Stewart Page

Portrayal of mental illness in Canadian newspapers.

The present article reports results from a content analysis of 103 newspaper reports taken from eight major Canadian newspapers, and selected at random from the Canadian Newspaper Index. The portrayal of mental illness and mentally ill persons in these reports was compared with that in samples of articles taken from two comparison mental health publications not receiving popular circulation. As compared with these latter publications, the content analysis indicated that the newspapers portrayed mental illness and the mentally ill in a manner which could be described as essentially pejorative, thus seeming to support frequent observations and complaints from the mental health establishment about inadequate or unfair coverage of mental illness in the popular print media. At the same time, the newspaper medium appeared to present more favourable images of nontraditional (example: community-based) mental health practices, than of traditional (example: hospital-based) practices. Implications of such results for the attitudes and beliefs of the general public vis-À-vis mental illness are offered, with special reference to the influence of the print media.

Sex and expectations of teachers and sex and race of students as determinants of teaching behavior and student performance

This study investigated sex-related teacher and student differences, and expectancy effects, in an experimental teaching situation. A total of 96 Asian and white first-year undergraduate students were tested and taught by 12 teachers, all of whom possessed previous elementary school teaching experience. Advanced portions of both the arithmetic and vocabulary subtests of the Wide Range Achievement Test were administered. Sex of teacher, sex of student, and race of student were related to student performance, particularly when the type of teaching task was taken into account. Generally, these variables were also related to differences in duration and rate of instruction. Teacher expectancy per se was not related to student performance. The results are discussed in terms of the issue of specific teacher and student characteristics within the more general topic of teacher or examiner effects.

Symposium--forensic psychiatry. Civil commitment and the danger mandate.

This paper examines the practice of involuntary mental hospitalization from the viewpoint of factors constituting effective, operating definitions of ‘dangerous’ mental disorder, as contrasted with the more narrow criteria which sanction commitment under Canadian law. A sorting and analysis of a large sample of commitment certificates indicated that few contained evidence of involuntarily hospitalized patients as being dangerous, nor did the present sample of certificates indicate clearly that operating commitment criteria have been altered with the new and liberalized legislative formulations of such criteria. Independent of the need to commit certain people in society, possible incongruities between ideal and operating criteria for civil commitment deserve to be scrutinized by responsible professionals in mental health and law.

Student perception of academic grading: Personality, academic orientation, and effort

Factors influencing student perceptions of academic grading were examined, with an emphasis on furthering understanding of the relevance of effort to students’ conceptualization of grading. Students demonstrated a conceptualization of grading where effort should be weighted comparably to actual performance in importance to the composition of a grade, with the expectation that grade allocation should reflect this perception. Students suggested a compensatory effect of effort in grade assignment, where a subjectively perceived high level of effort was expected to supplement low performance on a task. Furthermore, students perceived professors as less fair and less competent when they were perceived to not be able to adequately account for students’ subjective perception of effort. In addition, student perceptions of grading were examined in relation to student-possessed learning orientation (LO), grade orientation (GO), and aspects of personality. Prototypically, individuals high in LO tend to be motivated by the acquisition of knowledge, while those high in GO tend to be driven by the acquisition of high grades. Conscientiousness, openness and age contributed significantly to and positively predicted LO. Inversely, conscientiousness, openness and age contributed significantly to and negatively predicted GO while neuroticism positively predicted this orientation. Students appear to place a heavy amount of importance on professor consideration of effort, despite recognizing the realistic difficulties in determining effort. The potential for an emerging student mentality is discussed, where students’ perception of grading is distorted by a subjective appraisal of their own effort.

Social responsiveness toward mental patients: the general public and others.

The present study investigated the social responsiveness of the general public, and of psychiatric hospital staff, using Mil-grams (1969) lost-letter technique. The public did not return fewer (or more) letters believed to be addressed to mental patients. Highest return rates were observed when personal costs to the finder were negligible. Psychiatric staff returned significantly fewer letters than did the general public. Other research, and implications of the findings, are outlined.

Civil Commitment: Operational Definition of New Criteria

The present study is the last in a planned series of studies concerning effects of current psychiatric legislation. Samples of ninety-seven commitment certificates (Form 3s) and seventy-nine assessment applications (Form 1s) were analyzed, following procedures validated in several previous studies. The 1978 criteria, in the authors opinion, have yet precipitated no substantive or sizeable change in “operational definition,” that is, in types of persons being committed.

Personality style and impulsivity as determinants of suicidal subgroups.

Studies on suicide have often been inadequate in the sense of failing to understand or conceptualize the dynamics of suicidal behavior from a comprehensive theoretical basis. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine Blatts theory of Dependent and Self-critical personality dimensions (Blatt, 1974, Blatt & Shichman, 1983) in the context of actual suicidal behavior, and also to utilize these dimensions to facilitate our understanding of suicidal action. Ninety-six undergraduate students who had attempted suicide in the past were administered a series of measures related to suicidal behavior, involving impulsivity, intent, and lethality. Participants were also identified as Dependent or Self-critical in their basic personality orientation. Dependents and Self-critics engaged in contrasting suicidal behaviors along several parameters, with Self-critical individuals generally posing greater risk. These differences were congruent with Blatts theoretical framework. Implications for suicide risk assessment, management, and treatment are discussed, with special reference to the importance of identifying distinctive suicidal subgroups identified by Dependent and Self-critical personality dimensions.

Learning- and grade-orientation, sex, and prediction of self-reported academic performance.

148 undergraduate students completed the LOGO-II scale, a measure of educational orientation, i.e., learning-oriented and grade-oriented attitudes and behaviors, and were asked to report their current and expected grades, as well as their self-assessed academic skill. Generally, learning orientation was positively correlated with academic performance, but grade orientation was negatively correlated with performance. Learning orientation and grade orientation predicted academic performance for men but not women. Implications of these findings, including the possibility of encouraging students to assume a more learning-oriented approach to their education, are discussed.

Calibrating Canadian Universities: Rankings for Sale Once Again.

A summary and update on recent research by the authors and others concerning rankings of Canadian universities is presented. Some specific data are reported in regard to the 2005 and 2006 ranking data published by Macleans magazine. Some criticisms and difficulties with the use of rank-based data are outlined with regard to the issues of university selection and the interpretation of commonly used ranking indices. Also, aside from statistical and related matters, several implications of ranking exercises for the personal and academic welfare of Canadian students, at all educational levels, are described.

Ranking of Canadian Universities: A New Marketing Tool

ABSTRACT A critical perspective is presented in regard to rankings of Canadian universities by Macleans magazine, November 23, 1998. Several pitfalls in the ranking procedures, together with statistical (nonparametric) analyses of the 1998 ranking data, are summarized. The Macleans data and general criteria appear conceptually reasonable, but their inconsistencies, together with associated problems in the interpretation of rank data, show that they cannot be logically or empirically useful to students in the matter of university evaluation. Some general issues for counselling of students in this context are mentioned.