Individual differences in client reactions to counseling and psychotherapy: A challenge for research

Recent research is reviewed that suggests extensive individual differences in how clients respond to therapeutic interventions and therapist response modes. Three research strategies are proposed as parts of a therapeutic science that aims at both nomothetic generalizations and explications of idiographic meanings, while simultaneously confronting conceptual and methodological complexities arising from client individual differences in response to counseling.     

Monocular without stereopsis with and head movement

Random dots moving with various velocity gradients were presented to observers; the motion was yoked to head movement in one condition and to no head movement in another. In Experiment 1, 12 observers were shown motion gradients with sine, triangle, sawtooth, and square waveforms with amplitudes (equivalent disparities) of 12′ and 1° 53′. In Experiment 2, 48 observers were shown only the sinewave or square-wave gradient of 1° 53′ disparity either with or without head movement so that the observers’ expectation to see depth in one condition did not transfer to another. The main findings were: (1) with 12′ disparity, the head-movement condition produced perceived depth but almost no perceived motion, whereas the no-head-movement condition produced both perceived depth and perceived motion; (2) with 1° 53′ disparity, both conditions produced perceived depth and perceived motion; and (3) when the expectation to see depth was removed, the no-head-movement condition with the square-wave gradient produced no perceived depth, only motion. We suggest that monocular stereopsis with head movement can be achieved without perception of motion but monocular stereopsis without head movement requires perception of motion.     

Subclmical depression and role fulfillment in domestic settings: Spurious relationships,imagined problems,or real effects?

Considerable evidence has accumulated in support of the hypothesis that subclinical depression may inhibit role performance in important ways. However, interpersonal stress and marital discord often precede the development of depressive symptomatology and may independently predict deficits in family role functioning. In addition, cognitive theories suggest that persons with subclinical depression may report poor role functioning even in the absence of any real performance deficits. The current research examines the possibility (1) that the effect of depression on the fulfillment of important family roles is attributable to previously unmeasured contextual variables of ongoing interpersonal stress and/or relationship dissatisfaction or, alternatively, (2) that this relationship is the result of depressive distortion associated with self-report of symptoms and performance. Multiple regression analyses of interview data collected from 495 community-dwelling adults found, however, that depression is related to role functioning beyond any spurious effects attributable to interpersonal stress, spousal stress, or marital satisfaction. In addition, the effect of depression persists when collateral reports of role functioning utilized. Accordingly, it appears that subclinical depression is related to decrements in role performance, and this effect is not entirely due to contextual elements or shared method variance between self-report measures.The authors acknowledge research support from Research Grants R01-AA-07250 and R01-AA-07218 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Research Grant R01-DA-07417 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and National Institutes of Mental Health Grant A-41487-07.     

Contextual effects on the ability of divers to use decompression tables

The present study compared the ability of novice divers to apply decompression tables having learnt how to use them in either the same or a different environment. Those subjects who had learnt how to use the tables in a different environment (i. e. had learnt on dry land and were tested underwater or vice-versa) performed on average 64 percent worse than those who had the same environment for both learning and test. This effect could not be ascribed to the disruption brought about by changing environments. The results show that contextual effects on memory extend beyond the recall of word lists (Godden and Baddeley, 1975) to the ability to implement potentially important instructions.     

Taking visual disability into account: Explaining failure to experts and non-experts

The present study was designed to investigate visually handicapped students' explanations for failure when the motive to maintain or enhance self-esteem was in conflict with the motive to present a favorable social image. Subjects experienced manipulated failure in a text comprehension task and were subsequently asked to give causal and responsibility attributions in the presence of either a visually handicapped or a non-handicapped experimenter. It was expected that visually disabled participants would claim a handicap-bonus from the non-handicapped experimenter by explicitly presenting non-defensive attributions and accounts as well as handicap-related responses, while defensive explanations should be more pronounced when faced with a blind experimenter. The data provide support for the existence of presumed social expectations as determinants of individuals' verbal self-presentations.