Humor and the coronary-prone behavior pattern

The belief is widely held that humor is related to recovery from, and perhaps an increased resistance to, coronary and other stress-related diseases. Such generalizations do not typically distinguish between benign and hostile humor. In the present research, the relationship between a measure of proneness to coronary heart disease (CHD) and appreciation of hostile and nonhostile humor is examined. In two studies, one with college students and one with patients suffering from CHD, the relationship between humor preferences and the coronary-prone (Type A) behavior pattern was examined. Each subject was given the Jenkins Activity Survey as a measure of the coronary-prone personality type, and aggressive and nonaggressive jokes to rate for funniness. Hostile humor was preferred to nonhostile humor by all groups, but among those suffering from CHD, those who could be classified as “Type B’s” preferred nonhostile humor. The results indicate that those less prone to CHD appreciate both hostile and nonhostile humor, while Type A’s seem to enjoy hostile humor only.     

A psychotic gynemimetic: I just had a pregnant thought.

Nomothetic and idiographic content analytic approaches to the Rorschach are used in complementary fashion to explore the psychotic personality structure and primitive interpersonal models in a 37-year-old biologically normal male, who was a gynemimetic, that is, a transvestite who aspired to have the genetalia of a woman. The Rorschach was riddled with psychotic verbalizations and imagery suggesting inadequate differentiation from the original symbiosis, inadequate symbiosis anxiety, and significant separation anxiety--a constellation culminating in the transsexual fantasy of fusion with the mother.     

Sources of Bias in Health Commission and Tobacco Industry Surveys in Australia

Recently, the attitudes held by Australians towards tobacco company advertising and sponsorship have become the focus of much public discussion and the concern of psychological researchers and opinion pollsters. Community attitude surveys have been commissioned by both supporters and opponents of the tobacco industry. Paradoxically, the data obtained from these surveys allow each protagonist to state that the majority of Australians agree with their viewpoint The present authors have identified several sources of possible bias in two surveys as causes of contradictory research findings. A questionnaire was designed which attempted to reduce the sources of bias and which incorporated other methodological refinements. The data obtained highlight how the form of the questions may substantially influence responses in attitude surveys.     

USING STIMULUS EQUIVALENCE PROCEDURES TO TEACH NAME-FACE MATCHING TO ADULTS WITH BRAIN INJURIES

On pretests, 3 men with brain injuries matched dictated names of three therapists to written names, but did not match dictated or written names to photos, produce correct names in response to photos, locate offices given written names, or name therapists on sight. Match-to-sample training established conditional relations between dictated names and photos. Posttests showed the emergence of untrained conditional relations involving photos and written names, indicating development of three classes of equivalent stimuli (each containing a dictated name, photo, and written name). For 1 participant, conditional relations involving photos of office nameplates were also examined, but did not emerge pre- or posttraining. Two participants produced names orally when given photos and sorted written names and faces together after training; the 3rd participant was unavailable for these posttests. After training, 1 participant located and named all three therapists in their offices.     

GENDER BIASES IN TEXTBOOKS FOR INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Because of spreading concerns about gender stereotypes in textbooks, in 1975 an American Psychological Association Task Force recommended changes in the type of language that should be used to report research findings and in the type of information that should be included in reports of psychological research. These recommendations also applied to the presentation of psychological information in textbooks. Studies in the subsequent 7 years indicated some decrease in the use of sex-stereotyped language and some decrease in gender-biased content. Researchers typically concluded, however, that although some improvements had occurred, gender biases and stereotypes still occurred in texts. The present study reports an extensive content analysis of current textbooks for introductory psychology and human development courses. Representation of the work, theory, and behavior of males continues to significantly exceed the representation of the work, theory, and behavior of females, and females continue to be portrayed in negative and gender-biased ways.     

The effect of individual differences in act prototypicality judgments on trait-behaviour correlations and cross-situational consistency

Individuals differ in their perceptions of actprototypicality. This study examined whether incorporating such individual differences enhances trait-behaviour correlations and provides stronger evidence for cross-situational consistency. Three hundred and fifty-three subjects rated the dominance prototypicality of 100 acts, indicated how often they performed each of these acts, and provided trait ratings of how dominant they were in general. There were substantial and reliable individual differences in prototypicality judgements over a 4–5 month period. A variety of weighting schemes were used to incorporate these individual differences, but none dramatically increased the trait-behaviour correlation. Similarly, incorporating individual differences did not increase the magnitude of cross-situational consistency correlations. However, incorporating individual differences did enhance the pattern of trait-behaviour and consistency correlations from less prototypical to highly prototypical acts. Differences in perceptions of act prototypicality thus do not affect the magnitude of the correlations that can be obtained, but they are useful in revealing theoretically meaningful patterns of relationships.     

Continuous attention: rationale and discriminant validation of a test designed for use in psychopharmacology

The continuous attention task (CAT) is a test designed to assess changes in attention due to a variety of factors, for example, drugs. Subjects view a series of 3x3 patterns of squares on a monitor screen, each displayed for 100 msec at intervals of 1.5–2.5 sec, and respond whenever two successive patterns are identical. For such a measure to be validr factors other than attention should be investigated, and shown not to be a factor in performance. Nineteen subjects took part in a study in which information-processing rate and recall of CAT figures was measured. The results showed that a viewing time of 50–60 msec was sufficient for 50% correct recognition of CAT figures, and that recognition with a masked presentation of 100 msec did not differ significantly from an unmaske presentation of 100 msec. Mean recall of CAT figures 2 sec after a 100-msec exposure was 98.2%. These results suggest that performance on the CAT is not limited by either information-processing speed or memory capacity, but is a valid measure of the ability to sustain attention.