bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Process of Involving High School Students in Developing Reproductive Health Education Materials in Ibadan, Nigeria
Authors: Ajoko Desmond C. , Salami Kabiru K. , Brieger William R.
Published: May 2005

Adolescents in secondary schools in Ibadan were involved in the design and utilization of their own story-flipchart for the teaching of reproductive health. Full participation of the students ranged from message development in the form of a story line picture conceptualization to conducting teaching sessions with the resulting materials. Discussion groups among high school students helped identify a priority concern of inappropriate sexual interaction. Subsequently, three groups of intervention secondary schools were formed: students in two schools were selected by their peers to develop and use the story-flipchart; students in two more schools were trained to use the materials developed by the first group; and teachers in two more schools were likewise trained to use the materials. Intervention during a three-month school term was monitored. Follow-up in-depth interviews with the educators and focus group discussions among members of the student audience were used to gather feedback on the materials and the process. The study showed that adolescents can identify a common problem to people of their age and can design a meaningful program that can teach prevention of such a problem. Focus group discussions among members of the audience confirmed that they understood the messages and liked the materials, especially since their peers developed these. Those students who developed the materials explained how the process enhanced their self-confidence, although in some cases they met with initial ridicule or resistance. All those involved using the materials hoped that such a process could be incorporated into the normal educational process in their schools. In conclusion, the study demonstrated the importance of involving young people in developing educational materials that address their perceived health problems.
The Value of Employee Participation in Strategic Planning
Authors: Mort Gail M. Holbrook
Published: May 2005

A strategic planning and measurement planning project was undertaken by an 800-employee Maintenance department of a major Canadian gas transmission company to establish a stable direction and performance guide. Employee morale was so diminished from six years of constant reorganization and downsizing that the newly appointed vice-president was skeptical that the department would be able to meet its new goals unless a highly participative process was used. The project therefore was designed to use an input-reaction process between employees and managers to create a shared vision, strategic plan, and measurement system. Past projects of this nature had involved management personnel only and often goals were not achieved because few employees felt motivated by the “top-down” directives. This process produced a motivating vision, a highly doable performance plan, and a well-accepted measurement system within the allotted project schedule.
Preschool Imaginative Play Predisposition and its Relationship to Subsequent Third Grade Assessment
Authors: Shmukler Diana
Published: May 2005

A longitudinal study is described which addresses the question of the course of imaginative play predisposition. Preschool assessments of imaginativeness are related to third grade testing of cognitive and affective variables. A retest sample of seventy-three children were followed up some three years after the original preschool assessments of imaginative predisposition were made. Considerable support was provided for the validity of the earlier factorial multidimensional conception of imaginative predisposition. Further the early assessments were found to be predictive and strongly related to third grade expression of imagination, creativity and other related cognitive and emotional features such as reading, language comprehension, and independence and maturity.
Teaching a Course on the Nature and Significance of Subjective Experiences: Some Notes and Suggestions
Authors: Richardson Alan
Published: May 2005

The main aims of this article are to alert potential teachers of a course on subjective experiences to some problems that may arise and to suggest some ways of dealing with them that have been found helpful by the writer. Although restricted to a particular definition of subjective experience, many of the problems are likely to be of concern in any course involving topics within the general family of “consciousness” concepts.
Literary Expertise and Analogical Reasoning: Building Global Themes
Authors: Graves Barbara
Published: May 2005

This paper investigates the analogical reasoning of literary academics and writers in order to understand what role analogy plays in literary interpretation. Readers' verbal protocol data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively to examine reasoning operations ( claims, hypotheses, analogies, expectations, questions, evaluations, and meta-statements), the relational links between operations ( condition, elaboration, and reiteration), and the levels of the text at which those operations occur ( fact, local, and global). The results of the quantitative analysis reveal that expert readers generated relatively few analogies. The qualitative analyses suggest that, in spite of the low frequencies, analogies serve an important function in expert readers' literary text descriptions. Analogies may be signaled explicitly by the text or may be generated from the domain-specific expertise of the readers. Analogical comparisons may be constructed at any of the multiple levels of the text descriptions and are also generated in relation to the communicative context. These intertextual references appear to facilitate the elaboration of knowledge schemas and global themes, and permit readers to work with multiple interpretive possibilities. In this way, analogies served as a form of data generation and management for expert readers.
Sentence Skills for Technical Writers
Authors: Broadhead Glenn J.
Published: May 2005

