Privileged communication in the psychologist–client relationship.

Determining the status of privileged communications between psychologists and clients is a complex task. There is considerable variation across states with respect to the scope of psychologist–client privilege, and several sections of state codes directly and indirectly influence its status. An analysis of state laws related to privileged communication in the psychologist–client relationship is presented and prevalent legal exceptions and trends related to client privilege are discussed. Implications for practice to assist psychologists in balancing their ethical and legal obligations also are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral effects of centrally administered arginine vasopressin in the rat fetus.

Arginine–8 vasopressin (AVP) was administered to rat fetuses on Embryonic Day 20 via intracisternal (IC), intrahemispheric (IH), or intrathecal (IT) injection. The IC administration of AVP promoted a 4-fold increase in motor activity, including the uncommon patterns of mouthing, licking, and facial wiping. The IH injection of AVP had little effect on fetal behavior, but IT injection resulted in pronounced increases in fetal activity, including mouthing, licking, and wiping. The IT administration of a V? antagonist blocked AVP effects, whereas IH injection potentiated AVP-induced changes in fetal behavior. The IC blockade of V? receptors suppressed facial wiping to a chemosensory fluid (lemon) and reduced oral grasping of an artificial nipple, whereas IH injection of the V? antagonist promoted facial wiping responses and increased grasping of the nipple. These data suggest that AVP may play a role in the development of responsiveness to stimuli encountered in the context of suckling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral effects of milk in the rat fetus.

Intraoral infusion of milk to the rat fetus promoted changes in behavior (mouth and rearlimb movements), reduced responsiveness to perioral cutaneous stimulation, and resulted in expression of a fetal stretch response. Milk also altered the temporal organization of fetal movements over periods up to 30 min. The orosensory characteristics of milk, in the absence of ingestion, was sufficient to evoke these behavioral effects. Reduced responsiveness to a perioral stimulus had a rapid onset (     

Optimal allocation of assessment time in randomized pretest-posttest designs.

The widely used pretest–posttest design traditionally consists of a pretest and a posttest of equal lengths. However, greater statistical power can usually be achieved by using a posttest that is somewhat longer than the pretest. This article provides a method for calculating the optimal allocation of pretest and posttest assessment units so as to maximize power and presents the accompanying reduction in required sample size for a range of parameter values. When insufficient information is available to estimate the optimal location precisely, the effects of allocating 75% of the assessment units to the posttest are evaluated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of autonomy in adolescent psychotherapy.

Adolescents' desire and need for autonomy may have a significant impact on the therapeutic relationship. The implications of this idea are examined, both theoretically and empirically. First, adolescent autonomy is conceptualized in relational terms, and some of the conditions for the growth of autonomy are outlined. Then, this conceptualization is applied to a study of the therapeutic relationship in adolescent psychotherapy where it is shown how some of therapists' and adolescents' interactions and reactions can be understood by recognizing the influence of adolescent autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language in the Americas.

Reviews the book, Language in the Americas by Joseph H. Greenberg (1987). Greenberg's work on universals of language has crossed disciplinary boundaries to become known to many psychologists interested in language. His equally important work in language classification, of which Language in the Americas is one part, remains unfamiliar to psychologists. This book is a pioneering work in that it is the first genetic classification of the indigenous languages of both North and South America. Greenberg maintains that all of the languages of the Americas belong to three families: Eskimo-Aleut, Na-Dene, and a family that he has named Amerind. This assertion is both important and controversial; the controversy lies in the grouping of most of the languages including all of those of South and Central America into the Amerind family. Most of Language in the Americas consists of the Amerind etymological dictionary, arranged so that the reader can assess lexical similarities within and between subgroups. Greenberg's discussion is informed, articulate, profound, and to the point. He draws on relevant sources and examples from diverse fields of knowledge. The depth and breadth of his scholarship and the clarity of his presentation create a work that is an intellectual pleasure to read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex stereotyping in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins..

Comments on the article by S. T. Fiske et al (see record 1992-07509-001) praising the American Psychological Association's (APA's) amicus brief intended to inform the Supreme Court of current scientific thinking regarding gender stereotyping. A balanced perspective, it is argued, should include both research supporting an argument and findings that are inconsistent with that argument. The APA brief gave no indication of contradictory findings. Moreover, review of the research cited indicates that more than half of the studies do not support the argument for which they were cited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model relating wearout to breakdown in thin oxides

A model has been developed relating wearout to breakdown in thin oxides. Wearout has been described in terms of trap generation inside of the oxide during high voltage stressing prior to breakdown. Breakdown occurred locally when the local density of traps exceeded a critical value and the product of the electric field and the higher leakage currents through the traps exceeded a critical energy density. The measurement techniques needed for determining the density of high-voltage stress generated traps have been described along with the method for coupling the wearout measurements to breakdown distributions. The average trap density immediately prior to breakdown was measured to be of the order of low-10¹⁹/cm³ in 10 nm thick oxides fabricated on p-type substrates stressed with negative gate voltages. The model has been used to describe several effects observed during measurements of time-dependent-dielectric-breakdown distributions. The area dependence of breakdown distributions, the differences in the breakdown distributions during constant current and constant voltage stressing, and the multi-modal distributions often observed were simulated using the model. The model contained the provision for incorporation of weak spots in the oxide     

Self-efficacy expectations predict survival for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Evaluated the validity of self-efficacy expectations as predictors of mortality for 119 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Ss completed 4 physiological measures that represent common clinical indicators of disease severity: forced expiratory volume in 1 s(FEV1.0), arterial blood gas measurement of resting partial pressure of oxygen (PaO?), single-breath diffusing capacity (DLCO), and maximum oxygen uptake (V02max) during exercise. In addition, self-reported self-efficacy expectation for walking on a treadmill was measured. Self-efficacy was a significant univariate predictor of 5-yr survival. However, when controlling for FEV1.0 in multivariate survival analysis, self-efficacy had only a marginal effect. Simple self-report scales may provide significant information about health status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)