Four‐Month‐Olds' Discrimination of Voice Changes in Multimodal Displays as a Function of Discrimination Protocol

Past studies have found equivocal support for the ability of young infants to discriminate infant‐directed (ID) speech information in the presence of auditory‐only versus auditory + visual displays (faces + voices). Generally, younger infants appear to have more difficulty discriminating a change in the vocal properties of ID speech when they are accompanied by faces. Forty 4‐month‐old infants were tested using either an infant‐controlled habituation procedure (Experiment 1) or a fixed‐trial habituation procedure (Experiment 2). The prediction was that the infant‐controlled habituation procedure would be a more sensitive measure of infant attention to complex displays. The results indicated that 4‐month‐old infants discriminated voice changes in dynamic face + voice displays depending on the order in which they were viewed during the infant‐controlled habituation procedure. In contrast, no evidence of discrimination was found in the fixed‐trial procedure. The findings suggest that the selection of experimental methodology plays a significant role in the empirical observations of infant perceptual abilities.     

A Numerical Solution to the Nonhomogeneous Two-Stage MVK Model of Cancer

In this article, we describe a straightforward method for solving the probability of at least one malignant cell by time t, and the associated hazard function, in the general (i.e., nonhomogeneous) two-stage Moolgavkar-Venzon-Knudson (MVK) model of cancer. The method consists of solving four coupled ordinary differential equations derived from the Kolmogorov backward equations for this process. The relationship of this method to previously proposed solutions is discussed.     

I'm Telling! The Content, Context, and Consequences of Children's Tattling on their Siblings

Tattling on siblings was observed in 40 families with 2- and 4-year-old children. All but 5 children reported sibling misbehaviour to parents with younger siblings tattling largely to recruit parental help in resolving conflict issues, and older siblings tattling both in the context of conflict and merely to inform parents of their siblings' misbehaviour. Parents rarely reprimanded children for tattling, but either ignored it, or responded to information in tattlers' reports regardless of context or whether older or younger children tattled. Children did not tattle equally on all sibling transgressions, but emphasized physical aggression and property damage, issues that also elicited parental discipline. Tattling is discussed in relation to children's understanding of the dynamics and moral standards of family life.     

Physician-nurse migration to the United States: regional and health status origins in relation to legislation and policy

This article examines the origins of physicians and nurses who were admitted as permanent immigrants to the US from 1962-1979. Data are mainly from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Countries used in the developmental analysis are only those whose population was estimated at 1 million or more as of mid-1979, encompassing 99% of the physicians and 97% of the nurses. Life expectancy at birth is the criterion used to differentiate origin countries by developmental dimension of health status. During the study period, health workers constituted about 30% of immigrants admitted to the US; of these, nurses and physicians constituted 72-82% throughout the study period. The period 1962-1979 has 4 distinct phases, marked by important legislative and/or policy changes; 1) 1962-1965, when the McCarran-Walter Act prevailed; 2) ending in 1968, the 2nd phase covers the transition mandated under the 1965 Immigration Act, which encouraged physician immigration; 3) the 3rd phase, 1969-1976, covers the transition to the 1976 Immigration and Nationality Act amendments; and 4) the 4th stage is 1977-1979. Results show that 1) under the McCarran-Walter Act, North America became the dominant physician source; 2) from 1966-1968, Asia attained dominance as the physician source and became even more predominant after 1968; 3) North America produced relatively few physicians in the early 1970s; 4) Europe produced substantially fewer physicians in the 1970s than in the 1960s; 5) South America, Africa, and Oceania were the lowest contributors of physicians; 6) during the McCarran-Walter years, North America and Europe produced almost 90% of nurses admitted into the US; 7) the 1965 Immigration Act and its aftermath resulted in Asia becoming the dominant source of nurses; 8) prior to the 1965 Immigration Act, Canada generated 20% of the aggregate number of physicians; 9) the Philippines surpassed Canada during the transition and India led after the transition; and 10) Canada supplied 30% of the nurses up through the transition, with the Philippines in the lead 1969-1979. Low health status countries were a relatively minor nurse source. Health status at the origin was a far less significant determinant of physician immigration than that of nurses. English language high and low health status country groups produced substantially more physician and nurse immigrants that their corresponding non-English language counterparts. The US attracted more physicians and nurses from less developed countries than more developed countries after 1968.     

Selecting a family therapy model: the role of personality attributes in eclectic practice*

The expanding knowledge and skill bases within the interdisciplinary family therapy profession pose a significant challenge for evolving practitioners, at whatever stage along the professional development process they find themselves. This challenge raises a basic question regarding whether there are any constraining forces to the level of eclecticism in practice towards which one can aspire. This paper empirically explores the role played by the personality attributes of the family therapist in facilitating and/or inhibiting one's adherence to a variety of approaches to family practice.     

The prediction of learning in family therapy training programs*

Research on family therapy training has produced very little data regarding the kinds of trainees that do best in family therapy training programs. This study attempts to provide some rough and preliminary data on that issue. One hundred and seventy trainees, drawn from seven different structural!strategic training experiences, were evaluated as to how much they learned by taking the Family Therapy Assessment Exercise pre- and posttraining. Their performance was correlated using a hierarchical regression analysis with a number of trainee variables such as amount of conjugal family experience, amount of experience doing family or individual therapy, or prior knowledge of family therapy. The results indicate that, as predicted, conjugal family experience was positively related, and prior knowledge was negatively related to performance. Prior experience doing individual therapy was also positively related to performance.     

Update on medications for the treatment of anxiety

It is interesting to note that antidepressants are widely represented in the medications used to treat the anxiety disorders. This has led to speculation about the role of depression, particularly subclinical forms being manifested as anxiety disorders. The specificity of diagnostic categories suggests that, at least for the moment, medications have a very specific and circumscribed role in the treatment of anxiety. This suggests that the difficulties of many anxious patients are not effectively treated with medication or that medication has only a short-term role at best. The next column will review health problems associated with psychotropic treatments for anxiety and discuss strategies for creating a "wedge," ie, introducing adjunct learning experiences along the anxiety gradient in conjunction with pharmacotherapy.