Parental insights and attitudes toward children's imaginary companions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Pgs 41-3, 92 not in originalThis study was designed to determine parental attitudes and conceptualisations of the function of imaginary companions. Fourteen parents with children who have imaginary companions and sixteen parents whose children do not have imaginaiy companions, were given one of two questionnaires to complete. The posted questionnaires differed only in regard to those questions directly related to personal experience. Parents in both groups described their children similarly in regard to family composition, competency levels, social activities and behaviour problems. Parents of children with imaginary companions indicated that not all companion's play the same role or function in their creators life. Parental attitudes toward imaginary companions were predominantly negative regardless of whether their child had had an imaginary companion. Attitudes varied in regard to, the age of the child, the length of time they had the companion, the perceived depth of fantasy and the function that the companion served

Successful Transition to Retirement in Australia

The transitions of old age include many changes in appearance, hormonal changes such as the menopause, changes in family structures such as children leaving home, and changes in work patterns such as retirement. The study of such transitions has grown rapidly in recent years. In the 1970s there were 203 peer-reviewed articles containing the keyword retirement, according to PsycINFO. By the 2000s this had risen to 1,804 (Shultz & Wang, 2011). Conceptualising retirement, Ekerdt noted, “The designation of retirement status is famously ambiguous because there are multiple overlapping criteria by which someone might be called retired, including career cessation, reduced work effort, pension receipt, or self-report” (p. 70) (Ekerdt, 2010). This study measures retirement via self-report. Although Australians no longer face a compulsory retirement age, at which they are no longer considered useful to the workforce, retirement is still an important transition for individuals, their families, and for the wider society. Based on estimates from the 2006 census and the 2007 Survey of Employment Arrangements, Retirement and Superannuation - the most recent for which such data are available - an estimated 7.7 million Australians were aged 45 years or over. Of these, 3.1 million people were retired (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). As is evident, the likelihood of being retired increases with age. In 2007, there were more retired women (1.8 million) than retired men (1.3 million). The average age at retirement for women is 47, compared with 58 for men. For all age groups over 45 years, more men than women intend never to retire (16.7% and 11.9% respectively) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Of those retirees who had worked in the last 20 years, the most common main reason for retiring is the retiree's health. This is a more common reason for retired men (38%) than retired women (25%). Other common reasons for retirement for men include financial reasons (20%) and being retrenched or made redundant (10%). While financial considerations are more likely to influence men, women are more likely to make their decision based on family considerations. Common reasons for women to retire include caring responsibilities (15%) and to spend more time with their family or partner (13%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). It is relatively easy to find advice about financial preparation for retirement, compared to successfully navigating the cognitive, emotional, or social aspects of the transition. What does retirement mean to those approaching it? Stokes found that it means the end of work and the loss of identity in response to a society that has a negative perception of old age (Stokes, 1992). This is consistent with the disengagement theory of aging in which aging is seen as a process of disengagement from other people (Cumming et al, 1961). On the other hand, the street protests seen in France in October 2010, in response to the French government’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, could be interpreted as some people looking forward to retirement as a release from the burden of employment. In a study examining retirement experiences, three main groups of people who could be delineated on the basis of their experience were identified (Kloep & Hendry, 2006)

Broughton Archipelago Clam Terrace Survey : final report

During a 1995 aerial video survey of the coastline of Johnstone Strait, an unusual shoreline feature was noted and termed “clam terraces” (inset) because of the terrace-type morphology and the apparent association with high clam productivity on the sandflats. Typical alongshore lengths of the terrace ridges are 20-50m, and across-shore widths are typically 20-40m. An area with an especially high density of clam terraces was noted in the Broughton Archipelago, between Broughton and Gilford Islands of southeastern Queen Charlotte Strait. Clam terraces in this area were inventoried from the aerial video imagery to quantify their distribution. The terraces accounted for over 14 km of shoreline and 365 clam terraces were documented. A three-day field survey by a coastal geomorphologist, archeologist and marine biologist was conducted to document the features and determine their origin. Nine clam terraces were surveyed. The field observations confirmed that: the ridges are comprised of boulder/cobblesized material, ridge crests are typically in the range of 1-1.5m above chart datum, sandflats are comprised almost entirely of shell fragments (barnacles and clams) and sandflats have very high shellfish production. There are an abundance of shell middens in the area (over 175) suggesting that the shellfish associated with the terraces were an important food source of aboriginal peoples. The origin of the ridges is unknown; they appear to be a relict feature in that they are not actively being modified by present-day processes. The ridges may be a relict sea-ice feature, although the mechanics of ridge formation is uncertain. Sand accumulates behind the ridge because the supply rate of the shell fragments exceeds the dispersal rate in these low energy environments. The high density areas of clam terraces correspond to high density areas of shell middens, and it is probable that the clam terraces were subjected to some degree of modification by aboriginal shellfish gatherers over the thousands of years of occupation in the region. (Document contains 39 pages

Stray

Mary Morris is the author of fourteen books—six novels including, most recently, Revenge, three collections of short stories, and four travel memoirs. Her numerous short stories and travel essays have appeared in such places as the Paris Review, the New York Times, and Vogue. She teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College

