among correctional officers

A study was recently commissioned by the South Australian Government to study the nature and sources of stress among correctional (prison) officers. The paper reports on the key variables found to have significant predictive effects on strain (a composite measure comprising psychological distress, physical ill-health symptoms, job dissatisfaction, and work-home conflict). These included demographic variables (length of service, finances), personal variables (negative affectivity), work environment variables (work role ambiguity, institutional relationship concerns, inmate concerns, worktime concerns, low autonomy, and low involvement), and emotional suppression. Recommendations were formulated including: the appointment of a full-time mental health counselor, organizational and individual strategies aimed to improve supervisor support and management training, greater participation in organizational decision making, and post-shift debriefing. It was also suggested that in selecting correctional officers those displaying high levels of negative affectivity should be screened out. Finally, it was recommended that intervention should target the most vulnerable individuals, including shiftworkers, officers who had been employed in the organization the longest, officers currently on stress leave and officers, who have previously been on stress leave and have returned to work. The paper reports on the organizational response to the recommendations and the implications of the study are discussed in the context of ongoing surveillance and evaluation of the impact of intervention strategies.     

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE DIALOGUE PROPOSED BY WILLIAM KLINK?

Abstract. Klink rejects the use of ecological models in environmental decision making because their predictions cannot be tested by rigorous scientific methods. I argue that models that cannot be tested according to the rigorous standards of the physical sciences can still be considered “scientific”; they are useful (and, in practice, used) for assessing the impacts of human actions on the environment and choosing between alternative courses of action. It is, however, important to be aware of the uncertainties and to make corrections as new data and insights become available. The interplay between (1) model-based decisions and action and (2) their consequences and subsequent corrections can be regarded as a dialogue between humans and nature (or God) in the sense proposed by Klink. Klink also claims that future actions should be informed by the larger vision of theology and should not be based on science. I suggest that science has an indispensible role. The larger vision is needed to respond to the fundamental religious question: How should I live—and why? But this question cannot be answered without first addressing the fundamental scientific question: How does the world work? I suggest that responses to the first question can be formulated as visions of a future state of existence that we feel compelled to strive to realize, and that science is necessary to provide “maps of reality” needed to realize visions. I also suggest that Christian traditions can probably provide adequate visions; the crucial need is for improving our “maps of reality.”     

初中生羞怯与手机依赖的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

为探讨初中生羞怯、疏离感、班级心理环境和手机依赖的关系,采用羞怯量表、青少年疏离感量表、班级心理环境量表和手机依赖指数量表对山东省两所学校的1077名初一至初三年级的学生进行调查。结果显示：（1）羞怯显著正向预测初中生手机依赖;（2）疏离感在初中生羞怯与手机依赖之间起完全中介作用;（3）班级心理环境对中介效应的后半段路径起调节作用,高班级心理环境会缓解疏离感对手机依赖的影响,但在极高疏离感水平下,高班级心理环境反而会加剧个体的手机依赖水平。研究有助于了解羞怯对手机依赖的复杂影响机制,对预防以及减少初中生手机依赖具有一定的现实意义。     

Attention of 4-month infants to discrepancy and babyishness

A set of four facial stimuli derived from the Bolton standards of craniofacial development representing a human male at 6 months, 3, 8, and 18 years of age were used in a test of Lorenz's concept of babyishness and of the discrepancy hypothesis. Each 4-month-old subject was habituated to a criterion with one of the four stimuli and then presented with one of the four as a new stimulus. The design and analysis permitted the response to a new stimulus to be broken down into a component attributable to the physical characteristics of the new stimulus and a part attributable to its discrepancy from the familiar standard. The data revealed longer looking at the infant facial stimulus, but no difference in a rating of affect accompanying fixation. This lent partial support to the babyishness concept for infant subjects. Both fixation and affect increased monotonically with magnitude of discrepancy. The increasing rather than curvilinear result presumably derived from the failure of these stimuli (which were common to the infant's experience) to generate extreme levels of subjective uncertainty.     

ALPHABET LETTERS AS TOKENS: TRAINING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN LETTER RECOGNITION AND LABELLING DURING A TOKEN EXCHANGE PERIOD1

In token economies, we typically consider the instructional opportunities available during the periods of token delivery, but may overlook educational opportunities available at the time of token exchange. The present studies examined the use of labelled tokens and routines in the token exchange period to teach alphabet letter recognition to economically disadvantaged preschool children. The children earned points for a variety of academic behaviors in an early morning classroom setting. At no time were alphabet letters introduced or taught during class. Later, during a midmorning token exchange period, operated according to a department store model, the children were given their points in the form of poker chips inscribed with upper-case alphabet letters. They were required to discriminate among these lettered chips before exchanging them for backup reinforcers sold in four or five stores. To assess alphabet letter knowledge, probe evaluations were periodically conducted in which questions requiring alphabet letter recognition and labelling were asked. The answers to these questions were not reinforced. Alphabet letter training during token exchange periods consisted of having a child display the lettered chips, whereupon a teacher asked a number of recognition-type questions. Wrong answers were corrected, and correct answers praised. The child was allowed to exchange the tokens when the number required for a purchase had been recognized correctly. The periodic probe evaluations revealed consistent increases in correct alphabet letter recognition and, as a byproduct, alphabet labelling was facilitated, even though not explicitly trained. Thus, once the letters were recognized, correct labelling shortly followed. The sequential training of new sets of letters was used to demonstrate experimental control within subjects for two children. A control for exposure to the letters was provided by using the labelled tokens, but requiring the counting of chips rather than letter discrimination in the exchange period for two other children. This procedure produced chance levels of letter recognition, which were subsequently improved when the discrimination procedure was added. Posttraining probes, conducted at one and three weeks after training when the labelled tokens and discrimination routines were no longer in use, revealed the same high levels of recognition and labelling performance found during training. Thus, it appears that labelled tokens may be used to teach discriminations during token exchange periods so long as responses are differentiated on the basis of relevant dimensions of the stimuli.