In most textbooks on technical writing, understandability of sentences is misleadingly equated with grammatical primitiveness. In actual technical writing, however, writers regularly conform to six basic rules dealing with the uses of base clauses and free modifiers, as well as punctuation. There are ten types of free modifiers, which can be used singly or in parallel or nonparallel sequences. All types are used either to add details to a key idea expressed in a base clause or to make transitions between one sentence or paragraph and another.
Child Survival and Baseline Surveys: A Description of Literacy Rates of Women of Child Bearing Age in Abia and Imo States, Nigeria
Authors: Stephens Torrance T. , Oriuwa Chibuzo L.
Published: May 2005

The results of a literacy need assessment conducted in eight autonomous communities, four from both Abia and Imo States, is presented and discussed. Data were obtained via survey interview and administered to 209 and 235 subjects respectively for Abia and Imo States. The information was collected to form a baseline level of operation prior to the Literacy for Health Intervention implemented by Africare/Owerri and the Imo State Ministry of Health. Results suggest both similar and varied trends regarding literacy abilities of participants and their attitudes regarding adult literacy instruction in the samples from both communities. This study emphasizes the literacy needs items of the survey. Findings support the need for literacy for health interventions in these areas and confirm the need for interventions to improve literacy skills and enhance the quality of life of families living in these communities. It is anticipated that data obtained regarding baseline assessments and interviews may be used to examine the long-term effectiveness and impact of literacy for health care activities under the auspices of child survival projects.
The Politics of Hunger: When Science and Ideology Clash
Authors: Brown J. Larry , Gershoff Stanley N. , Cook John T.
Published: May 2005

In recent years the WIC program, a federal nutrition program for poor mothers and babies, has become a major playing field for ideological forces hoping to shape public opinion and Congressional action on matters of domestic social policy. WIC's highly positive benefits have been distorted, research results from its scientific evaluation altered by high-level federal officials, and its public support undermined by an academic spokesman with ties to the White House and a stated desire to kill the program. While strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill makes it likely that WIC will survive and even grow, distortion of its record provides insight into how ideological forces contaminate the well of reasoned discourse for their preconceived ends.
How Many Films Noirs are there?: How Statistics can Help Answer this Question
Authors: Miller Laurence
Published: May 2005

Film noir refers to a body of films made in America from 1940–1959 and which is defined by a characteristic and particular content and style. Although there is agreement as to what constitutes this content and style, there is considerable disagreement as to which films constitute film noir. Appropriate statistical analyses are performed given the constraints imposed by the current method of film scholars of independently deriving their particular lists of films noirs. Much more powerful statistical analyses are discussed. These would facilitate consensus regarding which films are film noir, but would require that all film scholars independently judge the same list of films.
Toward a Comprehensive Bibliography of Technical Writing
Authors: Cunningham Donald H.
Published: May 2005

This paper makes a strong case for a comprehensive listing of technical writing publications. An introduction to the main thesis establishes the importance of technical writing both academically and professionally. A strong bibliography would provide a mine of information for both teachers and technical writers. The author would welcome a response on the subject, including references to information for citation.
Perceptions of Information Technology in Higher Education
Authors: Fatt James Poon Teng
Published: May 2005

Considering the relentless pace at which information technology (IT) is shaping the global environment, this study aims to determine the impact of IT on university students from their attitudes toward IT. The areas examined in this study are the educational, personal and social aspects of the students toward the impact of IT. A survey was conducted on 201 undergraduates from two local universities, Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore, with almost equal numbers of engineering and non-engineering undergraduates. The results show that although all the respondents felt the impact of IT, their attitudes toward IT were varying with respect to the three areas of study. Contrary to common belief, non-engineering undergraduates were found to have a more positive disposition toward the impact of IT.
The Use of Guided Imagery in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Authors: Galyean Beverly-Colleene
Published: May 2005

Since 1977 three federally funded grants and two private grants have supported the designing, implementing, and evaluating of imagery-based affective programs on the elementary and secondary levels in Los Angeles City Schools. Along with these projects, teachers active in holistic-oriented education networks in the United States and Canada and those working with the Center for Integrative Learning have contributed data to this preliminary study on the effects of using guided imagery/visualization activities in elementary and secondary school programs. Results seem to indicate that imagery activities are used primarily for 1) cognitive gains; 2) affective development; 3) transpersonal awareness. Teachers also use imagery activities to sharpen students' focusing/attention skills.
Evaluation of Instruction Using Exploratory Data Analysis
Authors: Souder H. Ray , Leigh William
Published: May 2005

