The Efficacy of an Integrated Theoretical Approach to Group Psychotherapy for Male Inmates

To assess the efficacy of an interpersonal process-oriented and cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy program, 36 incarcerated male adults were assigned to either a treatment group (n = 20) or a no treatment control group (n = 16). Outcome measures consisted of paper-pencil self-report instruments, institutional behavioral data, and structured interviews with the group therapists (n = 3). Results indicated no significant changes in inmates' level of defensiveness, empathy, or institutional behavior; however, the inmates reported universally positive reactions to the treatment program. The group therapists also perceived the treatment program as efficacious, particularly in fostering a cohesive group atmosphere and increasing inmate responsibility for group leadership. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Phonotactic and Prosodic Effects on Word Segmentation in Infants

This research examines the issue of speech segmentation in 9-month-old infants. Two cues known to carry probabilistic information about word boundaries were investigated: Phonotactic regularity and prosodic pattern. The stimuli used in four head turn preference experiments were bisyllabic CVC.CVC nonwords bearing primary stress in either the first or the second syllable (strong/weak vs. weak/strong). Stimuli also differed with respect to the phonotactic nature of their cross-syllabic C.C cluster. Clusters had either a low probability of occurring at a word juncture in fluent speech and a high probability of occurring inside of words ("within-word" clusters) or a high probability of occurring at a word juncture and a low probability of occurring inside of words ("between-word" clusters). Our results show that (1) 9-month-olds are sensitive to how phonotactic sequences typically align with word boundaries, (2) altering the stress pattern of the stimuli reverses infants' preference for phonotactic cluster types, (3) the prosodic cue to segmentation is more strongly relied upon than the phonotactic cue, and (4) a preference for high-probability between-word phonotactic sequences can be obtained either by placing stress on the second syllable of the stimuli or by inserting a pause between syllables. The implications of these results are discussed in light of an integrated multiple-cue approach to speech segmentation in infancy.     

Fear-potentiated startle conditioning to explicit and contextual cues in Gulf War veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

Aversive conditioning to explicit and contextual cues was examined in Gulf War veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by use of the startle reflex methodology. Veterans participated in a differential aversive conditioning experiment consisting of 2 sessions separated by 4 or 5 days. Each session comprised two startle habituation periods, a preconditioning phase, a conditioning phase, and a postconditioning extinction test. In contrast to the non-PTSD group, the PTSD group showed a lack of differential startle response in the presence of a conditioned stimulus with or without an unconditioned stimulus in Session 1 and an increase in the baseline startle response during Session 2. The PTSD group also exhibited normal differential conditioning following reconditioning in Session 2. These data suggest that individuals with PTSD tend to generalize fear across stimuli and are sensitized by stress.     

Dimensions of perfectionism across the anxiety disorders

To explore the role of perfectionism across anxiety disorders, 175 patients with either panic disorder (PD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia, or specific phobia, as well as 49 nonclinical volunteers, completed two measures [Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R., (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449-468; Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L., (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470.] that assess a total of nine different dimensions of perfectionism. Relative to the other groups, social phobia was associated with greater concern about mistakes (CM), doubts about actions (DA), and parental criticism (PC) on one measure and more socially prescribed perfectionism (SP) on the other measure. OCD was associated with elevated DA scores relative to the other groups. PD was associated with moderate elevations on the CM and DA subscales. The remaining dimensions of perfectionism failed to differentiate among groups. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Dyslexia, Neurolinguistic Ability, and Anatomical Variation of the Planum Temporale

This article addresses the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and dyslexia and neurolinguistic abilities. Considerable research indicates that dyslexic individuals typically do not display the predominant pattern of leftward planum temporale asymmetry. Variable findings on the structural basis of symmetry are due partially to measurement issues, which are examined in some detail in this critical review. The physiological basis of symmetry may be reduced neuronal elimination in the right planum, although other alternatives are offered. Theories are offered to explain how symmetrical plana are related to dyslexia, and it is evident that symmetrical plana are not sufficient to produce dyslexia. However, some evidence suggests that nonleftward plana asymmetry is associated with deficits in verbal comprehension, phonological decoding, and expressive language. It is concluded that nonleftward asymmetry is associated with linguistic deficits, but that explanatory theories need to be further developed. Among the many issues that need to be addressed, future research needs to determine whether the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and linguistic ability is specific to dyslexia or if asymmetry covaries lawfully with linguistic abilities in nondyslexic populations.     

