bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Developmental and Individual Differences in Children's Ability to Distinguish Reality from Fantasy
Authors: Dierker Lisa C. , Sanders Barbara
Published: May 2005

The present study focuses on children's developing ability to categorize real and pretend events, their understanding regarding the permanence of the state of pretense, and the potential effects that emotional tones have on these abilities. Children's involvement in imagination was also assessed as a possible factor contributing to individual differences in reality/fantasy understanding. Sixty male and female children selected from university preschool and kindergarten classes judged happy, neutral, and frightening pictures selected from children's books according to whether they believed that the event could happen in real life. Findings show that kindergartners perform significantly better than preschoolers in distinguishing real from pretend events. Overall, children made significantly fewer correct distinctions between reality and fantasy for the frightening pictures than for both the happy and neutral pictures. Individual difference analyses between children judged to be differentially involved in fantasy did not reveal any differences in their ability to distinguish between real and pretend events. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Sex Differences in Intrinsic Reading Motivation and Emotional Reading Experience
Authors: Van Der Bolt Lilian , Tellegen Saskia
Published: May 2005

This article deals with possible differences between boys and girls in the area of reading involvement. Reading involvement emanates from an intrinsic reading motivation: a need to read for affective gratification. The act of reading can be started intentionally and purposefully in order to attain this form of gratification. Perhaps girls differ from boys concerning the frequency with which they mention motives and reasons for the reading for affective gratification. Children may during reading, in connection with text contact, come in close proximity to emotions of a divergent kind and possibly undergo an emotional experience thereby. Perhaps boys and girls also differ from each other in the extent to which they experience emotions during reading.

In exploratory research into intrinsic reading motivation and emotional reading experience over 3000 pupils aged nine to seventeen completed a questionnaire. Girls and boys were divided approximately fifty-fifty. From statistical analysis of the research material it appeared that girls more frequently referred to motives which led to intentional use of books for affective gratification than did boys. More than boys, girls used books in order to find relief from boredom and loneliness, to reduce disagreeable tension, to achieve distraction etcetera.

During reading, boys as well as girls experienced a great variety of emotions such as fun, anger, and sadness. Both groups were equally caught up by euphoric (pleasant) emotions such as amusement. However, girls were more open to the experience of dysphoric (unpleasant) emotions while reading, such as grief and anger, with the result that they experienced these emotions more frequently than did boys. Also the “neutral” emotions such as interest and curiosity scored higher with girls than with their peers of the other sex.
The Cuban Health System: A Trial of a Comprehensive Service in a Poor Country
Authors: Stein Z. , Susser M.
Published: May 2005

This article reviews Cuban health programs in terms of six goals that seem to have been adopted, explicitly or implicitly, by the administration. Postrevolutionary Cuba has placed a high priority on health, and aims to create a health service that is comprehensive in scope and content, in population covered, and in organizational forms and levels of specialization. Within this service, the Cuban health administration has attempted to apply, with every appearance of success, what is known about the major diseases that affect their society. This health program has also focused on human needs, has tried to measure the effects of its activities, and has responded to evaluation. Some trends in Cuban health patterns are described from available data. With preventable diseases under control, Cuba now faces problems similar to those of developed countries. The new phase will require new approaches, with emphasis on the research techniques of epidemiology and the social sciences to develop and evaluate possible preventive approaches to chronic disease.
Spirituality in Death-Related Literature for Children
Authors: Corr Charles A.
Published: May 2005

Elsewhere (see “Bereavement, Grief, and Mourning in Death-Related Literature for Children” in this special issue) I have explained that as I prepared a series of annotated bibliographies on death-related literature for children and adolescents (Corr, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003a, 2003b), I realized that this literature was rich in many not-very-well explored topics. In particular, it struck me that themes related to spirituality often appear in this literature. Nevertheless, it does not appear that any formal studies of the spiritual dimensions that appear in this body of literature have been published in any of the major professional journals in the field of dying, death, and bereavement. In this article, I offer an initial attempt at rectifying that apparent gap in attention. I also hope to stimulate increased appreciation of this and other interesting facets of death-related literature that is intended to be read by or with children.
Human Rights versus Occupational Medicine
Authors: Atherley Gordon
Published: May 2005

