Resurgence as Choice in Context: Treatment duration and on/off alternative reinforcement

Resurgence as Choice (RaC) is a quantitative theory suggesting that an increase in an extinguished target behavior with subsequent extinction of an alternative behavior (i.e., resurgence) is governed by the same processes as choice more generally. We present data from an experiment with rats examining a range of treatment durations with alternative reinforcement plus extinction and demonstrate that increases in treatment duration produce small but reliable decreases in resurgence. Although RaC predicted the relation between target responding and treatment duration, the model failed in other respects. First, contrary to predictions, the present experiment also replicated previous findings that exposure to cycling on/off alternative reinforcement reduces resurgence. Second, RaC did a poor job simultaneously accounting for target and alternative behaviors across conditions. We present a revised model incorporating a role for more local signaling effects of reinforcer deliveries or their absence on response allocation. Such signaling effects are suggested to impact response allocation above and beyond the values of the target and alternative behaviors as longer-term repositories of experience. The new model provides an excellent account of the data and can be viewed as an integration of RaC and a quantitative approximation of some aspects of Context Theory.     

Teachers' perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of violations of ethical standards

Despite nationwide efforts to professionalize public-school teaching, little attention has been given to the matter of standards of professional conduct for teachers. The authors examined teachers' perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of different categories of teacher misconduct. They administered a 34-item questionnaire to 235 school professionals in northwestern South Carolina. For each item, respondents rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that the behavior occurred frequently and represented a serious violation of professional ethics. Factor analysis of the ratings of seriousness yielded 3 domains of ethical concerns: (a) student-teacher boundary violations, (b) carelessness in behavior, and (c) subjectivity in grading and instruction. Teachers rated boundary violations as the most serious but least common violations and carelessness in behavior as the most frequent but least serious violation. Problems of subjectivity in grading were rated as moderately frequent and moderately serious. The authors found no differences between male and female teachers or between elementary and secondary teachers in their ratings of the seriousness or frequency of any of the 3 groups of ethical concerns. The authors discuss implications for development of a national code of teacher conduct.     

The relationship between fine and gross motor ability, self-perceptions and self-worth in children and adolescents

The present study examined the impact of fine and gross motor ability on self-perceptions of male and female children and adolescents. Participants were compared across age group, sex, and level of motor ability. When intercorrelations between self-perceptions were taken into account, the level of movement ability was found to impact upon perceived athletic competence and scholastic competence. When movement was considered in terms of fine and gross motor ability, it was found that those with higher perceived scholastic competence were in the younger group and had better fine motor skills. Furthermore, those with greater perceived athletic competence were also in the younger group, were predominantly male and had better gross motor skills. The types of self-perceptions that influenced self-worth were dependent on the level of motor ability of the participants and varied according to their sex. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the necessity to assess specific types of motor deficit when tailoring intervention strategies for children with motor disorders, particularly within the academic setting.     

Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Cognitive Interpretation and Response Bias in Late Adolescence

We investigated behavioural and cognitive representations of attachment style. Specifically, we sought to test continuity in attachment style and whether participants' perceptions of their attachments to parents, peers, and romantic partners would predict cognitive interpretation and responses to 12 ambiguous situation scenarios. Participants were 161 undergraduate students (17–20 years) who completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Attachment Style Questionnaire and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (peer subscale). Participants then indicated whether they interpreted ambiguous situations as threatening versus non-threatening and how they would respond (proactively, aggressively, or avoidantly). Regression analyses revealed that insecure parental attachments were the main predictor of participants' interpretations and their planned responses, followed by romantic attachments. Peer attachments played little role in the predictions. These results suggest that interpretation of situations and subsequent plans of action may be influenced by attachment related experiences. We discuss our findings in terms of their relevance to attachment theory and their application to our understanding of the concepts of attachment in development of interpersonal relationships.     

A preliminary investigation of the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and posttraumatic stress symptoms

This study examined the relationship between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and particular aspects of emotion regulation difficulties among trauma-exposed individuals. Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 108 undergraduates from an urban university. PTS symptom severity was found to be associated with lack of emotional acceptance, difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior when upset, impulse-control difficulties, limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity. Further, overall difficulties in emotion regulation were associated with PTS symptom severity, controlling for negative affect. Finally, individuals exhibiting PTS symptoms indicative of a PTSD diagnosis reported greater difficulties with emotion regulation than those reporting PTS symptoms at a subthreshold level. The implications of these findings for research and treatment are discussed.     

Personality measurement, faking, and employment selection

Real job applicants completed a 5-factor model personality measure as part of the job application process. They were rejected; 6 months later they (n = 5,266) reapplied for the same job and completed the same personality measure. Results indicated that 5.2% or fewer improved their scores on any scale on the 2nd occasion; moreover, scale scores were as likely to change in the negative direction as the positive. Only 3 applicants changed scores on all 5 scales beyond a 95% confidence threshold. Construct validity of the personality scales remained intact across the 2 administrations, and the same structural model provided an acceptable fit to the scale score matrix on both occasions. For the small number of applicants whose scores changed beyond the standard error of measurement, the authors found the changes were systematic and predictable using measures of social skill, social desirability, and integrity. Results suggest that faking on personality measures is not a significant problem in real-world selection settings.     

Warren Zevon’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Wind</Emphasis> and Ecclesiastes: Searching for Meaning at the Threshold of Death

Telling one's story itself brings purpose to ones life, and it is an essential part of coming to grips with death. The book of Ecclesiastes and Warren Zevon’s album The Wind express the hope for social immortality rather than an actual afterlife. Both of them are suffused with a sense of death-awareness, although their location in time and place and the genre of their expressions are quite different. By looking closely at these texts, one is able to ascertain certain aspects of life review which are necessary for wholeness and completion. Hospice Chaplain CHRISTUS VNA Hospice and Palliative Care, 4415 Centerview, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA. Reverend Philip Browning Helsel is a hospice chaplain at CHRISTUS Hospice in San Antontio. He received his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and Clinical Pastoral Education units from Yuma Regional Medical Center in Yuma, AZ, and is an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, IN). He has been a chaplain in psychiatric and general hospital settings. Past publications include articles in Pastoral Psychology and Presence, the Journal of Spiritual Directors International. He is working on a book about the life review process in literature and music, and applying for membership in the Association of Professional Chaplains.