Wistful Wish: Evaluation Without Values

Two recommendations from a recent statement of standards for counselor education are examined for underlying philosophical assumptions. The first recommendation, that counselors should possess ability for and conduct scientific research, assumes that the counseling process is lawful and orderly, that theoretical concepts can be operationally defined and that empirically testable predictions can be derived from counseling theories. A second recommendation suggests that counselors-in-training be selectively admitted and retained. Underlying this recommendation is the assumption that counseling is a process of influence that can be evaluated. Such evaluation must be based on conditions outside the counseling relationship, in the social context of the life of the client. The serious implications of these assumptions are illustrated and discussed.     

Emotional trauma in rats: Age as a factor in recovery

Old (7 months of age) and young (2 months) male rats were divided into groups matched for spontaneous exploratory activity and for age. Experimental rats in the two age categories were then traumatized by giving them a 90 volt shock to the feet for two sec. on only one occasion. It was shown that nearly all the young rats recovered from the trauma within 5 weeks, as measured by brief exploratory activity and defecation, while at the end of 6 months the old rats still had not recovered. These results point up the greater resiliency of young animals, and the need for caution in the interpreting of research and theories on early experience.     

Memory for the pitch of a tone

Observers attempted to detect the presence of a pitch difference between two successive tones. The percentage of correct judgments was equivalent for tones separated by .95, 4.5, and 8.9 sec. There was a general increase in reports of a pitch difference with increased intertone interval, which is interpreted as arising from hypothesized shifts in the neural locus of the first stimulus during the intertone interval.     

Cognitive behavior modification: ‘Motivated learning’ reading treatment with subprofessional therapy-technicians

A method of treating reading deficits based upon an extrinsic motivational system previously employed successfully with a single subject was extended to eighteen additional subjects. The junior-high age subjects included retarded children in special classes, several emotionally disturbed children, and culturally deprived children. The method of training used in the original study was designed to be simple to administer and simple to record the performance of the child. Thus, it was hypothesized that subprofessional personnel could be employed to administer the treatment. Adult volunteers and high school seniors were used as the therapy-technicians.

The eighteen Ss were given 38.2 hr of training in daily half-hour sessions, during which period the average reinforcement earned was $22.29. The mean number of single word reading responses was 94,425. The rate of reading accelerated over the period of training even though the reading material became more difficult. This occurred during a period when progressively less (about one-fourth as much) reinforcement was given per reading response. A mean of 593.5 new words were learned and 70.9 per cent of these were retained in a long-term test. The attention, attendance, cooperation, and diligent work behavior of the various children were maintained in good strength throughout the duration of the study. The results suggest that research be conducted to develop methods for treatment of behavioral deficits that can be widely applied by subprofessional therapy-technicians supervised by clinical psychologists.