Preface by the section editors

The papers in this special section present a sample of recent approaches to modeling and verification of software-based systems. This research was initially presented at the 4th International Conference on Verification, Model Checking, and Abstract Interpretation (VMCAI 03). The choice of papers for the issue was based on their merit as well as on the fact that, as a group, they represent the main current research areas in the field of software-based systems.     

Current perspectives on men who batter women—implications for intervention and treatment to stop violence against women: Comment on Gottman et al. (1995).

The understanding and treatment of men who batter women has been dominated by the feminist political analysis of woman abuse that stresses abnormal power and control needs arising from sexist gender socialization. In this article, the author examines recent findings on psychological and physiological differences in batterers and places those findings within the context of what is known about battered women. In particular, comments are made on the Gottman et al. (1995) research that looks at the physiological similarities and differences of different types of batterers' anger, its expression, and its impact on intervention programs for those involved in battering relationships. Ethical concerns for the safety of battered women are discussed along with recommendations for a variety of different types of therapy programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Fort Bragg evaluation: A snapshot in time.

The recently completed Fort Bragg Child and Adolescent Mental Health Demonstration Project (L. Bickman, see record 83-31861; L. Bickman et al, 1995) has provided an opportunity to develop a fully comprehensive continuum of mental health and substance abuse services. However, the study's findings have raised questions concerning the usefulness of the continuum of care and the effectiveness of changing the structure of service delivery on clinical practice and outcomes. The author discusses the planning, methodology, and implementation of the project, and offers some additional insights into potential pitfalls in the evaluation of complex programs and the risks for drawing sweeping conclusions from a study done at a point in time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Battered women, psychology, and public policy.

Reviews the role that psychologists have played in affecting changes in public policy regarding domestic violence over the past decade. Testimony by expert witnesses has rebutted myths that prevented battered women who killed their abusers from receiving fair trials. Three case vignettes are presented to illustrate how psychological knowledge has helped the judicial system to develop public policy. Because organized psychology has submitted amicus curiae briefs in this area, appellate court cases now usually support the admissibility of a psychologist's testimony as to the battered woman's perception of danger and the reasonableness of her perception of the need for self-defense. The public impact of high-visibility battered women cases is discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The life and career plans of young adult college women: A follow-up study.

Conducted a follow-up study of 391 women 6 yrs after they entered college. 41% of Ss were no longer pursuing the bachelor's degree, 63% were married, and 46% planned to combine work and family life. A total of 71% were employed; 45% were employed in their chosen careers, which were predominantly in social/medical services and clerical fields. Attitudes toward women's roles were liberal, and Ss were aware of sex discrimination. Since high school, Ss had considered an average of 9 occupations. Traditional choices (e.g., housewife, nurse, social worker, and teacher) continued to be popular, but more nontraditional choices (e.g., physicist and college professor) were becoming included. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Mills and Mould.

Criticisms of works by L. E. Walker (1984), M. E. Mills (1990), and D. E. Mould (see record 1990-22858-001) exemplify defensive behavior on the part of men who have missed the point about violence against women and children. To be feminist is not to be antimale. Feminist political gender analysis simply provides a methodology that accounts for male/female inequality and its psychological impact on both sexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A formal framework for evaluating heuristic programs

We address the question of how one evaluates the usefulness of a heuristic program on a particular input. If theoretical tools do not allow us to decide for every instance whether a particular heuristic is fast enough, might we at least write a simple, fast companion program that makes this decision on some inputs of interest? We call such a companion program a timer for the heuristic. Timers are related to program checkers, as defined by Blum (1993), in the following sense: Checkers are companion programs that check the correctness of the output produced by (unproven but bounded‐time) programs on particular instances; timers, on the other hand, are companion programs that attempt to bound the running time on particular instances of correct programs whose running times have not been fully analyzed. This paper provides a family of definitions that formalize the notion of a timer and some preliminary results that demonstrate the utility of these definitions.     

Individual and sex differences in the zone of acceptable alternatives.

This study examined the construct of the zone of acceptable alternatives proposed by L. S. Gottfredson (see record 1982-03363-001) in her developmental theory of career aspiration. College students (95 men and 151 women) responded to a demographic questionnaire, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and the Occupations List. The Occupations List consisted of 155 occupational titles, and subjects were asked to indicate whether they had considered each of the occupations and when. Occupations considered were coded with measurements of sex type and prestige, and 5 indicators were computed for each subject as multiple operational definitions of the zone of acceptable alternatives. Changes in some of the indicators over time were identified. Differences in the indicators were found to be related to gender and sex role orientation of the participants. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for Gottfredson's model and for counseling practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal communication skills differentiating more satisfying from less satisfying marital relationships.

In this study 25 statements representing specific communication skills were derived from a review of the literature and arranged as 2 scales: Interpersonal Communication Skills Inventory-Self (ICSI-Self) and Interpersonal Communication Skills Inventory-Spouse (ICSI-Spouse). Instruments completed by 111 married couples were the Marital Adjustment Test, the Marital Communication Inventory, the ICSI-Self, and the ICSI-Spouse. Scores on the Marital Adjustment Test were used to identify criterion groups as most satisfied (28 couples) and least satisfied (21 couples). A multiple discriminant analysis indicated that 14 of the 25 ICSI-Self items and 17 of the 25 ICSI-Spouse items differentiated the 2 criterion groups at the .05 level of significance or better. Findings suggest that the set of skills identified may be effective as a brief scale of potential use to marriage counselors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)