bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intelligent Videodisc and the Learning Society
Authors: Molnar Andrew R.
Published: May 2005

Discoveries of fundamental importance are occurring in all areas of science at an incredible rate. However, continued growth and exploitation of information rests not only on science's ability to produce new knowledge but also upon society's ability to learn and to apply knowledge in a productive way. If we are to continue to reap the advantages of the “information explosion,” we need new, powerful intellectual tools to augment and expand human capacity to reason and to work “smarter.” The National Science Foundation has initiated a research and development thrust for a proof-of-concept demonstration of an intelligent videodisc system for science education in the hope that it will stimulate others to seek new instructional paradigms and to explore new technological innovations for use in the learning society.
The Affective and Cognitive Effects of Microcomputer Based Science Instruction
Authors: Anderson Ronald E. , Klassen Daniel L. , Hansen Thomas P. , Johnson David C.
Published: May 2005

Computers are used with increasing frequency to deliver and enhance instruction in science. The impact of such experiences on students has not yet been extensively investigated. In particular, there are little data on what students learn indirectly about computers. A number of studies have examined the effect of computer use upon attitudes toward computers, but few have assessed the impact of computer use upon cognitive computer literacy; i.e., student knowledge about computers. We designed an experiment to investigate the impact of a brief computer assisted instruction (CAI) experience on the attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of different types of students. A 20–30 minute science lesson on water pollution was administered to approximately 350 students by APPLE II micro-computers. Comparison of pretest with post-tests and tests six months later reveal some important impacts of exposing students to CAI for science instruction.
Health Policy Reform in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Yang Pei-lin , Lin Vivian , Lawson James
Published: May 2005

With very limited resources, China has developed perhaps the world's largest network of health care services. The health status of its peoples has risen dramatically during the past 40 years. The reasons for these achievements are complex and include an ideology of equity for all citizens, the near universal availability of adequate food, education, housing, jobs, and transport, and the universal availability of accessible and affordable treatment and preventive health services. Despite these achievements China is facing new problems. These include the aging of the population, continued growth of the population leading to ever increasing demands on all sectors of the economy including health services, urban–rural inequalities, low productivity in the health services, lack of legal safeguards for health protection, a continued burden of infectious and endemic diseases, weak infrastructure for prevention and primary health care, and an increasing burden of chronic diseases associated with tobacco smoking and atherosclerotic circulatory diseases and trauma due to traffic accidents and occupational hazards. Decentralized management, financial incentives for health workers, privatization of medical practitioners, health legislation, and changes to health insurance arrangements have been introduced as a means of addressing the issues. The outcomes have been uneven, with little or no improvements in some problems and good progress in others. Changes in the health system appear to be reflecting not only health reform measures but also general economic reforms.
Conversion Reactions and Psychophysiologic Disorders: A Comparative Study
Authors: Barnert Cyril
Published: May 2005

A chart study of psychosomatic consultations was undertaken in order to compare characteristics of conversions and psychophysiologic diseases. One hundred nine charts were rated according to sixty descriptive, mental status, and psychodynamic factors. The subjectivity of many of these parameters is recognized, but was controlled by cross-checking scorings made by independent raters. Reliability, so measured, proved satisfactory in general but not for certain factors central to psychosomatic theory.

Within these limitations, the results showed significant differences between the two classes of disorders in eighteen factors, including reason for referral, type of stress, intelligence, insight and depression. Among the traits traditionally considered distinctive, yet failing to differ in this study, were sex, religion, rural background, education, social class, and sexual adjustment.

Psychosomatic theory has evolved from the unitary “unconscious symbolism” model through the very discrete distinctions postulated by Alexander and others. More recent trends, however, minimize the classical taxonomy. These results suggest some re-examination of our descriptive pictures of conversions and psychophysiologic disorders, but also demonstrate enough differences to justify our continuing to regard them as distinct entities.
The Effectiveness of Army Training Extension Course Lessons on Videodisc
Authors: Holmgren J. E. , Dyer F. N. , Hilligoss R. E. , Heller F. H.
Published: May 2005

Three sets of audiovisual lessons from the Army Training Extension Course (TEC) Program were presented to samples of enlisted soldiers on either a prototype videodisc player or the film and audio cassette player currently used for TEC lessons. The training effectiveness of the lessons was determined by administering validated hands-on performance tests to the trained soldiers and also to a baseline group that had not viewed the TEC lessons. Initial results show that, for all three sets of lessons, both groups of trained soldiers performed significantly better than those in the baseline group. The difference between the two trained groups is not statistically significant for two of the three lesson sets; for the third set, there is a significant difference of ten percent in mean performance test score in favor of the film and audio cassette player.
The Gift of Life: A Review of the Psychological Aspects of Kidney Transplantation
Authors: Abram Harry S. , Buchanan Denton C.
Published: May 2005

