Making remembering more memorable*

Memory retrieval is a cognitive operation that itself can be remembered or forgotten, with potentially important consequences. To study memory for prior remembering, we had participants first study target words (e.g., bark) alongside semantically related cue words (e.g., dog). Then, on Test 1, participants retrieved targets in response to either the study cue or a changed cue that was semantically related to a homograph of the target (e.g., birch). Finally, on Test 2, participants retrieved all targets in response to the original study cues, and participants judged whether targets were previously retrieved on Test 1. As in previous research, cue change on Test 1 rendered target retrievals less memorable, suggesting context changes harm memory for prior remembering. We hypothesised that the negative effect of context change could be ameliorated by reminding participants of the original study cues during Test 1. We had participants either retrieve (Experiments 1 and 3, Ns?=?46 and 62) or view (Experiment 2, N?=?118) the study cue following each target retrieval. Reminding significantly reduced the negative effect of cue change, with self-generation being especially potent. This indicates that reminding can make remembering more memorable in the face of context change.     

Boys withdraw more in one-on-one interactions, whereas girls withdraw more in groups

Past research predicts that males will be more likely to withdraw in one-on-one interactions versus groups, whereas females will be more likely to withdraw in groups than in one-on-one interactions. Ninety-eight 10-year-old children engaged in a word generation task either in same-sex dyads or in groups. Boys completed significantly more words in groups than in dyads, whereas girls' performance was similar in the 2 social structures. Confirming the hypothesis, analyses of the dynamics of dyads and groups using time spent writing as a measure of effort demonstrated that boys withdrew more than girls in dyads, whereas girls withdrew more than boys in groups. Furthermore, in groups, girls were more likely than boys to focus on one individual. Causal explanations for sex differences in preferences for differing social structures are proposed.     

People in groups: Dynamic and therapeutic aspects

The author differentiates between a sociological-interactional (horizontal) axis and a psychological-motivational (vertical) axis in the group, and discusses the socio- and psychodynamics both of and in the group from each of these points of view. In group therapy, five phases are described: 1) exploratory contact; 2) regression; 3) catharsis; 4) insight; and 5) social learning. Group psychotherapy with large diagnostically heterogeneous groups in a hospital setting, small diagnostically homogeneous groups, and group discussions with patients' relatives are all described. In addition, attention is paid to experiential psychodynamic group process groups (analytic self-experience groups), which provide young psychotherapists with the opportunity to gain insight into both groups and the psychodynamics stimulated within this framework. The training of group therapists should include, after academic studies, clinical experience, individual psychotherapeutic training, an experiential group, cotherapy, group therapeutic work under expert supervision, and theoretical training.     

Maximizing the therapeutic effectiveness of small psychotherapy groups

Little attention has been paid in the literature to the ways in which psychotherapy groups of fewer than five members can be led effectively. The conditions leading to small groups are presented, including both dynamic and circumstantial conditions arising in the institution, the group, and the therapist. The dynamics of small groups are described based on social psychology research and clinical observations. The paper concludes by presenting therapist and member characteristics as well as therapeutic techniques which contribute to the maximal effectiveness of groups with fewer than five members.     

利他主义新理念与和谐社会的构建

利他主义是西方伦理学的一个重要论题。由于传统利他主义作为一种高尚美德以个人的自我牺牲为前提,从而陷入了道德与利益的伦理困境,难以说明利己与利他的关系。当代利他主义研究表明,利他不仅仅意味着牺牲和奉献,利他的同时也可以更好地利己。利他主义的新理念对于化解社会矛盾和冲突,构建社会主义和谐社会具有及其重要的意义。     

Pairwise comparisons of trimmed means for two or more groups

The paper takes up the problem of performing all pairwise comparisons amongJ independent groups based on 20% trimmed means. Currently, a method that stands out is the percentile-t bootstrap method where the bootstrap is used to estimate the quantiles of a Studentized maximum modulus distribution when all pairs of population trimmed means are equal. However, a concern is that in simulations, the actual probability of one or more Type I errors can drop well below the nominal level when sample sizes are small. A practical issue is whether a method can be found that corrects this problem while maintaining the positive features of the percentile-t bootstrap. Three new methods are considered here, one of which achieves the desired goal. Another method, which takes advantage of theoretical results by Singh (1998), performs almost as well but is not recommended when the smallest sample size drops below 15. In some situations, however, it gives substantially shorter confidence intervals.     

Some ethical issues in feminist-oriented therapeutic groups for women

Review of the origins of group psychotherapy reveals concerns with social as well as with personal "psychopathology." Thus, group processes have been mobilized for curative or change purposes for ideological as well as individual therapeutic goals. Psychopolitical as well as personal change are the goals for some groups. The ethical problem stems from a persistent assumption that the group's processes are inherently benign and curative and beneficial to individual participants. A more sophisticated understanding takes into account their essential neutrality and their potential use (or abuse) for purposes of ideological persuasion that may or may not be personally therapeutic. As in other ethically implicated issues in the psychotherapies, the question becomes one of treatment versus exploitation, or therapy for the individual versus recruitment on behalf of a cause.     

