Between-measure consistency in social-skills assessment

The purpose of the present study was to assess the between-measure consistency of general and specific social-skills assessment strategies. Nineteen mentally retarded adults were assessed using both common and newly devised measures of social skills: (1) specific (molecular) behavior ratings from role-play assessments, (2) general (molar) ratings based on the role plays, staff (3) molar and (4) molecular predictions of client social skills use in the described role-play situations, (5) peer sociometric ratings, and molecular in vivoobservations conducted in (6) cafeteria and (7) party settings. For all molecular measures, the subjects were assessed on eye contact, response relevance, response latency, voice volume, and appropriate affect, which allowed for direct comparisons to be made between each of these assessment modalities. In addition, the role-play assessment was conducted under two distinct conditions to determine whether role-play performance varied between standard and reinforced administrations; however, multivariate analyses (MANOVA) revealed no differences between the two assessments. Correlations between the molar and the molecular measures suggested a substantial overlap between the measures, with staff ratings having the highest consistency with the other measures. Furthermore, MANOVAs calculated between role-play ratings and those of staff revealed little difference between the two. The limitations on and practical significance of these findings are discussed.     

Separating cue relevance from cue importance within models of judgment and decision making

Many investigations concerned with human decision making have centered their attention on the issues of cue integration and cue importance. Unfortunately, an equally important issue—that of cue relevance—has been either neglected or equated with the importance issue. Two experiments tested the ability of information integration theory (N. H. Anderson, 1981, Foundations of information integration theory, New York: Academic Press) to disentangle cue relevance and cue importance formally as well as empirically. The decision environment was divided into two components: aspects of the information present during a decision (information context) and aspects of the situation surrounding a decision (situation context). It was hypothesized that variations in information context would affect cue importance while changes in situation context would affect cue relevance. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that the weight parameter (w) of information integration theory would reflect the information context manipulations but not situation context manipulations. Results supported previous findings showing the influence of information context on w. As predicted situation context did not affect w; however, it did affect the variability of the responses to a cue's values. The relationship between perceived variability and situation context suggests that the scale dispersion parameter σ of information integration theory may be used as a measure of relevance (K. L. Norman, 1980, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 25, 289–310).     

The aftermath of Ford v. Wainwright

Whatever happened to Alvin Ford? This paper describes the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 1986 ruling in Ford v. Wainwright. The Ford decision held that exempting the mentally incompetent from execution is a matter of constitutional right, and hence the determination of who is competent for execution cannot be left solely in the hands of the executive branch of the government. We describe the hearing in Ford's case in federal district court that occurred after the Supreme Court's decision, the judge's ruling, and Ford's subsequent (and final) appeal. We conclude that despite the decision in Ford, it remains all but impossible for defense attorneys to prove that psychotic death row clients are incompetent for execution.     

Proactive Socialization and Behavioral Self-Management

The purpose of this study was to examine behavioral self-management as a form of newcomer proactive socialization behavior. A longitudinal field study was conducted with a sample of 153 entry-level professionals who completed questionnaires during their first month of entry and 6 months after entry. The results indicated that self-management behavior was related to newcomers’ general anxiety and stress at entry, and to internal motivation, ability to cope, and task-specific anxiety 6 months later. In addition, anxiety and stress at entry were found to mediate the relationships between self-management and ability to cope and task-specific anxiety. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed. It is recommended that future research integrate the self-management and information seeking perspectives to provide a more complete theory of proactive socialization.     

Heart rate during group flooding therapy for PTSD

The objective of this study was to assess, via heart rate, the arousal levels of participants in group trauma reexposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder, and so to better understand this common mode of treatment, particularly in regards to its presumed curative factor, extinction. Six Vietnam combat-related PTSD inpatients participated twice weekly in group trauma reexposure therapy during which their electrocardiograms were recorded. Heart rate was quantified continuously off-line. Heart rates of participantsnot directly engaged in imaginal reexposure to their personal combat traumas consistently exhibited mild linear declines from the beginnings to the ends of the approximately 2.5 hour sessions. Participants actively engaged in personal combat trauma reexposure exhibited higher whole-session heart rates. Most also exhibited more specific elevation extending over the later portions of therapy sessions during which intensive reexposure usually occurred. Surprisingly, no patients exhibitedfocal increases in heart rate concurrent with periods of most intensive traumatic incident review as judged from videotape. Administering imaginal reexposure in a group context does not preclude substantial physiological (sympathetic) arousal, as is preconditional for extinction. Under conditions in which the actively engaged reexposure patient is reliably identified, group trauma reexposure therapy may not provide an opportunity for “vicarious” flooding in nonengaged participants.     

Rational cognitive therapy with public offenders

In addressing the issue of how offenders may help themselves face the world in prison and outside, this article outlines how the principles of rational emotive therapy as outlined by Ellis and Maultsby can be simplified for use with this population in order to provide them a method for understanding and alleviating unhelpful emotional reactions. An example is provided to illustrate how a rational self-analysis model can be taught as written homework in individual or group sessions. Using the RSA model, offenders are taught to review and better understand the meanings of irrational words and how they upset themselves. Overall, our experience has been that offenders of many persuasions can be taught to be more rational and logical—an essential foundation for successful rehabilitation. This article is reproduced with permission in a slightly modified form from an earlier article authored by Smith and Lombardo “Rational Cognitive Therapy: An Executive Summary” that appeared inThe Correctional Psychologist, 27, 1995, pp. 2–5.     

Perceived social context and risk preference: A re-examination of framing effects in a life-death decision problem

This study examines the effects of perceived group context on subjects risk attitudes and their sensitivity to the framing of choice outcomes in a ‘life-death’ decision problem. It seeks to uncover the psychological mechanisms underlying decision-making biases by systematically manipulating the decision context in which the ‘life-death’ problem was described. The study revealed that subjects risk preferences varied as a function of the experimental manipulations. Previously observed reversals in preferences (framing effects) appeared in large-group contexts and disappeared in small-group and family contexts. When considering the fate of small groups, subjects unambiguously favored the probabilistic outcome, no matter how the ‘life-death’ decision problem was framed. The empirical data obtained from the present study suggest that human choice patterns are behaviorally distinguishable across large-group, small-group, and family social contexts.     

Israel Scheffler's Ethics: Theory and Practice

Evincing his not uncritical allegiance to pragmatic philosophy, Isreal Scheffler's notion of ethics and its role in education is one which attempts to dissolve inherited distinctions in the field. For Scheffler's ethics, aimed always at justifiable conduct, is conduct guided by rationality, powered by emotion, responsive the needs of it agents community, learned through moral education, practiced habitually, and ultimately justified by individual commitment to action. Scheffler's primary desideratum is to arrive at an ethics that is justifiable because it is reasonable and so can gain our commitment.