Influence of the reason for the other's affect on preschoolers' empathic response

Forty-six preschoolers were individually presented four slide-sequence stories in which the main character performed acts that resulted in the character displaying happiness (in two stories) or sadness (in two stories). Within each happy and sad story pair, one story portrayed the main character as having an "acceptable" reason for his or her affect (e.g., the character was happy after finding a friend to play with) and one story portrayed the character as having an "unacceptable" reason for his or her affect (e.g., the character was happy after transgressing against another child). Affective and evaluative responses to the main characters in the four stories were assessed. The preschoolers generally empathized more with (and evaluated more favorably) a story character whose affect was associated with the performance of an acceptable rather than an unacceptable act.     

Family assessment: developing a formal assessment system in clinical practice

In a previous paper, we reviewed the literature on family assessment and set out some principles that can be derived from previous work. This paper describes the development of a system for family assessment which uses these principles and then gives a brief account of the practical difficulties encountered in applying such a system. (Empirical data on the system will be presented in subsequent papers as they become available.)     

Dysfunctional attitudes and psychosocial stress: The differential prediction of future psychological symptomatology

The interactive effects of dysfunctional attitudes, stressful life events, and social support on symptoms of depression and general psychological distress were investigated in the present study. Self-report measures of these five constructs were administered to 57 female undergraduates twice, with 3 months between testing sessions. Whereas the interactions of dysfunctional attitudes with stressful life events and with social support were expected to predict the subsequent severity of symptoms of depression, it was hypothesized that these two-way interactions would not predict symptoms of general psychological distress. These predictions were confirmed, with the exception that the interaction between dysfunctional attitudes and stressful life events was not a significant predictor of depressive symptoms. Specifically, it was found that the combination of a high number of dysfunctional attitudes measured at Time 1 with a low level of social support measured at Time 2 was positively related to the level of depressive symptoms assessed at Time 2. These results suggest that dysfunctional attitudes moderate the relationship between stress and mild depressive symptomatology. The implications of these findings for an interactional model of depression, as well as for directions for future research, are discussed.Preparation of this article was facilitated by a Medical Research Council of Canada Studentship to the first author, and by Grant MA-8574 from the Medical Research Council of Canada to the second author.     

Factor structure of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) with an offender sample

One thousand two hundred inmates were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in a midwestern reception and diagnostic center. Two groups of 600 were randomly divided, and their test results were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. Four factors were derived in both groups and were similar, indicating successful cross-validation. Three of the four factors bore similarity to factors found in other samples (drug abusers, psychiatric population, Viet Nam veterans), and the fourth was unique to the offender population.     

The relation of distressful childhood experiences and empathy in college undergraduates

We assessed the relation between the empathic responsiveness of young adults and the relative frequency and intensity of distressful events they experienced as children. Undergraduate subjects (N = 111; 56 men and 55 women) were led to believe that they were participating in two separate studies. In the first study, students completed the Distress Experiences in Childhood questionnaire, a filler task, and a slightly abbreviated version of the Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) empathy measure. In the second study, students watched an emotion-laden videotape of a patient (actually an actress) in a therapy session and subsequently completed an emotional-response questionnaire adapted from Batson, O'Quin, Fultz, Vanderplas, and Isen (1983). Students who rated their distressful childhood experiences as highly distressing scored higher on both measures of empathy than did students who rated their experiences as relatively less distressing. In contrast, the number of distressful childhood experiences reported was generally unrelated to empathy scores.     

Correlates of Burnout in Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Therapists

Recovering substance abuse therapists had a higher sense of personal accomplishment than nonrecovering therapists. Therapists who had more social support had a greater sense of personal accomplishment. Length of service was related to greater depersonalization and greater personal accomplishment. Burnout was strongly associated with occupational stress. Personal stress was associated with depersonalization.     

Book reviews

Animal Behaviour. By R. A. Hinde. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1970. Pp. xviii + 876. 149s.

Experimental Psychology: Methodology, Psychophysics and Learning. By M. R. D'Amato. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1970. Pp. xxiv + 727. 101s.

Principles of Perceptual Learning and Development. By Eleanor J. Gibson. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts, Meredith Corporation. Pp. 537. $9.35.

Perception through Experience. By M. D. Vernon. London: Methuen. 1970. Pp. 306. 55s. (£2.75)

Contingencies of Reinforcement. By B. F. Skinner. New York: Appleton Century Crofts. 1969. Pp. xv + 319. Cloth: £3. $6. Paper: £18s.

Annual Reciew of Psychology. Edited by P. Mussen and M. Rosenzweig. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews Inc. 1970. Pp. 674. $10.50.

Brain, Beharioicr and Evolution. Basel and New York: S. Karger AG. 6 issues per year $18.60.

Physiology and Behaviour: an International Journal. Oxford and New York Pergamon Press Ltd. 6 issues p.a. £20. (£3 10s. to individuals).     

A behavioral approach to coaching football: improving the play execution of the offensive backfield on a youth football team

Because of the emphasis on winning, the difficulties involved in assessing performance, and the lack of frequent and contingent reinforcement, a behavioral approach to coaching football was used. The players, all nine- or ten-year-old males, were members of an offensive backfield on a Pop Warner football team. Three frequently-run offensive plays were broken down into a series of five behaviorally defined stages, permitting construction of checklists suitable for observing the players during both game and scrimmage sessions. The intervention consisted of the presentation and explanation of the appropriate checklist, and frequent contingent reinforcement in the form of feedback and recognition for instances of desired play execution. Performance gains averaging 20% occurred for each of the three plays after, and not before, the staggered introduction of each intervention. The results suggest that behavioral specification and positive reinforcement of desired play execution is a viable approach to the coaching of football.