EVALUATION OF CLIENT PREFERENCE FOR FUNCTION-BASED TREATMENT PACKAGES

Functional communication training (FCT) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) are commonly prescribed treatments that are based on the results of a functional analysis. Both treatments involve delivery of the reinforcer that is responsible for the maintenance of destructive behavior. One major difference between the two treatment procedures is that client responding determines reinforcement delivery with FCT (e.g., reinforcement of communication is delivered on a fixed-ratio 1 schedule) but not with NCR (e.g., reinforcement is delivered on a fixed-time 30-s schedule). In the current investigation, FCT and NCR were equally effective in reducing 2 participants' destructive behavior that was sensitive to attention as reinforcement. After the treatment analysis, the participants' relative preference for each treatment was evaluated using a modified concurrent-chains procedure. Both participants demonstrated a preference for the FCT procedure. The results are discussed in terms of treatment efficacy and preference for control over when reinforcement is delivered. In addition, a method is demonstrated in which clients with developmental disabilities can participate in selecting treatments that are designed to reduce their destructive behavior.     

性别加工的记忆效应与内隐性别刻板印象

本研究以72名在校大学生为被试,采用心理过程分离程序,探讨了不同性别加工学习条件下被试的记忆效果。实验结果表明：在两性角色行为特征的认知过程中,意识过程和无意识过程对记忆效果的影响是不同的。有意识的外显记忆效果,两种条件无显著差异;但在无意识的内隐记忆效果上差异显著,反映了一种对女性另眼相看,严格苛求的内隐性别刻板印象。     

COUNSELING THE EMOTIONALLY TROUBLED CLIENT FOR PSYCHIATRIC REFERRAL

From time to time the employment counselor encounters applicants who need referral for psychiatric assistance in order to increase their employability and potential work adjustment. In many instances the client may feel that he has neither an emotional problem nor a need for psychiatric evaluation. The counselor can help the applicant to recognize his problem and to accept a psychiatric referral by using communication alternatives such as reflection of feeling, reflection of experience, sharing of the process experience, interpretation, and confrontation with maintenance of tension. The client can be assisted in evaluating community mental health resources and in arranging for the initial psychiatric evaluation appointment.     

ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCE FOR VARIED VERSUS CONSTANT REINFORCERS

One method that has been demonstrated to improve the effectiveness of reinforcement is stimulus (reinforcer) variation (Egel, 1980). Egel found that bar pressing increased and responding occurred more rapidly during varied reinforcement than during constant reinforcement when identical stimuli were used across phases for 10 individuals with autism. The purpose of the current investigation was to assess the preferences of 7 individuals for varied presentation of slightly lower quality stimuli relative to constant access to the highest quality stimulus. Varied presentation was preferred over constant reinforcer presentation with 4 participants, and the opposite was true for 2 participants. One participant did not demonstrate a preference. These results suggest that stimulus variation may allow less preferred reinforcers to compete effectively with a more highly preferred reinforcer for some individuals.     

COMPUTERIZED ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCE FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED INDIVIDUALS

An investigation was conducted to demonstrate the application of a computerized assessment procedure for determining the preferences of persons with severe handicaps. A computer program was designed to interpret subjects' microswitch activations to produce three distinct types of events (visual, auditory, and tactile). A combination of a multiple baseline design across subjects with a multiple treatment design involving three separate conditions was used. The data obtained from the computerized assessment procedure revealed idiosyncratic preference patterns for the three subjects. Results of the investigation demonstrated that the preferences of severely handicapped individuals can be systematically assessed and analyzed.     

EFFECTS OF AND PREFERENCE FOR PAY FOR PERFORMANCE: AN ANALOGUE ANALYSIS

We examined the effects of 2 payment systems on the rate of check processing and time spent on task by participants in a simulated work setting. Three participants experienced individual pay‐for‐performance (PFP) without base pay and pay‐for‐time (PFT) conditions. In the last phase, we asked participants to choose which system they preferred. For all participants, the PFP condition produced higher rates of check processing and more time spent on task than did the PFT condition, but choice of payment system varied both within and across participants.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S PREFERENCE FOR THEIR OWN COUNTRY

Des groupes d'enfants, de 6 à 12 ans, sont testés dans six villes européennes (Oxford, Glasgow, Leyde, Louvain, Naples et Vienne) pour voir s'ils montrent une préférence pour leur propre nationalité. L'étude utilise une méthode nouvelle et simple qui garantit sans ambiguïté la comparabilité des données pour tous les âges et pour tous les pays. Les résultats montrent que (1) à l'exception du groupe de Glasgow, tous les enfants manifestent une préférence marquée pour leur nationalité; (2) à l'exception du groupe de Louvain, cette préférence est plus forte avec l'âge. Lorsqu'on compare les données obtenues à Naples avec celles des autres villes, on constate qu'un stéréotype physique national se développe chez les enfants à mesure qu'ils grandissent. Les implications théoriques des résultats et des exceptions que représentent les groupes de Glasgow et de Louvain sont commentées.     

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF GENDER ROLE ATTITUDES

This article presents a new application of cluster analytic methodology to the study of gender role attitudes. We developed a preliminary typology of men's profiles of masculinity ideology in a sample of 217 upper-level undergraduates stratified across all academic divisions at a large, public university in the midwest. Based on cluster analyses of four dimensions of masculinity ideology, five patterns of endorsement were identified: Moderately Traditional, High Status/Low Violence, Nontraditional, High Violence/Moderately Traditional, and Traditional. Preliminary validity of this cluster solution was demonstrated by significant differences by cluster in gender role egalitarianism.