Ericksonian hypnosis and strategic interventions for sexual orientation confusion

Erickson's utilization approach provides a model of hypnotic and strategic intervention for persons seeking psychotherapy because of sexual orientation confusion. Case studies outline examples of hypnotic and strategic short-term interventions. These cases include the use of metaphor, utilizing resistances, anchoring, and synesthesia.     

Protectionism: An analysis from project LINK

The LINK system of world trade is used to examine present tendencies toward protectionism. In protectionist scenarios we increase the prices of manufactured imports into 13 LINK-OECD countries by 5, 10, and 20 percent respectively, for 1978–1979. If a country's import equations do not depend significantly on relative price, we impose corresponding quantitative import restrictions of 5, 10, and 20 percent. Smaller OECD countries, developing countries, and socialist countries are assumed to be nonprotectionist in these scenarios. The discrepancies between the values of leading variables in the protectionist scenarios and in a baseline case show the effects of the different degrees of protectionism assumed. The results describe and validate Adam Smith's principles of the gains from free trade.     

The Robustness of Several Estimators of the Survivorship Function with Randomly Censored Data

The problem of estimating the survivorship function, R(t) = P(T > t), arises frequently in both engineering and biomedical sciences. In many applications the data one sees are censored due to the occurrence of some competing cause of failure such as withdrawal from the study, failure from some cause not under study, etc. In the biomedical sciences the distribution free estimator suggested by Kaplan and Meier (JASA 1958) is routinely used, while in the engineering sciences a parametric approach is more commonly used. In this report we study the efficiency of these two techniques when a particular parametric model such as the exponential, Weibull, normal, log normal, exponential power, Pareto, Gompertz, gamma, or bathtub shaped hazard distribution is assumed under a variety of censoring schemes and underlying failure models. We conclude that in most cases the parametric estimators outperform the distribution free estimator. The results are particularly striking if the Weibull forms of these estimators are used routinely.     

Skewness by Splitting the Scale Parameter

This article describes a recursive nonparametric estimation for the local partial first derivative of an arbitrary function satisfied some regularity conditions and establishes its consistency and asymptotic normality under the assumption of strong mixing sequence. The proposed estimator is a variable window width version of the Watson-Nadaraya type of derivative estimator. The window width varied as more data points become available enables a recursive algorithm that reduce computational complexity from order N ³ normally required by batch methods for kernel regression to order N ². This approach is computationally simple and attractive from practical viewpoint especially when the situation call for frequent updating of first derivative estimates. For example, maintaining a delta-hedged position of a portfolio of equities with index options is one of many applications of such estimation.     

Weibull accelerated life tests when there are competing causes of failure

Accelerated life testing of a product under more severe than normal conditions is commonly used to reduce test time and costs. Data collected at such accelerated conditions are used to obtain estimates of the parameters of a stress translation function. This function is then used to make inference about the product's life under normal operating conditions. We consider the problem of accelerated life tests when the product of interest is a p component series system. Each of the components is assumed to have an independent Weibull time to failure distribution with different shape parameters and different scale parameters which are increasing functions stress. A general model i s used for the scale parameter includes the standard engineering models as special This model also has an appealing biological interpretation     

A Note on Interpersonal and Communication Skills for IS Professionals: Evidence of Positive Influence

A recent article by Byrd and Turner (2001) reported that interpersonal skills on the part of information systems personnel had a negative influence on the success of systems as measured by competitive advantage. Several reasons were forwarded to account for this unexpected result, including lack of richness in the measure of these skills, the use of strategic success measures, the true complexity of interpersonal relations within an organization, and the sample of CIOs who may have a bias in favor of technical skills. We address these concerns by incorporating a set of communication skills into the interpersonal skills set, sampling users for a different set of stakeholders, and employing a more complex model based on theories of expectation. The results indicate that the impacts of interpersonal skills on system success is not a simple function of the perceived level of the IS staff's skill proficiency but is also determined by the understood expectations of skill requirements.     

Shift Restrictions and Semiparametric Estimation in Ordered Response Models

We develop a √n‐consistent and asymptotically normal estimator of the parameters (regression coefficients and threshold points) of a semiparametric ordered response model under the assumption of independence of errors and regressors. The independence assumption implies shift restrictions allowing identification of threshold points up to location and scale. The estimator is useful in various applications, particularly in new product demand forecasting from survey data subject to systematic misreporting. We apply the estimator to assess exaggeration bias in survey data on demand for a new telecommunications service.     

The reflection of desire for revenge and revenge fantasies in drawings and narratives of sexually abused children

Whereas the desire for revenge for an unjust deed is considered natural, its use within the therapeutic setting is scarce, specifically in sexually victimized children. The study aimed to find how experiencing sexual molestation during childhood and the revenge fantasy is reflected in drawings and narratives of sexually victimized children. Following ethical approval and signing a consent form, 14 children who experienced sexual abuse and were psychologically treated (ages 11–18) were recruited. They were asked to draw two drawings: “draw an unjust event that had happened to you” and “draw what you would have liked to happen to the person that unjustly treated you.” At completion, participants were asked to give a narrative to each drawing. Phenomenological analysis of the drawings and narratives indicated that most participants refrained from using more than two colours, did not draw the perpetrator and drew schematic figures. The main themes that emerged in the drawings and the narratives were feeling of loneliness, aloneness, and the desire for role reversal.