Perceiving the Real World: Infants' Detection of and Memory for Social Information

Research on infants' perception and memory for social information are discussed with respect to the concept of ecological validity. We argue that the use of dynamic, multimodal displays in familiar contexts is critical to understanding infants' developing perception. We also discuss the importance of generalizing appropriately from experimental to real‐world contexts and of using converging methods in the investigation of infants' capabilities.     

Biographical sketches of elderly African-American women in later life

The research concerning the African-American elderly is limited, since this group is made up of less than eight percent of the entire U.S. population. Due to discriminatory practices in the U.S., based on race and gender, the African-American elderly woman has some unique issues facing her in old age. This paper will present three qualitative interviews of African-American women from age 65 to 100. These biographical sketches will report how these women dealt with family traditions, lifestyle changes, and growing old in their lives. Their perceptions of personal joys and frustrations, plus attitudes about how race, not gender, was a significant factor in their lives, will be reported. Education and religion were life-long strengths in their lifestyle.     

Uncertainties in the Link Between Global Climate Change and Predicted Health Risks from Pollution: Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) Case Study Using a Fugacity Model

Industrial societies have altered the earth's environment in ways that could have important, long-term ecological, economic, and health implications. In this paper, we examine the extent to which uncertainty about global climate change could impact the precision of predictions of secondary outcomes such as health impacts of pollution. Using a model that links global climate change with predictions of chemical exposure and human health risk in the Western region of the United States of America (U.S.), we define parameter variabilities and uncertainties and we characterize the resulting outcome variance. As a case study, we consider the public health consequences from releases of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a ubiquitous multimedia pollutant. By constructing a matrix that links global environmental change both directly and indirectly to potential human-health effects attributable to HCB released into air, soil, and water, we define critical parameter variances in the health risk estimation process. We employ a combined uncertainty/sensitivity analysis to investigate how HCB releases are affected by increasing atmospheric temperature and the accompanying climate alterations that are anticipated. We examine how such uncertainty impacts both the expected magnitude and calculational precision of potential human exposures and health effects. This assessment reveals that uncertain temperature increases of up to 5°C have little impact on either the magnitude or precision of the public-health consequences estimated under existing climate variations for HCB released into air and water in the Western region of the U.S.     

Adolescent mothers: Racial differences in childrearing support

This article presents a study of racial differences in the types of support that families and babies' fathers give to teenage mothers. The sample is 203 inner city adolescent mothers were using public health clinics in three midwest cities. Black mothers were younger than white mothers and were less likely to live with a male partner. Although only one black father lived with his baby, while 2/3 of the white fathers lived with their babies, similar percentages of both black and white fathers provided support in a variety of different areas of childcare and financial aid. Thus, there was substantial childcare involvement from absent black fathers. The families of black mothers provided a wider variety of child care and financial support. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that the greater number of different types of support for black mothers from family of origin persisted despite differences in the teen mother's age, the age of the baby, and the family's socio-economic status. Implications for social work interventions are discussed.Preparation of this document was aided by Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, Grant #APR 00930-01-0. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Third Biennial Conference of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Atlanta, GA, March, 1990.     

Stress, social support and psychological well-being in British accountants

This paper reports an exploratory study of stress, social support and psychological well-being in British chartered accountants, using data from 399 self-report questionnaires. The results suggest that the underlying structure of stress in British accountancy can be explained by three dimensions; quantitative overload stressors, professional/administrative interface stressors and nuisance stressors. The underlying structure of social support for the sample can be represented by three dimensions of help support, social dependability and esteem support. Intensity of quantitative overload stressors, intensity of professional/administrative interface stressors and all three dimensions of support were found to be related to psychological well-being in the sample. Differences between these variables, types of organization and organizational position were examined. The results are discussed with reference to stress management interventions for accountants. Possible generalizations to other professional groups are discussed.     

The relationship between transformational leadership and follower sickness absence: the role of presenteeism

The impact of transformational leaders on employee health and well-being has received much attention. Less research has focused on the relationships between transformational leaders and followers’ sickness absenteeism. Transformational leaders promote a group climate that may lead to absenteeism, especially among vulnerable employees (those with high levels of presenteeism). In the present study we examined the relationships between presenteeism, group-level transformational leadership and sickness absence rates in a three-year longitudinal study of postal workers and their leaders in Denmark (N?=?155). Group-level transformational leadership in year 1 predicted sickness absenteeism in year 2, but not in year 3. In examining conditions under which transformational leadership may be linked to higher levels of sickness absenteeism, we found that presenteeism in year 1 moderated the link between transformational leadership in year 1 and sickness absenteeism in year 3, such that followers working in groups with a transformational leader and who were high in presenteeism reported higher levels of sickness absenteeism. Our results suggest a complex picture of the relationship between transformational leadership and sickness absenteeism; transformational leaders may promote self-sacrifice of vulnerable followers by leading them to go to work while ill, leading to increased risks of sickness absence in the long term.     

Habitat selection by an arboreal lizard in an urban parkland: not just any tree will do

The nocturnal, arboreal Marbled Gecko, Christinus marmoratus, is a common reptile in urban areas in southern Australia. This study compared the demographics and the distribution of geckos occupying different tree species in a modified urban park, the Adelaide Parklands, with those of a population occurring in Ferguson Conservation Park, a nearby native vegetation remnant surrounded by suburbia. The geckos in the modified urban and native remnant parks demonstrated different demographic characteristics. These differences were explained by tree circumference and the amount and type of bark cover on the tree trunk. In the Parkland, geckos were limited by the availability of thick exfoliating bark, its clearly preferred microhabitat as demonstrated by a laboratory choice experiment. The preference for trees with larger circumference, more cover, and thick bark were probably linked to thermoregulation, predator avoidance, and food resources. This study supports the premise that to support populations of urban animals, tree species selection needs careful consideration with regard to its microhabitat capabilities as well as food provision and other resource supports it can provide.     

Systematic Interviewing Microskills and Neuroscience: Developing Bridges between the Fields of Communication and Counseling Psychology

Originating in 1966-68, Microcounseling was the first video-based listening program and its purposes and methods overlap with the communications field. This article presents history, research, and present applications in multiple fields nationally and internationally. Recent neuroscience and neurobiology research is presented with the important point—“counseling and communication change the brain and encourage the development of new neural networks.— Multicultural issues are important in the microskills framework. Over 500 databased Microcounseling studies exist with translations in 21 languages. The authors suggest that the communication studies field might wish to consider itself also a mental health profession as the teaching of listening skills and effective communication is central to well-being. Furthermore, communication studies can do much to increase multicultural understanding and cross-cultural communication.     

Mothers and Divorce: Legal,Economic and Social Dilemmas,by Terry Arendell

Becoming an Ex: The Process of Role Exit , by Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988, 247 pages.