No Teacher Left Behind: Reforming the Educators Expense Deduction

American educators are notoriously overworked and underpaid. With high performance demands and near-stagnant pay, teachers tend to burn out quickly, which in turn negatively affects the quality of education that their students receive. This effect is most evident in Title I schools, public schools with low funding allocation and high concentrations of low-income students. One of the benefits that teachers do receive is the Educators Expense Deduction, a federal income tax deduction permitting teachers to write off up to $250 of unreimbursed supplies purchased for the classroom. This deduction was codified in 2002 and has not been amended since, in spite of major changes to how schools are funded and operated, such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Great Recession, and the resulting increase in out-of-pocket money that teachers must spend on their own classrooms. In this Note, I explore the content and history of the Educators Expense Deduction, identify changes in the economy and curriculum content since the deduction’s inception, and discuss how teachers have responded to (and, at times, retaliated against) these changes. Finally, I propose two major changes to the Educators Expense Deduction, raising the deduction amount for all teachers and adding a further deduction for teachers working in Title I schools

Synchrony, complexity and directiveness in mothers\u27 interactions with infants pre- and post-cochlear implantation

This study investigated effects of profound hearing loss on mother–infant interactions before and after cochlear implantation with a focus on maternal synchrony, complexity, and directiveness. Participants included two groups of mother–infant dyads: 9 dyads of mothers and infants with normal hearing; and 9 dyads of hearing mothers and infants with profound hearing loss. Dyads were observed at two time points: Time 1, scheduled to occur before cochlear implantation for infants with profound hearing loss (mean age = 13.6 months); and Time 2 (mean age = 23.3 months), scheduled to occur approximately six months after cochlear implantation. Hearing infants were age-matched to infants with hearing loss at both time points. Dependent variables included the proportion of maternal utterances that overlapped infant vocalizations, maternal mean length of utterance, infant word use, and combined maternal directives and prohibitions. Results showed mothers’ utterances overlapped the vocalizations of infants with hearing loss more often before cochlear implantation than after, mothers used less complex utterances with infants with cochlear implants compared to hearing peers (Time 2), and mothers of infants with profound hearing loss used frequent directives and prohibitions both before and after cochlear implantation. Together, mothers and infants adapted relatively quickly to infants’ access to cochlear implants, showing improved interactional synchrony, increased infant word use, and levels of maternal language complexity compatible with infants’ word use, all within seven months of cochlear implant activation

Culture Counts: How Five Community-Based Organizations Serve Asian and Pacific Islander Youth

This two-year effort to examine cultural competence involved an extensive literature review, a survey of organizations, and in-depth reviews of five community-based organizations: Asian American Recovery Services (Santa Clara office), East Bay Asian Youth Center of Oakland, Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Helping and Outreaching to Peers Everywhere (H.O.P.E.) (API Wellness), and United Cambodian Culture Club (UCCC) (Cambodian Community Development)

CONTRACTS - RIGHT OF PROMISEE OF A CREDITOR-BENEFICIARY CONTRACT TO SUE IN EQUITY FOR EXONERATION

The defendant purchased a barber shop and beauty parlor business from the plaintiff; and as part of the contract, the defendant assumed an indebtedness owing to a third person by the plaintiff. In an action brought by the creditor against the present plaintiff and defendant, judgment was rendered against the plaintiff herein and the action was dismissed as to the defendant. In that action, the present plaintiff filed a cross-petition against the defendant in this case, to require her to perform her alleged oral agreement to assume outstanding obligations, and moved to transfer the cross-petition to equity. Trial on the cross-petition and answer was had in equity and decree in favor of the plaintiff was entered. From this the defendant appealed. Held, that by assuming the indebtedness, the buyer became the principal and the seller the surety, and that the seller could sue in equity to compel the buyer to pay the debt. Judgment affirmed. McKey Fansher Co v. Rowen, (Iowa, 1942) 5 N. W. (2d) 911

Cause and Perceived Seriousness of Deviant Behavior and Attribution of Responsibility

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between differing stated causes of deviant behavior which is commonly labelled mental illness, and the perceived seriousness of these behaviors in determining judgments of the degree of responsibility attributed to described deviant individuals. This was accomplished by having subjects rate four different vignettes as to degree of perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility for behavior. The subjects were 76 undergraduate students enrolled in either introductory psychology and/or introductory anthropology. The subjects were divided into four groups. Each group of 19 subjects received the same four vignettes. Each vignette gave a behavioral description which was characteristic of one of four categories of mental illness: paranoid schizophrenic, simple schizophrenic, depressed neurotic, and phobic compulsive. Each group received a different stated cause for the described behavior. These causes were biological, social learning, unknown, and both biological and social learning. The subjects were asked to rate the individual described in each vignette as to how serious they perceived the individual\u27s behavior to be on a scale of 1-4. Subjects were also asked to rate how responsible the described individual was, in their judgment, for his behavior on a scale of 1-5. The specific questions addressed by this study were: (1) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the stated cause of behavior? (2) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the perceived seriousness of the behavior? and (3) Do stated cause and perceived seriousness of behavior interact in determining the degree of responsibility normal individuals attribute to deviant individuals. The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship between the perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility attributed to deviant individuals. More specifically, the paranoid schizophrenic individual, rated as the most serious, was seen as significantly less responsible than the less serious depressed neurotic or phobic compulsive individual. No significant main effect was found for the stated cause of behavior and no significant interaction, cause by perceived seriousness, was found. These results provide support for the notion that perceived seriousness contributes more to the determination of attribution of responsibility than does the stated cause of behavior. The implications of these findings as they relate to psychiatric rehabilitation were discussed as were the limitations of this study which included concerns regarding instrumentation and statistical analysis