April 2003 | Monitor on Psychology | Vol. 34 No. 4

COVER: Cover topic: Sex
- The science of sexual arousal
Psychologists are gaining new insights into sexual arousal with the help of innovative research methods
- Study finds sex differences in relationship between arousal and orientation
New evidence has emerged suggesting that the tendency for gay men to become aroused only to same-sex images and heterosexual men to become aroused only to opposite-sex images is not true of women.
- Women and sex: What is 'dysfunctional'?
Sex experts disagree on how to define and treat women's sexual problems.
- Sex research faces new obstacles
Federally funded sex research is embattled with claims that taxpayer dollars are being 'wasted.'
- Worth the risk?
Psychologists are creating interventions to curb high-risk sexual behavior among young people.
- TV sex may be getting safer
Television programs from the 2001-2002 season included references to safe-sex issues twice as often as programs from the 1997-1998 season.
IN BRIEF
- Both halves of brain process emotional speech
- Mental health parity bill reintroduced in Congress
- Psychotropic drug use in young patients is rising
- Substance abuse awards program moves to Johns Hopkins
- Meet HIPAA deadline
- Babies react to emotions on television
- Minor hypoxia risk linked to lower cognitive performance
- People more likely to pursue goals after unconscious reminders of friends, relatives
- Psychoeducational programs help families cope with mental illness
- Acting extraverted spurs positive feelings, study finds
- Team testing boosts test scores, study finds
- Council approves new proficiency and specialty areas, APA's 2003 budget

FEATURES
Margaret A. Chesney will head a new center on complementary and alternative medicine.
The court will decide whether or not Blue Cross/Blue Shield honored its contractual agreements with patients and providers.
A Texas psychologist turned her interest into a niche practice
Research on categorization is shedding light on the sources of environmentally friendly behavior while questioning some classic findings in cognitive psychology.
Student group commemorates its beginnings as the voice of psychology's future.
A conference co-sponsored by APA on health promotion brought together multiple health disciplines.
Job changes and stress management can positively affect midlife health.
A developing line of research suggests that many parents get a new lease on life when their children leave.
Conference examined media portrayals of minorities and influences of cultural differences, disabilities and sexual orientation on families.
As associate director of the president's Office of Science and Technology Policy, psychologist Kathie Olsen relishes the mark she can make on science.
For the first time, APA co-sponsored a national conference on child abuse and neglect.
APA's Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) is sponsoring a three-hour program on teaching methodologically on April 11 at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA) annual meeting in Denver.

PUBLIC POLICY UPDATE
COLUMNS
In the Public Interest
Serendipity and diversityPresident's Column
The other three Rs: part two, reasoningRunning Commentary
Psychological science for the Supreme CourtScience Directions
A fable for our times (with apologies to James Thurber)
