Professional Development Plans to Remedy Problematic Counseling Student Behaviors

Professional development plans (PDPs) are contracts used to address problematic student behaviors in counselor education. The PDP can be used to systematically document and address (a) faculty expectations of the student, (b) specific behaviors required of the student, (c) tasks in which the student and faculty will engage to facilitate student success, and (d) consequences if the student does not successfully address the expected tasks and engage in the required behaviors. A sample PDP is provided, and practice suggestions are discussed.     

Underrepresented,positively portrayed: Older adults in television commercials

This paper reports a content analysis of 778 television commercials. Commercials were examined for the presence of older adults. Commercials featuring older adults were then examined more closely to describe the nature of the portrayals. Consistent with previous research, older adults were shown to be underrepresented in the commercials examined, as compared to their presence in the population. This effect was particularly strong for older women and for members of ethnic minorities. However, older adults were found to be presented in a relatively positive light—as active, happy, and strong. In addition, older adults were shown to be least underrepresented in advertisements for financial services and retail chains, and most underrepresented in advertisements for automobiles and travel services. The results are discussed in terms of the changing position of the older adult consumer in the marketplace. Suggestions for future research are provided.     

Books in review

DOCUMENTS IN AMERICAN BROADCASTING. Edited by Frank J. Kahn. New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1968. 598 pp. $4.95 (paper).

RADIO, TELEVISION AND AMERICAN POLITICS. By Edward W. Chester. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1969. 342 pp. $7.50/3.45.

THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON OBSCENITY AND PORNOGRAPHY. New York: Bantam Books, 1970. 700 pp. $1.65 (paper).

HOW TO TALK BACK TO YOUR TELEVISION SET. By Nicholas Johnson. Boston: Little‐Brown, 1970. ix+228 pp. $5.75. [re‐issued with added bibliographies and an index by Bantam Books, 1970. 245 pp. 95¢.]

MEDIA SOCIOLOGY: A READER. Edited by Jeremy Tunstall. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970. x+574 pp. $12.50.

TELEVISION: SELECTIONS FROM “TV GUIDE” MAGAZINE. Edited by Barry G. Cole. New York: Free Press, 1970. 605 pp. $12.50/5.95.

INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATIONS. By Edwin Emery, Phillip H. Ault, and Warren K. Agee. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1970 (third edition). 444 pp. $8.95.

THE MASS MEDIA AND MODERN SOCIETY. By William L. Rivers, Theodore Peterson, and Jay W. Jensen. San Francisco: Rinehart Press, 1971 (second edition). 342 pp. $8.95.

THE COMMUNICATIVE ARTS: AN INTRODUCTION TO MASS MEDIA. By Charles S. Steinberg. New York: Hastings House, 1970. 371 pp. $10.00/6.00.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: THE BOOMING TECHNOLOGY. By Ronald Brown. New York: Doubleday, 1970. 191 pp. $5.95.

THE EMMY AWARDS: A PICTORIAL HISTORY. By Paul Michael and James Robert Parish. New York: Crown, 1970. 384 pp. $9.95.     

“He was Framed!” Framing Criminal Behavior in Sports News

An experiment examined the effects of newspaper articles about an athlete involved in a crime on perceptions of athletes. News articles were varied by framing the athlete's activities in an accusatory versus defensive manner, and framing the athlete as physically versus mentally skilled. An accusatory frame resulted in more criminally culpable perceptions of the athlete. Frame did not influence perceptions of the athlete's race, and perceptions of the athlete as Black did not increase perceived culpability. Additional findings show that framing does influence more general perceptions of athletes. Discussion focuses on media framing, attitudes toward athletes, and college students' socially desirable responses concerning race.     

Books reviews

Coaching Children in Sport: Principles and Practice. M. Lee (ed.), E. & F.N. Spon, London, 1993. xiv + 311 pp., £16.99 (pb), ISBN 0 419 18250 0.

Clinical Sports Medicine. P. Brukner and K. Khan, McGraw‐Hill, Sydney, 1993. 697 pp., £48.00 (hb), ISBN 0 07 452852 1.