The literature on psychological reactions to renal transplantation in adult donors and recipients is reviewed. Although the psychiatric complications of kidney transplantation appear to be fewer than in renal dialysis, the operation represents a threat to the donor, recipient and extended family. Donors, despite altruistic motivations for offering their kidney, often harbor resentment toward the recipient and commonly experience depression in the early postoperative period. Recipients often unrealistically expect the homograft to be a panacea for their emotional stresses. Anxiety and depression are common reactions when a physical complication, particularly rejection, does occur. It has been proposed that psychological acceptance is related to a patient's psychological acceptance of the organ.
How Beliefs about Substance Use Differ by Socio-Demographic Characteristics, Individual Experiences, and Neighborhood Environments among Urban Adolescents
Authors: Novak Scott P. , Reardon Sean F. , Buka Stephen L.
Published: May 2005

In this article, we tested a series of Item Response Theory (IRT) models to examine the individual and neighborhood variation in perceived risk along dimensions of substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs) and usage patterns (light/experimental use, moderate use, heavy/regular use). Data were gathered from 2266 adolescents aged 9,12, and 15 residing in 79 Chicago neighborhoods. Developmental patterns for age and amount of use were observed whereby older respondents rated alcohol and marijuana as less harmful compared to the younger respondents, but rated hard drugs as more harmful. Risk perceptions were found to be more closely tied to one's direct experience with drugs rather than a general constellation of beliefs. Neighborhood variation in risk perceptions was also observed for hard drugs and three patterns of use, controlling for characteristics of individual residents. Neighborhoods did not vary in risk perceptions toward alcohol use. Individuallevel factors rather than characteristics of the neighborhoods explained the observed neighborhood variation in perceptions toward marijuana use. These findings illustrate the complex links between individual and contextual factors in the development of beliefs about the health risks associated with substance use.
Transitivity of Thought in Schizophrenic, Brain Damaged and Alcoholic Patients
Authors: Sinha Birendra K. , Nelson Thomas M.
Published: May 2005

The nature of logical processing in schizophrenic thought disorder was studied through the transitivity paradigm. Amount of intransitivities present in the preference behavior of schizophrenic, brain damaged and two alcoholic groups compared to normals were determined using tasks that varied systematically along the dimension of verbal content. Four types of stimuli in order of decreasing verbal content employed in the study were: statements, named colors, unnamed colors, and musical chords. Schizophrenics were found to be lower overall in transitivity with differences between the schizophrenic and the normal groups increasing as verbal content increased in the stimuli. Differences between the schizophrenic and other groups were least when the preference task had the lowest verbal content. This suggests that the logical system of schizophrenics is not impaired equally for all contents of thought.
Denial and Rehabilitation of the Post-Infarction Patient
Authors: Soloff Paul H.
Published: May 2005

The use of denial has been widely accepted as an adaptive and protective coping mechanism in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. Although instrumental in lowering anxiety and mortality in the acute phase of coronary care, the use of denial creates hazards for the patient in convalescence. These hazards, not well known to intensive care personnel but all too apparent to the liaison psychiatrist working in cardiovascular rehabilitation, include a high vulnerability to disruptive anxiety and even psychosis at times of transition from greater to lesser intensity nursing care and a maladaptive resistance to rehabilitation efforts in convalescence. Failure of denial under the stress of transition may produce a transient paranoid psychosis with a clear sensorium, a variant of Abram's “cardiac psychosis.” Maintenance of the defense in convalescence leads to noncompliance with medical advice and rejection of rehabilitation efforts, increasing the risk of reinfarction. A case report is presented illustrating both hazards. Recommendations for management include early recognition, supportive psychotherapy, education and mobilization in the acute phase of coronary care. Cardiovascular conditioning and reshaping of risk factors follow in convalescence. The physical and psychological benefits of this approach are reviewed. The adaptive value of denial in coronary patients is challenged from the long-term perspective of rehabilitation.
Aesthetic Attitude and Variations in Reported Experience of a Painting
Authors: Wild T. Cameron , Kuiken Don
Published: May 2005

