Developmental trends in distractibility: Is absolute or proportional decrement the appropriate measure of interference?

Since baseline performance varies with age, diminished interference effects found with increasing age do not provide evidence for a developmental trend in distractibility unless their relationship to baseline performance is known. In the present study, baseline difficulty was varied in two speeded classification experiments to investigate whether interference effects due to irrelevant information could best be characterized by absolute or proportional decrement models. In Experiment 1, first graders, third graders, and adults sorted cards on the basis of square size, both in the presence and absence of extraneous stimulus information. In Experiment 2, first graders and adults sorted cards on the basis of the density of a regular array of dots and two kinds of irrelevant information were used. Robust interference effects were found which declined with age. Manipulating discriminability of the relevant stimulus dimension resulted in large changes in sorting time, but interference effects did not vary with baseline difficulty. These results were interpreted as strongly supporting both an absolute decrement model and a developmental trend in distractibility.     

Incorporating inferences in narrative representations: A study of how and why

Four experiments examined the conceptual organization of narrative passages and the extent to which these representations were explanatory in a variety of experimental tasks. The conceptual representation of a passage consisted of a graph of labeled nodes and labeled, directed arcs which were adopted from the Conceptual Dependency Theory. These representations included both explicitly stated information and inferences which had been empirically extracted by a question-answering procedure. Symbolic procedures for answering how- and why-questions were also delineated. The conceptual representations and the symbolic procedures that operate on these representations together accounted for 91% of the answers generated from question-answering protocols in Experiment 1, and also the rated quality of specific answers to specific questions in Experiment 2. Experiments 3 and 4 supported the hypothesis that structural properties of the representations can predict recall of explicitly stated nodes and verification ratings of inference nodes. The results provide encouraging support for the proposed graphic representations and also for the use of question-answering protocols in uncovering prose inferences.     

A tether system for psychophysiological studies in the dog

A system for monitoring blood pressure or other physiological variables in the unanesthetized and chronically instrumented dog is described. An indwelling catheter attaches to a pressure transducer affixed to the underside of a leather shield, which snaps onto a custom-fitted leather vest worn by the dog. The transducer cable ascends vertically through a hollow, flexible, stainless steel tether, which is attached at the lower end to the leather shield and at the upper end to a fluid and electrical swivel. The swivel is attached to an overhead counterbalanced boom assembly, which moves in concert with the dog, maintaining a constant minimal tension on the tether. The boom assembly is attached to a wall plate via a universal joint approximately 7 ft above floor level. Dogs can be maintained comfortably in this system 24 h/day over periods of months, with freedom of posture and movement, including rotational behavior. The system is economical to construct and provides versatile stimulation and record-ing capability and reliable long-term performance.     

Time-series analysis of long-term cardiovascular response

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the use of time-series analysis with long-term cardiovascular responding. Analyses of two successive 1000-minute mean blood pressure and heart-rate series in five chronically instrumented dogs showed that the autocorrelation function of the original series appeared highly nonstationary and that differencing the data produced a simple autocorrelation pattern which could be successfully modeled with stepwise autoregression. Evidence for reliable individual differences as well as change over sessions is presented and discussed.     

You must leave before you can cleave: A family systems approach to premarital pastoral work

We advocate the use of a family systems approach to premarital pastoral work, involving exploration of the families of origin of the intended spouses. Family systems theory argues that a marriage is like a merger of two corporations, each having its own stockholders; thus, adequate preparation for marriage involves coming to terms with the realities of one's family of origin and that of one's intended spouse. Exploratory techniques include genograms, house tours, family photo albums, and discussions of the rules and rituals in the respective families. Leaving father and mother is the central prerequisite to marriage.Dr. Mitchell is Professor of Pastoral Care and Theology, Eden Theological Seminary, 475 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, Missouri 63119. Dr. Anderson is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Wartburg Theological Seminary, 333 Wartburg Place, Dubuque, Iowa 52001.     

The use of family myths as an aid to strategic therapy

The concept of family myth can be used by the therapist to help organize the wealth of information provided by a family in therapy. Rituals, symbols and metaphors can be viewed as structurally related components within the family myth system which enable the therapist to interpret non-literal, analogic communications as a coherent yet primarily symbolic, narrative about the family's shared perceptions of its functioning. The concept of myth is explored in relation to mythology, the family therapy literature, and a case study. Several strategic intervention strategies are proposed which utilize the family's own metaphors, symbols and rituals to re-edit the family myth. Re-editing the myth on a symbolic level should be associated with improved system functioning, including more concrete areas of the family's life.     

Creative ritual: Bridge between mastery and meaning

Many adults who have survived the death by suicide of one or both parents remain victims of unresolved grief responses far into adulthood. This is all too frequently true, despite years of psychotherapy and or/consultations with representatives of various religious persuasions. Adult survivors of childhood parental suicide require an intervention which bridges the psychotherapeutic issues of parental loss and the spiritual issues raised by a sucidal death. The use of creative rituals is just such a response. By linking psychodynamic and spiritual issues, while simultaneously providing a current experiential process, a creative mourning ritual blends the needs of the inner child for mastery of the parental loss and the adult needs for a spiritual/meaning response. Mastery and meaning can concomitantly evolve through the process of designing, and then enacting, a ritual of grief completion. This is particularly effective, since the ritual is designed by the survivor to meet that person's unique needs. This presentation is an example of just such a ritual and will also include a very brief outline for ritual design. This approach would be useful to anyone working with survivors as well as to survivors themselves.