Motor-motor adaptation: preliminary findings

This study investigated the relationship between speech perception and speech production. An experimental technique called motor-motor adaptation was devised. Subjects produced a speech token repeatedly (20 to 40 repetitions), then produced a second token one time. These tokens all contained stop consonants and were subsequently analyzed for voice onset time. The results paralleled previous findings using the experimental procedure, perceptuomotor adaptation. The present study supports the notion of a perception-production link.     

Normative mid-life concerns among Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorders: Some preliminary empirical findings

Most Vietnam veterans are now in the mid-life years. Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may find that mid-life concerns both precipitate and exacerbate their PTSD symptomatology. Preliminary research with four groups of adult males supports this notion. A cross-sectional study with nonveteans, Vietnam era noncombatants, Vietnam combat veterans not in treatment, and Vietnam veterans in treatment for PTSD suggests that the mid-life issues of affiliation, identity, demonic guilt, and work may be the most problematic. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

How and when to correct for juror hindsight bias in mental health malpractice litigation: Some preliminary observations

This article examines the hindsight bias in the context of mental health malpractice litigation, analyzes various legal mechanisms for dealing with the bias, and discusses whether the law should strive for debiasing in all mental health malpractice cases.     

Inducing an interpretation bias changes self-imagery: a preliminary investigation

Prior work suggests that variations in self-imagery can influence the emotional interpretations people make about social situations. The current experiment investigated the converse possibility: that inducing an inferential bias can change the content of self-related images. The effects of repeated practice in accessing either negative or positive social outcomes was tested by having participants report on self-images generated during subsequent experience with ambiguous social situations. Participants and independent judges rated the content of participants’ self-images as being more negative after prior practice in accessing negative rather than positive social outcomes. Furthermore, participants who practiced accessing negative outcomes rated their anticipated anxiety in an imagined stressful social situation as being greater, and their expected social performance as poorer than participants in the positive outcome group. Groups did not differ in state anxiety levels when making their ratings, so it is unlikely that any observed differences between groups can be attributed to mood effects. We suggest that this finding is consistent with the hypothesis that inferential biases and content of self-images can interact with each other and may together serve to maintain social anxiety.     

Five personality factors and sex: preliminary findings

This study assessed the relationships between the Big Five personality domains, attitudes to sex, and three specific sexual behaviours. Respondents were 123 undergraduate students (51 males; 72 females). Men were found to score significantly higher than women on measures of sexual curiosity and sexual excitement, while women were higher on sexual satisfaction. Neuroticism (N) and Extraversion (E) appeared to be the most important predictors of attitudes to sex, although Conscientiousness (C) and Openness to experience (O) were also implicated. N, C, and Agreeableness (A) were implicated in sexual behaviours. Some suggestions for future research are made.     

Development of the reflective practice questionnaire: preliminary findings

This study introduces a new reflective practice questionnaire (RPQ) that can be used to assess self-reported measures for investigating the experiences, benefits, and potential pitfalls of reflective practice and reflective supervision. This questionnaire sets itself apart from previous self-report measures of reflective practice by the ability to administer to individuals working in any service industry (e.g. psychology, nursing, education, and others). This will allow for future investigations that can compare and contrast across different contexts and professions. This will further the understanding of how reflective practice impacts those engaged with the process. The present study provides preliminary evaluation of the questionnaire with samples from the general public (Study 1), and mental health practitioners (Study 2). The questionnaire includes a number of short four-item sub-scales for evaluating reflective practice including: reflective-inaction; reflective-on-action; reflective with others self-appraisal; desire for improvement; confidence (general); confidence (communication); uncertainty; stress interacting with clients; and job satisfaction. A six-item attitude towards reflective supervision scale is also included in the research. Results suggest that reflective practice can foster confidence and further a desire for self-improvement. However, results also indicate how reflective practice might increase uncertainty and stress in some individuals. Study 2 reveals that a more positive appraisal of reflective supervision is associated with greater selfreported reflection, desire for improvement, and confidence.     

