Measurement of subjective responses to alcohol and non-alcohol slides by alcoholic respondents

Although ‘anxiety’ has traditionally been hypothesized as the cognitive mediating CR which results from electrical a versive conditioning, alternate competing hypotheses have not been adequately studied. This investigation has generated four constructs from a factor analysis of adjective ratings on alcohol-related stimuli and four constructs from an identical analysis of ratings on non-alcohol related stimuli. As these constructs are orthogonal, each can be used as an independent measure of ‘cognitive mediator’ or alternative competing hypothesis. The alcohol-related constructs appeared to be: (1) dangerous vs. safety; (2) approach or appetitiveness: (3) avoidance or aversiveness; and (4) general evaluation good vs. bad.     

The Impact of Language in Job Advertising on Fair Practices in Hiring: A Research Note

This experiment investigated the effects of sex-biased language in job advertisements on subjects' reported interest in applying for the advertised positions. Booklets containing 12 advertisments, 4 experimental and 8 control, were distributed to 176 high school seniors. The four experimental advertisements varied across three experimental conditions: sex-biased, sex-unbiased, and sex-reversed. Results of X ² analyses indicate that significantly more subjects express interest in applying for stereotypically "opposite sex" jobs in the sex-reversed condition than in the sex-biased condition. These findings support previous research by Bem and Bem (1973) and have implications for affirmative action programs.     

Developmental pathways in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) specifies a developmental relationship between oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Evidence for this link is mixed, however, and recent studies suggest that different symptom dimensions in ODD may have different outcomes. The authors examined links between ODD, CD, and their young adult outcomes in the Great Smoky Mountains Study (E. J. Costello et al., 1996), a longitudinal data set with over 8,000 observations of 1,420 individuals (56% male) covering ages 9-21 years. ODD was a significant predictor of later CD in boys but not in girls after control for comorbid CD and subthreshold CD symptomatology. Transitions between ODD and CD were less common than anticipated, however, particularly during adolescence. The authors examined characteristics and outcomes of children with pure ODD, pure CD, and combined CD/ODD. Alongside many similarities in childhood and adolescent correlates, key differences were also identified: CD largely predicted behavioral outcomes, whereas ODD showed stronger prediction to emotional disorders in early adult life. Factor analysis identified irritable and headstrong dimensions in ODD symptoms that showed differential prediction to later behavioral and emotional disorders. Overall, the results underscore the utility of retaining separate ODD and CD diagnoses in DSM-V.     

Bilingual computerized speech-recognition screening for clinical depression: Evaluating a cellular telephone prototype

This exploratory field study evaluated a bilingual computerized speech-recognition cellular telephone prototype of the Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression scale (CES-D). Thirty Spanish and 22 English speakers completed both computer-telephone and face-to-face CES-D methods and an oral depression checklist in counterbalanced order. Both language groups reported high positive ratings for the computer-telephone method, with the English sample preferring the computer-telephone over the face-to-face method. In both samples, the computer-telephone method yielded high internal consistency estimates, strong alternate form reliabilities, and similar high correlations to the depression checklist. Both groups reported significantly elevated scores with the computer-telephone method, but total score variances for both methods did not differ. Computer-telephone limitations included occasional misrecognitions and template training constraints.     

Validity of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children: A comparison between psychiatric and pediatric referrals

The NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) was used to evaluate 40 psychiatric referrals aged 7–11 and 40 pediatric referrals matched for age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status. Each parent and child was interviewed separately using parallel versions of the interview, DISC-P and DISC-C, and parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The psychiatric referrals had more psychiatric diagnoses and higher symptom scores than the pediatric referrals. Parent reports discriminated better between the criterion groups than child reports. In both groups, mild oppositional behavior and fears were commonly reported by parents, whereas mild separation anxiety, fears, and dysthymia were commonly reported by children. Attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder, and affective disorders were much more common among psychiatrically referred children. There was an association (x²=37.1, p < 001) between abnormally high CBCL scores and diagnoses derived from the interview with the parent, but the association between the CBCL and the child interview was not significant. Over all, the results support the validity of the DISC-P, and to a lesser extent that of the DISC-C, in discriminating psychiatric from pediatric referrals, at the level of both symptoms and severe diagnoses, but not at the mild/moderate level of diagnosis.This work was supported in part by NIMH Clinical Research Center Grant No. MH30915 and by NIMH Contract No. RFP-DB-81-0027. The second author is supported by an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award No. MH00403 and by a Faculty Scholar's Award from the William T. Grant Foundation. The authors are most grateful to Noelle Conover for her assistance in data analysis.     

Solomon design analysis of multiple-choice Rorschach animal content

The Solomon four-group design was used to study the effects of a persuasive message on a selected multiple-choice Rorschach index--animal content. The independent variable elicited behavior in a predictable manner. Pretesting as a main effect was not significant, but as an interactional effect obviated the effect of the persuasive message. Although knowledge of test rationale can elicit behavior that conforms to experimental demand characteristics, some subjects nonetheless acted in defiance of such information. A condition for defiance in this experimental arrangement, however, was pretesting. Other possibilities regarding the study of compliance behavior and the use of pathognomonic indicators were suggested. Ethical issues were raised.