This paper examines the conflict between the medical monitoring of workers and human rights. A lead regulation in force in Ontario, despite its absolute conflict with an important guideline established by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, is presented as an example of the erosion of human rights by certain legislated activities in occupational medicine. The question of whether the benefits of occupational medical activities outweigh the disadvantages attendant upon the erosion of human rights is raised. It is concluded that these are political and ethical issues, not merely technical ones, and should be debated publicly.
Attitudes toward Suicide and Conservatism: A Comparison of Chinese and United States Samples
Authors: Domino George , Lin Jianig , Chang Ouxiang
Published: May 2005

The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire and the Conservatism Scale were administered to two samples of respondents: seventy-three mainland Chinese adults and seventy-three United States adults of comparable age, gender, and socioeconomic level. The results indicated significant mean differences on all eight SOQ scales and on Conservatism. Chinese mean scores reflected higher agreement on the SOQ scales of mental illness, cry for help, and aggression, and higher disagreement on the right to die, religion, impulsivity, normality, and moral evil scales. Chinese scored in the more conservative direction, but in both samples the pattern of correlations between conservatism and SOQ scales was highly similar.
Understanding and Organizing Emotional Experience: Autobiographical Accounts of Traumatic Events
Authors: Stein Nancy L. , Trabasso Tom , Albro Elizabeth R.
Published: May 2005

Autobiographical accounts of traumatic and stressful emotional events reveal how we understand and organize personally meaningful experiences. Our analysis of traumatic and emotional narratives focuses on the ways in which the person's event memory predicts the impact of trauma and emotional experiences on psychological well-being (e.g., depression or positive morale) of both children and adults. Four primary factors account for the relationship between memory and psychological well-being: 1) beliefs (evaluations) about the experience of trauma or stress; 2) specific emotions expressed in reaction to the events; 3) beliefs about one's competence at coping with and overcoming adversity; and 4) the generation of new goals formulated to replace those lost irrevocably. The organization and narration of emotional understanding, while diverse and complex in content, is highly constrained as to the number and kind of emotions expressed. The relationships among specific emotions, antecedents, beliefs, and plans of action are also constrained. The presence of these constraints, as well as the use of a causal theory of emotion and goal-directed action, allow us to make predictions about psychological well-being and memory for emotional events.
The Retreat of the State and its Transfer of Responsibility: The Intergenerational War
Authors: Binney Elizabeth A. , Estes Carroll L.
Published: May 2005

In this article, the socially constructed nature of the conflict between the generations, or the “intergenerational war,” is explored, with a description of the two major fronts of this battle: a health care financing axis and a caregiving axis. Basic to the health care financing axis is the assumption that certain individuals and populations represent an increasing and unreasonable social burden; the caregiving axis gives ideological support to familial and filial responsibility. The politics of mystification perpetuates the idea that these two axes are unrelated and that generational transfers are independent rather than interdependent. Both permit abdication of the state from social responsibility for human needs and massive budgetary reallocations to defense and tax cuts for the wealthy. An alternative approach derives from the principle of universal life-course entitlement to basic human needs.
Organizational Cognition in a Jazz Ensemble
Authors: Voyer John J. , Faulkner Robert R.
Published: May 2005

The interaction of organizational structure and organizational cognition in a simple professional bureaucracy (a jazz ensemble) is examined using a combination of participant observation and cognitive mapping. The ethnographic results show that the ensemble has distinctive elements of professional bureaucracy and simple structure, but that it is dominated by the simple structure elements of direct supervision (criticism) and leader vision (musical arrangement). The cognitive mapping shows that these last two themes are firmly embedded in the cognitive schema of the ensemble—arrangement is the most potent causal variable in the schema, and criticism is the variable which drives the deviation-counteracting (negative feedback) loops of the schema. But the professional bureaucratic notion of member skills is also potent in the cognitive schema, and there were some unexpected results concerning the potency of satisfaction and performance quality, both of which are leading outcomes in the schema. Some implications for the management and study of such organizations are discussed.
A Computer Writing Environment for Professional Writers and Students Learning to Write
Authors: Bisaillon Jocelyne , Clerc Isabelle , Ladouceur Jacques
Published: May 2005

While some models of computer writing environments have emerged in the literature on writing, most of them are done with the purpose of helping writers in an academic context and very few, if any, with the aim of facilitating the work of professional writers or students in professional writing. We think, however, that we can learn from the previous models to build a multi-purpose computer writing environment that will take into account the needs of the professional writers as well as those of the students learning to write. We will begin by looking at some models of writing proposed by Hayes and Flower in 1980 and also at the model of White and Arndt. Afterwards, we will review the model of professional writers developed by Clerc and link it with the previous models. We will then have to look at some computer writing environments described in the literature and see how these environments take into account the process and tasks identified in writing. Finally, we will suggest our model.
United States Private Agencies' Contributions to Population Programs
Authors: Barnes Allan C.
Published: May 2005