This article describes a way to evaluate students in their classroom performance while taking a computer aided instruction course. This method is known as exploratory data analysis. Exploratory data analysis is a way of thinking about data analysis and also a way of doing it. The exploratory approach to data analysis seeks to have the user identify relationships among data that may go unnoticed with more traditional techniques. Exploratory data analysis is an alternative method to evaluate a student's performance in the classroom. The major benefits in utilizing EDA are: 1) the distribution better represents the typical student performance; 2) order statistics are more resistant to outliers; 3) the grade assignment process is more objective; 4) the technique is intuitively understood by instructors and students alike; and 5) a series of application programs are available for computerization.
University Instructional Television Networks
Authors: Martin-Vegue Charles A. , Morris Albert J. , Tallmadge Gene E.
Published: May 2005

University ITV Networks are “educational delivery systems.” In effect, they bring the university—often several universities—to students where they work. They overcome the need and the related problems of physically transporting either or both students and faculty to each other.

For such networks to be academically, technically, and financially viable all parties involved in the interaction process must be simultaneously satisfied; the faculty, the university administration, the on-campus students, the remote students, and the employers of the remote students.

Almost always, it is the employer who pays network costs. Employers have paid such costs where the system has been demonstratably cost-effective. This usually requires finding multiple uses of the network in order to maximize its benefit while, at the same time, finding ways to minimize the cost.
Femininity, Responsibility, and the Technological Imperative: Discourses on Breast Cancer in the Australian Press
Authors: Lupton Deborah
Published: May 2005

The manner in which the popular press represents health issues influences, and is demonstrative of, societal attitudes toward illnesses and those who suffer from them. Cancer is one of the most feared diseases in modern society, and breast cancer attacks women at the bodily site where notions of femininity intersect. This article examines the discourses surrounding breast cancer as represented in the Australian press in the period between 1987 and 1990. It is argued that the press's portrayal of breast cancer during that time drew upon dominant cultural metaphors and discourses concerning femininity, the individual's responsibility for illness, and medical and technological dominance.
Sex of the Face in Western Art: Left and Right in Portraits
Authors: Zaidel Dahlia W. , Fitzgerald Peter
Published: May 2005

The relationship between observers' taste and the sitter's face orientation as function of sitter sex in painted portraits was investigated. The historical tendency in portraiture is that the sitter's left side of the face is more likely than the right to be turned towards the viewer and this side bias is stronger with women than with men. Correctly oriented and reversed museum portraits were viewed by subjects who gave ratings of “liking” the portrait as a whole (Experiment 1) and for “attractiveness” of the sitter (Experiment 2). Only portraits of women showed a left-right difference with right favored significantly over left, irrespective of orientation or type of rating. These findings go against the historical pattern of the sex-related bias in portraiture. They suggest that most women are painted in an orientation which is less favorable to them.
National Human Resource Development Policies: Issues for Health Education Administrators
Authors: Simonds Scott K.
Published: May 2005

The pathway to achievement of the goal “Health for All by The Year 2000” is lined with good intentions, but one that in the remaining fifteen years of this century may not lead very far. Although development of human resources and support of local autonomy are promoted as the keys to success, in truth much greater attention must be devoted to infrastructures, administration, policies, and data base planning for education and health services. For health education administrators the decisions may be at odds with current economic and social change theory and perhaps at odds with their own values.
The Development of Canadian Nursing: Professionalization and Proletarianization
Authors: Coburn David
Published: May 2005

In this article, the development of nursing in Canada is described in terms of three major time periods: the emergence of lay nursing, including organization and registration, 1870–1930; the move to the hospital, 1930–1950; and unionization and the routinization of health care, 1950 to the present. This development is viewed in the light of the orienting concepts of professionalization, proletarianization, and medical dominance (and gender analysis). This historical trajectory of nursing shows an increasing occupational autonomy but continuing struggles over control of the labor process. Nursing is now using theory, organizational changes in health care, and credentialism to help make nursing “separate from but equal to” medicine and to gain control over the day-to-day work of the nurse. Nursing can thus be viewed as undergoing processes of both professionalization and proletarianization. As nursing seeks to control the labor process, its occupational conflicts are joined to the class struggle of white-collar workers in general. Analysis of nursing indicates the problems involved in sorting out the meaning of concepts that are relevant to occupational or class analysis but which focus on the same empirical phenomenon.
Comparison between Experiential and Didactic Methods of Death Education
Authors: Durlak Joseph A.
Published: May 2005

