Desensitization to portrayals of real-life aggression as a function of exposure to television violence.

In two separate experiments, the hypothesis that exposure to violence in the context of television drama decreases subjects' emotional responsivity to portrayals of real-life aggression was tested. Subjects were shown either an excerpt from a violent police drama or a segment of an exciting but nonviolent volley-ball game before watching a videotaped scene of real aggression. Emotionality was measured by changes in skin resistance which was measured continuously throughout the session. In Experiment 1, subjects were 8- to 10-year-old children and the real aggression was a film of an argument and fight between two preschoolers. In Experiment 2, college students participated and reactions to real aggression were measured while subjects watched scenes from news films of the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With the exception of adult females, subjects who previously had viewed the aggression drama were less aroused by the scenes of real aggression than were subjects who had seen the control film. Further support for the hypothesis was provided by the finding that for most groups of subjects, the amount of television violence normally viewed was negatively related to responsivity while viewing aggression.     

Classes and collections: Principles of organization in the learning of hierarchical relations

This study demonstrates that children tend to distort class inclusion relations (e.g., the relation of oaks to trees) into the part-whole structure of collections (e.g., the relations of oaks to a forest). Children aged 6 to 17 were taught novel class inclusion hierarchies, analogous to the relation between oaks, pines, and trees. In one condition, the class inclusion relations were taught by ostensive definition alone, e.g., stating “These are trees” while pointing to trees and, “These are oaks” while pointing to oaks. in the second condition, children were additionally told what would be analogous to “Oaks and pines are two kinds of trees”. With this additional information to constrain their interpretation, even the youngest children correctly interpreted the relation as class inclusion. In contrast, with limited information, children as old as 14 erroneously imposed a collection structure on the inclusion hierarchies. They would deny, for example, that any single tree was a tree (as they should of they thought “tree” meant “forest”), and would pick up several trees despite being asked for a tree. The results indicated that the part-whole structure of collections is simpler to establish and maintain than the structure of inclusion.     

Automatic retrieval in directed forgetting

In two experiments, we investigated the role of automatic retrieval in directed forgetting, using a stem completion test. In each experiment, we compared the performance of an implicit group, a process dissociation procedure (PDP) group, and a group given a speeded response task. The response times of the speeded response group on the stem completion task replicated earlier data in suggesting that this group adopted a purely automatic retrieval strategy. Experiment 1 revealed a directed-forgetting effect on automatic retrieval with the item method, but Experiment 2 revealed no directed-forgetting effect on automatic retrieval with the list method, consistent with the lack of implicit effects with the list method throughout the literature. Both experiments showed lower automatic estimates for the PDP group than for the implicit and speeded response groups, which did not differ. The data are consistent with either a selective rehearsal or an inhibition account of directed forgetting with the list method. The comparison of methods for assessing automatic retrieval is consistent with earlier evidence suggesting that subjects may adopt a generate/recognize strategy when given direct retrieval instructions.     

The impact of memory demands on audience design during language production

Speakers often tailor their utterances to the needs of particular addressees--a process called audience design. We argue that important aspects of audience design can be understood as emergent features of ordinary memory processes. This perspective contrasts with earlier views that presume special processes or representations. To support our account, we present a study in which Directors engaged in a referential communication task with two independent Matchers. Over several rounds, the Directors instructed the Matchers how to arrange a set of picture cards. For half the triads, the Directors' card categories were initially distributed orthogonally by Matcher (e.g. Directors described birds and dogs with one Matcher and fish and frogs with the other). For the other triads, the Directors' card categories initially overlapped across Matchers (e.g. Directors described two members of each category with each Matcher). We predicted that the orthogonal configuration would more readily allow Directors to encode associations between particular cards and particular Matchers--and thus allow those Directors to provide more evidence for audience design. Content analyses of Directors' utterances from two final rounds supported our prediction. We suggest that audience design depends on the memory representations to which speakers have ready access given the time constraints of routine conversation.     

Relationship of Attachment Style to Personality Factors and Family Interaction Patterns

This study investigated the relationships among attachment, personality style, and family interaction patterns. The results revealed that avoidant attachment style was associated with indirect affect expression as measured by somatic complaints, social isolation, family disengagement, and family conflict avoidance. Anxious/ambivalent style was associated with more overt expression of depression and anxiety. Family factors were not significantly related to either the anxious/ambivalent or secure styles. The implications and potential therapy benefits for use of attachment theory in family therapy and directions for future research are also addressed. Marci Leveridge, PhD, is a Licensed Health Service Provider and private practitioner in Oklahoma City. Cal Stoltenberg, PhD, is Professor, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Oklahoma, Department of Educational Psychology, 820 Van Vleet Oval, Room 321, Norman, OK 73019-2041 (cstoltenberg@ou.edu). Denise Beesley, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program at the University of Oklahoma.     

Problem behavior maintained by a precurrent relation

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior is a well-established treatment for problem behavior in which the functional reinforcer is delivered after the occurrence of a replacement behavior and withheld after the occurrence of problem behavior. However, sometimes problem behavior continues to occur under these conditions, raising a question as to why problem behavior might maintain when its reinforcer is withheld. This study examined the possibility that problem behavior could be maintained indirectly in a precurrent relation. A functional analysis was conducted to identify a response-response relation between self-injurious behavior (SIB) and an alternative response. The results suggest that SIB was maintained by its relation with the alternative response.     

The use of indirect memory tests to assess malingered amnesia: a study of metamemory.

Many techniques have been suggested for identifying criminal suspects who are simulating amnesia for the events surrounding a crime. The present research focuses on indirect memory tests as a potential means of discriminating between those who genuinely suffer from amnesia and those who are simulating. Subjects studied a list of words and subsequently performed either a word completion or a fragment completion task. Under normal indirect test instructions, typical priming effects were observed. When subjects were motivated to simulate amnesia for the list, target completion rates were consistently, and sometimes reliably, below baseline completion rates. This finding is contrary to the performance of genuine amnesics, whose performance on indirect tests typically mirrors that of normal subjects. Indirect tests may prove useful in discriminating genuine and simulating amnesics.     

Supervising Consultants in Training: An Application of a Model of Supervision

In this article the author delineates a model of supervision for consultation training. The model is based on Stoltenberg and Delworth's (1987) Integrated Developmental Model of supervision of counselors and has been adapted for supervision of consultation trainees. The model describes trainee characteristics and supervision needs across three levels of development, culminating in an integrated (3i) level with developed skills across eight domains of consultation activity. Development is tracked by monitoring changes in three crucial structures: self- and other-awareness, motivation, and autonomy. Suggestions for supervision approaches for all three levels are presented, and relevant research is discussed.