A review of the history of the participation of the private sector in population programs indicates that the private foundations were supporting this work well before its importance was recognized either in the academic community or by the federal government. The contribution of the private sector in absolute amounts is slowly increasing with time, but, due to the entry into this field of governmental agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, and the World Health Organization, the percentage of support for population work which is contributed by the private foundations has declined annually. Nevertheless, there is a role for the foundations and the unique contribution which they are able to make.
The Day We Went to Auschwitz
Authors: Corr Charles A.
Published: May 2005

This article reports some impressions and reflections deriving from a visit in June of 1990 to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in southwestern Poland. Its themes are incongruity, horror, and moments when one encounters hitherto unexplored and startling terrain.
Using Conceptual Matrices, Knowledge Maps, and Scripted Cooperation to Improve Personal Management Strategies
Authors: Dees Sandra M. , Dansereau Donald F. , Peel Jennifer L. , Boatler Jeannie G. , Knight Kevin
Published: May 2005

Research in the area of substance abuse suggests that ineffective personal management strategies appear to be a major factor in abuse behavior. In this study, fifty-seven students in an intermediate level psychology class were provided with three tools previously found to enhance academic learning strategies—knowledge maps, scripted peer cooperation, and conceptual matrices—as a means of understanding and improving personal management strategies. Student ratings of the value of these activities were significantly higher than an average or moderate response. Individual differences appear to be an important consideration in predicting participants' perceptions of the value of this approach. Those who felt they had control of whatever happens to them, and those who perceived problems as impactful and had strong desires to change recurring problem situations, had the most positive reactions to the types of activities used in this study.
Event and Decay of the Aesthetic Experience
Authors: Lombardo Sergio
Published: May 2005

The theory of eventualism states that the specific aim of art is the aesthetic event. The aesthetic event is operatively defined as the sum of all different interpretations which the same stimulus can evoke from a group of people, The theory also states that after long-term exposure, the stimulus will become familiar and the scattering of the interpretations will decay into a few conformist possibilities. When an aesthetic stimulus is completely decayed it becomes an ordinary object. A study was conducted comparing eventualist and preference responses to a set of eighteen nonsense shapes of three different degrees of complexity. Short-term and long-term responses were also compared. The results suggest that eventualist and preference responses are positively intercorrelated in the short term and strongly positively intercorrelated in the long term. Very important cases of divergency are discussed. More complex stimuli received higher eventualist scores and decayed more slowly than the less complex ones. The more complex stimuli also scored better results in the scale of preferences, and here the differences were even more significant.
Do Men and Women Have Different Jobs Because of Their Biological Differences?
Authors: Messing Karen
Published: May 2005

Allegedly for their protection, women are relegated to jobs supposedly adapted to their unique physical capacities and excluded from jobs which are said to endanger their health. So-called women's jobs are claimed to reflect women's “natural” qualifications in requiring less strength, more dexterity, less emotional stability, and in involving less risk for potential offspring. But it is impossible to demonstrate scientifically the existence of biological differences between women and men which suit either sex for particular jobs. Working conditions which are cited to justify the exclusion of women are also harmful to male workers. It is concluded that the myth that job allocation respects biological qualifications serves employers by justifying low salaries and boring tasks for women, at the same time as it rationalizes men's exposure to risky and frightening working conditions.
Are the Dimensions Underlying Aesthetic and Affective Judgment the Same?
Authors: Baltissen Rüdiger , Ostermann Barbara-Maria
Published: May 2005

To investigate whether aesthetic and affective judgment are similar, ninety-six subjects rated twenty-four art pictures varying in theme and date of creation as well as twenty-three emotion inducing slides (IAPS) representing different emotional qualities on nine bipolar 8-point scales, e.g., warm-cold, meaningful-not meaningful. Factor analyses performed separately for each picture set revealed two basic dimensions, named cognitive and emotional factors, explaining about 60 percent of the variance. In the case of artworks, the dominant factor was constituted by cognitive scales (meaningful, interesting, simple); regarding the affective slides, the main factor was constituted by emotional scales (warm, emotional, arousing). ANOVAs confirmed the expected differences between themes and date of creation for the art picture as well as the differences between emotional qualities of the IAPS for both, the cognitive and the emotional factor. Proportion of variance of the ratings explained by gender, age, and education was low. Overall, results suggest that looking at art objects is a predominantly cognitive process requiring understanding whereas looking at emotional pictures evokes feelings with cognitive processes being only marginally involved.
Writing Training Information: A Comparison of Books, Online Tutors, and Videotapes
Authors: Bradford Annette Norris
Published: May 2005