Empirical-phenomenological methods were used to assess effects of aesthetic attitude on variations in aesthetic response. Immediately before viewing a painting, thirty participants were randomly assigned to conditions in which they either attempted to physically relax or attempted to physically relax and psychically distance themselves from practical concerns. Then, participants: 1) provided verbal accounts of their experiences during three one-minute viewings of Raphael's La Fornaria, 2) completed a version of Gardner's painting style identification task [1], and 3) rated the target painting, the experimental procedures, and their background in art. Numerically aided phenomenological methods [2] revealed five distinct types of reported experience: tentative psychological interpretation, stereotyped rejection, quiet encounter, impatient overfamiliarity, and positive painterly evaluation. Analyses of the style identification data and of participants' ratings provided convergent validation for these types of aesthetic response. Although the manipulation of aesthetic attitude was not optimal, numerical phenomenological methods allowed assessment of subtly differentiated types of aesthetic response. These types of reported experience argue against a rigid dichotomy between aesthetic and nonaesthetic responses.
What Can Technical Writers Learn from Good Conversation?
Authors: Plumb Carolyn
Published: May 2005

This article first reviews the role of oral and written discourse within social constructionist theory. The author discusses both the differences and the similarities between oral and written discourse and suggests that writers emphasize the similarities rather than the differences since the implicit rules of conversation have much to offer to the technical writer. In order to apply these conversational principles, however, technical writers need to alter their attitudes toward their audiences. The article concludes with an example of how the principles of conversation can be applied to the process of writing instructions.
Special Characteristics of Population Planning in the Pacific
Authors: Chow L. P.
Published: May 2005

Several of the countries in the Pacific region are pioneers in the national family planning movement of the developing world. Programs there focus on clearly specified demographic goals and operational targets and are usually given a high status. Several are among the most successfully implemented programs in the world. Good evaluation systems and innovative approaches are among their special characteristics. The programs have some weaknesses in common, however. Among these are inadequate input, failure to reach the hard-to-reach, inability to lower the norm of family size, and failure to encourage the use of some effective means of fertility control such as induced abortion. Some programs are also approaching an important stage of transition: a plateau of acceptance, a changing age structure of the population, and a possibly improved fecundability will, henceforth, make attainment of program goals increasingly difficult. More innovative approaches and dynamic leadership to save programs from the natural process of “aging” will be required in the future. Notwithstanding these weaknesses, the countries in the Pacific have a unique opportunity to demonstrate to the world that human fertility may be reduced through planned and organized effort.
A Measure of the Information Content of Visual Art Stimuli for Studies in Experimental Aesthetics
Authors: Locher Paul J.
Published: May 2005

This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of Mehrabian and Russell's Information Rate Scale (IRS) for measuring the information content of paintings. Forty-eight subjects, including an equal number of art-trained and untrained male and female undergraduates, rated sixteen twentieth-century paintings on each of the fourteen IRS adjective pairs and for “interest” and “pleasure.” Factor analyses performed on all rating data revealed that the information rate score, which is the sum of ratings for all IRS items, provides a measure of the complexity of art stimuli that reflects the collative nature of this property. Specifically, it was found that items reflecting both physical and statistical properties of a composition (e.g., simple-complex; redundant-varied) and viewer “familiarity” with the content of a composition (e.g., common-rare; familiar-novel) were correlates of the information rate score. This value was significantly influenced by a painting's style but not by subjects' gender, training, or aesthetic judgments of it. Results constitute evidence that the IRS is a potentially powerful tool for the quantification and analysis of the information content of visual art stimuli.
Emotional Interactions of Patient and Staff: A Focus of Psychiatric Consultation
Authors: Nadelson Theodore
Published: May 2005

Factors in the relationship with the medical staff often precipitate a psychological crisis in a patient eventuating in a request for psychiatric consultation. Such reactions and the part the medical staff plays in them usually go unrecognized. The view presented is that the psychiatrist is maximally helpful when he applies both understanding of underlying personality variables with the additional focus directed toward the nature of the psychological relationship at the interface of the staff and patient. Consultation becomes the vehicle for understanding and sensitizing the staff to the complexity of patients as well as their own psychological reactions.

Clinical cases are reported which illustrate the mutual and reciprocal effects of patient-doctor interaction. The context of illness and the hospital setting leads to a labile psychological equilibrium. Medical staff who are able to agree on some generalizations about treating the “whole patient” often have “scotomata” in actually dealing with specific difficulties in their interaction. This difficulty is seen stemming in part from medical education and in part from a model of medical care which emphasizes the physician's separateness from the patient in terms of an active-passive polarity.
Messages Discriminated from the Media about Illicit Drugs
Authors: Patterson Scott J.
Published: May 2005