This research examined the impact of a death and dying workshop on individual attitudes toward life and death. The workshop was a voluntary eight-hour, small group experience conducted for heterogeneous hospital staff of a large southeastern medical center. Pre-post questionnaire data were collected from two groups of workshop participants and a matched control group. One of the workshop groups (didactic group) participated in an educational program emphasizing lecture presentations and small group discussion. In contrast, the second workshop group (experiential) confronted, examined, and shared their own feelings and reactions to grief and death. Role playing and death awareness and grief exercises were used for this purpose. Data indicated that the experiential group showed a significant reduction in fear of death as a result of the workshop, whereas both the didactic and control groups changed negatively over time. Results support the view that an emotional, personal approach to death is an important element in an effective death educational program.
Premenstrual Syndrome
Authors: Tucker Joan S. , Whalen Richard E.
Published: May 2005

The Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) was described as a unique entity meriting therapeutic attention in 1931. Although researchers in the area have failed to develop a widely accepted definition of PMS, substantial progress has been made in describing the variety of psychobiological profiles encompassed by this syndrome, particularly with respect to its typical symptoms, cyclical nature, symptoms recurrence and severity. Therapies ranging from diet and exercise to vitamin, hormone and drug treatment have been proposed. While none is more efficacious than placebo, several have been popularized. Our failure to develop adequate treatment may reflect our lack of understanding of either the psychosocial or biological factors involved in PMS. This, in turn, may reflect inadequate theoretical development in this research area. We provide a critical assessment of research on PMS, suggest a framework for theoretical development and advocate research strategies that might provide insights into the etiology of the premenstrual syndrome.
Death Threat Constructions in the Student and the Prudent
Authors: Rainey Lawrence C. , Epting Franz R.
Published: May 2005

Two experiments were conducted as tests of the validity of the provided-construct Threat Index, a theoretically based death orientation instrument. The first study compared changes in death threat scores of students in two death education courses to threat scores of control classes. Although a hypothesized decline in mean threat scores from pre- to post-testing among the thanatology students was not found, it was found that the mean death threat scores of the thanatology students were significantly lower than the control classes at both pre- and post-testing and that the variance of scores among the death class students increased markedly while remaining stable in the control classes. The second study compared mean Threat Index scores of two groups: a) a criterion group composed of persons who had made explicit preparatory arrangements for their own funeral, cremation, or body donation; and b) a demographically comparable control group of adults who had not taken such action. With a sample of 106 respondents (fifty-seven “pre-planners” and forty-nine “controls”), the mean comparison showed the pre-planners to be significantly lower in measured death threat as predicted. Implications of these findings for the construct validity of the instrument are discussed.
The Stream of Consciousness: II. William James's Specious Present
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

In this second article of a series that examines from various perspectives the phenomenon that James called “the stream of consciousness,” I continue to argue that James's implicit account of the stream was not consistent with how he advertised it in The Principles. James's stream was more analogous to a train, with tightly adjacent successive components, than to a stream of water. Additional material supporting this contention comes from James's account of time perception, specifically, the specious present and how it is intuited. I argue that his account is not perceptual, that time perception amounts to a kind of inner (second-order) consciousness. When engaged in “perceiving” time, we repeatedly have inner (second-order) consciousness whose objects are durations comprised of a set of successive instances of consciousness intuited to occur in the present. They then become past one or more after another, depending on the frequency of inner (second-order) consciousness.
Research on Attitudes of Medical Doctors toward the Dying Patient: A Methodological Problem
Authors: Caldwell Diane , Mishara Brian L.
Published: May 2005

From a sample of seventy-three medical doctors, thirteen interviews were conducted regarding the physician's attitudes toward the dying patient. A majority of those refusing interviews did so only when the nature of the topic of discussion was revealed. This research experience indicates a general reluctance on the part of physicians to discuss their attitudes toward death. Contradictions revealed in the responses of the physicians who were interviewed indicate that the topic of death may present more of a problem to physicians than has been recognized.
Being Real and Being Realistic: Chemical Abuse Prevention, Teen Counselors, and an Ethic of Care
Authors: Dorsch Nina G.
Published: May 2005

Despite the national goal of “drug-free” schools, recent data suggest that chemical abuse among school-aged children remains a concern. This qualitative case study presents a “unique case” within one school's substance abuse prevention program. In this program, pioneered in 1973, pairs of teen counselors “adopt” a middle school classroom and make regularly scheduled visits to conduct chemical abuse prevention sessions. Two of the teen counselors were perceived by both themselves and the faculty advisor as unlike other teen counselors. This study explores themes surrounding how they viewed their mission and carried it out. Two themes emerged as significant. These particular teen counselors saw both their role and their mission as being “real” and being “realistic.” This perspective represents a concrete expression of the ethic of care described by Nel Noddings. It is a perspective which should be considered in developing teen counselor programs or any chemical abuse prevention program.
Cognitive Strategies as a Dependent Variable in Media Research
Authors: Huang Che-Tsao
Published: May 2005

