A four-year follow-up study of the effects of methylphenidate on the behavior and academic achievement of hyperactive children

Sixty-two children were evaluated 4 years after their initial referral for symptoms of hyperactivity. Behavioral measures included parent and teacher judgments of behavior and social adjustment. Academic achievement was assessed by teachers' reports, number of failed grades, special education services, and two individually administered achievement tests. Data were analyzed for the total group to determine both the extent to which presenting problems diminished over time and the major problems still present. The effects of stimulant drug therapy on outcome were assessed by dividing the children into groups according to the duration of time they had taken stimulants. Total duration of time on stimulants ranged from less than 6 months (group 1) to 4 years (group 5). Results indicated that the symptoms of hyperactivity significantly lessened, but remained higher in these children than in normal peers. Behavioral and social problems were less pervasive than academic underachievement. There were no group differences, indicating that the duration of stimulant intervention did not have a significant effect on outcome. The clinical implication of this study is that the beneficial effects of stimulant drug intervention occur within the first months after initiation of therapy. Long-term treatment does not appear to be of value in producing better outcome.     

The effects of manual tracing on memory in normal and retarded readers: Some implications for multi-sensory teaching

Summary The present experiments address two interrelated problems; the causes of reading retardation and the possible mechanisms underlying multi-sensory teaching procedures, which involve manually tracing around words, and which reputedly help children retarded in reading. Two experiments explored the effects of manual tracing on memory for letters and non-verbal forms in normal and retarded readers. The retarded readers remembered fewer letters and gained selective benefit from tracing them. In the case of non-verbal forms the two groups performed equally and tracing was equally beneficial to memory in both groups. These findings were explained in terms of the retarded readers' limited reliance on a phonological memory code. A further experiment showed that the differential effect of tracing on the retarded readers' memory for letters was not simply a consequence of their limited reading ability. It was concluded that reading retardation is characterised by deficits of verbal, but not of visual, memory. The tracing activity involved in multi-sensory teaching may help retarded readers by providing a mnemonic aid, which compensates for their verbal memory difficulties.This research was carried out at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, and was supported by the SSRC. I should like to thank Dr. D.E. Broadbent and Professor P.E. Bryant for their help and Dr. L. Bradley for providing information concerning some of the children seen in Experiment 3. A more complete account of these experiments and others relating to them is to be found in Hulme, C. (in press), Reading retardation and multi-sensory teaching: an experimental study. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London     

Loving and leaving: Sex differences in romantic attachments

We propose a two-part generalization about sex differences in entering into and giving up romantic attachments: (1) Men tend to fall in love more readily than women; (2) women tend to fall out of love more readily than men. Evidence in support of these generalizations is derived from a longitudinal study of 231 college student dating couples. The data suggest that women are more cautious than men about entering into romantic relationships, more likely to compare these relationships to alternatives, more likely to end a relationship that seems ill fated, and better able to cope with rejection. We consider several possible explanations of these sex differences from the standpoints of psychoanalytic theory, the social and economic context of mate selection, and the socialization of men and women in the management of their own emotions. To evaluate these (and any other) explanations, further research might profitably investigate whether and to what degree these sex differences are found in other segments of the population.This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant GS-27422 to Zick Rubin. The authors are grateful to Claire Engers, Sherry Ward, and Susan Willard for their contribution to this research and to Jessie Bernard, Nancy Chodorow, George W. Goethals, Paul Rosenblatt, Ann Swidler, and Shelley Taylor for their helpful comments.     

Classical second-order intensional logic with maximal propositions

Conclusion By the standards presented in the Introduction, CMFC2 is deficient on at least one ontological ground: ‘∀’ is a syncategorematic expression and so CMFC2 is not an ideal language. To some there may be an additional difficulty: any two wffs provably equivalent in the classical sense are provably identical. We hope in sequel to present systems free of these difficulties, free either of one or the other, or perhaps both. This work was done with the aid of Canada Council Grant S74-0551-S1.     

Extinction after aversive conditioning: An associative or nonassociative process?

A series of three eyelid-conditioning experiments with rabbits examined the traditional extinction procedure in which the CS is presented in the absence of US presentations. The first study employed a savings test to demonstrate that the rate of reacquisition is faster after a conventional extinction procedure than after a procedure in which the CS and US have been unpaired. The second experiment indicated that this readiness to respond in reacquisition was related to a carry-over effect from the initial acquisition trials. The third study demonstrated that acquisition and reacquisition are similar when the US is maintained in extinction but not when it is omitted. These results imply that procedures which retain the US during extinction are more effective than the conventional CS-alone extinction procedure in eliminating or inhibiting the associative connection between the CS and the US.     

How effective are our marriage ministries? A critical survey

Since the introduction of marriage and family counseling into some seminary curricula thirty years ago, the majority of clergy have developed premarital counseling as a part of their marriage ministries, and educational committees have established marriage and family courses in church school programs. Two questionnaires, used in three clergy conferences, provide data for a critical survey of representative clergy involved in ministry to marriage. Analysis of the data and interviews with a continuing education director and a marriage counseling trainer provide reasons why clergy may not be fully qualified and, therefore, may be only partially effective as marriage counselors. The kinds of educational experience necessary for ministers to become more effective in marriage ministry are examined. Finally, the minister's role in marriage in a secular society is interpreted as undergoing a shift for which many clergy are unprepared.