Implicit theories of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom.

In a prestudy, a questionnaire was sent to 97 professors in the fields of art, business, philosophy, and physics; it was also given to 17 laypersons. Ss were asked to list behaviors characteristic of an ideally intelligent, creative, or wise person in one's field of endeavor, or in general (for laypersons). In Exp I, 285 professors in the same fields and 30 laypersons rated the extent to which each of the behaviors listed at least twice in the prestudy was characteristic of an ideally intelligent, creative, or wise individual. In Exp II, a subset of the behaviors from the prestudy was sorted by 40 undergraduates to yield a multidimensional space characterizing the Ss' implicit theories for intelligence, creativity, and wisdom. In Exp III, 30 adults rated themselves on a subset of the behaviors from the prestudy, and these ratings were correlated with "ideal prototype" ratings to yield a measure of resemblance to the prototype. Resemblance scores were then correlated with scores on standardized ability tests. In Exp IV, 30 adults rated hypothetical individuals described in simulated letters of recommendation in terms of their intelligence, creativity, and wisdom. Results reveal that people have systematic implicit theories of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom, which are used accurately both in evaluating themselves and in evaluating hypothetical others. Moreover, the implicit theories for each of the constructs show at least some convergent–discriminant validity with respect to each other. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sharing the wealth: A model for brief mental health volunteer work in developing countries.

Much needed mental health services can be provided to developing countries using a model including brief, repeated consultation trips and the help of a translator. The authors describe their experiences in Central America, which led to the development of this model. Entry into the country, exit, and follow-up are addressed as well as mental health work in the context of language and cultural differences. Clinical methods that were found to be useful in the context of this model are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thallium loading in owls and other birds of prey in Denmark

Due to previous findings of increased concentrations of the rodenticid, thallium, in free-living Danish carnivores, thallium analysis has been carried out on material from 77 owls and birds of prey. Thallium was found in 2/3 of the birds and in 10% the concentration was so high that the load of thallium may have caused the death of the birds. The load of thallium in birds of prey was lower than concentrations found in carnivores, probably because poisoning caused by direct intake of thallium baits placed for rodent control does not seem to occur among birds of prey. From the investigation of this limited number of birds, it is not possible to tell if thallium did have any influence on the maintenance of a healthy population of birds of prey, but the large number of thallium loaded birds also justify the restrictions in the sue of thallium which were given from the 1st of July, 1975.     

Operant responding and stimulus control in tawny owls (Strix aluco).

Trained 2 tawny owls to make a bar-pecking response, reinforced by the presentation of small cubes of ox heart. Ss readily acquired the response, and their pattern of responding under fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, and VI schedules of reinforcement were similar to the typical response patterns of other species. Stimulus control was demonstrated in 3 Ss by training them to simultaneously discriminate between horizontally and vertically striped patterns. A high degree of control was obtained in all Ss. However, a small increase in the spatial separation of stimulus and response resulted in a considerable loss of stimulus control, suggesting that it would be difficult to employ the tracking method of threshold determination with this species. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent health, school health activities, community contexts, and health surveys in Sweden

School health activities have been very important in improving adolescent health in Sweden for almost 200 years. In the 1800s, emphasis was on medical services. Vaccination programs and medical examinations became the key issues. Deterioration of adolescent health in the 1960s changed the objectives of both school education and health services to health promotion. Important members of the community followed suit and involvement of the local community has remained a hallmark, even though the extent and direction varies. The subsequent period was characterized by substantial improvement in adolescent health behavior. The latter years of the 1980s and the 1990s saw deterioration of adolescent health behavior. Less emphasis on health promotion, decentralization of school health responsibility from physicians to administrators, and heavy savings directed toward schools were important mediators. Adolescents were also more engaged in international youth cultures with liberal practices, such as drug use. Community surveys of adolescent health behaviors have proven to be important in mobilizing broad local involvement in adolescent health promotion. The lesson learned is that health promotion has to involve as many community members as possible. Coordinating resources and having unified objectives is cost efficient     

The coevolution of human fertility and wealth inheritance strategies

Life history theory concerns the scheduling of births and the level of parental investment in each offspring. In most human societies the inheritance of wealth is an important part of parental investment. Patterns of wealth inheritance and other reproductive decisions, such as family size, would be expected to influence each other. Here I present an adaptive model of human reproductive decision-making, using a state-dependent dynamic model. Two decisions made by parents are considered: when to have another baby, and thus the pattern of reproduction through life; and how to allocate resources between children at the end of the parents' life. Optimal decision rules are those that maximize the number of grandchildren. Decisions are assumed to depend on the state of the parent, which is described at any time by two variables: number of living sons, and wealth. The dynamics of the model are based on a traditional African pastoralist system, but it is general enough to approximate to any means of subsistence where an increase in the amount of wealth owned increases the capacity for future production of resources. The model is used to show that, in the unpredictable environment of a traditional pastoralist society, high fertility and a biasing of wealth inheritance to a small number of children are frequently optimal. Most such societies are now undergoing a transition to lower fertility, known as the demographic transition. The effects on fertility and wealth inheritance strategies of reducing mortality risks, reducing the unpredictability of the environment and increasing the costs of raising children are explored. Reducing mortality has little effect on completed family sizes of living children or on the wealth they inherit. Increasing the costs of raising children decreases optimal fertility and increases the inheritance left to each child at each level of wealth, and has the potential to reduce fertility to very low levels. The results offer an explanation for why wealthy families are frequently also those with the smallest number of children in heterogeneous, post-transition societies.     

