Effect of alcohol on quantity of creative production using the Purdue tests

An experiment was performed to test whether a moderate dose of alcohol (1 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight) facilitates the production of creative solutions as measured with a standard creativity test and whether a creative attitude interacts with alcohol in this respect. The 60 subjects were randomly assigned to either an alcohol, a placebo, or a control group, with 10 women and 10 men in each group. Two different personality tests measuring the creative attitude were administered a priori. Analysis indicated that both the placebo and alcohol groups produced significantly less creative solutions to the ten stimulus pictures. The a priori attitude scores significantly predicted the creativity scores for the placebo and alcohol subjects but not for the control subjects. Results were discussed in terms of disinhibition and cognitive changes under alcohol.     

Decision support systems effectiveness: Conceptual framework and empirical evaluation

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are designed to help human beings in solving problems more efficiently or making better decisions. While an increasing number of DSS have been and are developed, the effectiveness of such systems has not yet been demonstrated. This study proposes a conceptual framework for measuring the effectiveness of DSS and reports the results of a before-and-after study designed to compare two experimental groups of problem solvers assisted by one of two technologies for conflict resolution with a control group without any technology. The two technologies that are examined in this paper consist of a computerized DSS for conflict resolution, Resolve(!), and a videotape on conflict resolution, Video. Various measures of the problem solving episode were recorded, including both process and outcome measures. Overall, the groups with access to the technologies perceived a significantly better resolution of the problem they addressed than their control group counterpart. The two technologies differed essentially on two out of 11 variabales: subjects assigned to the computerized DSS technology generated more alternative solutions to the problem they tried to solve and reported a higher perceived progress in the resolution of the problem, than did subjects who were assigned to the videotape technology.     

Biofeedback and reinforcement to increase heterosexual arousal in homosexuals

Relatively few procedures exist for developing heterosexual arousal in the treatment of sexual deviation (Barlow, 1973) although several recent studies suggest this is a necessary component of treatment (Feldman and MacCulloch, 1971; Bancroft, 1970; Barlow, 1974).In recent years, biofeedback techniques have been applied to many types of disorders (Blanchard and Young, 1974). Basic to biofeedback technology is the notion that providing a person with feedback (or immediate information) of a bioelectric response enables him to learn (gain) self-control of that response. These responses traditionally have been considered involuntary and include heart rate (Scott et al., 1973a). blood pressure (Benson et al., 1971), stomach acid pH (Welgan. 1972), and electroencephalographic activity (Sterman, 1972), In the present experiments, biofeedback and its attendant technology was applied to the problem of generating heterosexual arousal in homosexual males.Frequently, in biofeedback research, reinforcement has been used in addition to feedback in attempting to teach self-control of a response. In fact, an alternate way of conceptualizing and describing the biofeedback research is in terms of operant conditioning (e.g., Weiss and Engel, 1971: Scott et al., 1973b). In one sense, however, feedback and reinforcement are inextricably confounded: the delivery or non-delivery of a reinforcer provides the S with information about the rightness or wrongness of his response and hence, binary feedback about it. Likewise, if feedback or knowledge of whether the response has reached a criterion level or not is effective in leading to a change in the response, then feedback functions as a reinforcer. Reinforcement, however, may be viewed as providing both information about the response (feedback) plus an incentive to change it in the desired direction in addition to any incentive provided by successful performance of a task. Thus, if one provides Ss with a separate, functionally defined reinforcer in such a way that no additional information about the response is conveyed, it becomes possible to detect additive effects of reinforcement over feedback effects. Such was the second purpose of this study.Several recent analogue experiments with volunteers have reported success in modifying erections through feedback and/or reinforcement. Price (1973) found that heterosexual volunteers who received analogue visual feedback as well as binary feedback, provided by a colored light once the needle had passed a pre-set criterion, showed a shorter latency to peak erection and maintained criterion erection longer than a control group receiving no feedback. Both groups were listening to erotic audio tapes. Rosen (1973) demonstrated significant suppression of tumescence in a group of heterosexual volunteers provided with response contingent signal lights. A group receiving non-contingent feedback did not show this effect. In a technical paper, Laws and Pawlowski (1973) have suggested audio feedback of tumescence as a treatment for deficits in sexual arousal.In the clinic, Harbison, Quinn and McAllister (1970), in an uncontrolled case study, reported increasing heterosexual responsiveness in homosexuals through reinforcement of erection. In one of their homosexual patients they were able, over a long series of trials, to increase erection to a heterosexual stimulus (female slide) through rewarding progressively larger responses with sips of iced lime after the patient was water deprived. In addition to the reinforcement, this S was given feedback, of sorts, in that a light was flashed for each successful trial. A second homosexual patient was similarly rewarded for maintaining progressively longer and clearer fantasies of heterosexual behavior. Since other treatments were also applied and no experimental analysis was performed, it is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedure.In the present experiment the separate effects of feedback and reinforcement to increase heterosexual arousal in homosexuals was experimentally evaluated using single case experimental design methodology (Barlow and Hersen, 1973). Since each experiment was somewhat different in design and purpose, each will be described separately.     

