Delusional verbalizations and beliefs

This study evaluated the intensity of delusional beliefs during the modification of delusional verbalizations with three chronically mentally ill inpatients. The multiple-baseline across responses design was used to evaluate the efficacy of a behavioral treatment package to modify delusional verbalizations. Results revealed that changes were obtained in delusional verbalizations to personal questions without corresponding changes in the subjects' delusional beliefs. Changes in delusional verbalizations were well-maintained for two subjects during a 6-month follow-up period. Mixed results were obtained for generalization probe interviews.     

Influence of a Photograph on a Charitable Appeal: A Picture May Be Worth a Thousand Words When It Has to Speak for Itself

Several studies were conducted examining the influence of the use of photographs of a needy individual on a charity appeal for either a well-known or lesser-known charity organization. Results of an initial study indicated that people expected the use of a photograph to enhance the effectiveness of a door-to-door solicitation campaign and that a well-known charity would fare better than a lesser-known one in its efforts. Results of two subsequent studies involving door-to-door solicitations, however. indicated that the proportion of people contributing and the average amount contributed was not dependent upon either the photograph or familiarity with the charity. A final study using a passive countertop solicitation in stores did result in greater contributions when the photograph was present, whereas there was no difference due to charity familiarity. These findings are discussed in terms of image-maintenance concerns and social pressures associated with the immediacy of a request.     

Selected linguistic and perceptual abilities of empirically derived subgroups of learning disabled readers

A battery of eight linguistic and perceptual tests chosen because of their use in previous research and in the public schools was administered to 100 school-verified verified learning disabled readers (LDR) and 50 normal readers (NR) matched for age and IQ. Standard scores, derived from a comparison of each LDR child's score with the NR group's performance on each diagnostic measure, were cluster analyzed to identify subgroups within the LDR group. Six LDR subgroups were found. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis indicated that all LDR subgroups were significantly different from one another as well as significantly different from the NR group's performance on the diagnostic battery. In addition, significant differences were found among the six LDR subgroups on measures of oral reading, reading comprehension, and spelling skills. However, the six groups did not differ with respect to family history variables and the attainment of developmental milestones. These results were compared with those of previous studies and were examined for their implications for a more precise match between LDR learner characteristics and type of teaching method and/or materials.     

Mood and personality: A search for the causal relationship1

Previous findings of correlations between mood and personality variables were noted. It was suggested that the establishment of a causal relationship was crucially important, not merely to the understanding of how mood is related to personality but to the conceptualization of mood as a source of error in personality measurement as well. A prior attempt to establish a causal role for mood failed, but may have done so for methodological reasons. The present study investigated the influence of a mood manipulation on personality measures. There was also an opportunity to replicate prior correlational findings independent of the effect of the mood manipulation. College students were asked to think of happy, sad, or affectively neutral events and then filled out several personality measures. A manipulation check confirmed that different moods were induced by this procedure. The prior correlations between mood and personality variables were replicated, but the mood manipulation did not affect any of the personality measures. The implications of these results for personality measurement and for the relation between mood and behavior were discussed.     

The concomitants of system orientation in secondary school counsellors

Counsellors resolve their working dilemmas in terms of an orientation which they bring to the system in which they work. This ranges from extremes of acceptance and close co-operation, to extremes of challenge and independence. Evidence is given to indicate that the position which an individual adopts on such a continuum is related to factors in his personality, to his experience of inter-role conflict between teaching and counselling, to his experience of intra-role conflict with colleagues, to the designation of his role, to the amount of time available for its fulfilment, and to the length of the counselling training he has received. The findings tend to indicate that counselling is beset by internal philosophical tensions, and that the introduction of counselling is not necessarily part of a historically inevitable movement towards more openness in schools.     

When Physical Disabilities Are Not Liabilities: The Role of Applicant and Interviewer Characteristics on Employment Interview Outcomes

An applied sample was randomly assigned to evaluate the credentials of a job candidate with or without a physical disability and whose interview responses varied in quality (positive vs. average vs. negative). In addition to making hiring decisions, participants completed a number of measures including the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964), the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (Gething, 1991), an interview comfort measure, and an EEOC knowledge quiz. Results consistently indicated that participants evaluated the job candidate with a disability more favorably than the job candidate without a disability. Data also indicated a relationship between participants' level of comfort when interacting with persons with disabilities and their interview evaluations of such individuals. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for diversity management.     

System Orientation: A dilemma for the role conceptualisation of 'counsellors' in schools

A survey of the American and British literature on counselling is used to elaborate an hypothesis concerning the importance in the minds of counsellors of the organisational as well as the interpersonal relationships they make. The hypothesis is tested and confirmed by a questionnaire enquiry to counsellors, pastoral care staff, guidance staff and others in British secondary schools. It leads to an elaboration in organisational terms of the notion of 'directiveness'.     

Attitudes toward interdisciplinary collaboration in pupil personnel services teams

A scale designed to measure the extent of collaboration of pupil personnel services teams was validated against a judge's rating of collaboration and the existence of regular planning meetings between pupil personnel services teams and school personnel. The judge's ratings and the collaboration scale scores varied in the classification of one team, which suggested two differing definitions of interdisciplinary collaboration to be further explored. The semantic differential responses of school personnel indicated that high collaboration teams in high input schools were seen as more independent and more cooperative than were the low collaboration teams and were reported as functioning more often as a team than as individuals.     

Distance discrimination in a simulated space environment

The just noticeable difference (JND) for distance was investigated by a paired-comparisons method using successive comparisons. The research utilized an optically simulated large target located in a textureless environment at distances along the saggital plane out to 12, 800 ft. The value of ΔD/D varied from less than 3% at 200 ft to about 7% at 12, 800 ft. The results confirmed a power function relationship between distance threshold and observation distance.