Although the need to investigate the cognitive processes by media research was recognized as early as 1961, there has been hardly any such attempt. The lack of experimental techniques by which the “black box” can be reached is probably responsible for the lack of research attention. This experiment employs a technique called blank trial to investigate cognitive strategies used by S in solving problems presented by slide. It is assumed that this technique may systematically investigate and presumably externalize cognitive processes.
The Stream of Consciousness: XXVI. Awareness as Commentary (Second Part)
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

This article, published in two parts, is propaedeutic to a consideration next of Weiskrantz's conception of consciousness from a perspective bequeathed to us by James more than a century ago. Weiskrantz has argued in support of a general account of awareness that resembles the “Intellectualist” notion of mind against which James strongly objected. Weiskrantz mainly addressed the question of where in the brain the stream of consciousness “flows,” but he also maintained at some length that all awarenesses, even those experiences that are involved in having pain, are matters of commentary. Contrary to how it may seem, every state of consciousness is in fact a certain kind of behavioral response—covert, overt, or incipient—that brings something or other under a heading. Although Weiskrantz explicitly rejected all eliminative strategies vis-à-vis awareness, he formulated his own concept of awareness in terms of the operations that allow him to judge whether a subject is aware of something in particular, and he claimed that awareness always consists either of the delivery of a report or an occurrent brain-state of readiness to issue a report.
On Death and the Continuity of Life: A Psychohistorical Perspective
Authors: Lifton Robert Jay
Published: May 2005

Unlimited technological violence and absurd death have replaced sexual repression as an urgent theme for contemporary man. Psychoanalytic theory, developed during the late Victorian era, must be re-evaluated within the context of current historical forces. In attempting to understand the impact of extreme violence and mass death, the writer finds it more useful to speak of a process of psychic numbing rather than repression. This numbing process involves an impairment of the symbolization or image-forming function. Illustrative material is drawn from the writer's previous study of Hiroshima survivors, and in observations made in clinical work. The goal is to evolve psychohistorical theory adequate to the dangerous times in which we live.
A Circadian Rhythm in the Frequency of Spontaneous Task-Unrelated Images and Thoughts
Authors: Giambra Leonard M. , Rosenberg Edwin H. , Kasper Siegfried , Yee William , Sack David A.
Published: May 2005

It was hypothesized that the frequency of task-unrelated images and thoughts (TUITs) would demonstrate a circadian periodicity as a result of circadian periodicity in activation level. Six subjects were monitored for frequency of deliberate and spontaneous TUITs during a twenty minute vigilance task. The vigilance task was repeated every two hours for twenty-four hours. Spontaneous TUIT frequency was found to demonstrate a sinusoidal periodicity of twenty-two hours. TUITs were more frequent from late morning to early afternoon and less frequent from late evening to early morning. Although the times of the minimum and maximum TUIT frequencies generally correspond with previously reported periods of low and high body temperatures, both body temperature and TUIT frequency must be measured simultaneously to demonstrate the relationship.
Coping with Rape: Critical Perspectives on Consciousness
Authors: Fine Michelle
Published: May 2005

Traditional psychological prescriptions for coping with injustice rest on a variety of assumptions which ignore the lived experiences of most women, especially those who are poor or working class, whose lives are embedded in a network of relationships that need be considered in their coping. This article, through a dialogue between the author, a rape counselor, and a woman who has survived rape, provides an analysis of the class, race and gender biases woven into the Taking-Control-Yields-Coping formulations.
Case Study on Chronic Organophosphate Poisoning
Authors: Robson Mark G. , Hamilton George C. , Brachman Gwen O.
Published: May 2005

Ernest and Leslie Rea, two farmers in their mid-fifties, contacted their local County Agricultural Extension Office in Cape May, New Jersey, regarding health problems associated with their use of pesticides. They were referred to Dr. Hamilton and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) clinic for consultation and evaluations. They were diagnosed with chronic intoxication of organophosphate pesticides. Recommendations were made to decrease health risks in the farming operations. These included the usage of personal protective equipment while handling or applying pesticides, transportation of pesticides in a separate trailer behind the farm truck, and construction of separate storage areas for herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. A separate wash site was also constructed for use at the end of the work day. Compliance with these strategies resulted in improvements in health for both farmers.
Aggression and Suicide: A Critical Evaluation of the Suicide Prevention Ethic
Authors: Nelson Franklyn L.
Published: May 2005