The electronic media have been an instrumental tool in the most recent efforts to address the issue of illicit drug abuse in the United States. Messages about illicit drugs appear in three places in the media: advertising content, news content, and entertainment content. Many studies have documented the amount and types of messages that appear on the electronic media, but few have asked the audience how they interpret these messages. The purpose of this study is to investigate how much and what type of information college students receive from the media about drugs. Interviews were conducted with 228 students using the message discrimination protocol. The messages were then content analyzed into theme areas. Results indicate the majority of messages discriminated from advertising content were fear appeals; that the majority of messages discriminated from news content documented the enforcement efforts in the war on drugs; and that messages about drugs in entertainment content were more likely to provide clear accurate information about drugs than the other two content sources. The results are discussed in terms of the audience receiving fear and fight messages from the electronic media rather than clear, accurate information necessary to make informed decisions about drugs.
The Effects of Autonomic Self-Regulation Procedures on Tactile Thresholds
Authors: Cohen Jonathan
Published: May 2005

Although patients and clinicians have often noted that autonomic self-regulation learning results in an increased awareness of internal states, it is unclear how sensory thresholds change during this process. To begin to study this, three single subject experiments were conducted in which participants received EMG and thermal biofeedback while practicing various cognitive relaxation/self-regulation strategies. Tactile threshold levels were assessed before and during the training sessions. The results indicate that all three participants consistently became more sensitive to tactile stimuli when practicing relaxation/self-regulation strategies. The results do not indicate whether this threshold alteration is due to a cognitive criteria shift (i.e., shifting one's psychological set) and/or an actual lowering of tactile thresholds (d').
Does Hypnotic Amnesia Dissipate with Time?
Authors: Dubreuil Debora L. , Spanos Nicholas P. , Bertrand Lorne D.
Published: May 2005

Two interrelated experiments investigated the hypothesis that hypnotic amnesia dissipates “spontaneously” over time. After the administration of a hypnotic amnesia suggestion for a previously learned word list, Retest subjects in Experiment 1 received two successive recall challenges before cancellation of the suggestion. Delay subjects received only one challenge. It occurred at the same time that Retest subjects received their second challenge. No differences in amount of amnesia were found between the Delay trial and either of the Retest trials, thereby failing to provide support for the dissipation hypothesis. Experiment 2 manipulated subjects' expectations concerning the amount of amnesia typically shown on a second challenge. Subjects in the “Remember More” or “Remember Less” conditions were led to believe that they would recall either more or less critical material on the second amnesia challenge. Both Retest (no expectancy) and Remember More subjects recalled significantly more words on the second challenge than on the first. However, a significantly greater proportion of Remember More subjects than Retest subjects showed recall increments on the second challenge. Remember Less subjects showed no significant difference in the amount recalled on the two challenges. These results do not support the dissipation hypothesis of hypnotic amnesia. Instead, they are consistent with theoretical accounts of amnesia as a strategic enactment carried out by subjects in response to the unfolding social demands of the testing situation.
Supplemental Analyses of Recent Trends in Infant Mortality
Authors: Kochanek Kenneth D. , Martin Joyce A.
Published: May 2005

U.S. preliminary data for 2002 show a significant increase in the infant mortality rate to 7.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, the first rise in the infant mortality rate since 1958. The increase in infant mortality was concentrated in the neonatal period, particularly in deaths occurring within seven days of birth. Partially edited fetal death data suggest that the increase in neonatal mortality was accompanied by a decline in the late fetal mortality rate, and thus it appears that the 2002 perinatal mortality rate will remain level. Potential explanatory factors for the changes in the infant mortality rate are examined, including causes of infant death, percentage of births that are preterm, and low birthweight. Data from the 2002 linked birth and infant death file will allow an assessment of the contribution of maternal and infant factors such as multiple births and management of labor and delivery.
Speed and Performance Differences among Computer-Based and Paper-Pencil Tests
Authors: Bodmann Shawn M. , Robinson Daniel H.
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the effect of several different modes of test administration on scores and completion times. In Experiment 1, paper-based assessment was compared to computer-based assessment. Undergraduates completed the computer-based assessment faster than the paper-based assessment, with no difference in scores. Experiment 2 assessed three different computer interfaces that provided students various levels of flexibility to change and review answers. No difference in scores was observed among the three modes, but students completed the least-flexible mode faster than the other two modes. It appears that less flexible test modes are faster and do not result in poorer performance than more flexible modes.
Measuring Students' Attitudes toward Educational Use of the Internet
Authors: Duggan Ashley , Hess Brian , Morgan Deanna , Kim Sooyeon , Wilson Katherine
Published: May 2005