The secure preschooler: Nurturing creativity with courage, wisdom with responsibility.

This article describes an early education program based on the personality theory of William Emet Blatz and his concept of security. It describes the development of the laboratory preschool at the University of Western Ontario, my understanding of security theory as proposed by Blatz, and its relationship to attachment theory as developed by his former student, Mary Salter Ainsworth. The article translates the theory into practice. It describes the critical variables in creating the conditions that allow children to develop the inner strengths and the problem-solving styles that define the concept of security. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"A 43-year-old black male ...": conventional wisdom, racism, or noise?

A 27-year-old Turkish male presented with fatigue, long lasting hypertension, hyperkalemia, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis and normal glomerular filtration rate. His brother also showed hyperkalemia with no other features of the disease. Plasma renin levels were low and serum aldosterone levels were inappropriately low-normal to his hyperkalemia. Plasma cortisol levels were normal. Plasma renin aldosterone levels responded appropriately to postural changes, salt restriction and saline infusion. Fludrocortisone was ineffective in his hyperkalemia. The conditions were consistent with Type II pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA). Furosemide and sodium bicarbonate were effective to control his hyperchloremia, metabolic acidosis and hypertension but partly effective for his hyperkalemia. dDAVP alone did not control the situation and hypertension and metabolic derangement reoccurred. Adding dDAVP to furosemide and sodium bicarbonate successfully controlled hyperkalemia, hyperchloremic acidosis and hypertension. The patient stayed normotensive with normal metabolic and biochemical parameters after 6 months with furosemide and dADVP although sodium bicarbonate had been discontinued after the first month of therapy. dDAVP is a useful adjunct to furosemide and non chloride anions which altogether successfully reverse the metabolic derangement in Type II PHA.     

Socioeconomic determinants of health. Children, inequalities, and health

This article describes a growing body of evidence showing the adverse effects of the widening income gap on the health and welfare of children and young people. The effects of this go well beyond morbidity and mortality and can also be seen in the areas of crime, violence, and educational attainment. There is a need for evidence based policy in this area, but meanwhile there is scope for intervention in pregnancy and the early years, and good evidence that this is effective. A number of well evaluated interventions not necessarily directly related to health, such as early learning programmes and social support for parents, promise to have beneficial health effects.     

Managed care, school health programs, and adolescent health services: opportunities for health promotion

The rapid expansion of managed care creates opportunities and dilemmas for those involved in school health and adolescent health promotion. Managed care organizations (MCOs), public health agencies, and school and adolescent health providers share certain common goals and priorities including an emphasis on prevention, cost-effectiveness, and quality of care--and a willingness to explore innovative approaches to health promotion and disease prevention. However, MCOs often face conflicting challenges, balancing the goals of cost containment and investment in prevention. In considering support for school health programs, MCOs will be interested in evidence about the effectiveness of services in improving health and/or reducing medical expenditures. Mechanisms for improving prevention efforts within MCOs include quality assurance systems to monitor the performance of health plans, practice guidelines from professional organizations, and the contracting process between payers and health care providers. Development of partnerships between MCOs and schools will be a challenge given competing priorities, variation in managed care arrangements, structural differences between MCOs and schools, and variability in services provided by school health programs.     

Personal wisdom: Validation and age-related differences of a performance measure.

The 2 goals of this study were to develop and validate a performance measure of personal wisdom (PW) and to examine age differences. On the basis of the Berlin wisdom paradigm and growth theories of personality, 5 criteria of PW were developed. A sample of 83 younger adults (ages 20-40) and 78 older adults (ages 60-80) thought aloud about a PW task. Transcribed answers were rated. Validity was established with regard to indicators of personality growth, subjective well-being, intelligence, critical life events, and general wisdom. As expected, no age differences were obtained on the basic criteria, and negative age differences were found on the metacriteria indexing PW. Fluid intelligence and openness to new experience partially mediated these differences. It is argued that on average and for current cohorts age-related changes in psychological functioning may act as hindrances on the road to PW. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abuse, health locus of control, and perceived health among HIV-positive women.

This study of 230 predominantly poor Hispanic and African American women aged 25 to 61 years living with HIV/AIDS in New York City revealed high levels of both sexual (39%) and physical (44%) trauma before the age of 16. Both types of early trauma were correlated with later trauma, and all forms of trauma were significantly associated with current perceived health. In multivariate analyses controlling for relevant covariates, the Powerful Others and Internal Control subscales of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (K. A. Wallston, B. S. Wallston, & R. DeVellis, 1978) acted as independent predictors of perceived health rather than (as hypothesized) mediators of the association between trauma and perceived health. Findings underscore the importance of addressing trauma and perceptions of control over one's physical health in the provision of health services to HIV-positive women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and wealth in older people: when money makes the difference

The placement of rubber bands on a ligator is often difficult and frustrating, especially when the operator is wearing gloves. A newly designed rubber-band loader with grooves and a pusher places the bands on the ligator easily, simultaneously, and quickly even under these conditions.