The Efficacy of an Integrated Theoretical Approach to Group Psychotherapy for Male Inmates

To assess the efficacy of an interpersonal process-oriented and cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy program, 36 incarcerated male adults were assigned to either a treatment group (n = 20) or a no treatment control group (n = 16). Outcome measures consisted of paper-pencil self-report instruments, institutional behavioral data, and structured interviews with the group therapists (n = 3). Results indicated no significant changes in inmates' level of defensiveness, empathy, or institutional behavior; however, the inmates reported universally positive reactions to the treatment program. The group therapists also perceived the treatment program as efficacious, particularly in fostering a cohesive group atmosphere and increasing inmate responsibility for group leadership. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Behavioral versus Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatment in ADHD Children Attending a Summer Treatment Program

As part of the behavioral treatment in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA), children participated in an intensive summer treatment program (STP). This study examined the differences between 57 children in the combined treatment (Comb) group, who were medicated, and 60 children in the behavioral treatment (Beh) group, who were unmedicated throughout the STP. Comb children were significantly better than Beh on 5 measures: rule following, good sportsmanship, peer negative nominations, and STP teacher posttreatment ratings of inattention/overactivity. Groups did not differ on any of the other 30 measures, and responded similarly to the STP over time. Comparisons to normative data revealed that Comb children were more likely to fall within the normative range on 6 measures. The differences between these results and the main MTA results, in which Comb was always superior to Beh, are discussed in terms of the relative intensity of combined treatments. The implications for future studies of pharmacological and behavioral treatment for ADHD are discussed.     

Experience and materials affect combinatorial construction in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

Three movement procedures can combine nesting cups into seriated structures. Reliance on these procedures changes with age in human children, and the putatively most advanced emerges as a predominant procedure at 3 or more years. Six monkeys' (Cebus apella) combinatorial procedures and successes at nesting seriated cups were evaluated. The current study examined whether the procedures used (a) shift toward more efficient procedures after unguided experience, (b) are dependent on the type of object being combined, and (c) can be altered by specific training history. All factors produced a change in procedure for some individuals, suggesting that combinatorial procedure is a product of the dynamic influences of preexisting tendencies to act in certain ways, of environmental circumstances, and of prior experiences. Some monkeys preferred the putatively most cognitively complex procedure.     

An ER-fMRI investigation of morphological inflection in German reveals that the brain makes a distinction between regular and irregular forms

The hypothesis that morphological processing is supported by a mental dictionary of stored entries plus a set of mental computations based on rules is examined using event-related fMRI. If a rules-plus-memory model () reflects the actual organization of the language faculty, two distinct patterns of brain activation should be observed for production of German irregular and regular noun and verb inflections. If a connectionist alternative to the rules-and-memory model (, and many others since), which seeks to explain the production of both irregular and regular forms within a single associative memory mechanism, is correct, there should be no neural differentiation between German regular and irregular inflection. The results we report support the existence of substantially differing patterns of activation for regulars vs. irregulars, an outcome that is consistent with the two-component rules-plus-memory account.     

Perceptions of adulthood among Anglo and Latino parents

The transition to adulthood presupposes that a developing adolescent acquires a set of characteristics that enables him or her to perform expected adult behaviors. There is a gap in the literature in identifying these expected behaviors as they pertain to different cultural and racial groups. To fill this gap, parent-generated indicators of adulthood were studied, including the beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes that are either common or specific to Anglo and Latino parents. College students at an urban university in the Los Angeles area were recruited to enlist their parents to complete a questionnaire. Equal numbers from each ethnic group were surveyed. The results of this study indicate that Anglo participants defined adulthood in terms of independence significantly more often than Latino participants. Furthermore, Latino participants defined adulthood in terms of event-related markers, such as marriage, significantly more often than Anglo participants. This research points to the need to define adulthood in ways that reflect the ethnic diversity of the United States. The authors express their thanks to Russell Espinoza, Ileana Garoz, Anna Rivera, Sandra Samayoa, Gabriella Chavira, Maria Hernandez, Angel Lahr, and Kevin Kim for their invaluable assistance. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1997 meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Seattle.     