Ethical dilemmas in context: Some preliminary questions

I have tried to build on O'Neill's thought-provoking paper by examining two influences that shape and define ethical dilemmas in the community: our personal agendas and the broader context. The first influence is the way in which our personal and professional values shape our agendas for community work. The way these agendas frame the choices for action are a force to be recognized separate from the question of who constitutes our community constituency. Our values may push us into proactive roles and we must face the way our actions make personal/political statements. The broader context of the community situation and the ways in which resource limitations frame the ethical question also need to be actively recognized. Otherwise there is a danger of making the psychologist the victim by posing the ethical dilemma as a question of how they alone should find a solution. The nature of our personal agenda must be clear before we ask “responsible to whom?” The broader context must be considered before we ask “responsible for what?”     

Danger ideation reduction therapy for obsessive-compulsive checking: preliminary findings

Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT) is a cognitive treatment package developed in the mid-1990s to treat obsessive-compulsive (OC) washing. DIRT is solely directed at decreasing threat expectancies and does not involve direct or indirect exposure. The effectiveness of the DIRT package for OC washers has been examined, and to date a number of publications, including two randomised controlled trials, support its efficacy. Recently, the DIRT package was modified to treat people with the OC checking subtype. In the current study, three adult OC checkers received DIRT in 12 to 14 individual 1-hr sessions conducted by a clinical psychologist. At posttreatment, substantial and clinically significant reductions in scores on a range of standardized outcome measures of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity were apparent for all three participants. Crucially, these improvements were maintained at 4-month follow-up. Although further research is clearly warranted, these preliminary findings suggest that DIRT for checkers may prove as effective as DIRT for OC washers.     

Modified test administration using assistive technology: preliminary psychometric findings

This study examined the psychometric properties of test presentation and response formats that were modified to be accessible with the use of assistive technology (AT). First, the stability of psychometric properties was examined in 60 children, ages 6 to 12, with no significant physical or communicative impairments. Population-specific differences were then examined with samples that included 24 children with cerebral palsy and matched control peers. Children were administered standard and modified versions of tests. The type of AT access did not have a statistically significant effect on modified test scores. Measurement stability between the standard and modified versions of quadrant forced-choice format tests was sufficient. The findings support the potential use of AT and accessible procedures for some test instruments in the assessment of children with cerebral palsy.     

Pain and aggression: Some findings and implications

Consistent with the cognitive-neoassociationistic conception of anger and emotional aggression, a wide variety of studies with animal as well as human subjects demonstrate that pain often gives rise to an inclination to hurt an available target, and also, at the human level, that people in pain are apt to be angry. However, and also in accord with the present formulation, these primitive angry/aggressive reactions can be suppressed, intensified, or modified by cognitive processes.     

Some findings on prospect and refuge: I

Prospect and refuge theory suggests that preferences for environments are based on prospect (the unimpeded opportunity to see) and refuge (the opportunity to hide). This article reports two experiments on how well four factors derived from prospect and refuge theory predicted responses of comfort or liking. The factors were prospect (depth of view), refuge (presence of protective regions in front of the observer or occluding edges that might indicate possibilities of escape), direction of light (either front lighting or back lighting), and venue (natural or built environments). Exp. 1 had 16 landscape scenes and 29 participants; Exp. 2 had 16 landscapes, 14 rooms, and 18 participants. Empirical support was obtained for the claim that people will like gazing out over scenes of distant mountains. For venue, built scenes were preferred over scenes of nature. Results for refuge were ambiguous, and those for di rection of light were nill.     

Conditioning treatment of nocturnal enuresis in adults: preliminary findings

Four male and six female adults (aged between 16 and 23) were treated for nocturnal enuresis with bell and pad apparatus. Although the trial was based upon an atypical sample (most patients were referred by psychiatrists), the results do suggest that bell and pad treatment may often markedly reduce or entirely eliminate nocturnal wetting even when the problem has persisted into adulthood.The special problems which may occur when treating enuresis in adults are discussed.     

