The place of eugenics in Arnold Gesell's maturation theory of child development.

Examines eugenic ideas in the context of A. Gesell's maturational model of development. Highlighting developments within the eugenics movement, the article describes the manner in which eugenic ideas were expressed in the study of psychology of individual differences. Developments in behavioral psychology that offered an alternative to biological determinism are considered. Finally, the role of anthropology as a direct challenge to the eugenics movement and its ideas is discussed. The author concludes that Gesell's early work reveals sympathies with eugenic ideas. However, as challenges to the eugenics movement mounted during the 1920s and 1930s, Gesell eventually de-emphasized eugenic ideas in his later work. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kamala of Midnapore and Arnold Gesell's Wolf Child and Human Child: Reconciling the extraordinary and the normal.

This article examines the reception of the story of Kamala, the "wolf girl" of Midnatore, in the Anglo-American scientific community. Two aspects of the case are analyzed in detail: the controversy regarding the authenticity of the reports and the meaning of the evidence, and Arnold Gesell's (1941) "psychological biography" of Kamala, Wolf Child and Human Child. Although most scientists interested in wild children approach them with the expectation that these children might furnish the key to human nature and development, Gesell turned to Kamala for confirmation of a knowledge he already had. Gesell's "obsession" with Kamala is connected to his conception of development: He advanced an alternative interpretation in maturational terms to counter the prevalent environmentalist interpretation of the wolf girl, and he integrated her radical difference into his theory to prove its claim to be a truly universal account of childhood and growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gesell-Senn "Controversy".

Comments on a shift in thought regarding child development that involves the writings of Gesell and Senn. Senn vehemently argued that Gesell's views on child development were out of date and his observations also indicated predictable patterns of development through 16 years of age, thereby "neglect[ing] influences that modify each child's life individually." The author of this comment discusses each view in depth and also the interesting occurrence that this 'controversy' was more easily found in women's magazines than psychological journals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arnold L. Gesell: The paradox of nature and nurture.

A. L. Gesell (1880–1961) has had an important and lasting impact on the field of developmental psychology. He is best remembered for his developmental norms, which were acquired from decades of detailed observations of infants and children and are still the basis of most early assessments of behavioral functioning. Gesell's influence as a theorist is less direct. His maturationism quickly lost favor in the intellectual climate of Piaget, behaviorism, and information-processing approaches. Nonetheless, nativism is still a dominant theme in contemporary developmental studies in the guise of neural determinism, innate knowledge, and genetic studies. Gesell is characterized as a man of paradoxes and contrasts. Although he acknowledged the contributions of the environment, he denied its agency. Although he was devoted to children and their welfare, he assigned their individuality to biological destiny. And although he remained a steadfast maturationist, he prefigured other more dynamic views of development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative psychological studies of Negroes and whites in the United States: A reclarification.

Pasamanick's "clarification" of Dreger and Miller's article extends the meaning of the original beyond its intent. In conjunction with Pasamanick's 1946 article it is shown that the samples of white and Negro infants are inadequate. Dreger and Miller could not have been aware of Pasamanick's 1946 reliability procedures for these were not described until his 1962 clarification. In 1962 Pasamanick's "major comparison" between white and Negro infants does not seem to be the same as it was in 1946. Contrary to Pasamanick's contention, Dreger and Miller did not attack Gesell's Developmental Schedules. Later work done by Pasamanick may substantiate his conclusions, but the criticisms of his 1946 article still hold. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origins and accomplishments of Joseph Jastrow's 1888-founded chair of comparative psychology at the University of Wisconsin.

In 1888, Joseph Jastrow became Professor of Experimental and Comparative Psychology at the University of Wisconsin. Evidence is presented indicating that Jastrow's interest in comparative and animal psychology stemmed from his exposure at Johns Hopkins University to the views of G. Stanley Hall in Psychology and to the views of the Hopkins zoologists, all of whom had strong interests in comparative and animal psychology. Further evidence is presented to account for Jastrow's specific title at Wisconsin. Jastrow's accomplishments are summarized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Henry Jackson (1922-2008).