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument that would provide a quantitative measure of the attitudes of undergraduate college students toward educational use of the Internet and to study selected behavioral correlates of those attitudes. The development of pilot scales along with a social desirability response scale and the resulting 18-item Likert format “Attitude Toward Educational Use of the Internet” (ATEUI) scale are described. Several behavioral correlates were found to provide evidence for the scale's construct validity. For instance, favorable attitudes were associated with: (1) keeping track of valuable educational Internet sites; (2) sharing educational information found on the Internet with friends; (3) choosing classes that require Internet use; (4) greater frequency of Internet use, both in general and for educational purposes; (5) greater number of reasons for using the Internet for education; and (6) greater number of Internet features used. Some implications for future research are provided.
Medical Care under Social Security in France
Authors: Bridgman R. F.
Published: May 2005

Social insurance was initiated in France on a national scale in 1930 and now covers about 98.5 per cent of the population. The coverage expanded the limits of traditional sickness insurance for curative medicine and had a growing impact on overall health and social policy. French social insurance is a public service run by organizations which retain the voluntary status of the old mutual funds. The social security budget is independent of that of the government, which contributes less than 20 per cent of the overall social budget of the nation. The relationships between the medical profession, private and public hospitals, preventive care organizations, social insurance funds, and central and local governments have become very complex. The huge social security organization has acquired competence in planning and in technical organizational matters and consequently has had a great influence on medical care patterns. Social security adopted the direct payment system in its relationships with the medical profession; therefore the latter has retained its independent status. But, for public and private hospitals, the payment system is indirect. A special branch was created in 1945 to deal with capital investments in hospitals and health institutions concerned with preventive medicine. Social insurance contributed greatly to facilitating access of patients to all kinds of medical care, either public or private, curative or preventive, and helped the government by participating in the construction of a complex network of health institutions for the benefit of the whole population. This task is not yet achieved, and greater coordination and additional resources are necessary. But there is no doubt that social insurance was and still is a powerful factor in the continuing improvement of the nation's health and living conditions.
Group Process: An Adjunct in Liaison Consultation Psychiatry
Authors: Schulman Brian M.
Published: May 2005

Many liaison psychiatrists have advocated staff meetings as a means of enhancing communications on a medical ward. This paper, based on a one year experience as a psychiatric consultant to a medical ward in a major teaching institution, describes the implementation of a weekly group meeting of nursing and social service staff as a component in the structure of an effective liaison service. Case material is presented to document the efficacy of group process as a teaching and therapeutic modality. By encouraging the verbalization of cogent feelings and anxieties in a weekly group meeting, members developed a sense of mutual trust and openness. In an atmosphere conducive to promoting clarification, understanding, and insight, the group members increased their self awareness of the psychological aspects of physical disease and the effect of their own emotions on the interpersonal process of patient care.
Naval Enlisted Professional Development Information Support System
Authors: Davis Douglass
Published: May 2005

The Navy has an impressive record in the application of instructional technology to the design, development, and delivery of training. An information support system is being designed within the Naval Education and Training Command to optimize the application of instructional technology, resulting in increased efficiencies in training, personnel utilization, and professional development for the Navy enlisted force. The Naval Enlisted Professional Development Support System (NEPDISS) will be based upon specific tasks performed by enlisted personnel and will display a complete audit trail from job requirements to subsequent appraisal of task performance on the job. Inherently, it will furnish objectively derived data upon which management and enlisted man alike can base decisions.
Microcomputer Software: Design and Development Principles
Authors: Kearsley Greg
Published: May 2005

This article surveys principles for the design and development of microcomputer-based instructional software. A set of design guidelines based upon existing research are outlined. Three approaches to authoring software are examined: general purpose programming languages, author languages, and authoring systems. The tradeoffs in using these three approaches are outlined. The implications of research in automated instructional development systems and intelligent tutoring systems are discussed.
The 2004 Tucson IWG (International Work Group): Charter for the Normalization of Dying, Death and Loss
Authors: Silverman Phyllis
Published: May 2005

A group of members of The International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement prepared a draft statement advocating the promotion of a public health perspective in all direct service approaches to end-of-life care. This statement, which we have called a Charter, is reproduced here. This is a draft of work-in-progress. The readers of Omega are invited to contribute their criticism, reflections, and/or additions to this document. Please send your comments to Phyllis R. Silverman, Brandeis University, Women's Studies Research Center MS079, 515 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453 or by e-mail to silverman@helix.mgh.harvard.edu . All such contributions will be debated and discussed at the next meeting of the International Work Group that will be held in Hong Kong in late 2005, after which the document will be submitted for publication in a final form.
Bromocriptine Treatment for Cocaine Abuse: The Dopamine Depletion Hypothesis
Authors: Dackis Charles A. , Gold Mark S. , Davies Robert K. , Sweeney Donald R.
Published: May 2005

