Anne L. Cummings

Psychosocial function following temporal lobectomy: influence of seizure control and learned helplessness

Learned helplessness is the perception that ones behaviour cannot produce a desired outcome. Individuals with intractable epilepsy who have learned that the occurrence of a seizure is beyond their control can develop such a helpless attitude with cognitive, affective and behavioral components which may generalize to many aspects of life. Post-operative testing was done on 42 patients, aged 17-60 years with I.Q. > 80 who had temporal lobectomies (25 R, 17 L) with follow-up 1-14 years (mean 5 years). In addition to seizure outcome, psychosocial adjustment was measured using the Washington Psychosocial Inventory (WPSI) and a structured interview. Three variables of learned helplessness were also assessed: internal or external locus of control, resourcefulness, and depression. Seizure outcome was: completely seizure free, 36%; > 90% improvement, 38% < 90% improvement, 26%. Overall post-operative psychosocial adjustment was good, marked improvement in lifestyle was noted by 85%, personality change for the better by 65% and improved mood by 47%. A transient mood disorder was noted by 38% in the first six months following surgery. Psychosocial adjustment was better in patients who were seizure free or had > 90% reduction in seizures compared to those with < 90% improvement. Two measures of learned helplessness, depression and lack of resourcefulness correlated with poor postoperative psychosocial adjustment. Other variables beside seizure control must be considered in determining the ultimate outcome of epilepsy surgery.

Participants' Memories for Therapeutic Events and Ratings of Session Effectiveness

We investigated various relationships between therapists’ and clients’ memories for important therapeutic events and their assessments of the effectiveness of therapy sessions in 11 therapy dyads. Results showed that clients had greater accuracy of recall of important events for sessions they rated as more effective. There was also a greater match between therapists and clients in their choice of important events for more effective sessions. Finally, therapists displayed greater overall accuracy of recall than did clients. Implications of these results for therapeutic work are explored.

Help-Seeking and Male Gender-Role Attitudes in Male Batterers

This study addressed how male gender-role variables were related to help seeking in male batterers prior to treatment and differences between self-referred and court-ordered batterers. Four questionnaires on help-seeking attitudes and male gender-role variables were given to 109 men that attended an information session before attending treatment. Results indicated that help-seeking attitudes were negatively correlated with feeling connected to all men through similarities. Self-referred men, compared with court-ordered men, were more likely to have higher help-seeking attitudes. In contrast, court-ordered men felt more connection to all men through similarities as compared with self-referred. The implications of help seeking and male gender-role attitudes for counseling batterers are discussed.

Effects of teacher clarity and student anxiety on student outcomes

A laboratory experiment was carried out with 120 undergraduate students to examine a possible aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety in relation to two outcome measures, namely student achievement and student motivation, with student intelligence statistically controlled. Students completed measures of intelligence and test anxiety and were randomly assigned to high teacher clarity or low teacher clarity conditions, defined by the presence or absence of specific teaching behaviours in a videotaped lecture with content held constant across conditions. Measures of motivation and self-efficacy for learning the material were completed immediately post-treatment, then one week later participants completed an achievement test based on the material contained in the lecture and assigned homework. Results revealed significant beneficial main effects for high vs. low teacher clarity for both achievement and motivation measures, but no aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety.

A Psychoeducational Group for Aggressive Adolescent Girls.

This article describes an eight-session psychoeducational group for aggressive adolescent girls. The content of the group sessions is based on research that has identified gender-specific issues related to aggression in adolescent girls, such as gender-role socialization, childhood abuse, relational aggression, horizontal violence, and girl culture. Nonaggressive coping strategies are also discussed. Initial evaluation showed that girls did change some of their attitudes about their aggressive behavior.

Teaching Group Process to Counseling Students Through the Exchange of Journal Letters

Abstract The use of a weekly exchange of journal letters between a group leader (counseling professor) and group members (counseling students) in a graduate course in group counseling is described as a way of teaching counseling students about group process and group leadership. Excerpts from letters of both the leader and group members are presented as illustrative examples of the concepts being taught and learned.

Ego Development and Its Relation to Teacher Education.

Abstract Relations among ego development, views of education, and academic performance were examined in a sample of 58 adult learners who were teachers. Participants were also rated by course instructors on participation and ability using categories derived from Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The results indicated that adult learners do differ significantly by ego level in how they view such educational issues as the role of the teacher and the source of knowledge. Path analysis revealed that class participation was a significant mediating variable for these relationships. However, ego level did not directly have an impact on the instructor ratings or course grades, perhaps due to attenuated variance on these measures.

PSYCHOMETRIC DATA ON THE GROUP EMBEDDED FIGURES TEST FOR A SAMPLE OF ADULT LEARNERS

The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was administered to 70 teachers taking a counseling course. Distribution characteristics, reliability, internal consistency, and sex differences are presented.

Session helpfulness and session evaluation in short‐term counselling

Abstract The relationship between perceived session helpfulness and session evaluation was examined in 11 dyads during eight sessions of short‐term counselling. Results based on the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (Stiles, 1980) showed that, for clients, while depth, arousal, and positivity correlated with perceived session helpfulness, only depth and positivity entered a stepwise regression, yielding a multiple correlation of 0.76. For counsellors, while depth and positivity correlated with session perceived helpfulness, only depth entered the stepwise regression analysis, with a correlation of 0.70. Session depth also consistently correlated with change in perceptions of helpfulness from one session to another. Clients had higher depth scores for sessions that both participants rated as helpful. They had lower depth scores for sessions rated as less helpful by both participants or for sessions where participants disagreed in their helpfulness ratings. The centrality of counselling depth in affecting ex...

Protocol Analysis of the Social Problem Solving of Teachers

This study investigated social problem solving and cognitive style (field independence-dependence) in a sample of 70 teachers taking a summer course in counseling. To examine social problem solving, protocol analysis was utilized to determine how adults solved ill-defined interpersonal, intrapersonal, complex, and simple problems. Problem situations were scored for eight problem-solving elements (e.g., strategy, evaluation), three problem-solving processes (sequential, wholistic, simultaneous), and three problem-solving styles (analytical, affective, behavioral). Results indicated that participants used more analysis and evaluation of self on intrapersonal problems, whereas on interpersonal problems they employed more evaluation of strategies. On simple problems, participants utilized more strategies, elaborations, and problem statements, whereas on complex problems they utilized more analysis, evaluations, and feeling statements. Educational implications of these results are explored.