John Henry Jackson was born September 21, 1922, in Macon, Georgia, and died May 14, 2008. He received his bachelor's degree from Milwaukee State Teachers College (1946, now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and his master's (1948) and doctoral (1957) degrees in educational psychology from the University of Chicago. John served the Milwaukee Public Schools as a school psychologist from 1962 until his retirement in 1989. He was also a founding member and former officer of the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology, a member of the Wisconsin Psychological Association and, in 1981-1982, president of the Milwaukee Area Psychological Association. As a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin, he was also a member of the state examining board (1974-1980). John was a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1963 and a fellow since 1982. During his career, he published on topics related to school psychology interventions, the development and importance of school psychology, and minority affairs relevant to schoolchildren and psychologists. John Jackson was among the early and distinguished African American school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: David A. Grant (1916-1977).

David A. Grant, Clark L. Hull Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin, died on December 28, 1977, in Madison. He is remembered by family and friends, including a very large number of students whose first efforts in the world of experimental psychology were enhanced and guided by this good and demanding professor. David Grant, born May 17, 1916, was educated at the University of Iowa (BA, 1938), the University of Wisconsin (MA, 1939), and Stanford University (PhD, 1941). His interesting life in the department at the University of Wisconsin began in the basement of Bascom Hall in 1941 as an assistant professor sharing an office with Harry Harlow, another Stanford PhD of a few years earlier. Harlow's days were spent at the cheese-factory-turned-primate-laboratory, so Grant had the office to himself. He advanced through the ranks to full professor and research professor and chaired the department during 1950-1954 and 1971-1972. The department grew impressively during his professional life in it and moved into a building of its own. It is currently a large and respected department. David Grant was still a member of it when he died. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frederick A. Mote (1907-1982).

This obituary describes the career and contributions to psychology of Frederick A. Mote, PhD. Dr. Mote received his PhD from Brown University, where he returned from teaching psychology at the University of Connecticut to work on a National Defense Research Council contract until the end of World War II. In his position as senior psychophysiologist he was involved in development of new selection and classification tests for navy personnel, as well as with research on application of stereoscopic perception in design of equipment for navy operators. During these years he was also doing fundamental research on the role of reinforcement in acquisition and extinction of simple instrumental responses in animals--research which eventuated in a series of publications, some with his colleague and good friend, Frank Finger. After the war, Dr. Mote reentered academic teaching where he was promoted to professor at the University of Wisconsin in 1952 and conducted studies on determinants of dark adaptation in human vision. In 1955, Dr. Mote became chair of the Psychology Department, and served through 1959. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gustav Theodor Fechner: Life and work in the mirror of his diary.

The diaries of Gustav Fechner reveal much about his motivations to develop the field of psychophysics, as well as some of the steps toward its formulation. Together with his publications on various subjects, the diaries show how psychophysics fits into Fechner's broader scientific program, illuminate his worldview, and reveal his hopes for acceptance of his work by his colleagues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bit more light on Ferenczi and Freud.

Further explores issues stressed by L. Aron and J. Frankel (see record 1994-41100-001) in commenting on J. K. Tabin's (see record 1994-05584-001) article on Freud's motivation for rethinking his seduction theory. The author presents material that confirms Freud's priority in citing the relationship between splitting of the ego and childhood sexual trauma; that describes signs of Ferenczi's considerable emotional difficulty during the last period of his life; and that shows that Freud's referring to Ferenczi as paranoid was a reaction to Ferenczi's hostility to him, significantly predating their public theoretical differences. An important aspect of the last matter is Ferenczi's explanation of his hostility: Freud never helped him with the negative transference that underlay his idealization of Freud. Freud defended himself by saying that negative transference was not understood when he treated Ferenczi. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collagen-related markers of bone turnover reflect the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

