Behavioral medicine and health psychology in a changing world

Despite long-established roots in experimental psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine, behavioral medicine and health psychology have only recently emerged as recognized, highly visible disciplines within medicine and the behavioral sciences. The rapid development of these fields has resulted partly from important scientific advances in the biomedical and behavioral sciences and partly from changing societal concerns and values. The latter include a greater preoccupation with individual self-expression and self-fulfillment, a decline in respect for authority per se, and an increased skepticism about social institutions. Coupled with these changes has been an increasing desire to take responsibility for one's own life and, in matters of health, of one's own body. The ways in which scientific advances and social changes have influenced the shape of contemporary behavioral medicine and health psychology are explored with the aid of two illustrations: the growth of a developmental perspective in behavioral medicine and health psychology; and work and health, including the effects of job stress and unemployment. Finally, the author stresses the need for a greater sense of community and concern for others, if we are to succeed in creating a growth-enhancing, health-producing climate for society as a whole and for each of us as individuals.     

University autonomy and public policies: A system theory perspective

This article addresses problems facing universities because of external pressures for changes in their teaching, research, and governance and management policies and practices to align them with public policies. The view is put that governments are introducing public policies in times of economic recession to achieve rationalisation of human, physical and financial resources in higher education and to foster initiatives that shape university teaching and research to serve the needs of society and assist in national economic recovery. Examples of these external pressures, which have resulted in intrusions into the autonomy of university governance and management, are provided in the context of general system theory. It is assumed that the pressure of public policies on universities will continue and that each university should have a development plan for its present and future teaching and research activities, which has the endorsement of the government higher education advisory agency so that university management can function on a secure basis. The effectiveness and efficiency of functioning at the various levels of the university system should be assessed by periodic evaluative reviews. The quality of management by academic leaders should be fostered by the establishment of national centres for the study of higher education management and policy. The relationship between government higher education advisory agencies and universities should be renegotiated so that, as interdependent and interrelated parts of the higher education system, they work in joint co-operation to ensure the most effective and appropriate development of each institution. Nevertheless, a state of equilibrium between the university system and the supra (social) system within which it exists will never fully be achieved. The fundamental role and functions of a university require that it be concerned with teaching and researching both ageless and current phenomena. Hence, a perfect equilibrium state cannot exist if external social pressures are for the main weight of university activities to be shifted to providing service for the current needs of society.     

Analysis of instruction for critical thinking in distance learning materials

This paper discusses procedures for the analysis of instructional strategies incorporated into distance learning materials, especially with regard to the development of the higher order cognitive ability—critical thinking. It examines the function of task analysis as an integral part of the instructional design process, analysing three different approaches available to the instructional designer towards the analysis of tasks required of distance learners. Comparing the learning hierarchy, the concept hierarchy, and the information processing approaches, it was found that the latter was the only one suitable for this current study because of the requirement that critical thinking be linked with domain‐specific knowledge, rather than be learned as an independent ability. Different algorithms for both the student and the designer/analyst are included as part of the information processing approach, and, although these methods are yet to be validated, they seem to offer sufficient promise, while allowing the analyst to make further decisions during the analysis.     

Self-modeling as an intervention to increase student classroom participation

The effect of self-modeling as an intervention to increase individual participatory behavior in the classroom was investigated using a multiple baseline design across three second grade students with a follow-up. In addition, a control student was employed to further investigate the effects of the intervention. Self-modeling is defined as the positive change in behavior resulting from spaced viewing of oneself on edited tapes depicting exemplary behavior. Students viewed edited videotapes of themselves successfully volunteering to participate in class by raising their hand. The three students, during baseline, had a mean participation rate ranging between 8% and 24% compared with the control student's rate ranging between 53% and 63%. During intervention, the mean participation rate ranged between 28% and 60% compared with the control student's rate ranging between 43% and 46%. At follow-up, students had a mean percentage rate ranging between 44% and 64% compared with the control student's rate of 53%. Thus, they more closely approximated or surpassed the control student's mean rate of participation during intervention and follow-up, suggesting that the self-modeling intervention was effective in increasing individual participatory behavior in the classroom. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Differential effects of phonological priming on Chinese character recognition

We report two experiments investigating the effect of phonological priming on the recognition of two types of Chinese characters: compound targets which contain separate radical components; and integrated targets which do not contain separate radicals. We used a masked priming paradigm with varying prime-target exposure durations. In Experiment 1, phonological priming effects on compound target recognition were found following a 50 msec SOA. However, there was no evidence of phonological priming on integrated target recognition at this SOA. In Experiment 2 we investigated the time course of phonological priming effects at three prime-target SOAs (30, 50 and 80 msec) in a between-subjects design. Semantic priming effects were also investigated. Phonological priming effects on compound target recognition were found following the 50 msec and the 80 msec SOAs. However, there was no evidence of phonological priming on integrated target recognition at any SOA. Semantic priming effects on both compound and integrated target recognition were found in the 50 msec and the 80 msec SOA conditions suggesting that phonological and semantic activation are co-incidental during compound character recognition. We conclude that character type constrains the activation of phonology during Chinese character recognition.     

The Invisible Majority: Adult Learners in English Higher Education

The report of the National Inquiry into Higher Education (the Dearing Committee) makes much play of lifelong learning, and the last decade has seen a rapid increase in the proportion of mature learners in higher education overall. In 1993 the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education argued that the advent of lifelong learning and an adult majority in higher education called for a radical rethinking of the nature and purposes of higher education. There has been some positive change, and the Dearing report is broadly positive, but by failing to recognise the nature of the lifelong agenda, it may be too little too late.