Effects of power on perceived and objective group variability: evidence that more powerful groups are more variable

The perception of group variability is affected by social power and status. Three different mechanisms may be responsible for these effects: (a) the power of the perceiver affects perceived group variability; (b) the power of the perceived group affects its perceived variability; and (c) the power of the group affects its actual variability. Two studies are reported to tease apart these three mechanisms and provide support for the third. In the first study, high- and low-power groups interacted and subsequently judged each other. In the second study, participants observed and rated the Study 1 groups, either knowing their power relationship or not. Results suggest that members of high-power groups manifest greater interpersonal variability than members of low-power groups.     

Comparing one-step M-estimators of location when there are more than two groups

Methods for comparing means are known to be highly nonrobust in terms of Type II errors. The problem is that slight shifts from normal distributions toward heavy-tailed distributions inflate the standard error of the sample mean. In contrast, the standard error of various robust measures of location, such as the one-step M-estimator, are relatively unaffected by heavy tails. Wilcox recently examined a method of comparing the one-step M-estimators of location corresponding to two independent groups which provided good control over the probability of a Type I error even for unequal sample sizes, unequal variances, and different shaped distributions. There is a fairly obvious extension of this procedure to pairwise comparisons of more than two independent groups, but simulations reported here indicate that it is unsatisfactory. A slight modification of the procedure is found to give much better results, although some caution must be taken when there are unequal sample sizes and light-tailed distributions. An omnibus test is examined as well.     

The disintegrative factor in therapeutic groups as illuminated by kibbutz life

This article deals with the way individuals cope with the threat they experience in the framework of psychodynamic group psychotherapy. This threat, which is understood to be a disintegrative threat, is intensified in the therapeutic group. We see the therapeutic group as possessing attributes of a potential space, in which the participants are enabled to process the defense and coping mechanisms intended to preserve the sense of integration. This will be illustrated by the experiences of individuals who grew up in a kibbutz (an Israeli society in which infants were raised with their peer group) and participated in psychodynamic groups.     

The function of the therapist's affect in therapeutic conflict in groups

Group psychotherapy theory and technique are presented with the goals of helping group practitioners working with difficult clients: 1) develop a treatment plan; 2) create a therapeutic alliance; 3) foster a responsive group climate; and 4) utilize the therapist's countertransferential reactions in dealing with therapeutic conflict. Historical modifications of the analyst's role in the development of group psychotherapy are noted. Emphasis is give to the recognition of therapist-client identifications in order to separate feelings induced in the therapist from countertransferential reactions, to enable the practitioner to respond appropriately to the affective and inspirational substratum of therapeutic groups.     

The impact of HIV infection on society's perception of clinical trials

All international codes of research ethics and virtually all national legislation and regulation in the field of research involving human subjects project an attitude of protectionism. Written with the aim of avoiding a repetition of atrocities like those committed by the Nazi physician-researchers, calamities like the thalidomide experience, or ethical violations like those of the Tuskegee syphilis study, their dominant concerns are the protection of individuals from injury and from exploitation. In recent years, however, society's perception of clinical research has shifted dramatically. Now, largely as a consequence of the efforts of the AIDS activists, clinical research is widely perceived as benign and beneficial. Although this shift in attitude has resulted in some important improvements in research policies and practices, this new perception is just as wrong-headed as was the earlier excessive protectionism. It is necessary to maintain a balanced perspective; our policies should encourage the conduct of ethical research while maintaining the vigilance necessary to safeguard the rights and welfare of the subjects.     

When groups are more competitive than individuals: the domain of the discontinuity effect

The related goals of the research were to delineate the domain of discontinuity, 1st by demonstrating its occurrence in a nonmatrix situation and, 2nd, by establishing the antecedent outcome conditions necessary for producing a discontinuity effect. The 1st goal was met by designing a mixed motive situation involving the production of origami products. Under these conditions, the magnitude of the discontinuity effect did not significantly differ from that in a matrix-only condition. The 2nd goal was met by a separate experiment that used H. H. Kelley and J. W. Thibaut's (1978) analysis of degree of noncorrespondence of outcomes. This experiment demonstrated that as noncorrespondence increased, so did the rate of competitive responding by groups but not by individuals. This pattern was qualified by an interaction with gender such that competitiveness was more markedly affected by noncorrespondence for groups of women than for groups of men.     

The juvenile death penalty: A frustrated society's attempt for control

The United States is alone among western industrialized nations in allowing a provision for the juvenile death penalty. Specifically, 92% of the juveniles presently sentenced to death were convicted under a felony-murder doctrine which eliminates the state's burden of proving the mens rea requirement for murder. The high rate of felony-murder convictions of juveniles on death row is highly inconsistent with theories of punishment which have traditionally been used to support the death penalty.