In vitro studies have connected immune cell function to Peptide F. The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the responses of plasma Peptide F and epinephrine along with the changes in B cell antibody production in vivo in physically fit and unfit women in response to physical exercise on a cycle ergometer at 60% and 80% of peak oxygen consumption. Seven aerobically fit and eight untrained (i.e., unfit) women between the ages of 18 and 30 volunteered to participate in this investigation. Blood samples (analyzed for plasma Peptide F and epinephrine along with the number of antibody-producing B cells) were obtained 24 hours prior to the exercise session, pre-exercise, during each exercise intensity, and five minutes post-exercise. The fit group had a significantly higher plasma Peptide F concentration after the 80% exercise intensity along with significantly higher numbers of antibody producing B cells compared to the unfit group. The results of this investigation show that physically fit women have an enhanced secondary response of B cells to a specific antigen under conditions where Peptide F is increased. Such data demonstrate that physical fitness as promoted by the Public Health Service (e.g., Healthy People 2000) influences the underlying hormonal and immune cell responses when challenged by physical exercise stress.     

Maternal intelligence and institutionalized children's developmental quotients: A correlational study.

Calculated product-moment correlations between Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale IQs of 151 women and the Gesell Developmental Schedules Developmental Quotients of their illegitimate children (69 females and 82 males) on 5 occasions at 6-mo intervals. The correlations for Test 1, when the children were approximately 2 mo old and were residing in an institution, ranged from .14 to .30 and were statistically significant. Subsequent testing sessions, after the children had been adopted, yielded lower correlations at first, followed by increases in the final tests of the series. The generally modest correlations are interpreted in terms of homogeneity of the maternal sample, limitations of the Gesell scale, and early environmental input. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurologic evolution of children of low birth weight

The prematurity is still an important problem for either pediatricians and neuropediatricinas. All the mechanisms that can produce lowbirth weight, are not known, although many of them are related to genetics and environmental intra-uterine factors. Having in mind tha study of the development of such type of children, a group of investigators has been working for 9 years now, envolving aspects related to the Pediatry, Social Pediatry, Neuropediatry, Psychiatry, Otorhynolaringology, Ophtalmology and Odontology. In this study they are trying to envolve all the possible aspects on growth and development of children with lowbirth weight. In 189 children, 129 were followed during several years. Most of them were observed up to 5 years of age and few of them up to 9 years of age. The children were divided into three groups as follow: Group I-Children with weights under 1.750 g; Group II-Children with weights between 1.751 and 2.000 g; Group III-Children with weights over 2.001 g and under 2.500 g. The neurol-gical tests were done according to the used system at the Neurologic Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine (University of S?o Paulo). The present work starts with a general revision on the most important existent papers on the prematures neurological evolution. After presenting his own results, the authors make a correlaction of the neurologic evolution with the developmental quotient (DQ), which were gotten through Gesell's tests and its variations, in order to verify the existence of what is known as "continuum of lesion" of Knobloch and col.     

Therapists at risk: The perils of the intimacy of the therapeutic relationship.

Review of book: Therapists at Risk: The Perils of the Intimacy of the Therapeutic Relationship by Lawrence E. Hedges, Robert Hilton, Virginia Wink Hilton, and O. Brandt Caudill, Jr., Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1997, 317 pp. Reviewed by Alma H. Bond. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Refining the tobacco dependence phenotype using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 118(2) of Journal of Abnormal Psychology (see record 2009-06385-018). In the article “Refining the Tobacco Dependence Phenotype Using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives,” by Megan E. Piper, Daniel M. Bolt, Su-Young Kim, Sandra J. Japuntich, Stevens S. Smith, Jeff Niederdeppe, Dale S. Cannon, and Timothy B. Baker (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2008, Vol. 117, No. 4., pp. 747–761), the funding information was incomplete. The complete information is as follows: This research was conducted at the University of Wisconsin—Madison and was supported by Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center grants P50DA019706 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and P50CA084724 from the National Cancer Institute. Stevens S. Smith was supported by National Cancer Institute grant 1R03CA126406, and Megan E. Piper was supported by an institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (University of Wisconsin—Madison; KL2 Grant 1KL2RR025012-01).] The construct of tobacco dependence is important from both scientific and public health perspectives, but it is poorly understood. The current research integrates person-centered analyses (e.g., latent profile analysis) and variable-centered analyses (e.g., exploratory factor analysis) to clarify the latent structure of nicotine dependence and to guide distillation of the phenotype. Using data from 4 samples of smokers, latent profiles were derived using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives subscale scores. Across all 4 samples, results revealed a unique latent profile that had relative elevations on 4 subscales (Automaticity, Craving, Loss of Control, and Tolerance). Variable-centered analyses supported the uniqueness of these 4 subscales as they constituted a distinct common factor and were the strongest predictors of relapse and other dependence criteria. Conversely, the remaining 9 motives carried little unique predictive validity regarding dependence. Applications of a factor mixture model further supported the presence of a unique class of smokers in relation to a common factor underlying the 4 subscales. The results suggest that a pattern of smoking that is heavy, pervasive, automatic, and relatively unresponive to instrumental contingencies is a necessary and sufficient condition for severe nicotine dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the parental fitness of psychiatrically diagnosed individuals: Advocating a functional-contextual analysis of parenting.