Suicide is generally assumed to be a tragic and wasteful act which all people should try to prevent. This assumption, and the assumption that suicide is a self-directed act of aggression, is examined in terms of its implications for society and for the individual who wishes to die. The concepts of social utility and hedonistic utility are introduced and used to suggest a dynamic model of those social and psychological factors which interact to create a predisposition to suicide and/or other forms of destructive behavior in the individual. Self-directed and outward-directed forms of destructive behavior are compared as coping measures for low hedonistic utility and are evaluated with respect to their relative cost to society and to the individual who makes use of them. Given our society's priorities for defining social utility, it is argued that many outward-directed acts of aggression may be more appropriately self-directed. It is concluded that for certain individuals suicide may now represent the most appropriate and efficacious solution to chronic conditions of low life-satisfaction, maladjustment, and despair.
Anxiety and Depression in Patients Receiving Implanted Cardioverter-Defibrillators: A Longitudinal Investigation
Authors: Hegel Mark T. , Griegel Lori E. , Black Carolyn , Goulden Lisa , Ozahowski Tomas
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has dramatically improved survival rates following sudden cardiac death episodes. However, researchers have devoted little attention to the psychosocial consequences of living with the device. The current study used a longitudinal design to evaluate the impact of adaptation to the ICD on incidence and severity of anxiety and depression.

Method:

ICD recipients were administered standardized anxiety and depression questionnaires as well as questions evaluating quality of life related to the ICD in two consecutive yearly assessments. A preliminary evaluation of potentially important theoretical variables, such as the perceived predictability and controllability of shock onset was also conducted.

Results:

One-third of the study population ( N = 38) had clinically significant levels of anxiety, depressed mood, and fear of symptoms of autonomic arousal. These negative affective states persisted over time, with 40 to 63 percent of subjects continuing to have ongoing difficulties over a one-year time period. Anxiety about the ICD firing was closely associated with the occurrence of depression, while avoidance of activities was associated with anxiety. “Worry” about the ICD and a belief that ICD firing can be predicted were associated with anxiety sensitivity.

Conclusions:

Depressive and anxiety states in ICD recipients may be frequent, clinically significant, and resistant to spontaneous resolution. Early signs of anxiety and depression in ICD recipients should be evaluated. Implications for future research are discussed.
Occupational Health Risks for Mexican Women: The Case of the Maquiladora along the Mexican-United States Border
Authors: Hovell Melbourne F. , Sipan Carol , Hofstetter C. Richard , DuBois Barbara C. , Krefft Andrew , Conway John , Jasis Monica , Isaacs Hope L.
Published: May 2005

International reports of morbidity among female workers in Mexico's border zone have raised concern about the occupational health of female workers in maquiladora plants (foreign-owned border industries with special tariff benefits). Commentators have suggested that U.S. industries may be exploiting workers by transferring work to nations with less stringent health and safety regulation through the maquiladora program. Using data from a larger evaluation of the effectiveness of Project Concern and a specially developed questionnaire, this study investigated the extent to which female workers reported higher morbidity rates than women with other employment and women not employed outside the home in seven colonias (communities) in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Results showed essentially no difference in many short-term self-reported symptoms of illness among maquiladora workers and two other groups. Women who worked exclusively in the home reported the greatest number of symptoms. These results suggest that additional primary care services may be needed for women who have primarily domestic responsibilities. Additional research is needed to assess the risks for long-latency morbidity.
Moral Hazard: A Question of Morality?
Authors: Dembe Allard E. , Boden Leslie I.
Published: May 2005

Economists use the term moral hazard to describe the tendency for insurance plans to encourage behavior that increases the risk of insured loss. Numerous economic studies have examined moral hazard effects in workers' compensation. Many of these have focused on the supposed propensity of workers to exercise less caution or to file more claims in response to increases in workers' compensation benefit levels. Although many authorities insist that moral hazard is a value-neutral concept, there are often pejorative connotations associated with contemporary discussions of moral hazard that intentionally or unintentionally disparage the motives of workers and undermine public support for workers' compensation programs. This article critically examines that literature and explores the conceptual underpinnings of economists' claims that employee moral hazard is rampant in workers' compensation. We examine the historical roots of moral hazard and its role in recent economic analyses of workers' compensation, consider the practical and ethical implications of that discourse, and offer suggestions for a truly value-neutral approach that would describe the system more fairly and accurately.
Effects of ACTH and Prednisone on Mood: Incidence and Time of Onset
Authors: Cameron Oliver G. , Addy R. O. , Malitz David
Published: May 2005

