Relation between musical aptitude and intelligence among mentally retarded, advantaged, and disadvantaged subjects

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in scores of 59 mentally retarded adults (mild, moderate, severe, or profound), 133 advantaged, and 130 disadvantaged (low income) children in Grades 1, 2, 3 on the Primary Measures of Music Audiation. Test-retest reliabilities for the Tonal and Rhythm subtests were .81 and .86, respectively, for the retarded group. Analysis of variance indicated that the mildly retarded children performed significantly better than other groups of retarded children on these two tests. 2 x 3 analyses of variance indicated that third graders from both advantaged and disadvantaged groups performed significantly better than the first or second graders on both subtests and that advantaged children performed significantly better than the disadvantaged. However, disadvantaged children made greater gains, especially for third graders, than the advantaged.     

Analysis of long-term stress reactions in emergency room patients: An initial study

The psychological stress reactions of 44 family medicine patients who were treated in the emergency room were examined approximately a year after the event. Patients were assessed on several psychological measures, including one for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and on their perception of how stressful the event was initially and now. Results show continuing stress reactions related to the emergency room event. Three patients endorsed symptoms indicating full PTSD and 13 appeared to have at least partial PTSD. Age appeared to be a factor in the presence of stress symptoms and in degree of perceived communication with the physician.     

A Narrative Analysis of Sibling Grief

Sibling grief is linked to serious physical and mental health outcomes, yet remains the least researched of all family bereavement. This exploratory study created a shared sibling grief narrative. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 27 participants who lost a sibling. Primary themes included Shared Life: Identity Within the Sibling Arrangement; Sibling Death: Pivotal Moments in Time; Life After Sibling Loss: Emotional Suffering, Life After Sibling Loss: Missing Roles & Changing Relationships; and The Sibling Lives On. The following study findings clarify the overlooked impact that sibling death has on the surviving sibling and demonstrate the crucial need for more sibling loss research.     

Validity of the Personality Assessment Screener in Veterans Referred for Psychological Testing

Screening for psychopathology is desirable in many settings where routine administration of full assessment batteries is not practical or cost efficient. The Personality Assessment Screener (PAS) is a 22-item self-report subset of Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) items that was designed to screen for respondents who would be likely to achieve a clinically significant PAI profile. In this study, the PAS demonstrated classification rates in a sample of veterans referred for psychological evaluations that were similar to those described in initial validation studies. In addition, the three-item Negative Affect element of the PAS demonstrated impressive reliability and sensitivity given its brevity. These results support the use of the PAS as a screening tool to indicate clinically significant PAI profiles among veterans.     

School-Based Secondary Prevention for Children with Disruptive Behavior: Initial Outcomes

First through fourth graders from 22 suburban elementary schools were screened for cross-setting disruptive behavior as eligibility criteria for participation in a longitudinal secondary prevention study aimed at reducing the risk for serious externalizing behavioral disorders. Three hundred nine subjects participated in either a multicomponent competence enhancement intervention (MCEI) or an information/attention control (IAC) condition over a 2-year period. Following baseline measurements, initial intervention effects were assessed at the end of intervention Year 1, at the beginning of intervention Year 2 (fall of the next school year), and at the end of intervention Year 2. Multisource assessments were not supportive of the efficacy of the MCEI over the IAC condition. Children in both groups rated themselves as improved over time in terms of increased adaptive skills and decreased school problems and internalizing symptoms. Teacher and parent ratings of externalizing behavior did not yield evidence of positive change, but teachers noted improved problem solving and observers noted a decrease in behavioral interference in both groups over time, possibly as a result of maturation.     

Sociocultural contexts for the early development of semiotic production

Children constantly encounter signs during cultural practices, although many theories do not fully acknowledge sociocultural aspects of semiotic development. The author examines research on cultural practices and contexts in which children learn to produce signs involving representational drawing and pretend play. This work is contrasted with more individualistic views of semiotic development that fail to adequately address sociocultural aspects of semiotic functioning to varying degrees. The author also presents a theoretical model for understanding the structure of any sign system and for comparing semiotic systems, using examples from the drawing and pretense literatures. It is proposed that the sign-making practices in which children participate are shaped by a complex hierarchy of conventions.     

Young Children and Adults’ Sensitivity to Contexts for Social Conventions in Make-Believe Play

The author focused on how young children understand the nature of social conventions relating to pretend play. Twenty 4-year-olds, fifteen 6-year-olds, and 20 adults (undergraduate students) listened to vignettes in which a new child in each vignette violated a convention used by other children while playing. Participants indicated whether the violations would be corrected and whether someone needed to teach the conventions to the new children. The scope of a convention (wide versus narrow) in combination with how long the convention has been used affected 6-year-olds’ responses but not the responses of younger children or adults. In addition, there were age-related differences in participants’ beliefs about who could teach characters about the conventions and why characters might not need to be taught by others. These results demonstrate that children at the start of middle childhood can be sensitive to contextual differences in the conventions that shape everyday activities more so than adults and younger children.     

Taking Representation Seriously: Rethinking Bioethics Through Clint Eastwood��s Million Dollar Baby

In this article, I propose a new model for understanding the function of representation in bioethics. Bioethicists have traditionally judged representations according to a mimetic paradigm, in which representations of bioethical dilemmas are assessed based on their correspondence to the "reality" of bioethics itself. In this article, I argue that this mimetic paradigm obscures the interaction between representation and reality and diverts bioethicists from analyzing the tensions in the representational object itself. I propose an anti-mimetic model of representation that is attuned to how representations can both maintain and potentially subvert dominant conceptions of bioethics. I illustrate this model through a case study of Clint Eastwood's film Million Dollar Baby. By focusing attention on the film's lack of adherence bioethical procedures and medical science, critics missed how an analysis of its representational logic provides a means of reimagining both bioethics and medical practice. In my conclusion, I build off this case study to assess how an incorporation of representational studies can deepen-and be deepened by-recent calls for interdisciplinarity in bioethics.     

Creation and Validation of an Observational Tool to Assess Children's Domain-General Skills at Museum Exhibits

Abstract

Understanding visitor experiences is an important focus for visitor research in attractions such as museums, zoos, and heritage sites because the visitor experience is the core product of the interaction between the visitor and the activities, events, and environments they encounter. This article describes the development of an instrument designed to capture multiple facets of the visitor experience using a simple and unobtrusive adjective checklist. The checklist has been tested and used at a range of attractions, including museums, art galleries, science centers, zoos, and aquariums. The instrument allows visitors’ responses to the experiential offerings of each site to be captured and graphically displayed, as well as providing individual measures on 15 dimensions. The instrument can be used to support further research and theory development as well as exhibit design and evaluation. Examples of such applications are discussed.