Effects of Interspersing Additional Brief Math Problems on Student Performance and Perception of Math Assignments: Getting Students to Prefer to Do More Work

Three experiments were conducted to assess the effects of the interspersing procedure on students' mathematics performance, perceptions of mathematics assignments, and preference for mathematics assignments when more work was added. In Experiment I, college students worked computation problems from two assignments. The control assignment contained 15 three-digit by two-digit problems (3 × 2) and the experimental assignments contained 18 3 × 2 problems and 6 additional interspersed one-digit by one-digit problems (1 × 1). Students then rated the assignments and chose one for homework. Results showed significantly more students preferred (i.e., chose it for homework) the experimental assignment with the additional target (i.e., 3 × 2) and interspersed problems. Furthermore, significantly more students rated this experiment as requiring less effort and being less difficult. Moreover, students' mathematics performance was not affected by the procedure. Experiment II strengthened the internal validity by showing that students did not prefer the experimental assignment because it contained more target problems. Experiment III showed that the interspersing procedure was not powerful enough to extend findings beyond the 20% level (i.e., 40 and 60% more conditions). Results showed how the interspersing procedure could be used to encourage students to choose to do more target computation tasks. Discussion focuses on the applied value of the interspersing procedure and plausible causal mechanisms that may account for current and past findings related to student choice and interspersing brief tasks.     

THE USE OF NONCONTINGENT ESCAPE TO REDUCE DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN WITH SPEECH DELAYS

Noncontingent escape (NCE) was used to reduce disruptive behavior in 3 children during regularly scheduled speech therapy sessions. Results showed rapid decreases in disruptive behavior and accompanying increases in compliance across children. Findings suggest that speech therapists with little expertise in behavior analysis can effectively implement NCE.     

Cynical Hostility: A Risk Factor in HIV-1 Infection?1

The aims of this study of HIV-1 positive and HIV-1 negative gay males without disease were (a) to determine whether cynical hostility in these groups (measured by the Cook-Medley Ho scale) is associated with psychosocial deficits that potentially could influence the course of HIV infection; and (b) to examine the construct validity of the sum of three Ho subsets in this sample. Correlational analyses on the full samples, and multivariate analyses of high- and low-hostility groups (formed using Ho scale cutoffs from previous research), examined person variables (traits, coping style), environmental variables (social support, stressors), and affect. In all domains other than stressors (traits, coping styles, social support, and affect), cynical hostility was associated with psychosocial deficits, with results generally stronger for the full Ho scale than for the subset sum. Results support previous research on psychosocial deficits of the cynically hostile, extend findings to HIV-infected gay males, and enlarge our understanding of the trait and coping style correlates of cynical hostility. Implications of these findings for HIV infection are discussed.     

Predictors of Placement Outcomes in Treatment Foster Care: Implications for Foster Parent Selection and Service Delivery

Treatment foster care (TFC) is a normalizing environment in which to treat those children whose particular needs are not addressed in traditional foster care and for whom an institutional setting is a restrictive and unnecessary alternative. However, when the foster care placements of these emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children fail, as they often do, the children are shifted from one home to another without the opportunity to experience permanence or emotional attachment, resulting in poor adjustment to foster care. Placement stability, which depends in part upon effective matching of foster children with potential foster families, is critical for achieving positive outcomes in TFC. Yet, there is a dearth of information to guide placement agencies in making decisions about matching foster children with families. Moreover, once a successful match has been made, it is equally vital that service delivery be of high quality so that permanence is maintained. We review research on the predictors of positive outcomes in foster care, focusing on studies involving emotionally or behaviorally disturbed children, and provide recommendations for selecting foster parents and for ensuring high quality foster care services and placement stability.