Decision style, ability and the effectiveness of a careers intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a career decision-making exercise on decision-making skills in groups with different academic ability and career decision style. The study was conducted in a single sex female school using four classes (90 students in total) of Fourth Formers. Three separate phases were carried out within a two week period as part of the careers program. Phase one involved pretesting students using measures of knowledge of sources of careers information and actions to be used when making a careers decision. Career decision style, logical reasoning and demographic details were also obtained at this stage. During phase two students were either taught a specific decision-making exercise (Experimental intervention) or an exercise on women in the workforce (Placebo intervention). The final phase involved a post test and follow up career exercises. Results were analysed using 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (type of intervention, career decision style, academic ability and pre/post test) way ANOVAs for each dependent measure. The group exposed to the career decision-making exercise did not show the predicted improved performance over those exposed to the placebo intervention. Gains were evident in the knowledge of career information sources but this was the same for both interventions. Academic ability and career decision style did influence the intervention outcomes but not in the predicted directions. Results are discussed in terms of the adequacy of the measures of career decision-making skills and the unexpected impact of the placebo activity. The importance of taking into account decision style and academic ability in designing careers interventions is high-lighted

Tickling the tiger's ears: the complicated experience of Zen

Of all the major world religions, Buddhism is perhaps uniquely based upon religious experience, or at least upon some sort of experience. Going slightly further, it could be said that of all the flavours of Buddhism, Zen is the one most clearly focused upon a basis in religious experience. Such an assertion would lead to a discussion of the life and teachings of Gautama the Buddha. It seems that Gautama’s experience of enlightenment or awakening under the tree was a direct experience of the possibility of existence without the suffering caused by the ego and its cravings and delusions, and that this may well have been triggered by the recollection of a childhood experience

The education of gifted and talented children

The education of gifted and talented children : Report by the Senate Select Committee on the Education of Gifted and Talented Children. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1988

Collectively Developing a Framework for Sustainability External Reviews

As campus sustainability programs have developed and grown over the past decade, with some programs approaching relative maturity, we begin to ask an important question: how can these programs be objectively evaluated? This question was recently raised among NECSC members, and the response shows a high level of interest in and enthusiasm for the idea of an objective, external review process. An adaptable assessment process would provide a basis for programs to highlight successes, identify areas for improvement, and help to prioritize program initiatives and projects. Having a relatively standardized process for conducting the review would provide consistency and help to drive further growth and continual improvement in sustainability programs.Some campuses have recently experimented with conducting an external review, roughly modeled on the long-established academic department external review process. The efficacy of that model provides a focus for this interactive, collaboration-driven workshop. The Workshop might feature:• A review of the general process followed in academic external reviews• Case study presentations by institutions that have conducted sustainability program reviews • A discussion of other possible models that might provide guidance or be adapted for sustainability program review processQuestions that workshop participants could collectively consider include:• Is there value in developing a general, high-level framework that can be used or adapted for designing and carrying out an external review? • What is the scope of the self-study and outside review? • Is there is (or should be) an identifiable process for sustainability program development that could form the basis for program evaluation?• How can a sustainability plan provide a foundation for the review?• For institutions without a sustainability plan, how do you determine which program components are appropriate for evaluation?• Can a general framework be created that is both flexible (so that any institution at any stage of sustainability program development might utilize it) and iterative (to maintain its utility over the course of the sustainability program’s development)?• What guidelines for the review committee would be appropriate?• What is the role in the review process of existing STARS data (for STARS participants)?This interactive Workshop would address these issues as well as others that participants raise. At the conclusion of the Workshop, interested participants would have an opportunity to form a small working group to take on the task of collaboratively creating a framework that can be presented to the NECSC membership for further discussion and development

Postpartum Safety and Satisfaction Following Early Discharge

Two Ontario sites were involved in the evaluation of an obstetrical discharge program. Before program implementation a group of eligible women were enrolled as the preprogram control group (n = 542). During the program, eligible women who agreed to early discharge (ED) became the ED group (n = 319), and those opting not to go home early but consenting to participate in the evaluation became the concurrent group (n = 456). All groups were mailed a self-administered postpartum questionnaire. On demographic characteristics, safety and satisfaction, the ED group was comparable to the concurrent group. Hospital readmission rates did not differ across groups after stratification by site or hospital. Multiple classification analyses revealed a similar pattern for overall satisfaction levels. This unique ED program, which allowed pre- or postnatal enrollment and did not require an initial home assessment, appears to be a safe, effective and flexible approach to obstetrical care

Psychosocial Stressors and Major Depression, Schizophrenia, and Schizophreniform Disorder

This study explored the relationship between the severity and types of psychosocial stressors and three major mental disorders. The data were derived from the field trials of the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), in which over 12,000 patients from all over the country were evaluated by over 500 clinicians. Two hundred forty-seven patients with Major Depression and 247 with Schizophrenia were randomly selected for this study, along with all 112 patients given the diagnosis of Schizophreniform Disorder, a disorder similar to Schizophrenia except for its brief duration. The number of psychosocial stressors recorded by the evaluating clinician for each subject was examined, and each stressor was classified according to whether it represented an entrance into or exit from the social field of the subject, whether or not it was desirable, whether or not its occurrence had been under the control of the subject, the number of Life Change Units it entailed, and what area of the subject's life is affected. These variables were then compared across diagnostic groups, for individuals with and without associated Personality Disorders. In addition, for each diagnostic group, the relationship between the subjects' highest mean level of adaptive functioning and the mean severity of their psychosocial stressors was examined, using the multiaxial system of DSM-III. Major findings that replicated those reported in the literature include that a greater proportion of individuals with Major Depression were reported to have experienced a greater number of stressors, undesirable events, entrances, and uncontrollable events, than individuals with Schizophrenia. Significant new findings include that, for Schizophrenia, the highest level of adaptive functioning in the past year and level of severity of stressors experienced prior to episode onset are positively correlated, while for Major Depression these variables are negatively correlated. The results for Schizophreniform Disorder are equivocal, with similar results to Major Depression for some stressor dimensions, and midway between the other groups on others. The implications for social work practice of these findings and further study of life events are great, for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of mental illness