Adolescent Type A Characteristics and Socially Problematic Behaviors1

Researchers have increasingly advocated social and developmental psychology perspectives to studying Type A behavior to increase understanding of how it emerges and of how Type A individuals’ entry into different naturalistic social situations may exacerbate their stress reactions. As an initial step in these directions, we tested structural equation models relating components of Type A behavior in adolescents to childhood and adolescent socially problematic behaviors. Results from two high-school district cohorts (Ns = approximately 300 and 700) showed that impatience, hostility, and leadership all were related to childhood problems, but that only impatience predicted an adolescent problem (conflict with friends).     

Some relationships between the information function of IRT and the signal/noise ratio and reliability coefficient of classical test theory

It is shown that IRTs information function for an item is functionally related to local versions of classical test theories' signal/noise ratio and reliability coefficient.     

The recency effect: Implicit learning with explicit retrieval?

The recency effect in free recall features prominently in 1960s' theorizing about short-term memory, but has since been largely ignored. We argue that this stems from a preoccupation with the role of recency in the concept of primary memory and the neglect of its role in a broader working-memory framework. It is suggested that the recency effect reflects the application of an explicit retrieval strategy to the residue of implicit learning within a range of cognitive systems. When retrieved implicitly, the same residue is assumed to form the basis of priming effects. The various criteria for implicit learning described by Tulving and Schacter (1990) are successfully applied to the recency effect, and a retrieval process is outlined that can account for both long- and short-term recency effects. It is suggested that a framework combining recency, priming, and implicit learning provides a basis for understanding one of the most important features of cognition and memory, namely, that of maintaining orientation in time and place.     

Psychotherapists' religious beliefs and their perception of the psychotherapy process

In a comparison of religious and nonreligious psychotherapists' perceptions of a portion of a psychotherapeutic session no significant differences were found on the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Process Scale for four groups of therapists designated according to their scores on three religious questionnaires. While the results suggest attitudes toward religion are not reflected in therapists' practice of psychotherapy, limitations of the study indicate the need for more rigorous testing of this possibility.     

Sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among preschool children

The relationship between sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among preschool children was investigated. Subjects included 16 boys and 18 girls, ranging in age from 36 to 60 months, from intact families of the upper middle class. A nonhierarchical multiple regression analysis was undertaken to determine the contributions of the predictor variables of sex, age, IQ, and sex role flexibility, as well as their interactions with prosocial behavior (criterion variable). Results indicated that while the overall regression model was not significant, the variable of Sex × Sex Role Flexibility did contribute significantly to the model. Inspection of the correlation coefficients associated with this variable revealed that while sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among boys were significantly and positively related, among girls no significant relationship was found.     

Bain on Neural Networks

In his bookMind and body(1873), Bain set out an account in which he related the processes of associative memory to the distribution of activity in neural groupings—or neural networks as they are now termed. In the course of this account, Bain anticipated certain aspects of connectionist ideas that are normally attributed to 20th-century authors—most notably Hebb (1949). In this paper we reproduce Bain's arguments relating neural activity to the workings of associative memory which include an early version of the principles enshrined in Hebb's neurophysiological postulate. Nonetheless, despite their prescience, these specific contributions to the connectionist case have been almost entirely ignored. Eventually, Bain came to doubt the practicality of his own arguments and, in so doing, he seems to have ensured that his ideas concerning neural groupings exerted little or no influence on the subsequent course of theorizing in this area.     

ON REPORTING RECOLLECTIVE EXPERIENCES AND "DIRECT ACCESS TO MEMORY SYSTEMS"

Abstract— Strack and Förster (1995) showed that, unlike remember responses, know responses in recognition memory were influenced by manipulating response bias. We describe and experiment that replicated theirs but additionally allowed subjects to report guesses. Only guess responses were influenced by this manipulation. Response bias had no effects on either know or remember responses. This outcome suggests that manipulating response bias influence know responses only when guessing is encouraged but not reported as such. More-over, though know responses reflected memory for the study events, guess responses did not.     

Wisdom as Parental Teaching in Proverbs 1–9

It is the contention of this article that Proverbs chs. 1–9 is a literary unity in which wisdom has the denotation of the parental household teaching. Teachings which have other contexts in other parts of the Old Testament have in Pr. 1–9 a parental teaching context. Besides denoting the parental teaching, personified speaking Wisdom has the personal features of a teacher. Both Wisdom's features and her message serve to reinforce the parental teaching. Personified Wisdom also denotes the teaching of the entire Book of Proverbs. Through the device of personified Wisdom, the wisdom of Solomon enshrined in the Book of Proverbs is re-located from the royal court to the individual Israelite household. This is evident in the literary design of the book. It also reflects the situation of the book's redaction in post-exilic Judaism.     

HYPOTHESIS-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR TANTRUM BEHAVIORS OF PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN SCHOOL SETTINGS

We conducted a functional assessment of problem behaviors of 2 students with developmental disabilities in their classroom environments. Results of the assessments showed that although there were more tantrums in demand than in no-demand conditions, the function of the behavior was to gain attention (positive reinforcement) rather than to avoid or escape demands (negative reinforcement); demand conditions apparently served a discriminative function for the availability of attention. Therefore, intervention was based on the positive reinforcement hypothesis, resulting in a substantial reduction of tantrums for both subjects.