DISTRACTION: ITS UTILIZATION AND EFFICACY WITH CHILDREN UNDERGOING DENTAL TREATMENT

We investigated the utilization and efficacy of distraction in reducing the anxious and disruptive behavior of 4 children undergoing dental treatment. During the distraction procedure, the children were shown a poster and told a story about it during dental treatment. They earned a prize if they attended to the poster and story and could correctly answer questions about them following each intervention visit. The children's disruptive behavior was assessed via direct observation, and results were analyzed within a multiple baseline design. The children exhibited high levels of anxious and disruptive behavior across baseline visits, regardless of the length of time in treatment or number of visits. Anxious and disruptive behavior decreased upon introduction of the intervention for all children. This was accompanied by the children meeting the criterion for correct answers on the distraction quiz. However, 2 of the children demonstrated an increase in their anxious and disruptive behavior across intervention visits. Results are discussed in terms of the need to evaluate treatment strategies that promote maintenance as well as initial changes.     

Determinants of Mediator Behavior: A Test of the Strategic Choice Model1

The present study simulated an organizational dispute to test 12 hypotheses about mediator behavior that were derived from the strategic choice model of mediation. This model is based on the assumption that mediators have four basic strategies to resolve disputes: (a) integrate, which involves a search for mutually acceptable outcomes; (b) press, which involves lowering one or both parties' aspirations; (c) compensate, which involves offering positive benefits in exchange for concessions; and (d) inaction, which involves letting the parties handle the dispute by themselves. The major proposition of the model is that two factors, the mediator's assessment of the likelihood of a mutually acceptable agreement and the mediator's concern for the parties' aspirations, interact to predict mediator behavior. Nine of the 12 hypotheses derived from the model were supported. Pressing by mediators occurred most when mediators had a low estimate of the likelihood of agreement in combination with a low concern for the parties' aspirations. Compensating occurred most when mediators had a low estimate of the likelihood of agreement in combination with a high concern for the parties' aspirations. Inaction occurred most when the mediators' estimate of the likelihood of agreement was high and their concern for the parties' aspirations was low. Integrating occurred most when the mediators had a high concern for the parties' aspirations.     

Accurate diagnosis of personality disorders: Some critical factors

Issues pertaining to the accurate diagnosis of personality disorders are discussed from a scientist-practitioner perspective. An attempt is made to distinguish state (Axis I) from trait (Axis II) disorders, and personality (“normal”) from personality disorders (“abnormal”). The reliability and validity of personality disorder diagnoses are explored, and the four criteria for all personality disorder diagnoses are clarified: These criteria are: 1) presence of psychological symptomology, 2) stability over time, 3) consistency across situations, and 4) under-responsiveness to currently available treatments. Also, a distinction is made between categorical and dimensional diagnostic criteria, similar to the distinction between personality type and trait approaches. Recommendations are provided for improving the clinical and empirical work in this area, and implications for treatment are discussed.     

Preventive group psychotherapy for at-risk infants and their mothers

There is increased evidence that infants who receive poor quality social stimulation from their primary caregiver are at risk for later developmental difficulties. This paper describes a preventive intervention for mother-infant dyads exhibiting impaired patterns of social interaction. An impaired relationship with the primary caregiver has been found to be associated with social and emotional deficits in early childhood as well as with significant psychopathology in adulthood. The intervention consisted of group treatment of mothers and their infants. Each group session has 4 subsections which, together, were directed towards improving the mothers' ability to relate in a stimulating and nurturant manner to their children. Types of intervention included didactic instruction, modeling, and interpretation of the infant's behavior. Qualitative data suggested that the group intervention has positive effects on the mother-infant dyads.     

The wilderness therapy program: An empirical study of its effects with adolescents in an outpatient setting

The results of a study of the Wilderness Therapy Program involving 23 adolescents in outpatient counseling are presented. Data were collected before and after four trips on measures of locus of control, behavioral symptoms, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and a number of measures designed specifically for this program. Following a one and one-half to two week backpacking trip that included daily therapy, significant change was found for locus of control, self-esteem and symptom reduction. Positive changes were noted on the other measures as well. Future directions and social work implications were discussed.     

Quantum mechanics as subjectivity and projective stimulus

In this paper I attempt to show that subjectivity, as an input to the creative core of physics, is a misunderstood, but crucial factor. Utilizing Rapaport's fundamental paper, Principles Underlying Projective Techniques which identifies the determinants of the projective technique as: 1. lack of organization, 2. undifferentiation, 3. closeness to the core of the personality, and 4. the meaning of the stimulus being unknown to the subject, a link is suggested to quantum mechanics. It is further suggested the revolutionary nature of quantum mechanics satisfies the projective criterion of the material being unorganized or unfamiliar so that the function of organization can become predominant (Rapaport 1942, p. 93).     

The phases of renewal: Steps to integration of the self in psychotherapy

This is a study of the psychology of self-renewal. The myth of Psyche is examined since it is among the finest rebirth stories antiquity has left us and can be read as representative of the renewal process in general. The story as such, points to a number of psychological states of being necessary for the self to pass through if change is to occur. Renewal can be understood as a series of ontological situations, and these can be structurally considered in terms of phases. This in turn, provides a general theoretical framework for a psychological analysis of self-renewal. The phases of renewal, derived from the Latin, are:immanence, obstruence, descendence, experience, ascendence, emergence andtranscendence. The case of Lee is used to illustrate the process of integration of self in psychotherapy.     

EFFECTS OF WAIT-TIME AND INTERTRIAL INTERVAL DURATIONS ON LEARNING BY CHILDREN WITH MULTIPLE HANDICAPS

We investigated the influence of teacher wait-time and intertrial interval durations on the performance of 4 multiply handicapped students during instruction in 10 skills. Four experimental conditions were evaluated: long wait-time and long intertrial interval, long wait-time and short intertrial interval, short wait-time and long intertrial interval, and short wait-time and short intertrial interval. Instructors attempted to keep short intervals as close as possible to 1 s and long intervals as close as possible to 10 s for both variables. Results showed that student performance was superior under the long wait-time conditions irrespective of the length of the intertrial interval.     

Eyewitness accuracy and confidence: within- versus between-subjects correlations

Previous researchers using between-subjects comparisons have found eyewitness confidence and accuracy to be only negligibly correlated. In this study, we examined the predictive power of confidence in within-subject terms. Ninety-six subjects answered, and made confidence ratings for, a series of questions about a crime they witnessed. The average between-subjects and within-subject accuracy-confidence correlations were comparably low: r = .14 (p less than .001) and r = .17 (p less than .001), respectively. Confidence is neither a useful predictor of the accuracy of a particular witness nor of the accuracy of particular statements made by the same witness. Another possible predictor of accuracy, response latency, correlated only negligibly with accuracy (r = -.09 within subjects), but more strongly with confidence (r = -.27 within subjects). This pattern was obtained for both between-subjects and within-subject comparisons. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.