The authors review the evidence that cocaine exerts its rewarding effects through the acute activation of dopamine (DA) pathways in the brain. Chronic cocaine administration is hypothesized to lead to DA depletion, which results in cocaine craving and cocaine abstinence states. Treatment of these states with bromocriptine, a DA antagonist, appears to have efficacy with acute and maintenance trials, and may represent a new adjunctive treatment for cocaine abuse. DA antagonists appear to exacerbate cocaine craving, which is consistent with the DA depletion hypothesis of chronic cocaine abuse. Theoretical issues relating to drug addiction and endogenous reward centers are discussed.
Subliminal Activation of Hypnotic Responses: Subconscious Realms of Mind Versus Subconscious Modes of Mentation
Authors: Kunzendorf Robert G. , Montisanti Lynn
Published: May 2005

The subliminal activation of an hypnotic response and the subliminal activation of a posthypnotic response were tested within subject, with the order of testing counter-balanced across subjects. Eight hypnotized subjects of high hypnotizability, eight hypnotized subjects of lesser hypnotizability, eight hypnotic simulators of high hypnotizability, and eight hypnotic simulators of lesser hypnotizability were tested. The results indicate that stimulus-elicited responses can be elicited subliminally during deep hypnosis, because deeply hypnotized subjects are able to recognize critical subliminal stimuli. The results also indicate that posthypnotic responses can only be elicited supraliminally, except when previous hypnotic recognition of subliminal stimuli enables subjects to expect and to abstract similar subliminal stimuli posthypnotically.
Physiological Reactions Induced by Grief
Authors: Fredrick Jerome F.
Published: May 2005

The increase in mortality reported in individuals undergoing the stress imposed by the grief situation, may be directly traced to the overstimulation of the pituitary resulting in the production of excess quantities of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which in turn causes increased levels of corticosteroids to be produced by the adrenal cortex. The physiologic affects of these substances include the suppression of the inflammatory response. Since the inflammatory response is essential to the immune mechanism of the individual, the bereaved becomes more susceptible to common bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. Indeed, because of the suppression of this response, the grief-stricken person may fall prey to overwhelming infections which are caused by “opportunistic” micro-organisms. It seems possible that the stress imposed by grief may be at the basis for the increase in death rates of individuals who are bereaved.
Belief in Afterlife and Death Anxiety: Correlates and Comparisons
Authors: Aday Ronald H.
Published: May 2005

Previous investigations of the relationship between death anxiety and belief in afterlife have often yielded inconsistent results. In an attempt to establish a common linkage between the two variables, this study investigated key variables associated with death anxiety and belief in afterlife among a group of college students. The respondent's sex, race, educational level, family income, church membership, frequency of church attendance, and intensity of religious beliefs were employed as control variables. Results support the notion that belief in afterlife is primarily a function of religion and not, at least directly, a correlate of fear of death. While all the control variables were found to be significantly related to either death anxiety or belief in afterlife, only church attendance was found to be significantly related to both.
Chinese Caregiving Burden and the Future Burden of Elder Care in Life-Course Perspective
Authors: Zhan Heying Jenny
Published: May 2005

This article uses the life course perspective to combine micro- and macro-levels of analysis of caregiving burdens experienced by Chinese baby-boom cohort and then explores their elder care prospects. Based on survey interviews during 1997 and 1998 with 110 caregivers providing care to dependent parents or parents-in-law, this study finds that lower family income, fewer family members to assist with parental care, and care-recipients' higher levels of disability are contributors to higher levels of caregiver financial burden. Caregivers' greater involvement in provision of personal care contributes to their higher levels of objective burden. Interestingly, as duration of providing care lengthened, a reduction is noted in caregivers' subjective burden. Caregivers' report of social pressure in provision of parental care was found to increase their subjective burden. One can conclude that larger family size has been an important factor in relieving caregiver financial burden in the current caregiving situation when financial stress presents a major challenge to families with dependent elders under recent economic reforms. However, the lack of siblings to assist parental care in the future is likely to produce unimaginable stress on caregivers, creating not only financial burden but also objective and subjective burdens. In conclusion, the author suggests that social policy and service facilities at the macro-level, along with family size and cohesion at the micro-level, will be important factors helping determine the future effectiveness of elder care provision for baby boomers in China.
The Search by One Publication for Cost-Competitive Automation
Authors: Dobson David B.
Published: May 2005