The writing of computer training materials for both home and business markets is a vast and growing industry. Because these new users are making more stringent demands on the kinds of training materials that they receive, technical writers no longer have the luxury of writing only for the system programmer and dealing only with the printed page. The growing need for quality training on computers is offering technical writers in the computer industry the chance to expand their fields of expertise. Three training media are compared—books, online tutorials, and videotape—along these criteria: basic organization, interaction patterns, tools, special development needs, special environmental needs, goals, type of information taught, and suitability as a training medium. Finally suggestions are made about how practicing technical writers can learn about these new media.
Health Promotion Outreach for Rural Family Physicians: A Feasibility Study
Authors: Mullen Patricia Dolan
Published: May 2005

This project examined the feasibility of using an educational representative, modeled in part on a drug detailing representative, to increase health promotion counseling by rural family physicians in east Texas. The physicians were offered, at no charge, materials for patients and training for themselves and their office staff on patient education regarding smoking, weight problems, sedentary living, and stress. Visits from the representative were accepted by 76 percent of the physicians, about half of whom requested training for themselves and/or their office staffs. A high degree of satisfaction with the training was expressed by trainees in follow-up interviews. Pretest data indicated that the physicians were using at least one counseling technique before the introduction of the intervention. Posttest data suggested that use of more effective counseling techniques and materials increased. Use of an educational representative when travel time and costs are minimized appears to merit further exploration.
QTc Prolongation Due to Propranolol Overdose
Authors: Farhangi Vida , Sansone Randy A.
Published: May 2005

Prolongation of the QTc interval (a QT interval that has been corrected for heart rate) increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, and is an important topic with regard to psychotropic medication. Several typical (e.g., pimozide, thioridazine, haloperidol) and atypical (e.g., sertindole, ziprasidone) antipsychotics may cause QTc prolongation [1] as well as some antidepressants in overdose (e.g., citalopram) [2]. We wish to present a case of QTc prolongation that was due to an overdose of propranolol (used in psychiatry for the treatment of akathisia, lithium-induced tremor, and performance anxiety; used in medicine for hypertension and congestive heart failure).
Impact of a Participatory Organizational Intervention on Job Characteristics and Job Stress
Authors: Mikkelsen Aslaug , Saksvik Per Øystein
Published: May 2005

Increased employee control and participation are recommended to achieve both “flexible organization” and improvements in health, as outlined in occupational stress intervention models. This study evaluates the impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job stress and job characteristics. The intervention was carried out in two post offices in the Norwegian Postal Service. “Local theories” were seen as the key drivers for organizational improvement and increased control. The underlying dynamics of the intervention were to manipulate employees' learning opportunity and decision authority so as to improve work environment and health. Work groups, in dialogue with a steering committee, conducted diagnosis, action planning, and action taking. Work conditions deteriorated during the observation period in the control groups. In one of the intervention groups, this negative trend was reduced by the intervention. Lack of positive results in the other intervention group may have been due to organizational restructuring and turbulence.
Beyond Prototypicality: Toward a Categorical-Motivation Model of Aesthetics
Authors: Whitfield T. W. Allan
Published: May 2005

The article comments on the two early stages linking categorization to aesthetics, and introduces a third and unpublished stage. It expands upon a previous attempt (Whitfield, 1983) to reconcile the opposing positions occupied by the categorical and Collative-Motivational models. It does so by recourse to Tversky's (1977) distinction between two forms of feature salience—intensive and diagnostic. Features of high intensive salience should possess high arousal potential, while features of high diagnostic salience should be most prototypic. It postulates that intensive and diagnostic salience will be major determinants of aesthetic preference, and that the contribution of each will be a function of the categorical status—or meaningfulness—of the stimuli. This theoretical reconciliation could be termed a Categorical-Motivation model. Finally, attention is given to fundamental and unresolved problems that have undermined theory construction in the field of experimental aesthetics. These concern the nature of both the stimuli and the response measures typically employed. Questions of ecological validity are raised and the possible reinterpretation of results involving meaningless stimuli.
Techniques of Interviewing: Setting up an Interviewing Course
Authors: Kimball Chase P.
Published: May 2005

