Rate-decreasing effects of the atypical neuroleptic risperidone attenuated by conditions of reinforcement in a woman with mental retardation

Effects of two doses of risperidone on the performance of a matching task under tangible reinforcement and nonreinforcement conditions were measured in a woman with mental retardation. In both conditions, time to complete the task increased and response rates decreased under two doses of risperidone. Accuracy was generally unchanged. These changes were much smaller in the tangible reinforcement condition; thus, reinforcement seemed to protect performance from the rate-decreasing effects of risperidone.     

Scientific creativity as constrained stochastic behavior: the integration of product,person, and process perspectives

Psychologists have primarily investigated scientific creativity from 2 contrasting in vitro perspectives: correlational studies of the creative person and experimental studies of the creative process. Here the same phenomenon is scrutinized using a 3rd, in vivo perspective, namely, the actual creative products that emerge from individual scientific careers and communities of creative scientists. This behavioral analysis supports the inference that scientific creativity constitutes a form of constrained stochastic behavior. That is, it can be accurately modeled as a quasi-random combinatorial process. Key findings from both correlational and experimental research traditions corroborate this conclusion. The author closes the article by arguing that all 3 perspectives--regarding the product, person, and process--must be integrated into a unified view of scientific creativity.     

Measuring the speed of the conscious components of recognition memory: remembering is faster than knowing

Three experiments investigated response times (RTs) for remember and know responses in recognition memory. RTs to remember responses were faster than RTs to know responses, regardless of whether the remember-know decision was preceded by an old/new decision (two-step procedure) or was made without a preceding old/new decision (one-step procedure). The finding of faster RTs for R responses was also found when remember-know decisions were made retrospectively. These findings are inconsistent with dual-process models of recognition memory, which predict that recollection is slower and more effortful than familiarity. Word frequency did not influence RTs, but remember responses were faster for words than for nonwords. We argue that the difference in RTs to remember and know responses reflects the time taken to make old/new decisions on the basis of the type of information activated at test.     

Burnout and Depression Among Catholic Priests in India

This study examined burnout and depression among Catholic priests in Southern India using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (Robinson, Shaver, & Wrightsman, 1991). Additionally, a demographic survey assessing four predictor variables was administered. Participants were 50 secular priests and 51 religious priests randomly selected from two dioceses. The study found that diocesan/secular priests experienced significantly more burnout and depression than did religious order priests. This indicates that structural and administrative systems can lead to burnout and depression. The findings of this investigation would be of help for priests in both the United States and in India to identify problems, to encourage reorientation of their lives towards the spiritual, and to promote emotional maturity. Fr. Antony Raj is currently a graduate student in Pastoral Counseling at Claremont College in Claremont. He is an Associate Pastor at All Souls Catholic Church in Alhambra, CA.     

In focus. Life after BioethicsLine: a reply to Joyce Plaza

The recent closure and removal of BioethicsLine led many researchers to wonder where to turn for their research needs. Joyce Plaza wrote that the closure is a mistake. In this essay I maintain, contra Plaza, that due to its cross-disciplinary nature researchers can find bioethics literature in other databases. In developing the search strategy the researcher needs to consider what the problem is about. If the researcher has a philosophical approach in mind, a wise choice would be to use Philosopher's Index; a legal approach suggests using Academic Universe, Westlaw, Lexis or legal databases freely available through state and federal websites. Further, in so far as the National Library of Medicine is integrating citations in BioethicsLine into the NLM Gateway databases (PubMed and LOCATORplus) I point out suggestions on using the latter databases effectively. There is a wealth of information readily available and researchers have much to learn by trying the alternatives.     

Interference from related items in object identification

Interference between related items in the identification of objects was examined using a postcue procedure. Pairs of objects were presented as differently colored line drawings followed by a color cue to indicate which object to name. Naming latencies were longer when both objects were from the same superordinate category than when they were unrelated. This interference effect was replicated when subjects were cued to report the color of a drawing rather than its name. Interference was greatly reduced when more distinctive attributes were used to distinguish members of a pair, both when the task required naming an object and when it required report of an object's attribute. These results challenge accounts of interference in the postcue paradigm that are based on competitive interactions in the activation of phonological representations by semantics and instead implicate object-attribute integration in memory as the source of interference.     

Configural information in facial expression perception

Composite facial expressions were prepared by aligning the top half of one expression (e.g., anger) with the bottom half of another (e.g., happiness). Experiment 1 shows that participants are slower to identify the expression in either half of these composite images relative to a "noncomposite" control condition in which the 2 halves are misaligned. This parallels the composite effect for facial identity (A. W. Young, D. Hellawell, & D. C. Hay, 1987), and like its identity counterpart, the effect is disrupted by inverting the stimuli (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 shows that no composite effect is found when the top and bottom sections contain different models' faces posing the same expression; this serves to exclude many nonconfigural interpretations of the composite effect (e.g., that composites are more "attention-grabbing" than noncomposites). Finally, Experiment 4 demonstrates that the composite effects for identity and expression operate independently of one another.     

Spontaneous Self‐Practice of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) by Aboriginal Counsellors During and Following CBT Training: A Retrospective Analysis of Facilitating Conditions and Impact

Previous cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) training studies have suggested that therapists who practice CBT strategies on themselves during training may experience professional and personal benefits. However, it has also been reported that some CBT trainees are reluctant to engage in self‐practice. The present study reports an incidental finding from a CBT training study with Aboriginal counsellors: all five counsellors reported that they practiced CBT techniques on themselves without specific encouragement by the trainers to do so. This paper therefore posed three questions: (a) Why—in contrast to some other trainees—did this group choose to apply CBT to themselves? (b) How did they apply it—with what purpose, in what contexts, and which skills? (c) What was the impact of CBT self‐practice? Data from the group's reflections were qualitatively analysed by two of the researchers, and “member checked” by the remainder. Results indicated that the counsellors were motivated to practice CBT on themselves for two principal reasons: the value they placed on CBT, and their personal need resulting from the high number of crises experienced while living and working in their communities. The counsellors reported practicing CBT in a wide variety of contexts as part of their learning. As in previous studies, the impact of CBT self‐practice was that it increased their confidence and competence as therapists. It also appeared to be a valuable burnout prevention strategy. If the results are generalisable, they suggest that self‐experiential training in CBT may be a culturally responsive and adaptive way for Aboriginal counsellors to enhance their learning of CBT skills.