A constructivist approach to supervision: Some preliminary thoughts

Supervision from a constructivist point of view is explored. Supervision processes with three different therapists are presented to exemplify this constructivist stance. In this approach the relation between supervisor and therapist is seen as similar to that between therapist and client. Thus, a “therapist-centered” approach for supervision is outlined, the main points of which are as follows: The main focus of a constructivist supervision is the therapist, supervision should be centered on the therapist's complaint, supervision should generate a learning context, the therapist and supervisor have different types of expertise, the supervising context should generate alternative views about the problem, and the supervision context should be reflexive.     

C57 mice increase wheel-running behavior following stress: preliminary findings

Exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety in both humans and animals. To date, there are few, if any studies that examine the effect of stress on self-selected exercise using an animal model. This study examined the effect of acute stress on wheel-running distance in mice. Forty 8-week-old, male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to one of three groups: no stress + wheel-running experience, stress + wheel-running experience, or stress with no wheel-running experience. Stressed mice were exposed to foot shock in a brightly lit environment. Following treatment, wheel-running distances were observed for three hours. Stress significantly increased voluntary wheel-running in mice with wheel-running experience as compared to nonstressed controls and stressed mice with no wheel-running experience. These results suggest that mice familiar with wheel-running may self-select this exercise as a modality for the mitigation of accumulated anxiety.     

Hypersomnia and the perception of sleep-wake states: some preliminary findings

35 hypersomniacs (20 with obstructive sleep apnea and 15 with narcolepsy) and 15 controls estimated sleep latency during systematic trials of attempting to remain awake during the day. The error in subjective assessment of sleep latency was more variable for both patient groups than for controls. In addition, narcoleptics could not provide a determination of sleep latency or differentiate sleep-wake states on nearly 23% of all trials. Ratings on a subjective sleepiness scale did not covary with objective sleep latency for any hypersomniac. The findings suggested that patients with either sleep apnea or narcolepsy had difficulty differentiating sleep and quiet wakefulness during the day.     

Subliminal psychodynamic activation method and annihilation anxiety: preliminary findings.

Research with the subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) method has led to improvements in subjects' functioning in a variety of areas, including but not limited to weight control, school grades, and feelings of general anxiety. In 1987, Hurvich proposed that the SPA method could be used to further the understanding of annihilation anxiety. 100 nonclinical subjects completed questionnaires pertaining to annihilation anxiety, psychological differentiation, and state anxiety and were tachistoscopically exposed to the subliminal message of symbiotic-like oneness, MOMMY AND I ARE ONE, and to control messages. Analysis showed that women with low annihilation anxiety had significantly lower state anxiety than women with high annihilation anxiety, regardless of the content of the subliminal message; results did not reach significance for men. Correlations among scores on the questionnaires also were noted.     

A program for psychological education: Some preliminary issues

The recent interest in personal and/or psychological education as an objective for school programs has created the necessity for the development of a careful theoretical framework. This paper examines the current status of theory vis à vis personal education and suggests a number of major issues for consideration. A toxonomy for personal education has yet to be developed. Concepts of emotions as “bad”, pathological, and private need revision. Also, it is suggested that adolescence as a stage of development comprehends a special set of theoretical questions which cannot be begged. Particular attention is directed at implications derived from a developmental framework suggested by Piaget in cognitive areas and by Kohlberg in moral growth. Such a framework connotes educational goals as objectives which avoid the problems inherent in other current theoretical frameworks.     

Some findings on prospect and refuge theory: II

This article presents four new studies on the efficacy of predictions based on prospect and refuge theory and summarizes the results over eight studies. New data covered 49 participants and 36 environments. The eight studies included in the summary covered 144 participants and 80 widely diverse environments (Japanese Tatami rooms, Western rooms, porch, meadow, neighborhood commercial, shopping mall, vacation landscapes). Data were available for hypotheses about five factors: prospect, refuge, light, venue, and spatial transition. Efficacy was represented by correlations for the levels of the factors with responses of preference or comfort. Overall, venue was the most efficacious factor (r = .42, 95% CI = .14, .64). Efficacies for the other factors were very near zero. It is suggested that a considerable amount of additional formal inquiry be conducted before assuming the utility of prospect and refuge theory.