Course of Treatment During a Cohort-Based Inpatient Program for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This study examined one group of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the course of a four month inpatient treatment program. The aim of the study was to examine treatment process factors that may contribute to the generally poor outcome reported in previous studies. Group members made weekly ratings in the domains of PTSD symptoms, morale, interpersonal relationships, and physical problems. Results contrasted with clinical assumptions usually made regarding the treatment process in these programs. Despite an appearance of cohesion among group members, variation of scores on functional domains was explained largely by individual differences. Progress through the program showed a strongly linear pattern, with no phase effects. Somatic complaints did not increase during the phase when traumatic material was explored. Degree of improvement or worsening was best predicted by level of PTSD symptoms at admission, indicating that more symptomatic veterans did worse in the program. Additional factors of race, combat exposure, childhood abuse, and application for disability had no effect on the process variables measured.     

Improving staff nutritional practices in community-based group homes: evaluation, training, and management.

We evaluated the effectiveness of a staff training and management package on nutritional practices in two community-based group homes serving adults with developmental disabilities. Food storage, menu development, and meal preparation were trained in a multiple baseline format, followed by supervisor feedback. All staff behaviors increased after training and were maintained for up to 1 year. Biological indices reflected collateral improvements in the health of consumers, and surveys of staff and parents established social validity.     

Overconfidence and underconfidence: When and why people underestimate (and overestimate) the competition

It is commonly held that people believe themselves to be better than others, especially for outcomes under their control. However, such overconfidence is not universal. This paper presents evidence showing that people believe that they are below average on skill-based tasks that are difficult. A simple Bayesian explanation can account for these effects and for their robustness: On skill-based tasks, people generally have better information about themselves than about others, so their beliefs about others’ performances tend to be more regressive (thus less extreme) than their beliefs about their own performances. This explanation is tested in two experiments that examine these effects’ robustness to experience, feedback, and market forces. The discussion explores the implications for strategic planning in general and entrepreneurial entry in particular.     

Regulatory focus and investment decisions in small groups

Regulatory Focus Theory was applied to small interactive groups. Based on previous research, it was expected that groups with a promotion focus would discuss gain-relevant information, whereas groups with a prevention focus would be concerned with potential losses. Furthermore, promotion groups were expected to make riskier decisions than prevention groups. Regulatory focus was manipulated by rewarding good or penalizing poor group performance on a preliminary task. Subsequently, three-person groups discussed several investment funds and made a consensual investment decision. Results supported the hypotheses and suggested that regulatory focus requires time to exert its influence in groups.     

Birkhoff-like sheaf representation for varieties of lattice expansions

Given a variety we study the existence of a class such that S1 every A can be represented as a global subdirect product with factors in and S2 every non-trivial A is globally indecomposable. We show that the following varieties (and its subvarieties) have a class satisfying properties S1 and S2: p-algebras, distributive double p-algebras of a finite range, semisimple varieties of lattice expansions such that the simple members form a universal class (bounded distributive lattices, De Morgan algebras, etc) and arithmetical varieties in which the finitely subdirectly irreducible algebras form a universal class (f-rings, vector groups, Wajsberg algebras, discriminator varieties, Heyting algebras, etc). As an application we obtain results analogous to that of Nachbin saying that if every chain of prime filters of a bounded distributive lattice has at most length 1, then the lattice is Boolean.We wish to thank Lic. Alfredo Guerin and Dr. Daniel Penazzi for helping us with linguistics aspects. We are indebted to the referee for several helpful suggestions. We also wish to thank Professor Mick Adams for providing us with several reprints and useful e-mail information on the subject.Suported by CONICOR and SECyT (UNC).     

班级辅导对改善初中生乐观心理品质的实验研究

以《生活取向测量修订版》、《儿童解释风格问卷》、《中国中学生心理健康量表》为评估工具,从积极心理学和积极心理健康教育的理念出发,对实验班进行8周的班级辅导。结果表明:班级心理辅导能改善和培养初中生乐观心理品质。     

Regional brain activity change predicts responsiveness to treatment for stuttering in adults

Developmental stuttering is known to be associated with aberrant brain activity, but there is no evidence that this knowledge has benefited stuttering treatment. This study investigated whether brain activity could predict progress during stuttering treatment for 21 dextral adults who stutter (AWS). They received one of two treatment programs that included periodic H₂¹⁵O PET scanning (during oral reading, monologue, and eyes-closed rest conditions). All participants successfully completed an initial treatment phase and then entered a phase designed to transfer treatment gains; 9/21 failed to complete this latter phase. The 12 pass and 9 fail participants were similar on speech and neural system variables before treatment, and similar in speech performance after the initial phase of their treatment. At the end of the initial treatment phase, however, decreased activation within a single region, L. putamen, in all 3 scanning conditions was highly predictive of successful treatment progress.     

BOOK REVIEWS

No abstract available for this article.     

Differentiated Citizenship and Contextualized Morality

Political theorists, increasingly, are realizing the virtues of contextuality to conceptual analysis. Just as theory may provide useful standards for the assessment of political practices, so may application of theoretical constructs within particular contexts provide a critical corrective to theory. This essay relates work undertaken within sociolegal studies applying a constitutive methodology to such efforts to contextualize political theorizing. The essay describes how the emphasis placed by constitutive theory on locality and meaning entails a contextual analysis. The essay then demonstrates how a constitutive and contextual approach can enhance our understanding of the moral issues surrounding differentiated citizenship policy. While the most obvious cost associated with differentiated citizenship policy is a loss in formal equality, a contextual assessment demonstrates the prospect of an even deeper, though ultimately contingent, moral loss in self-invention.     

促进大学新生环境适应的实验研究

目的探索运用班级心理辅导对大学新生适应环境的促进作用.方法选取某大学新生两个自然班级作为实验组和对照组.实验组进行为期两个月的班级心理辅导,对照组不做干预.结论:(1)班级心理辅导对促进大学新生的环境适应具有显著的效果.(2)利用大学自然班级进行心理辅导来改善新生的适应问题有其独特的优势.(3)高校应面向全体新生开展心理辅导工作.