The parental fitness of psychiatrically diagnosed individuals is often questioned in termination of parental rights cases. The goal of this article is to shift the focus from a predisposing bias of unfitness to a functional-contextual analysis of parenting behavior and competency. Three underlying biased assumptions are relevant for the courts' decision making: (a) that a diagnosis (past or present) predicts inadequate parenting and child risk, (b) that a diagnosis predicts unamenability to parenting interventions, and (c) that a diagnosis means the parent is forever unfit. Each assumption will be considered in light of empirical evidence, with major depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and mental retardation provided as examples of diagnostic labels often assumed to render a parent unfit. A research agenda to improve clinicians' ability to assess parental fitness and understanding of how parental mental illness, mental retardation, or substance abuse might compromise parenting capacities is discussed for forensic purposes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Piper et al. (2008).

Reports an error in "Refining the tobacco dependence phenotype using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives" by Megan E. Piper, Daniel M. Bolt, Su-Young Kim, Sandra J. Japuntich, Stevens S. Smith, Jeff Niederdeppe, Dale S. Cannon and Timothy B. Baker (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2008[Nov], Vol 117[4], 747-761). In the article “Refining the Tobacco Dependence Phenotype Using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives,” by Megan E. Piper, Daniel M. Bolt, Su-Young Kim, Sandra J. Japuntich, Stevens S. Smith, Jeff Niederdeppe, Dale S. Cannon, and Timothy B. Baker (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2008, Vol. 117, No. 4., pp. 747–761), the funding information was incomplete. The complete information is as follows: This research was conducted at the University of Wisconsin—Madison and was supported by Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center grants P50DA019706 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and P50CA084724 from the National Cancer Institute. Stevens S. Smith was supported by National Cancer Institute grant 1R03CA126406, and Megan E. Piper was supported by an institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (University of Wisconsin—Madison; KL2 Grant 1KL2RR025012-01). (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-16252-003.) The construct of tobacco dependence is important from both scientific and public health perspectives, but it is poorly understood. The current research integrates person-centered analyses (e.g., latent profile analysis) and variable-centered analyses (e.g., exploratory factor analysis) to clarify the latent structure of nicotine dependence and to guide distillation of the phenotype. Using data from 4 samples of smokers, latent profiles were derived using the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives subscale scores. Across all 4 samples, results revealed a unique latent profile that had relative elevations on 4 subscales (Automaticity, Craving, Loss of Control, and Tolerance). Variable-centered analyses supported the uniqueness of these 4 subscales as they constituted a distinct common factor and were the strongest predictors of relapse and other dependence criteria. Conversely, the remaining 9 motives carried little unique predictive validity regarding dependence. Applications of a factor mixture model further supported the presence of a unique class of smokers in relation to a common factor underlying the 4 subscales. The results suggest that a pattern of smoking that is heavy, pervasive, automatic, and relatively unresponive to instrumental contingencies is a necessary and sufficient condition for severe nicotine dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)