A Primer on College Student Substance Use Disorders Screening,Assessment, and Treatment Planning

Significant numbers of college students experience negative consequences due to their misuse of alcohol and other drugs. For far too many, some of these effects are ruinous of their lives, and for well more than a thousand each year, life ending. This article first provides an overview of the scope of this problem. It then covers both assessment and intervention starting with brief and standard assessment inventories followed by a perspective on comprehensive focused counseling that incorporates an assessment of multiple life areas. A case is made that many students have substance use disorders issues either as primary problems or auxiliary to other concerns. Treatment planning based on a comprehensive approach to change, and the role of ongoing utilization of change measures, is then discussed. A basic premise of the article is that due to a lack of education, training, and exposure, many college mental health practitioners underdiagnose and underattend to the presence of substance use disorders problems. Many clinical staff members have never taken an academic course focused on this treatment issue or have done little by way of continuing education on this topic, so they may lack the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes related to the provision of helpful comprehensive care and consequently make the error of focusing exclusively on the substance use disorders related behaviors.     

Acculturation,social support and academic achievement of Mexican and Mexican American high school students: An exploratory study

Concerns about the high dropout rate among Mexican American high school students has led researchers and educators to determine which variables affect academic success. The study investigated two factors associated with academic achievement: acculturation and social support. The sample consisted of 60 ninth‐grade students of Mexican decent in a southwestern school district. Results indicated that students identified as highly integrated and strongly Anglo‐oriented bicultural tended to have higher academic achievement. In addition, the sample as a whole perceived social support from all four sources. Although no generational effects were identified, females tended to have higher GPAs, and perceive more social support, while the males, interestingly, were slightly more acculturated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Relative numerosity as a dimension of stimulus control: The peak shift

Pigeons were trained to discriminate between arrays containing equal numbers of two different elements as S+, and arrays which contained more elements of one kind than the other as S?. They were then tested with the full range of the proportions of the two elements. This resulted in behavioral contrast and peak shift, as the pigeons responded more to arrays containing more positive than negative elements than they did to the positive training arrays. These findings were obtained with elements that differed in color (blue vs. red dots) and with elements that differed in orientation (horizontal vs. vertical rectangles). The results indicate that the stimulus control exerted by the derived dimension of relative numerosity involves the same processes as the fundamental dimensions that characterize simple stimulus elements.     

Environmental factors influencing the affiliative behavior of male and female rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of rearing and housing manipulations on the affiliative behavior of male and female rats. Animals were tested in same-sex pairs in an open field for time spent in contact and for socially facilitated activity. The results revealed a sex difference in both the degree and the form of affiliative behavior of rats. In general, males were more affiliative and more responsive to a second animal. Males engaged in more rough-and-tumble play, whereas females spent more time in social grooming. Housing conditions of adult animals and rearing conditions were found to influence the degree to which males engaged in male-like affiliative behaviors and females engaged in female-like affiliative behaviors. Social behavior appears to be a function of the interaction between the affiliative repertoire of the animals involved, the nature of the social stimulus, and the features of the environment.     

Is there a future for school counseling in the United States?

School counseling in the United States is going through a very difficult period. Reasons for the difficulties are discussed. Suggestions are offered for modifications in counseling practice and in counselor education needed to overcome the current problems. Hopefully, the issues raised in the paper will be especially relevant in those countries which have relied heavily on literature and expertise from the United States in developing their counseling services.     

An Intelligent Marking Assistant: An Application of Artificial Intelligence in Teaching

We are entering the second computer revolution — described by many as “THE REVOLUTION”. The Japanese have committed themselves to a programme to develop a Fifth Generation of computers — machines that can understand natural language, diagnose problems, and discover solutions. What are the implications for higher education?

This paper argues that the most interesting applications of this new technology are in producing “intelligent assistants” or “powerful tools” in the teaching/learning process. It describes in some detail a particular “Expert System” being used in this role — assisting academic staff with the evaluation of student work.     

The Initial Impact of the Anatomical Society Gross Anatomy Core Syllabus for Medicine in the United Kingdom: Student and Teacher Perspectives

“What do students studying medicine need to know” is an important question for curriculum planners, anatomy educators and students. The Core Regional Anatomy Syllabus (CRAS), published by the Anatomical Society in 2016, contains 156 learning outcomes (LOs) and has informed “what needs to be known.” This project explored how CRAS had impacted undergraduate anatomy and anatomists in the United Kingdom. A cross-sectional study was designed in two phases. Phase 1, involved a survey of students in clinical years (N = 164). Phase 2 included a survey of anatomist’s views (n = 50) and focus groups of anatomy educators (N = 16). The students’ perspective showed that specific regions of CRAS are deemed less relevant. These were also the body areas where students perceived their anatomical knowledge to be more deficient. Only 46% (n = 75) of students estimated that they knew over 50% (n = 78) of the LOs. Phase two revealed that all anatomists were aware of the syllabus and 48% (n = 24) had checked the CRAS against their own institutional LOs. Anatomists had shared CRAS with colleagues 64% (n = 32) and students at 34% (n = 17), respectively. Forty-six percent (n = 23) of anatomists reported having changed their teaching in some way because of CRAS. The focus groups generated four key themes: “support for CRAS,” “standardization and validation,” “professional identity,” and “limitations and leverage.” Overall CRAS has been well received and is establishing itself within the anatomical community as the new standard for anatomy teaching for medical students.