TRAINING PREDELINQUENT YOUTHS AND THEIR PARENTS TO NEGOTIATE CONFLICT SITUATIONS1

In response to parental requests for assistance in dealing with adolescent problem children, three parent-child pairs were taught negotiation responses to hypothetical conflict situations using behavior rehearsal and social reinforcement. The negotiation process was separated into component behaviors that were practised during simulations by each youth and his parent under the direction of trainers. Results indicated that (a) the procedures were successful in training youths and their parents in negotiation behaviors that produced agreements to conflict situations, and (b) these behaviors generalized to actual conflict situations in subjects' homes.     

Simulation of neural sets

A program has been written for the PDP-8/I computer which simulates the behavior of 64 model neurons which may be connected together to form a functional neural net. The simulation includes provisions for studying the possible mechanisms of learning in real systems. Operation of the net requires inputs from either a robot or a robot simulator program and output from the net serves as input to such a robot, so that the entire system investigates the Behavior of an organism and its brain in interaction with an environment.     

The equity restoring components of retaliation

Previous research has shown that retaliation can be an effective means of restoring equity to the relationship between a harm-doer and his victim The present study investigated the equity restoring properties of two components of retaliation the harm-doer “paying the price” for his harmful act, and the victim being given an opportunity to inflict harm Equity was restored to the relationship between the harm-doer and his victim when the harm-doer believed that his victim would be given an opportunity to inflict harm either upon the harm-doer or a neutral party When the harm-doer was led to believe that he would be retaliated against by someone other than his victim, equity restoration did not occur. The suggestion was made that the crucial factor in equity restoration may be the way in which the harm-doer thinks the relationship is viewed by his victim     

The orthogonal approximation of an oblique structure in factor analysis

A procedure is derived for obtaining an orthogonal transformation which most nearly transforms one given matrix into another given matrix, according to some least-squares criterion of fit. From this procedure, three analytic methods are derived for obtaining an orthogonal factor matrix which closely approximates a given oblique factor matrix. The case is considered of approximating a specified subset of oblique vectors by orthogonal vectors.Part of this research was carried out while the author was a psychometric fellow at the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.     

A method of scalogram analysis using summary statistics

A method of Guttman scalogram analysis is presented that does not involve sorting and rearranging the entries in the item response matrix. The method requires dichotomous items. Formulas are presented for estimating the reproducibility of the scale and estimating the expected value of the chance reproducibility. An index of consistency is suggested for evaluating the reproducibility. An illustrative example is presented in detail. The logical basis of the method is discussed. Finally, several methods are suggested for dealing with non-dichotomous items.Lois K. Anderson assisted the author materially in the many computations required for this paper. The research reported in this paper was supported in part by the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at M.I.T. and in part, jointly, by the Army, Navy and Air Force under contract with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.     

Mnemic neglect: Selective amnesia of one’s faults

The mnemic neglect model predicts and accounts for selective memory for social feedback as a function of various feedback properties. At the heart of the model is the mnemic neglect effect (MNE), defined as inferior recall for self-threatening feedback compared to other kinds of feedback. The effect emerges both in mundane realism and minimal feedback settings. The effect is presumed to occur in the service of self-protection motivation. Mnemic neglect is pronounced when the feedback poses high levels of self-threat (i.e., can detect accurately one’s weakness), but is lost when self-threat is averted via a self-affirmation manipulation. Mnemic neglect is caused by self-threatening feedback being processed shallowly and in ways that separate it from stored (positive) self-knowledge. The emergence of mnemic neglect is qualified by situational moderators (extent to which one considers their self-conceptions modifiable, receives feedback from a close source, or is primed with improvement-related constructs) and individual differences moderators (anxiety, dysphoria, or defensive pessimism). Finally, the MNE is present in recall, but absent in recognition. Output interference cannot explain this disparity in results, but an inhibitory repression account (e.g., experiential avoidance) can: Repressors show enhanced mnemic neglect. The findings advance research on memory, motivation, and the self.