Prior studies of mood and cognitive changes produced by ACTH and glucocorticoids have not characterized accurately the incidence or time of onset of these changes. In this study mood and cognitive reactions of fifteen medical patients treated with ACTH or prednisone were studied prospectively. ACTH produced a lessening of dysphoria by the third treatment day, and mild euphoric reactions occurred in three of seven of the patients treated. Prednisone produced a reduction of dysphoria by the seventh day, but no euphoric reactions in the eight patients treated with it. Neither medical symptom improvement nor elevation of plasma cortisol levels in the patients given ACTH appeared to account for the results. The mechanism of the observed mood change remains to be elucidated.
Curricula, Competition and Conventional Bonds: The Educational Role in Drug Control
Authors: Norland Stephen , Eichar Douglas , Dichiara Albert
Published: May 2005

Evaluations of school curricular drug control efforts show they are only modestly successful because they are based on an inaccurate theory of drug taking. Social control theory is suggested as a better model of drug taking and drug resistance. Building strong bonds to school acts to decrease the likelihood of interaction with delinquent peers and thereby decrease delinquency and drug use. Yet schools are sites of stratification and competition, and strong bonds may be related to one's place in the school hierarchy. If schools are unable to produce sufficient positions in the hierarchy, those with low levels of academic success or commitment may turn to the drug subculture to find status and rewards. A number of future research questions are suggested.
Computer-Supported Collaborative Writing Phases
Authors: Rada Roy , Wang Weigang
Published: May 2005

A collaborative hypermedia system was used in a five-week course for computer science students. Authoring tasks were assigned to individuals, groups, and organizations. Students took roles and used the system to perform the tasks. The aim of this research was to see whether collaborative hypermedia systems could improve upon results achieved in traditional collaborative and individual learning environments without a computer. Though technology can support collaboration, the students themselves did not feel positively disposed to sharing their ideas and work with their peers. The group experience did not improve the quality of individual writing. To facilitate group writing, we may want to ensure that the group is coordinated throughout the authoring process and not just at some phase of it.
Community Economic Structure and Individual Well-Being a Look behind the Statistics
Authors: Sclar Elliott D.
Published: May 2005

This paper presents a model of the community economic development process with an emphasis on its implications for individual well-being. It is intended as a social epidemiology which can help explain empirical findings demonstrating a connection between indicators of individual and social dysfunction and indicators of economic change.

The model is one of economic development in a market-oriented, profit-maximizing society. The underlying hypothesis is that changes in economic activity brought about by increases in the size of firms and scale of production place new demands upon local resources and labor markets. In response, families and social networks begin to change the ways they relate to individual members, changes that cause individuals to become more directly vulnerable to the stresses and strains generated by economic activity. The result is that dysfunction, as manifest in the incidence and prevalence of various pathologies, increases with both ups and downs in the economy.

The paper discusses the ways in which these changes become manifest in the statistical series used for purposes of empirical analysis and suggests the limits of this approach to social research. It ends by presenting a policy prescription for economic development which places emphasis on social cost minimization rather than output maximization.
Lay Theories of Emotion: 4. Reactions to Negative and Positive Emotional Episodes
Authors: Ben-Artzi Elisheva , Mikulincer Mario
Published: May 2005

Seven studies assessed the relation between lay theories of emotion (“threat” and “benefit” appraisal) and cognitions and behaviors in positive and negative emotional episodes. Studies 1 and 2 examined such a relation via the assessment of the habitual cognitions and behaviors persons evince in negative (Study 1) and positive emotional states. Studies 3 through 7 assessed whether and how appraisals of emotion affect some frequently observed cognitive-behavioral consequences of positive and negative affect induction, such as self-focused off-task cognitions, causal attribution, helping behavior, optimism, and creativity. Threat appraisal of emotion was related to negative self-evaluation, off-task cognitions, pessimism, and passivity during negative emotions, and to causal search during positive emotions. Benefit appraisal was related to active coping with, and emotional expressiveness of negative emotions and to the generalization of positive emotions to other behavioral-cognitive areas (altruism, optimism, creativity). The results are discussed in terms of a goal approach to emotion and personality.
Income Dynamics and Health
Authors: Duncan Greg J.
Published: May 2005

The focus of this article is the economic dimension of socioeconomic status as it relates to health. In contrast to the assumptions of many life cycle models, the author finds household income to be quite volatile for many families, even during periods of macroeconomic growth. Income inequality has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. Studies relating various measures of health (e.g., low birth weight; cognitive development, stunting, wasting in early childhood; mortality in later adult years) to longitudinal measures of family income often find quite powerful effects of income, even after controlling for correlated aspects of socioeconomic status and baseline health status. The author discusses strategies for modeling income effects.
New Dates from Old Collections: The Roundtop Site and Maize-Beans-Squash Agriculture in the Northeast
Authors: Hart John P.
Published: May 2005