A case history of how one technical publication is attempting to find technical means for solving some of its composing problems is given herein. The author presents the beginning use of technology, particularly automation, as an example of how communicators may be able to bridge the gap between themselves and the technologists.
Stages of Mystical Development in the Primordial Content of the Gospels and Acts
Authors: West Alan N.
Published: May 2005

Computerized content analysis of a narrative text can reveal shifts in the author's state of awareness. The Regressive Imagery Dictionary [1] is a well-validated content-analytic measure of primordial thought, which is a primitive, global, nontemporal mode of consciousness in which logic and disbelief are suspended. In narratives, increased primordial content seems to be associated with altered states of consciousness. Hypothetically, primordial thought is also the form of awareness in mystical experiences. Prior research has shown that certain religious texts, including the King James Bible in its entirety, manifest a five-stage pattern of primordial content consistent with Underhill's model of spiritual development in the prototypical Christian mystic [2]. The present study demonstrates that this pattern also runs through the narrative accounts of Jesus' ministry and the infancy of Christianity given in the Gospels and Acts of the New Testament. Sections of text identified by this pattern correspond thematically to the stages of the Underhill model.
Collective Control: Strategies for Survival in the Workplace
Authors: Johnson Jeffrey V.
Published: May 2005

The topic of this article is the mechanisms by which groups of workers either formally or informally participate in shaping the nature of their work experience. It is proposed that control over the work process is strongly influenced by the character of workplace social groups. This influence process, collective control, determines the possibilities for collective coping with the chronic demands and pressures of various production systems. Collective control is an active strategy, encompassing aspects of social support and social solidarity. It has its greatest health-related effect in occupational situations where the capacity for individual goal attainment is restricted. Empirical data and case study material are presented to illustrate the mechanisms and health-related effects of collectivity.
The Epidemiology of Drug Promotion
Authors: Silverman Milton
Published: May 2005

A survey was conducted on the promotion of 28 prescription drugs in the form of 40 different products marketed in the United States and Latin America by 23 multinational pharmaceutical companies. Striking differences were found in the manner in which the identical drug, marketed by the identical company or its foreign affiliate, was described to physicians in the United States and to physicians in Latin America. In the United States, the listed indications were usually few in number, while the contraindications, warnings, and potential adverse reactions were given in extensive detail. In Latin America, the listed indications were far more numerous, while the hazards were usually minimized, glossed over, or totally ignored.

The differences were not simply between the United States on the one hand and all the Latin American countries on the other. There were substantial differences within Latin America, with the same global company telling one story in Mexico, another in Central America, a third in Ecuador and Colombia, and yet another in Brazil. The companies have sought to defend these practices by contending that they are not breaking any Latin American laws. In some countries, however, such promotion is in clear violation of the law. The corporate ethics and social responsibilities concerned here call for examination and action.
Playing the Lynx: Creating the Writer's Complex as a Virtual Writing Center for Students at a Distance
Authors: Handley Elaine , Oaks Susan
Published: May 2005

This article describes the thinking and learning that lie behind the creation of an online writing center, The Writer's Complex. We discuss the construct of informative and facilitative hypertext. We explain how we used that construct to understand and design an online system to support the learning needs of adults studying independently and at a distance. One important goal of this project was to generate discussion among students about their experiences with the process of writing. We offer our own observations about the success of this endeavor and our thoughts about future designs for The Writer's Complex.
Needed—A Good Basic Communication Course
Authors: Mambert W. A.
Published: May 2005

It is tragically interesting that throughout the first twelve years of formal education in our society, the typical school curriculum does not contain a single course of study in idea handling and communication. In most college curricula, the art and techniques are confusingly taught and de-emphasized, largely because of specialization and professional parochialism. The net result is that our present system of personal development has produced a generation and a half of nonthinkers and noncopers.

This paper argues that a proper synthesis of the skills of perception, inquiry, problem solving, and communication can be taught as such in a single course of study, preferably in high school or even before, but most certainly at least in college. The author describes a semester-length “idea-handling and communication core” course designed to supplant several traditional high-school and college courses, or for adult education.
Cancer and Communication Problems: A Personal Experience
Authors: Harker Betty L.
Published: May 2005

Cancer leads to crucial and significant interpersonal difficulties for the patient, his physician, family, and friends because of communication problems. From personal experience as a cancer patient the author, a mental health professional, outlines the problems which she feels are created by the special nature of cancer and suggests guidelines for the patient, his family, and the physician which could alleviate them.
The Psychological Experience of Pregnancy
Authors: Bailey Leisa A. , Hailey B. Jo
Published: May 2005