The Physiology of Sport and Exercise. J.H. Wilmore and D.L. Costill, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994. x + 549 pp., £40.00 (hb), ISBN 0 87322 693 3.

Neuromechanical Basis of Kinesiology, 2nd Edn. R.M. Enoka, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1994. xiii + 466 pp., £40.00 (hb), ISBN 0 87322 665 8.     

Knowledge and perceptions of sport psychology within English soccer

The aim of the present study was to examine knowledge and perceptions of applied sport psychology within English soccer. National coaches (n = 8), youth academy directors (n = 21) and academy coaches (n = 27) were surveyed using questionnaire and interview methods. Questionnaire results revealed a lack of knowledge of sport psychology that appeared to underpin some of the most significant barriers to entry for sport psychologists. These included lack of clarity concerning the services of a sport psychologist, problems fitting in and players' negative perceptions of sport psychology. Overall, however, lack of finance was the highest rated barrier. Six barrier dimensions emerged from the interview data: negative perceptions of psychology, lack of sport psychology knowledge, integrating with players and coaching staff, role and service clarity, practical constraints, and perceived value of sport psychology. These findings were broadly compatible with the survey data, with finance emerging as a major barrier and misconceptions of sport psychology being common. Our conclusions are discussed in relation to the practical implications of the study for both applied research and the provision of sport psychology services within English soccer.     

A latent variable analysis of the contribution of executive function to adult readers’ comprehension of science text: the roles of vocabulary ability and level of comprehension

Emerging evidence suggests that executive function plays an important role in adult readers’ understanding of text. This study examined the contribution of executive function to comprehension of expository science text among adult readers, as well as the role of vocabulary ability in the relation between executive function and text comprehension. The roles of additional reader characteristics, including age, reading time, prior knowledge, and vocabulary ability, in comprehension were also examined. Using structural equation modeling, a latent executive function factor significantly predicted comprehension after accounting for age, reading time, prior knowledge, and vocabulary ability. Vocabulary ability mediated the relation between executive function and both lower-level and higher-level reading comprehension. Executive function contributed more strongly to lower-level compared with higher-level comprehension of the text. Implications for future research are discussed.

     

Common Molecules: Bringing Research and Teaching Together Through an Online Collection

The World Wide Web contains a number of collections of data files for molecules with limited usability and utility for users. We describe the design of a Common Molecules collection that provides interactive tools for 3-D visualization of molecules. Our organizational design is intuitive and our collection is large, growing, and provides not only structural information, but also historical and/or key information on the properties of the molecules in the collection. The use of the collection by students and the role of students in the development of the collection are also described.     

Is child sexual abuse declining? Evidence from a population-based survey of men and women in Australia

OBJECTIVE: Substantiated cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) in the United States have declined significantly over the past decade. This may, or may not, reflect change in the underlying rate in the general population. This study examines age-cohort differences in the prevalence of self-reported CSA experiences of men and women aged 18-59 years in a community-based sample from a comparable western nation. METHOD: In April 2000, we completed a cross-sectional, telephone-based survey of a randomly selected national sample of men and women in Australia. Volunteers (876 males, 908 females) answered a range of questions about health status and sexuality, including unwanted sexual experiences before the age of 16 years. Of selected adults with publicly-listed telephone numbers, 61% agreed to participate. There were few differences between the volunteers and the Australian population on demographic variables and health indicators. RESULTS: Non-penetrative CSA was twice as common among women (33.6%) than men (15.9%). Approximately 12% of women and 4% of men reported unwanted penetrative experiences. CSA was reported significantly less often by younger males, with a linear decline from the oldest to youngest men. Among all females who had intercourse before age 16, older women were much more likely than younger women to say they were an unwilling partner on the first occasion. If first intercourse occurred at age 16 or later, there were no age-cohort differences in risk of first-time abuse. Self-reported "openness" and "comfort" during the telephone interviews was not systematically related to prevalence of CSA. CONCLUSION: These population-based findings provide evidence of a decline in the underlying rate of CSA in Australia. Although every measure of CSA inevitably is flawed to some extent, these trends in self-report complement official statistics that show substantial decline in recent years.