The Roundtop site located in the Upper Susquehanna River Valley of New York has long been held to contain the earliest evidence for maize-beans-squash agriculture in the Northeast. In his reports on this site, Ritchie linked charred maize, beans, and squash remains with a radiocarbon date of A.D. 1070 + 60 and pottery associated with the early Owasco Carpenter Brook phase. Recent AMS dating of the domesticates indicates that there is no evidence for maize, beans, and squash co-occurring at the site before A.D. 1300. The dates are supported by pottery collections and Ritchie's lab notes. These results emphasize that site descriptions in the literature are interpretations not observations. These interpretations need to be carefully assessed before their incorporation into new analyses and syntheses. This can only be done if collections of artifacts, botanical and zoological remains, and field and lab notes are maintained by museums.
Is There a Pattern of Psychological Reactions to Chronic Illness Which is Associated with Death
Authors: Viney Linda L. , Westbrook Mary
Published: May 2005

In order to identify any pattern of psychological reactions to illness associated with later death, interview material from a sample of chronically ill people who died within months of being interviewed was compared with similar material from a sample of chronically ill people who did not die, as well as from a group of healthy people who did not die. The samples were matched for sex and age, and, where appropriate, for degree of disability and type of chronic illness. The comparisons were made by means of content analysis scales which were applied to a recorded segment of the interviews. A characteristic pattern of reactions among the chronically ill people who were later to die was established. This pattern included little uncertainty or directly expressed anger but much depression, guilt, and fear of bodily damage, together with many good feelings. In personal construct psychology terms, their construct systems were enabling them to anticipate what was happening to them more effectively than might have been expected.
Cognitive Modification of Test Performance in Schizophrenics and Normals
Authors: Kreitler Shulamith , Kreitler Hans , Wanounou Vicky
Published: May 2005

We started from the assumption that meanings individuals assign underlie their cognitive functioning. This study investigated the effects of changes in meaning on changes in responses to a task, including pathological manifestations. We focused on two modes of meaning: lexical meaning, which consists of conventional attributions and comparisons, and personal meaning, which consists of examples and metaphoric expressions. The hypothesis was that inducing lexical meaning (LI) would decrease pathology in the Rorschach whereas inducing personal meaning (PI) would increase it. Subjects were thirty-two hospitalized chronic schizophrenics and thirty-two matched normal controls of both genders. The design was bi-factorial with repeated measures. The Rorschach was administered to the subjects in two individual sessions. To the experimental subjects it was administered either after LI or after PI. Results were that in both groups there was less pathology (higher F+%, P, H, Lower M, O and “special phenomena”) after LI, more after PI. In schizophrenics after PI blunted affect increased, in normals acting-out. In general, in schizophrenics PI led to enhanced pathology, in normals to loosening of habitual controls. Discussion focused on implications concerning cognitive functioning, pathology, schizophrenia, creativity, and hemispheric integration.
Bringing Teachers of Technical Writing and Teachers of Literature Closer Together
Authors: Gould Jay R.
Published: May 2005

Within the past few years have appeared a number of journal articles about a rift between technical writing teachers and literature teachers. At this point there seems to be some improvement in containing this rift between these two groups, uneasy partners in many English departments. At the same time, the problem continues as new people enter the teaching profession and older people are forced to change their direction.
Computer Support for a Systems Approach to Instruction: Problem Statement, Data Entry, and Group Formation
Authors: Collins Eugene A. , Larsen Dean C.
Published: May 2005

The Jefferson County Public Schools is conducting a study which implements a digital time-shared computer as support for a systems approach to instruction. This study presently involves one elementary school but will support a total of thirteen schools in the future. The computer support includes computer generated criterion test forms. The items for the test forms are randomly selected from a test-item bank. Additional computer support includes the use of a remote document reader for test scoring and updating student academic records. The records are updated using test results and teacher certification of mastery. Data from academic records is being studied to determine its usefulness for formation of instructional groups in a multi-unit elementary school. The design of feedback reports to teachers is being studied in order to optimize the report's usefulness in instructional processes. The effects on teacher's roles caused by the computer support of an existing instructional system are being observed.
A Management-Run Orientation Program for Manual Writers
Authors: Losano Wayne A.
Published: May 2005

The author of this article has observed the needs of the manual writer from two viewpoints, that of the technical writing teacher and that of the consultant to industry.

He offers several suggestions for helping the manual writer through attention to resource materials, planning of courses, organization, and style and mechanics.