Tootle

Tales of artificially animated characters, alternatively known as “it-tales”, are among the more interesting stories written for young children. Although the psychosocial attributes of such characters are as timeless as those found in animal and human characters, they are especially interesting historically since they are a product of the state of technology extant at the time the story was written or in which the story events are located. Thus they reflect both the technology of the characters and the attitude toward such technology, both those of the reader or child and of the caregiver who transmits such tales to the child. The story of Tootle is described and discussed as an example of the steam-engine tales that were especially popular in the early to middle part of the twentieth century, and analyzed in the light of the author’s personal experience, prevailing gender role stereotypes, dynamics of heroic characters, potential impact of such stories on children’s creativity and relevant pedagogical viewpoints such as authoritarian vs. learner-initiated approaches to teaching. Critical approaches based on ideological (especially Marxist) and Jungian perspectives are also discussed. Comparisons are made between Tootle and tales of other steam-engine and similar characters. Potentially negative aspects of the Tootle story are elaborated and a hypothetical alternative ending to the Tootle story is offered

SUICIDE PREDICTION FOR PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS: A COMPARISON OF THE MMPI AND CLINICAL JUDGMENTS

The suicide rate among psychiatric patients is dramatically higher than the general population rate. Efforts to reduce this rate require that potential sucides be identified in advance. Traditional measures of patients psychological condition, notably the MMPI, have only limited success in identifying suicides. However, the virtual exclusion of females and of covertly suicidal patients from these studies, as well as the use of a restricted criterion suicide committed while on the hospital rolls suggests that their use has not been fully explored. The literature review indicated that clinical judgements, presumably based upon patients psychological condition, could identify suicides as accurately as statistical or objective measures; a determination of the comparative validity of statistical and clinical prediction techniques therefore seemed in order. The study population consisted of 6500 current or former patients of a community mental health center in a large Midwest urban area, all of whom had been referred for psychological assessment; the base rate of suicide in the population was 1.70 per cent. A sample of 75 suicides and their controls, matched for sex and age, was drawn retrospectively from this population. The demographic and clinical composition of the two groups was quite similar. The suicides (s) and their matched controls (NS) were divided into an initial sample of 76 and a cross-validation sample of 74. The statistical prediction method utilized a discriminant function based upon uncorrected validating and clinical scales of the MMPI; the clinical prediction consisted of a statement in a patient\u27s psychological report indicating that he or she was a suicide risk..