An investigation of the relationship between general belief patterns and well-being

One hundred and thirty-three employees (58 males, 75 females) of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DVAMC), Coatesville, PA anonymously volunteered data on a Demographic Survey, The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis), and The Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT, Jones). A canonical correlation analysis was used to investigate associations between general patterns of beliefs and symptomatology. Two significant pairs of variates were revealed. The first pair provided associations between Demand for Approval, High Self-Expectations, Frustration Reactive, Anxious Overconcern, and Perfectionism and psychological symptomatology. The second pair provided associations between Demand for Approval, Blame Proneness, Frustration Reactive, and Emotional Irresponsibility and somatic symptoms. A MANOVA was used to assess for gender differences. There was no significant general gender effect. However, univariate analyses revealed significant effects for seven BSI variables. This study supported the belief that one's pattern of thinking is related to one's pattern of symptomatology. This has implications for use in health psychology and behavioral medicine.     

Interhemispheric transfer of lever pressing as stimulus generalization of the effects of spreading depression

Rats trained to lever-press with spreading depression in one cerebral hemisphere showed weak responding when tested with depression shifted to the trained hemisphere. The rats were then divided into two groups: one group (normal) was permitted a single reinforced response with neither hemisphere depressed, the other group (depressed) was permitted a single reinforced response with the trained hemisphere depressed; both groups were then tested with the trained hemisphere depressed. Responding during this second test increased for both groups, but the magnitude of the increase tended to be greater for the depressed than for the normal group. Since memory transfer could not have occurred with the trained hemisphere depressed, the results were taken to indicate that the single reinforced response strengthened stimulus generalization between train-test conditions.     

Women's Cognitive,Affective, and Physiological Reactions to a Male Coworker's Sexist Behavior1

Empirical research has documented the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of sexual harassment, but has not examined the physiological consequences. In the present study, we monitored women's autonomic physiological activity while they performed a word‐association task with a male confederate who was either harassing, egalitarian, or submissive. Subsequently, we examined the women's cognitive, affective, and physiological reactions as they prepared and delivered a speech to the same confederate. Results indicate that harassment led to greater cardiovascular reactivity during the word‐association task and to greater cognitive, negative affective, and cardiovascular reactions during the subsequent speech compared with other conditions. Subgroups of harassed women who confronted their coworker, or who blamed themselves for his behavior, also exhibited greater cardiovascular reactivity during both tasks compared to women who did not use these coping responses. We integrate our laboratory results with those obtained in field settings.     

Zur Validität der Operationalisierten Psychodynamischen Diagnostik (OPD)

In this paper the validity of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis System is discussed. The discussion for each OPD axis is guided by the common scientific criteria like content-, criterion-, and construct validity. Reliability studies on OPD are summarized as an introduction to the validity issue. The studies show good to satisfying scores for interrater agreement for the research context. The results derived from the validity studies support the validity of the OPD system. There are also hints for improvements of multiple categories or items within each axis. For clinical routine OPD should become even more practice oriented. Therefore the OPD task force intends to construct a shorter version which will base on the results discussed in this article.     

Differential outcomes training facilitates memory in people with Korsakoff and Prader-Willi syndromes

This article presents evidence that a teaching procedure called differential outcomes training enhances learning and memory. Differential outcomes training reinforces correct responses with outcomes that are unique and specific to the stimuli that are to be remembered. Teaching with this method enhances performance in people with Korsakoff syndrome and people with Prader-Willi syndrome, populations known to have lerning and working memory deficits. This initial evidence that persons with learning and memory deficits benefit from differential outcomes training should encourage future work on the development of an intervention using this type of training to aide daily functioning by people with learning and memory impairments.     

The Orthogenetic Principle in the Perception of “Forests” and “Trees”?

This study explores possible links between ontogenetic and microgenetic change (Werner, 1948, 1957) in the perception of stimuli with multiple levels of structure. Visual search for targets defined by local versus global structure was examined in observers aged 6, 8, 10, and 22 years. Perceptual access to each level of structure was varied by using pattern elements of same (easy) or opposite contrast polarity (hard); attentional processes were isolated from sensory processes by varying the number of display items. The results showed large improvements with age in search rates for global targets, with search rates for local targets being more constant over age. This pattern held regardless of whether perceptual access to a target was easy or hard. These results support the view that the perception of local and global structure involves different underlying processes.     

Psychosocial Impact of Predictive Testing for Illness on Children and Families: Challenges for a New Millennium

Predictive testing for adult- and child-onset diseases is becoming widely available. The identification of individuals prone to develop certain illnesses is often medically advantageous in that it may afford opportunities to engage in risk reduction behaviors to detect or delay disease onset. However, sometimes the knowledge gained from these tests can be ambiguous, generate distress, and potentially affect several generations of family members. Overall, these factors create a challenging set of circumstances for persons considering genetic and other forms of predictive testing, particularly parents and children. In this article, we (1) address conceptual issues involved in determining the impact of predictive testing on child and family well-being, (2) review empirical data on this topic, and (3) provide a case example to illustrate these findings. Recommendations are made for additional psychological research on child- and family-focused outcomes associated with participation in testing, highlighting their clinical implications.