Similarity and preference judgments of musical stimuli

Two experiments were performed comparing similarity (technical-structural) and preference personal-affective) judgments of jazz improvizations (Experiment 1) and of classical, pop-rock, and jazz music (Experiment 2). A multidimensional scaling paradigm (INDSCAL) was used for pairwise comparisons of the 12 musical pieces in each experiment. Each 2 minute piece was subdivided into 10 second segments in order to reduce fatigue or boredom and provide better sampling across comparison trials. In general, similarity dimensions reflected greater agreement among the subjects that did preference dimensions and were hierarchically ordered. The dominant dimensions for both similarity and preference judgments of jazz improvizations were: Tempo, Dominant Instrument (Horns-guitar), and Articulation. The dominant dimensions for similarity judgments involving all three genres were: Classical-Contemporary, Jazz-Rock, and Tempo. The dominant dimensions for preference judments were: Rock-Classical, Jazz-Classical, and Tempo. In general, the preference judgments of musically sophisticated subjects were less constrained by salient dimensions.     

Detection of errors in statistical problem solving

Ten subjects were asked to think aloud while solving two statistical problems. The subjects were instructed after each substep of his/her problem solving, to check in various ways the solution of the previous substep. The subjects detected 25 out of a total of 56 errors when they solved the problems. About half of the detected errors were computational errors. Nine errors were eliminated in response to the checking instructions. The think aloud data indicated that subjects' most common way of detecting their own errors was by noting that computations resulted in extreme values. Subjects also detected errors by (a) "spontaneous discovery"; (b) discontent with other aspects of a solution than the numerical value of the answer; (c) repeating a solution. The last mentioned type of error detection only occurred when subjects responded to the checking instructions. Finally it was found that subjects had a strong tendency to respond to the checking instructions either in a routinized or in a non-elaborated way. It was discussed how the formulation of checking instructions can be improved in order to avoid this effect.     

Inundating the School Board with Support for Counselors: An Eleventh Hour Strategy for Saving an Endangered Species

Counselors in the Santa Barbara (California) High School District recently faced the threat of abolishment of all counseling positions. This article describes how a guidance task force, consisting of counselors and teachers, sought and obtained community and professional support needed to defeat the proposed staff realignment plan.     

Evaluating Self-Concept and Ego Development Within Erikson's Psychosocial Framework: A Formulation

The purpose of this article is to suggest criteria developed within the context of Erikson's first five psychosocial stages that may be helpful in evaluating self-concept and ego development. The strength of Erikson's theory has been in its contribution to the understanding of the self's development over a series of psychosocial stages. A weakness, however, has been in the ambiguity about what behaviors to look for during any particular stage that allow one to evaluate the status of a person's psychological growth. To assess areas of strengths and weaknesses in the self's growth as it progresses through these stages, five behavioral expressions tables are presented, each illustrating possible behaviors and implicit attitudes associated with positive and negative ego resolutions at each stage. Implications for the evaluation of problem areas and counseling are noted.     

Language About People with Disabilities

A decade of rehabilitation literature (a) calls attention to imprecise, stereotypical, and devaluing language that is often used to discuss people with disabilities and (b) offers more appropriate alternatives. Because professional counselors sometimes commit these language abuses, and counselors of all specialities can expect to see some clients who have disabilities, this article seeks to bring these issues to the attention of the counseling profession at large.     

Contributing Factors to Early Premature Termination at a College Counseling Center

The authors investigated the relationships between clients' early premature termination of counseling and ratings of their counselors' expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness and the extent to which clients believed that they were understood by their counselors. A follow-up survey was conducted to assess the clients' reasons for terminating prematurely. Participants were 148 students who sought individual counseling at a university counseling center. The two groups did not differ on the variables investigated. Most of the participants who terminated prematurely reported that they did so because they did not have time for further sessions, did not need further sessions, or forgot their appointments.     

The Counselor in the Hospice: A New Role

Part of the outreach program of the counselor training program at The College of Staten Island for the past ten years has been to provide counseling for persons with life-threatening and terminal illnesses and for their families. This effort led Cheikin to visit and work in hospices in England and Scotland. His experience has clearly shown that counselor education must include experience with and increased understanding of dying, grieving, and the effect of death on surviving family members; these are now being incorporated into the regular curriculum of the College.     

The Polyvalent Counselor

Employment counselors must serve many different kinds of clients and provide a wide variety of services. They must be capable of providing individual and group counseling services as well as environmental intervention. The counseling process is somewhat different for the employment counselor who must also consider the available job market, motivational forces, aptitudes, skills, and interests. This article discusses the framework in which the polyvalent employment counselor works. This article was the basis of a workshop for the Employment Security Commission at their state meting in Burlington, North Carolina, in June 1977.     

Conflict and Aggression in Couples Therapy: A Self Psychological Vantge Point

The intent of the present essay is to correct the misconception that self psychology fails to deal with conflict and aggression. Self psychology does, in fact, have a definite view of conflict and aggression that leads to clear implications for treatment. I will focus upon the applicability of these ideas to psychoanalytic work with couples. Clinical material will be presented in order to illustrate the application of these concepts. Conflict and aggression are not seen as an interference or resistance to be handled or removed. Instead, the occurrence of conflict and aggression may be viewed as an opportunity to address underlying issues. The aim of technique thus becomes the deepening of therapeutic process. The key issue is not the management of conflict and rage. It is the strengthening of functions of affect regulation, containment, and self-cohesion. The emphasis is on the underlying narcissistic vulnerability of both members of the couple, especially during times of conflict. The therapist's attunement to underlying vulnerability is an important aspect of a self psychological approach.     

USING RANDOM RATHER THAN FIXED EFFECTS MODELS IN META-ANALYSIS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SITUATIONAL SPECIFICITY AND VALIDITY GENERALIZATION

Combining statistical information across studies (i.e., meta-analysis) is a standard research tool in applied psychology. The most common meta-analytic approach in applied psychology, the fixed effects approach, assumes that individual studies are homogeneous and are sampled from the same population. This model assumes that sampling error alone explains the majority of observed differences in study effect sizes and its use has lead some to challenge the notion of situational specificity in favor of validity generalization. We critique the fixed effects methodology and propose an advancement–the random effects model (RE) which provides estimates of how between-study differences influence the relationships under study. RE models assume that studies are heterogeneous since they are often conducted by different investigators under different settings. Parameter estimates of both models are compared and evidence in favor of the random effects approach is presented. We argue against use of the fixed effects model because it may lead to misleading conclusions about situational specificity.