Temporal inhibition: effects of changes in rate of reinforcement and rate of responding

Pigeons were trained to key peck on several multiple schedules in which the first of two components was always a simple fixed-interval schedule. The rate of responding at the beginning of the constant fixed-interval schedule was found to decrease with increases in the rate of reinforcement associated with the other component of the multiple schedule, but remained unchanged with decreases in the rate of responding associated with the other component. These results were interpreted as being consistent with the view that the presence and magnitude of the temporal inhibitory effects observed in a given fixed-interval schedule are a function of the properties of reinforcing stimuli, rather than of changes in the rate of responding associated with the time interval immediately preceding the fixed interval in question.     

Discrimination and emission of temporal intervals by pigeons

Because the frequency distribution of IRTs showed little or no control by a DRL schedule, the schedule was modified so that the pigeon's behavior after each IRT would indicate whether or not it had discriminated the duration of the IRT. After every two pecks on a red key, the key changed to blue for 30 sec. Then it automatically became red again. Pecks on the blue key were reinforced with food on a VI schedule only when the preceding IRT on the red key had been longer than 18 sec. The birds did not selectively emit longer IRTs on the red key: the value of IRTs/op did not increase with IRT duration. However, they did discriminate the duration of the IRT emitted on the red key: the rate of pecking on the blue key was an increasing function of the duration of the preceding IRT on the red key.     

Pure-tone perception and ear advantages in dichotic listening

A same-different matching task was used to investigate how subjects perceived a dichotic pair of pure tones. Pairs of stimulus tones in four frequency ranges (center frequencies of 400–1,700 Hz), with separations between 40 and 400 Hzt were tested. Five types of test tones were matched to the stimulus pair: the stimulus pair presented again (control) or crossed over (same tones, different ears), the geometric mean of the two tones, or a binaural tone of the low or high tone of the pair. In the lowest frequency range and the highest with maximum separation, the crossed-over test tones were perceived as different from the same stimulus tones. A bias for perceiving the higher tone of a pair was evident in the frequency ranges with separations of 40-200 Hz. In the lowest frequency range, the bias was for perceiving the higher tone in the right ear. This restricted ear advantage in the perception of pure tones was not significantly related to the right-ear advantage in dichotic word monitoring.     

Religious institutions and the prevention of mental illness

It is estimated that fifteen percent of the population is in need of some kind of mental health service at any given time, thus constituting a primary health problem. The President's Commission on Mental Health (PCMH) recognized that religious institutions can help to prevent mental illness by providing support in the community. This paper presents types of programs the PCMH found that were supportive and describes the program of one church to illustrate additional ways that clergy and their congregants, working collaboratively with professionals and agencies, can contribute significantly to the prevention of mental illness.is in the private practice of clinical social work and an M.T.S. student at Wesley Theological Seminary.     

Race, social class and ability patterns on the WISC-R

The national standardization sample of whites and blacks on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) was the basis for a detailed analysis of the psychometric nature of racial and social class differences on the original 13 subscales of the WISC-R. The profiles of subtest scores of whites and blacks were compared directly and also after the racial groups were statistically equated on Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). Under the latter condition, the races differ only very slightly, although significantly, on some of the subtests, in ways generally contrary to popular expectations. The profile of white-black differences on the WISC-R subtests is markedly different, and negatively correlated with, the profiles of social class differences within each racial group, indicating that the pattern of racial differences is not explainable in terms of the difference in the average socio-economic status (SES) of blacks and whites. A Schmid-Leiman orthogonalized hierarchical factor analysis yields virtually identical factor structures and highly congruent factor loadings on the subtests for whites and blacks. Analysis of factor scores shows that by far the largest proportion of the variance between races is attributable to the general factor (g) common to all the subtests, whereas the group factors (verbal, performance and memory) contribute only minutely to the interracial variance. Hence the white-black differences on the diverse subtests of the WISC-R, and in the Full Scale IQ, are interpreted primarily as a difference in Spearman's g, rather than as differences in the more specific factors peculiar to particular content, knowledge, acquired skills or type of test. However, some slight but significant differences in patterns of ability also occur that are independent of g.     

Axiomatising first-order temporal logic: Until and since over linear time

We present an axiomatisation for the first-order temporal logic with connectives Until and Since over the class of all linear flows of time. Completeness of the axiom system is proved.We also add a few axioms to find a sound and complete axiomatisation for the first order temporal logic of Until and Since over rational numbers time.The author would like to thank Dov Gabbay and Ian Hodkinson for helpful discussions on this material. The work was supported by the U.K. Science and Engineering Research Council under the Metatem project (GR/F/28526).Presented by Dov Gabbay     

Stress management at work: With whom,for whom and to what ends?

A critical overview is presented of workplace stress-management interventions. It is suggested that they have so far failed to deliver what they have promised. Evaluation studies fail to distinguish between the aims and objectives of primary prevention interventions, such as stress-management training, where potential benefits can only be assessed in terms of long-term outcomes, and secondary and tertiary interventions, such as counselling, where existing disorders are treated. Stress-management interventions are based on inadequate and oversimplistic theories which obscure the many conflicting interests of employees, employers and researchers, and ignore empirical evidence which suggests that individual well-being, attitudes to work, and work behaviours are minimally linked. It is suggested that alleviating the problems that people experience at work will remain elusive unless the conceptual problems in occupational stress are more fully acknowledged.     

The Adolescent Behavior Checklist: Validation Using Structured Diagnostic Interviews

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the discriminant validity of scores from the Adolescent Behavior Checklist (ABC), a self-report measure of ADHD symptomatology for adolescents ages 11–17 years. Validity was assessed through correlational, univariate, and discriminant function analyses using three groups: (1) adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, (2) adolescents currently experiencing a mood and/or anxiety disorder, and (3) adolescents with no major psychological disorder. Convergent and divergent validity of the ABC factor scores was demonstrated through correlational results with (1) parent and adolescent report of ADHD symptoms during structured psychiatric interviews and (2) scores on questionnaires measuring related and nonrelated constructs. Univariate analyses indicated that the ADHD group obtained significantly higher scores than did the nonclinical adolescents across all ABC factors. Additionally, the ADHD group scored significantly higher than did the psychiatric controls on the following ABC factors: Conduct Problems, Impulsivity/Hyperactivity, and Social Problems. Results from discriminant analyses supported the reliability of ABC scores in correctly classifying participants into groups. Compared to the Youth Self-Report, the ABC was found to be somewhat better at classifying when used in a multiinformant discriminant analysis. Therefore, overall results from the current study suggest that the ABC is a valid and useful self-report screening measure for ADHD symptoms and related difficulties.     

Parent Involvement in Early Intervention for Disadvantaged Children: Does It Matter?

This study investigated the association between parent involvement in early intervention and children's later school competence. Parents (N = 704) of children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study were interviewed retrospectively about their school involvement in preschool and kindergarten. Parents reported on the activities in which they participated and their frequency of program participation. Results indicated that even after controlling for family background, the number of activities in which parents participated in preschool and kindergarten was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, with lower rates of grade retention at age 14 (eighth grade), and with fewer years in special education. The frequency of parent involvement was only marginally associated with reading achievement but was associated with lower rates of grade retention and fewer years in special education. A confirmatory analysis indicated that teacher ratings of parent involvement in first and second grade were significantly associated with higher reading achievement in eighth grade, lower grade retention rates, and lower rates of special education placement through eighth grade. Findings support the benefits of parent involvement in early childhood programs.