Development and validation of adolescent-perceived microsystem scales: Social support,daily hassles,and involvement

Developed and validated instruments for urban and culturally diverse adolescents to assess their self-reported transactions with family, peer, school, and neighborhood microsystems for the constructs of social support, daily hassles, and involvement. The sample of 998 youth were from schools in three Eastern cities with high percentages of economically disadvantaged youth. Data were collected before and after the transition to junior high school or to senior high school. Blacks constituted 26%, whites 26%, and Latinos 37% of the sample. Factor analyses confirmed and enhanced the hypothesized four-factor microsystem factor structure for support, hassles, and involvement; internal consistency and stability coefficients were consistent with these structures. In general, the microsystem factors were common across gender, ethnicity, and age. However, when group differences did occur on these demographic variables, they tended to validate the salience of microsystem specificity. In contrast to the total scores, the microsystem-specific factors yielded more meaningful and differential information with regard to demographic differences and the mediating processes across a school transition.     

Effects of tobacco smoking, schizotypy and number of pre-exposures on latent inhibition in healthy subjects

Latent inhibition is a slowing of learning about a stimulus that when previously experienced had no consequences. This study investigated the effects of tobacco smoking and personality traits on a latent inhibition task. Two-hundred and five healthy adults performed an auditory masking task during which half of them were pre-exposed to bursts of white noise. All subjects were then asked to detect an association of the white noise with a change on a computer screen. Subjects who had heard the white noises before were slower to learn the association than subjects who had not, i.e. they showed latent inhibition. Latent inhibition was stronger when subjects were pre-exposed to 10 rather than 6 bursts of white noise. Latent inhibition was reduced in subjects who smoked tobacco and in non-smoking subjects who scored highly on a schizotypy questionnaire. These two effects were independent. We conclude that tobacco smoking should be taken into account in interpreting the results of human latent inhibition studies.     

A self-capitalization model for building behavior analysis graduate programs

The development of the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada through self-capitalization is described. With this model, both doctoral and master's degree programs were established at almost no cost to the university. Some of the problems encountered along the way, including gaining support for the original proposal, attracting and retaining high-quality faculty, engendering support from the Department of Psychology and the university, developing resources, and balancing academic with entrepreneurial demands are discussed, as are the solutions we have found for those problems.     

Theory in counselling: Using content knowledge

An underlying theoretical principle of person‐centred counselling is that this approach has no requirements for a content knowledge base in terms of client groups and client issues. This is also the position implicit in UK professional accreditation criteria. Yet counsellors do acquire and do use content knowledge in addition to knowledge of process. Thus professional ethos and professional practice are, it is suggested, at variance.     

Influence of task demand characteristics on workload and performance

Two experiments are reported that examined the influence of variation in task demand on performance and workload. The first experiment considered how the manipulation of prior level of task demand affected subsequent workload and performance. The second experiment examined the effects on performance and workload of increments in the level of task demand. Results from the first study indicated that prior level of imposed task difficulty did affect response in a manner consistent with a scaling of workload in relation to previous task conditions. The second study demonstrated the primacy of absolute demand level over increments in that demand as influencing operator response. Overall, our results indicate that workload and performance are sensitive to multiple characteristics of the task and not instantaneous demand level alone. These findings are important in explaining why association and dissociation occur between task demand, operator efficiency, and perceived workload in differing performance contexts. The importance of these findings for the aviation psychologist in assessing pilot and operator workload is articulated.     

Ethical and legal issues in group counseling

Legal and ethical issues involved in group work are reviewed and discussed. Variations in different professional ethics codes are discussed. Recommendations for consideration by group leaders are made.     

A support group for couples who have terminated a pregnancy after prenatal diagnosis: Recurrent themes and observations

Genetic Counselors are increasingly becoming involved in organizing and facilitating support groups for couples who have terminated a pregnancy because of an abnormal fetal diagnosis. This paper discusses recurrent themes which have emerged in the FATE (Feelings After the Termination Experience) support group which was founded in New Jersey in 1990. By becoming familiar with the issues we have observed in our support group, genetic counselors should be better able to understand and empathize with their patients who make the decision to terminate a much wanted pregnancy. They may also feel better prepared to become involved in organizing and facilitating such support groups.     

USE OF EXTINCTION AND REINFORCEMENT TO INCREASE FOOD CONSUMPTION AND REDUCE EXPULSION

Extinction and reinforcement contingencies were used to treat 2 children with feeding disorders. Positive reinforcement and avoidance extinction effectively increased food acceptance but also increased food expulsion. Reduced expulsion and increased swallowing were achieved by repeated presentation of expelled food, a second extinction component.