Time-dependent changes in inaccessible memory

The present experiment examined whether forgetting of contextual attributes—the loss of discriminability of background stimulus features over time—also occurs when a memory remains inaccessible (amnestic) during the retention interval. To examine this issue, rats received an acute hypothermia treatment that caused reversible anterograde amnesia for a passive-avoidance task and were tested 1 or 7 days later in either the same or a different context. At the short retention interval, the subjects discriminated between the contexts, as evidenced by the finding that reversal of amnesia occurred only in the training context. However, at the 7-day interval, recovery of the avoidance response was induced in either context, reflecting the forgetting of differentiating characteristics. These findings indicate that inaccessible memory remains susceptible to processes of modification and distortion that typically influence intact memories.     

Book review

Bruner, J., Cole, M. and Lloyd, B. (Eds.). The Developing Child. London: Fontana/Open Books. 1977. (1) MacFarlane, A. The Psychology of Childbirth. Pp. 128. £1.00. (2) Garvey, C. Play. Pp. 128. £1.00. (3) Schaffer, R. Mothering. Pp. 128. £103. (4) Dunn, J. Distress and Comfort Pp. 128. £1.00. (5) Bower, T. The Perceptual World of the Child. Pp. 128. £1.00. (6) Goodnow, J. Children'sDrawing. Pp. 128. £1.00. (7) Tucker, N. What is a Child? Pp. 128. £1.00. (8) Stern, D. The First Relationship. Pp. 128. £1.00.

Mandler, G. Mind and Emotion. New york: Wiley. 1975. Pp. 280. Hardback £7.65; paperback £3.70. ISBN 0471 56690 X.

Elcock, E. W. and Michie, D. (Eds). Machine Intelligence 8. Chichester: Ellis Horwood. 1977. Pp. 630. £24.00. ISBN 85312 058 7.

Griffin, D. R. The Question of Animal Awareness: Evolutionary Continuity of Mental Experience. New York: The Rockefeller University Press, 1976. Pp. viii + 133. $8.95. ISBN 87470 020 5.

Drucker-Colin, R. R. and McGaugh, J. L. (Eds). Neurobiology of Sleep and Memory. New York: Academic Press. 1977. Pp. 456. £13.85. ISBN 0 12 222350 0.

Elkind, D. Child Development and Education: A Piagetian Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. 1977. Pp. 274. HArdback £8.95. ISBN 0 19 502068 5; paperback £3.75. ISBN 0 19 502069 3.

Tyrer, P. The Role of Bodily Feelings in Anxiety. Londn: Oxford University Press. 1976. Pp. 128. £6.50. ISBN 0 1971 2145 4.

Desmedt, J. E. (Ed.). Progress in Clinical Neurophysiology. Vol. 2. Auditiory Evoked Potentials in Man. Psychopharmacology. Correlates of Evoked Potentials. Basle: KArger. 1977. £37.75. ISBN 3 8055 2629 6.

Snow, C. E. and Ferguson, C. A. (Eds). Talking to Children. Cambridge.: Cambridge University Press. 1977. Pp. 369. £8.00. ISBN 0 521 21318 5.

Lerner, R. M. Concepts and Theories of Human Development. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. 1976. Pp. 324. £9.10. ISBN 0 2010 4342 4.

Gesell, A., Ilg, F. and Ames, L. The Child from Five to Ten. Revised edition. New York: Harper & Row. 1977. Pp. 461. £7.95. ISBN 06 011501 7.

Bergling, K. The Development of Hypothetico Deductive Reasoning in Children. IEA Monograph studies No. 3. New York: John Wiley. 1975. Pp. 127. £7.50. ISBN 0470 06972 2.     

Psychological and Socio-cultural Adjustment during Cross-cultural Transitions: A Comparison of Secondary Students Overseas and at Home

The study further explores the distinction of psychological and socio-cultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions. One hundred and seventy-eight New Zealand American Field Service (AFS) students residing in 23 different countries completed questionnaires which contained assessments of the following: Personality (extraversion and locus of control); life changes (Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire); homesickness, cultural distance, acculturation (cultural identity and cultural integration—separation); attitudes toward host country; language ability; amount of contact with host and co-nationals; relationship satisfaction with co-nationals, host nationals and host family; and outcome measures of socio-cultural (social difficulty) and psychological adjustment (Profile of Mood States). Stepwise regressions revealed that homesickness, external locus of control, life changes, and social difficulty accounted for 55% of the variance in psychological adjustment. In contrast, cultural distance, language ability, satisfaction with host national contact, cultural separation and mood disturbance explained 52% of the variance in socio-cultural adaptation. In the second part of the research, psychological and socio-cultural adjustment of AFS students was compared with a sample of 142 home-based New Zealand secondary school students. Although there were no significant differences in psychological adjustment between the two groups, the students who were resident abroad experienced greater socio-cultural difficulties than the students resident in New Zealand (P < 0.0005), and, as hypothesized, the correlation between psychological and socio-cultural adjustment was significantly greater in the home-based students compared to the AFS group (P < 0.0001).