In this article the logistics utilized in conveying a specific type of interviewing technique to students, previously reported on, are outlined. Specifically described is an introductory course that has been effective in communicating interview techniques to groups of students working closely with a perceptor by alternating demonstration and didactic instruction with trial and error exercises. Since psychiatrists are increasingly used in teaching and directing interviewing courses in medical schools, it is suggested that they be intimately involved in planning these programs.
Fundamental Differences in Imagery Workspaces in Young Adults
Authors: Langham-Johnson S.
Published: May 2005

This is a quantitative study of imagery in ninety-six undergraduates, addressing the problem of individual differences in the characteristics of mental imagery workspaces. A 20-item questionnaire embodying nine characteristics of mental imagery workspaces was administered to seventy-eight females and twenty males. Item analysis employed an SPSS computer statistical package, including: 1) frequency distribution for each item and 2) analysis of variance using F tests for the variable of gender. ANOVA by gender disclosed statistically significant higher frequency of mental imagery workspaces reported within the thinking of males than of females. Characteristics of imagery reported by subjects include presence or absence of mental imagery, color, black and white, movement, images of numerals, ability to control the onset and erasure of the mental imagery workspace and use of imagery to do mathematics. Reliability analysis for the sum of all items on the questionnaire developed by the researcher produced a coefficient Alpha of .743. Main finding is that there are statistically significant differences among individuals in the characteristics of their mental imagery, with males reporting significantly greater frequency of imagery workspaces.
Continuing Engineering Education by Video Tape
Authors: Biedenbach Joseph M.
Published: May 2005

This paper describes an industrial training program designed to bring continuing engineering educational programs to several thousand engineers distributed in plants over a wide geographical area on a flexible time schedule, using a practicing engineer's time effectively and efficiently while utilizing good teaching and learning techniques. Using video tape as the teaching media and supplementing this with textbooks, especially developed studying guide materials, visual aids designed for TV presentations, and an associate instructor at the plant location to act in a resource capacity, a successful engineering personnel educational program has been developed economically that can be used at any plant location. Other industries could utilize the techniques described to bring quality engineering-updating programs to the majority of their engineers, as could universities, to take graduate-level programs to locations distant from the campus at a time convenient to the engineers involved.
Can Experiences Near Death Furnish Evidence of Life after Death?
Authors: Kelly Emily Williams , Greyson Bruce , Stevenson Ian
Published: May 2005

Most people who have a near-death experience (NDE) say that the experience convinced them that they will survive death. People who have not had such an experience, however, may not share this conviction. Although all features of NDEs, when looked at alone, might be explained in ways other than survival, there are three features in particular that we believe suggest the possibility of survival, especially when they all occur in the same experience. These features are: enhanced mental processes at a time when physiological functioning is seriously impaired; the experience of being out of the body and viewing events going on around it as from a position above; and the awareness of remote events not accessible to the person's ordinary senses. We briefly report one such case, and we also briefly describe two additional such cases in which the remote events apparently seen were verified by other persons.
Applications of Communication Theory and Cybernetics to Technical Communication
Authors: Barnett George A.
Published: May 2005

Technical materials often do not produce the response desired by their authors. Reasons for the failure of the document are errors in audience analysis and the rapid obsolence of the materials. This article suggests that communication theory, in general, and cybernetics, in specific, may help ameliorate these problems. The knowledge of communication theory and systems analysis could sensitize writers and editors of technical materials to a variety of factors such as the dynamic nature of the communication process and the fact that the process is interactive rather than unidirectional. It is suggested that the application of these theories could increase the effectiveness of technical communication.
Substance Use on School Property among Students Attending Alternative High Schools in the United States
Authors: Brener Nancy D. , Wilson Todd W.
Published: May 2005

We analyzed nationally representative data from the 1998 National Alternative High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to determine the prevalence of substance use on school property among alternative high school students in the United States, to describe the characteristics of students who use substances on school property, and to examine the interrelationships of substance-use behaviors. During the 30 days preceding the survey, nearly 48 percent of students used at least one substance on school property and 17 percent used more than one substance on school property. Males were more likely than females and white students were more likely than black or Hispanic students to have used substances on school property. The results of this and other studies suggest that school administrators, public health practitioners, and policy makers should work to improve strategies for reducing substance use in this heterogeneous, hard-to-reach population.
A Mathematical Model for Deriving Hospital Service Areas
Authors: Meade James
Published: May 2005