Precocious conservation in context: The solution of quantity tasks by nonquantitative strategies

C. Sinha and B. Carabine's (1981, Journal of Child Language, 8, 109–129) claim of a U-shaped course to the development of quantitative knowledge with an early stage of conservation based on functional significance was tested in two experiments. Children at three age groups from 3 to 6 years were presented with the original procedure or control versions in which the display was slightly altered. Results showed that although Sinha and Carabine's result was replicable, their interpretation is unwarranted. Performance in the younger groups was best interpreted as the use of nonquantitative possession or position strategies.     

When Another Stumbles: Gender and Self-Presentation to Vulnerable Others

Pursuing answers to the twin questions of whenand why women engage in “modest”self-presentation, this study examined theself-presentation of academic achievement in a collegesetting. Gender of the participants, gender of the partners,and vulnerability (concern over his/her low grades ornot) of the partner were completely crossed.Participants were 85 first-year students, drawn from acollege population that was 6% African-American, 9%Asian, 79% Euro-American, and 5% Latinola. They heardinformation about a partner's academic record, and thenwere induced to predict their own grade point average, in a context in which they anticipatedinteracting closely with the partner on a joint task.Women's grade point average predictions were lower thanmen's, and particularly so when the partner wasvulnerable. Vulnerable male partners were particularlysalient for women in both the grade point averagepredictions and self-report data; the nonvulnerable malepartners were particularly salient for men. Results are discussed with reference toself-in-relation and social comparisontheories.     

Prenatal Testing for Adult-Onset Conditions: the Position of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

Advances in genetic testing and the availability of such testing in pregnancy allows prospective parents to test their future child for adult-onset conditions. This ability raises several complex ethical issues. Prospective parents have reproductive rights to obtain information about their fetus. This information may or may not alter pregnancy management. These rights can be in conflict with the rights of the future individual, who will be denied the right to elect or decline testing. This paper highlights the complexity of these issues, details discussions that went into the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Public Policy Task Force’s development of the Prenatal testing for Adult-Onset Conditions position statement adopted in November 2014, and cites relevant literature on this topic through December 2015. Issues addressed include parental rights and autonomy, rights of the future child, the right not to know, possible adverse effects on childhood and the need for genetic counseling. This paper will serve as a reference to genetic counselors and healthcare professionals when faced with this situation in clinical practice.     

Further refinement of video‐based brief multiple‐stimulus without replacement preference assessments

We compared the results of a brief video‐based multiple‐stimulus without replacement preference assessment with no access to chosen activities (MSWO‐NO) to the results of the same assessment with access (MSWO‐WA) with four children with autism. We also compared instructor rankings of activities to MSWO‐WA results. Strong to moderate correlations between MSWO‐NO and MSWO‐WA assessment results were found across all participants. The correlation between MSWO‐WA and instructor rankings ranged from strong to low across all participants. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Asian and European American Cultural Values,Bicultural Competence,and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Among Asian American Adolescents

The authors examined the extent to which Asian American adolescents who were living in Hawaii adhered to Asian and European American cultural values in relation to mental health variables including collective self‐esteem (membership, private, public, importance to identity), cognitive flexibility, general self‐efficacy, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Results and implications for counselors are discussed. Los autores examinaron hasta qué medida los adolescentes Asiaticoamericanos residentes en Hawai se adhieren a los valores culturales Asiáticos y Euroamericanos en relación a ciertas variables de salud mental que incluyen la autoestima colectiva (pertenencia, privada, pública, su importancia para la identidad), flexibilidad cognitiva, autoeficacia general y actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional. Se discuten los resultados y las implicaciones para los consejeros.