Quantitative studies of responses elicited by selected TAT cards

Quantitative differences in subjects' responses to selected TAT cards were studied. 70 white, female college students wrote stories in response to TAT Cards 1, 2, 3BM, 12M, and 13MF. Stories were scored for several measures of drive intensity, defensive pattern, and object relational pattern. On all measures, the several cards were associated with different patterns of response. The use of the pattern of scores on several cards (as opposed to aggregate measures summing responses to several cards) for exploration of the ebb and flow of various aspects of intrapsychic functioning is discussed.     

Personal problem-solving system for scoring TAT responses: preliminary validity and reliability data

Personal problem solving has emerged as an important construct in the cognitive-behavioral literature, yet there is a lack of clinically useful, performance-based measures practitioners can use to assess the personal problem-solving skills of their clients. Two studies evaluated the validity and reliability of a scoring system for measuring personal problem-solving processes via the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Morgan & Murray, 1935). In Experiment 1, undergraduate students (N = 87) completed two measures of personal problem solving, as well as three TAT cards, which were scored using the Personal Problem-Solving System (PPSS; Renan, 1990). In Experiment 2, an additional group of undergraduates (N = 56) responded to three TAT cards on two separate occasions and also completed a different measure of personal problem solving. Results from both studies supported the use of the PPSS for scoring TAT responses to assess personal problem-solving processes. Suggestions for future research are highlighted.     

The effect of unequal group size on Tukey's HSD procedure

A limitation of the Tukey HSD procedure for multiple comparison has been the requirement of equal number of observations for each group. Three approximation techniques have been suggested when the group sizes are unequal. Each of these techniques was empirically analyzed to determine its effect on TypeI error. Two of the considered variables, average group size and differences in group size, caused differing actual probabilities of TypeI error. One of the three techniques (Kramer's) consistently provided actual probabilities in close agreement with corresponding nominal probabilities.     

The effect of normative models on individual and group choice

Studied the effect of a normative model (maximization of expected value) upon group and individual choice. 109 MBA students in a Lain square research design chose between two alternatives differing in expected value and in range of outcomes. Group choices were significantly (p < .05) closer to those predicted by the normative model than were individual choices. This difference was not due only to information about the presence and applicability of the normative model but rather it was due to the persuasiveness of the model in a group as a cogent and correct solution to the choice dilemma. Task instructions emphasizing the rewards from risk taking produced significantly more choices (p < .05) of the riskier alternative, particularly by individuals as opposed to groups, than did instructions emphasizing the penalties of risk taking. ‘Risky’ and ‘conservative’ shifts in choice between groups and individuals were explicable through knowledge of the influence of the normative model in individual and group choice.     

The effect of stressor severity on outcome following group debriefing

This analogue study reports data on the efficacy of group debriefing in the mitigation of distress for a stressful video, which had two levels of severity. It also provides a new procedure for use in experimental psychopathology studies. One hundred and nineteen participants were shown one of two stressful videos and, subsequently, 67 participants received group debriefing whilst 52 participants acted as a control. A statistical difference was found between the two groups for level of distress at follow-up, with those who had watched the more stressful video scoring higher on video distress and trauma-type symptomatology than those who watched the less stressful video. This was particularly the case for those who received debriefing -- adding further caution to the longer-term effects of systematised group interventions following harrowing events.     

The effect of hypocapnia on extinction of conditioned fear responses

Conditioning models have been very helpful in the understanding of the etiology and maintenance of anxiety. Such laboratory models, however, leave unexplained why in many cases of naturally occurring anxiety, as in the case of agoraphobia, the fear responses do not extinguish. Literature on experimental anxiety provocation suggests that a systemic alkalosis might play a role in the maintenance of phobic fear. It was hypothesized that a subject in a state of respiratory alkalosis would show delayed extinction to classical conditioned anxiety. In a differential classical conditioning paradigm, consisting of a habituation-, an acquisition-, and an extinction-phase, slides and electric shocks were used as conditioned stimuli (CS) and unconditioned stimuli (US) respectively. The skin conductance response was taken as (U)CR. Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: hyperventilation or control. It was shown that the extinction was not delayed when subjects were hypocapnic during the extinction. These data support the view that a respiratory alkalosis per se is not a sufficient condition for the maintenance of neurotic fears. The data of the present study are discussed in the context of existing literature on a psychological interpretation of the maintenance of anxiety.