The basic premise explored in this paper is that patient flow in rural areas is based on the proximity to medical care. The hospital is defined as the center of care and hospital catchment areas are defined by patient movements. A methodology is described to analyze patient flow among an assemblage of hospitals. Finally, a model which mathematically replicates patient movement is introduced to act as an aid in the hospital planning process.
Attachment Theory and Research as a Guide to Psychotherapy Practice
Authors: Borelli Jessica L. , David Daryn H.
Published: May 2005

This article evaluates relevant links between theory and research on attachment relationships; cognitive structures including schemas and internal working models; aspects of the client-therapist relationship; and psychotherapeutic intervention models, arguing that attachment theory can be employed to more fully understand psychotherapeutic processes and change. First we review relevant background literature on attachment theory, delineating distinctions between attachment and other relevant theoretical formulations. Then we discuss aspects of the client-therapist relationship which may be affected by attachment, providing a brief overview of extant research on attachment and psychotherapy. Finally, we discuss the ways in which attachment theory has been employed in the design of psychotherapy models, specifically focusing on two treatment models which illustrate diversity in attachment-based treatment. Throughout we argue that the recent addition of reflective function, which is the capacity to understand the ways in which mental states underlie behavior in self and others, both enhances attachment theory and elucidates the connections between psychotherapeutic process and the development of self-regulatory insight during childhood through sensitive parental caregiving.
Assessing Children's Logo Debugging Skills with a Formal Model
Authors: Carver Sharon McCoy , Klahr David
Published: May 2005

In this article, we propose a new way to assess children's acquisition of debugging skills in a LOGO environment. The assessment procedure is based on an explicit and precise model (in the form of a computer simulation) of good debugging skills. The model has four stages: 1) evaluating the program's planned and actual outcomes to determine that debugging is necessary, 2) identifying the bug by using descriptions of the discrepancy between the planned and actual outcomes to propose potential bugs, 3) locating the bug by using clues about the structure of the program to narrow the search, and 4) correcting the bug and retesting the program. We describe model-based measurements of the LOGO debugging skills actually acquired by students in a “typical” LOGO graphics course. Nine seven- to nine-year-olds were given twenty-four hours of LOGO training over a three-week period. Students learned the editing and command generation skills prerequisite to debugging but were not able to interpret commands and use clues to identify, locate, and correct bugs. We conclude by discussing objectives for teaching the model's debugging skills directly.
Individualism and the Emerging “Modern” Ideology of Death
Authors: Kearl Michael C. , Harris Richard
Published: May 2005

One predominant theme of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death and Alan Harrington's The Immortalist is the impact of individualism upon orientations toward death. This paper begins with a theoretical elaboration of individualism and argues its development is associated with an emergent death ideology emphasizing personal control. In two national samples we found attitudes toward suicide, abortion, and the right to die scale unidimensionally and we proceeded to demonstrate how the indices of individualism were the best predictors of one's position on this scale. This article suggests a potential research domain which integrates existential and psychoanalytic thought within an empirical social psychology of death.
The Role of Citizen Activism in Protecting Public Health and the Environment from Land Application of Sewage Sludge: An Interview with EPA's Hugh B. Kaufman
Authors: Orlando Laura
Published: May 2005

This article—an account of an interview with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official—addresses the role of citizen activism in combating environmental decisions that may cause harm, including the sludge policy of the EPA.
Providing Introductory Psychology Students Access to Lecture Slides via Blackboard 5: A Negative Impact on Performance
Authors: Weatherly Jeffrey N. , Grabe Mark , Arthur Emily I. L.
Published: May 2005

The present study investigated the impact of making lecture outlines available on-line via Blackboard 5 on exam performance of students enrolled in introductory psychology. Performance of students in a class with access to information on Blackboard was compared to that of students in a class without such access. These classes were held in successive semesters, but had the same instructor, teaching assistants, textbook, lectures, and exams. Results showed that, across the three exams, students in the course with access to information via Blackboard performed significantly poorer than did students in the class without access to it. Performance in the laboratory section of the course, in which Blackboard was not employed, did not differ between classes. Thus, despite several potential positive ramifications of allowing increased access to lecture information, the impact of such access was not positive. The decreased exam performance may have been the outcome of decreased lecture attendance due to access to lecture information outside of lecture and several measures are discussed which could potentially address this possibility. The present results should alert educators not to rush to introduce technology into their course without serious consideration of the potential positive and negative outcomes such an introduction might have.
Social Class and Cardiovascular Disease: The Contribution of Work
Authors: Marmot Michael , Theorell Tores
Published: May 2005

