Pastoral conversation: A social construction view

The purpose of this article is to exhibit a clinical application of a social construction view of psychotherapy in the work of Goolishian and Anderson along with implications for pastoral conversation and for a postmodern pastoral theology.Glenn E. Boyd, M.A., M.Div., LPC, LMFT, is a pastoral counselor on the staff of Interface-Samaritan Counseling Center in Houston, TX. Additional information may be requested by writing him at 4803 San Felipe, Houston, TX 77056.     

Present time perspective as a predictor of risky driving

This research introduces a new individual difference variable, time perspective, as an important predictor of risky driving. Across three separate replications, with 2863 participants, present time perspective is significantly correlated with reported risky driving behaviors. Its effect is greater than, and independent of, the negative correlations between future time perspective and risky driving. Additionally, males are more present-oriented and report taking more risks than females, while females are more future-oriented. Regression analyses and discriminate validity assessments demonstrate that present time perspective remains an independent predictor of risky driving even when pitted against nine other measures previously reported as related to driving risk, such as, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and aggression. Although complicated by the number of factors potentially involved, it is imperative to attempt to predict such risk because of the enormous economic and psychological toll resulting from auto accidents and fatalities related to risky driving. Discussion centers on implications for education based on understanding the psychological dynamics of time perspective and links to general risk-taking and self-regulation.     

Examination of a backchaining/counterconditioning process during the extinction of conditioned fear

Two experiments using rat subjects are reported which attempt to delineate the theoretical mechanisms involved in exposure/extinction procedures that are used to eliminate conditioned fear. In Experiment 1, a within-subjects design was employed to study the temporal course of the extinction process by examining the relationship among three separate measures of classically conditioned fear--suppression of an ongoing, operant behavior during the nonreinforced fear-eliciting CS presentation, the time to the first response during this CS presentation, and the time to recover responding following termination of the CS. The results indicated a temporal relationship among these measures, both within and across nonreinforced CS trials, which were considered to reflect a backchaining of a fear-antagonistic response during extinction, and provided an empirical demonstration of an extinction process consistent with Denny's (Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 7, 315-321, 1976) elicitation/backchaining explanation of extinction. Experiment 2 attempted to manipulate the course of extinction and the temporal relationship among these three fear measures through the paired presentations of the fear CS with a palatable substance (maltose). This procedure produced greater extinction apparently by facilitating the backchaining process. These results are discussed with implications for exposure-based therapies.     

The interactive effects of stimulus generalization decrement and contextual pre-exposure cues upon fear incubation

Models of fear incubation may be described as explanations for the interference of Pavlovian extinction. From this perspective, the effects of several parameters upon the incubation phenomenon were examined. Fear incubation was found to be attenuated by manipulations associated with stimulus generalization decrement (Experiment 1), as well as pre-exposure manipulations (Experiment 2). These findings were incorporated within existing models of incubation.     

SOME EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES IN TEACHING PICTURE NAMES TO RETARDED CHILDREN1

The effects of several different schedules of primary reinforcement were compared in a picture-naming task with retarded children. In Experiment I, number of correct responses and learning rate were higher under fixed-ratio schedules than under continuous reinforcement. In Experiment II, number of correct responses and learning rate tended to be greater under intermediate than under low or high fixed-ratio schedules. In Experiment III, number of correct responses was higher under interlocking schedules, in which the response requirement increased with time following the previous reinforcement, than under comparable fixed-ratio schedules. Learning rates were generally low and, perhaps because of this, not very different under the two types of schedules in this experiment. Accuracy (i.e., proportion of trials on which correct responses occurred) was typically high and insensitive to variations in schedule and schedule parameter throughout each experiment.     

A classroom program teaching disadvantaged youths to write biographic information

Little attention has been given to how formal classroom instruction can be adapted to teach youths everyday skills such as the correct writing of biographic information frequently requested in transactions like applying for a job or a social security number and cashing a check. In this study, six youths in a special education classroom were taught to complete job application forms with the date, their name, signature, address, telephone number, date of birth, and a reference's name, address, and occupation. Each youth was trained on one item of biographic information at a time, after which he was tested on four application forms, including one on which he had not been trained. The tests show that after an item had been taught, it was correctly used in completing application forms on which the youths had been trained and forms on which they had never been trained. The study demonstrates the feasibility of teaching community-living, vocation-related skills to special-education youths in a classroom setting.     

Stressful situations in caregiving: relations between caregiver coping and well-being

We examined ways in which caregivers cope with stressful caregiving situations and the relations between coping strategies and caregivers' psychosocial well-being. Respondents were 58 family caregivers to patients discharged from a rehabilitation hospital. Caregivers identified a recent stressful event in caregiving and indicated strategies used to cope with this event. After controlling for patients' impairment level, analyses indicated that caregivers engaging in more escape-avoidance coping reported greater depression and more conflict in their personal relationships. Those using more positive reappraisal demonstrated greater positive affect. Younger caregivers, many of whom were women, used more avoidance strategies. Results have implications for therapeutic interventions with family caregivers.