The goal of this investigation was to evaluate objectively the psychological experience of pregnancy. Previous research, using symptoms checklists, interview information, and projective testing strategies has suggested that pregnancy presents a woman with emotional and psychological changes. The goal of this study was to substantiate objectively the assertion that pregnant women have different psychological experiences and emotional needs than nonpregnant women. To assess these needs a group of nineteen women experiencing their first pregnancy was compared to a nonpregnant control group on a variety of objective personality measures. The investigation results indicated that the pregnant women differed from the nonpregnant women on some fundamental dimensions of personality. These differences included a stronger introverted, inward personality orientation, and a lower level of self-acceptance and independence. Suggestions for future research are offered.
Smoking Survey of Dental Clinic Patients in the Saudi Military Hospital
Authors: Al-Rumaihi Faisal , Boffa Joseph
Published: May 2005

A survey of 200 dental clinic patients in Saudi Arabia's only military hospital. An appropriate health education smoking prevention program is described based on knowledge, attitude, and behavior derived from the survey and existing anti-smoking educational programs in the United States.
Psychoactive Drugs in Outpatient Therapy
Authors: Gottschalk Louis A.
Published: May 2005

A great many patients coming to a clinic for the first time are already using one or more drugs. The physician must be aware of this, not only for the purpose of prescription, but also in determining the validity of patient responses. He should be aware, too, of the correlation between demographic data and drug effect. If a drug is indicated, the therapist must consider, in addition to questions of potency, side effects and possible habituation, what he hopes to achieve through therapy. This paper provides a brief clinical evaluation of psychoactive drugs and their interaction with such non-drug variables as setting, expectation, placebo response, therapist attitude, and social class.
Psychoeducation: Applications in Community Health Education Settings
Authors: Klingman Avigdor
Published: May 2005

The development and implementation of the behavioral sciences' contribution to the health-related disciplines, depends on each discipline's willingness to develop new perspectives, make a joint effort, and present relevant challenges. This article attempts to present a collaboration modality to encourage meaningful participation of psychologists/counselors in health education within a community framework. Psychoeducation and a five-level intervention modality are suggested as the basis for new perspectives and methodologies.
Shakespeare's Invention of Theater as Simulation that Runs on Minds
Authors: Oatley Keith
Published: May 2005

Shakespeare's great innovation was the idea that theater could be a model of the world. The author supplies the words, the audience members their meaning as they construct a simulated model, based on emotions, in the course of the play. One can say that fiction is to understanding social interaction as computer simulation is to understanding complex processes in physics. Shakespeare designed plays as simulations of human actions in relation to predicaments, so that the deep structure of selfhood and of the interaction of people who have distinct personalities becomes clearer, when they run on the audience's minds. I explore this idea by analyses of Henry IV Part 1, As You Like It, and Hamlet. As we run such simulations on our minds, we not only construct and experience the emotions of the vicissitudes that have caused them, but we are enabled to reflect on them to create deeper mental models of individuals (including ourselves) and of interactions among us.
Age and Capability: The Role of Forgetting and Personal Traits
Authors: Erber Joan T. , Szuchman Lenore T.
Published: May 2005

We used a person perception paradigm to investigate whether ascriptions of personal traits differ for a young versus old target being interviewed for a volunteer position that will require the performance of memory-related tasks. Perceivers (52 men and 92 women, ages 18 to 75 years) read a script in which a young or old target interviewee was either forgetful or not. Afterward, perceivers rated the target on six desirable traits (e.g., responsible) and five undesirable traits (e.g., stubborn). Compared to nonforgetful targets, forgetful targets received higher ratings on undesirable traits and lower ratings on desirable traits. With regard to age, young and old targets received similar ratings on undesirable traits, but old targets were rated higher on desirable traits. This suggests a general positive bias in favor of old targets.
An Analysis of Student Assistance Programs: Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York
Authors: Milgram Gail Gleason
Published: May 2005

A questionnaire, designed to determine the process for identifying and providing assistance to students who demonstrate a variety of problem behaviors that interfere with learning or co-curricular performance in school, was mailed to school superintendents ( N = 1526) in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. Four hundred and fifty-one responses (29.6%A) were received; the majority (84.7%) indicated that a formal written policy exists for helping students and most (82.5%) also have a formal written procedure. The assistance program, most frequently called student assistance, is predominantly found at high school level. A full-time student assistance counselor paid by the school district (43.2%) or a grant funded position (18.9%) conducts the program. Students in the three states use the services of the program for alcohol problems, drug problems, family problems, school behavior problems, academic problems, etc. The major referral sources to the assistance programs are teachers, guidance counselors, and the students themselves. The survey findings indicate that assistance programs for students in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York play a significant role in helping students who are experiencing problems and also positively impact on the school and the community.