Low social class has been identified as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in highly industrialized countries. The authors discuss the social class concept in relation to psychosocial working conditions. Most of those psychosocial work characteristics that are of relevance to cardiovascular risk, namely, skill discretion, authority over decisions, and social support at work, are unevenly distributed across social classes–the lower the social class, the fewer the resources for coping with psychosocial stressors. Furthermore, biomedical risk factors for cardiovascular illness are also unevenly distributed across social class and associated with psychosocial work characteristics. The main conclusion is that part of the association between social class and cardiovascular illness risk may be due to differences in psychosocial work conditions. The psychosocial work conditions may affect the risk through either neuroendocrine mechanisms or lifestyle. Excessive tobacco smoking, for instance, may be enforced by poor working conditions.
Medicine and Patriarchal Violence: The Social Construction of a “Private” Event
Authors: Stark Evan , Flitcraft Anne , Frazier William
Published: May 2005

Our objectives are to describe the pattern of abuse associated with battering and to evaluate the contribution of the medical system and of broader social forces to its emergence. A pilot study of 481 women who used the emergency service of a large metropolitan hospital in the U.S. shows that battering includes a history of self-abuse and psychosocial problems, as well as repeated and escalating physical injury. In addition, although the number of battered women using the service is 10 times higher than medical personnel identify, the pattern of abuse that constitutes battering emerges only after its initial effects are presented and in conjunction with specific medical interventions and referrals. Examination of intervention and referral patterns suggests a staging process by which battering is socially constructed. At first, the physical trauma associated with abuse is medicated symptomatically. But the patient's persistence, the failure of the cure, and the incongruity between her problems and available medical explanations lead the provider to label the abused woman in ways that suggest she is personally responsible for her victimization. Although secondary problems such as depression, drug abuse, suicide attempts, or alcoholism derive as much from the intervention strategy adopted as from physical assault or psychopathology, they are treated as the primary problems at psychiatric and social service referral points where family maintenance is often the therapeutic goal. One consequence of this referral strategy is the stabilization of “violent families” in ways that virtually insure women will be abused in systematic and arbitrary ways. The use of patriarchal logic by medical providers ostensibly responding to physical trauma has less to do with individual “sexism” than with the political and economic constraints under which medicine operates as part of an “extended patriarchy.” Medicine's role in battering suggests that the services function to reconstitute the “private” world of patriarchal authority, with violence if necessary, against demands to socialize the labors of love.
Graphic Aids in Reporting Technical Information
Authors: Brown Maurice A.
Published: May 2005

This is one of the papers from technical writing students that the Journal publishes from time to time.

The use of visual aids to complement technical writing is described, especially in reference to two main categories: static and dynamic images.
Training Consultation to the Cairo Family Planning Association, Egypt
Authors: Ross Helen S. , Croley Thomas
Published: May 2005

A case history of the consultation process between the Cairo Family Planning Association in Egypt and a Ford Foundation short-term health education and training consultant. The viewpoint is that of the consultant and the then resident Ford population and family planning program advisor. Gordon and Ronald Lippitt's six phases of the consulting process are used as a framework for presentation.
Recent Irregularities in Table II of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Authors: Wallace Deborah
Published: May 2005

Table II of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report each week displays the cumulative year-to-date provisional number of cases of selected notifiable diseases in the United States, by state. Thus comparisons between the same weeks for different years can allow a rough rapid tracking of trends. In recent years, particularly 2004, the reported provisional cases showed incongruities. As of April 16, 2004, for example, no AIDS cases at all appeared in Table II. Responses from government public health officials (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State of California) indicate instabilities and problems in the public health surveillance and reporting system. Such instabilities and problems, if serious and enduring enough, could impair detection of threats to public health.
Teacher Adjustment to Technology: Overcoming Cultural Mindsets
Authors: Baker Patricia , Baker Paul
Published: May 2005

Historically, educational environments have been strongholds of incorporating new technologies into their classrooms. Over the years, classroom technology has become more complex and sophisticated as learning environments have moved from the use of slates to multimedia classrooms. Additionally, classroom technology has been viewed as the panacea for poor teaching practice as well as the cause of poor teaching practice. The failure of classroom technology occurs because of specific predetermined responses or interpretation of why the technology should be used. Classroom technology is the tool for delivering instruction. It is not the instruction. Yet, emphasis is usually placed on finding a purpose for the tool rather than understanding why the tool should be used. Raising the learning bar with computer technology within the classroom will not necessarily result in improved learning outcomes if good clinical practices are not observed.
Effects of Computer-Simulated Behavior Analysis on Pre-Service Teachers' Problem Solving
Authors: Gorrell Jeffrey , Downing Hunter
Published: May 2005

