试论特殊儿童心理学研究的特点与方法

本文在参考国外有关资料及结合自己研究的基础上,提出了特殊儿童心理学研究的一些基本特点,介绍了适合特殊儿童心理学研究的一些方法。同时,对研究中常用的质的研究与单一被试实验研究的方法论问题进行了讨论。     

威廉斯综合症及其研究现状

威廉斯综合症是一种上世纪 60年代才被人类认识的疾病。该病症有特殊的生理、行为和认知异常 ,脑发育伴随着结构和临床异常。本文对国外40年的研究成果进行了总结 ,初步介绍了威廉斯综合症的症状表现、认知特征、行为特征及诊断治疗方面的研究现状 ,最后对该领域的研究提出了展望。     

Innovative Retention Methods in Longitudinal Research: A Case Study of the Developmental Trends Study

Minimizing participant attrition is vital to the success of longitudinal research. The Developmental Trends Study (DTS), a longitudinal study of the development of disruptive behavior disorders, has achieved a low attrition rate throughout the study. The development of early retention strategies, managing contact and scheduling history through the use of electronic databases, interviewer persistence, and the emergence of new electronic search methods have contributed to the success of our study. A literature review of retention methodology and practical solutions to maintain participant cooperation is described. A case study of the DTS is presented to inform researchers in longitudinal research on new methods used to maintain high retention rates.     

Medical Decision-Making: An Argument for Narrative and Metaphor

This study examines the processes ofdecision-making used by intensive care(critical care) specialists. Ninety-ninespecialists completed a questionnaire involvingthree clinical cases, using a novel methodologyinvestigating the role of uncertainty andtemporal-related factors, and exploring a rangeof ethical issues. Validation and triangulationof the results was done via a comparison studywith a medically lay, but highly informed groupof 37 law students. For both study groups,constructing reasons for a decision was largelyan interpretative and imaginative exercise thatwent beyond the data (as presented), commonlyresulting in different reasons supporting thesame conclusions and similar reasons supportingopposite conclusions. The skills of ethicalimagination and interpretation were related toan individual's prior lived experience,construed in the broadest sense. Application ofthese skills of ethical imagination andinterpretation always occurred, to some degree,in a state of uncertainty and almost alwaysinvolved temporal relationships.Using these results, a theory of ethicaldecision-making is proffered. Three levels ortypes of reasoning processes may be present.Type I decision-making involves the applicationof rules, usually in a deductive fashion. TypeII decision-making is characterised by aprocess where a plurality of reasons arebalanced, weighed and sifted with each other.Type III decision-making is intimately linkedwith respondents lived experiences and `crafts'the content of type I and II reasoningprocesses, via the application of ethicalimagination and interpretation. Relationshipsbetween these three types of reasoningprocesses, and with narrative ethics, are alsodiscussed.     

Book reviews

This paper begins with a critical evaluation of British counselling psychology's aspirations for a scientific basis and considers some of the consequences in terms of theoretical assumptions and research practice. Through identifying certain empirical, theoretical and ideological problems inherent in the dominant tradition of quantifying inferred cognitive constructs (using the example of trainee self-talk), an alternative framework of discursive psychology is simultaneously introduced. the argument is made for a discursive study of storied meanings by trainee counselling psychologists about themselves and their work. This would potentially address two pivotal research areas. First, it affords both a personal and yet socially embedded framework for an increased understanding and more sensitive evaluation of the training process (with its acquisition of skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, etc.). Second, it offers an alternative approach to the problematic area of understanding unique and generic interactions between practitioners and their preferred psychological model(s) of therapy, thus challenging the theoretical and research cul-de-sac of competing modernist visions of purism, eclecticism and integration. Extending from these observations two research possibilities are suggested.     

Ethical Conflicts in Commercialization of University Research in the Post–Bayh–Dole Era

Protection of intellectual property as well as its exploitation for monetary benefit have existed for centuries. However, commercialization of intellectual property had not entered the precincts of academic universities in a significant way until the introduction of the Bayh–Dole Act in the 1980s in the United States. The post–Bayh–Dole era has seen a quantitative increase in patenting activity in universities. This article summarizes the ethical conflicts ushered in by increasing commercialization of academic university research. Activities related to the protection and commercial exploitation of intellectual property have led to changes in academic culture that have given room for debate between the puritans and the modernists. Issues contended by the two groups have been identified, and both sides of the argument are discussed. The key to achieving “responsible commercialization of research” is to balance the Bayh–Dole ethos with the traditional Mertonian norms of academic research.     

Current Treatment Strategies for Sexually Abused Children

SUMMARY

Given the disturbingly high prevalence of child sexual abuse, the expertise of medical and mental health professionals in treating child sexual abuse victims is essential. Relevant issues in treating these children include the mindfulness of developmental considerations, incorporation of a multi-modal therapeutic evaluation approach, clarification of treatment goals, appropriate use of and integration of various treatment modalities, and effective treatment termination. This article provides an introduction aid overview of treatment of sexually abused children of all ages, from preschoolers to adolescents, with special emphasis on the importance of developmentally linked evaluation and treatment strategies. Treatment is discussed in terms of goals, stages from evaluation to termination, and formats and modalities including individual psychotherapy, family psychotherapy, group psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, to provide a comprehensive overview of current treatment strategies for sexually abused children.