Undergraduate students ( n = 64) enrolled in an educational psychology course were randomly assigned to groups (computer simulation, extended-instruction, problem solving, and control) to practice behavior management principles related to classroom problems. On the main dependent measure, applied problem-solving, the computer simulation group was the only group to show significantly higher level of performance on the total measure over the control group. For the targeted subskills within the applied measure, the simulation group scored significantly higher than all groups; the extended-instruction group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on the same measure. Measures of knowledge of psychological principles and of self-efficacy beliefs related to behavior management showed no differences among groups.
Educational Policy Issues Related to Computer Literacy in Rural School Systems
Authors: Clouse R. Wilburn , Savage Edward M.
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the major policy issues associated with computer literacy in rural school systems. The inquiry was directed toward ascertaining if educational disparity existed, related to computer education between rural and urban schools. The findings of the study indicated that a disparity of educational opportunity does exist among rural schools, particularly the ones with less than 500 pupils. The study also revealed that organizational description, enrollment size, and geographic location are interrelated factors regarding computer educational opportunity.
Preventing Pathogenic Food Poisoning: Sanitation, Not Irradiation
Authors: Epstein Samuel S. , Hauter Wenonah
Published: May 2005

Bacterial food poisoning can be readily prevented by long overdue basic sanitary measures rather than by ultrahazardous irradiation technologies.
Suicide Prevention: A Public Health/Public Policy Approach
Authors: Seiden Richard H.
Published: May 2005

Organized suicide prevention efforts usually have been linked to clinical models that use either individual or small group approaches. This paper explores the use of a public health/public model to prevent suicide. Various methods of suicide are analyzed using the concepts of availability and lethality to illustrate means by which they might be modified through the public health/public policy approach of community action and legislative change.
Work and Health in Mothers of Young Children
Authors: Romito Patrizia
Published: May 2005

Although most mothers of young children work, we do not know much about the effect of this work on the mothers' health. The aim of this article is to review and discuss some of the findings on this subject, in order to understand whether paid and unpaid work are associated with mothers' health. Results from available studies show that, while employment tends to be associated with better physical and mental health in mothers, its effects are inconsistent when mothers of babies or young children are specifically examined. For physical health, employment is likely to have a negative effect for working-class mothers and a positive effect for middle-class ones. For mental health, the trend is unclear; mothers' psychological well-being is negatively affected, however, by the presence of one or more preschoolers, a lack of involvement by the husband, difficulties linked to child care, and the women's preferences concerning their professional status. Moreover, variables such as education, income, social class, housing, and marital status are likely to affect the health of mothers of young children, just as they affect the health of other women.
On the Development of Prototypes and Preferences
Authors: Brant Linda , Marshall Philip H. , Roark Bret
Published: May 2005

Using a methodology previously established to investigate prototype development, the present study evaluated the hypothesis that prototypicality is the basis for aesthetic preference. Over the course of several sorting trials, subjects classified (with feedback) computer-generated random asterisk patterns (exemplars) into two categories, each of which represented a different predetermined prototype pattern. Subjects did not see the prototype patterns during this learning phase, but were exposed to them in a subsequent sorting test phase during which sorting speed and accuracy measures were taken for old exemplars, new exemplars and prototypes. Following this test phase, preference ratings for old exemplars, new exemplars and prototype patterns were obtained. Various indices of prototype development, reflecting sorting speed and accuracy of classification of test patterns, were derived for individual subjects. The results indicated that although overall “classic” prototype effects emerged for both latency and accuracy measures, there was no evidence that prototype development was involved with preference judgments. Alternative theoretical and methodological considerations are offered.
Mourning and Guilt among Greek Women Having Repeated Abortions
Authors: Naziri D. , Tzavaras A.
Published: May 2005

Repeated abortion as a contraceptive method still remains very popular even among married women in modern Greece. This article presents the results of a clinical study concerning the bereavement process of Greek women after abortion. According to these data, illustrated by two clinical vignettes, strong identificatory tendencies are observed on both the mother and father images, and, thus, abortion might be a replacement and/or displacement of a reparatory character in relation to the “family romance” of each woman. It has therefore been argued that in several cases of repeated abortion, mourning and guilt do not only refer to a murdered and lost “person-fetus” but principally to the death and the loss of an object of ambiguous desire.