Primary process content in paranoid schizophrenic speech

Free speech samples given by paranoid schizophrenics, nonschizophrenic paranoids, and nonpsychotic psychiatric patients were submitted to computerized content analysis. Speech samples were searched for words belonging to the Regressive Imagery Dictionary (Martindale, 1975), which yields a well-validated measure of primary process content. Three word-concreteness dictionaries were also employed. Compared to the other groups, paranoid schizophrenics produced speech higher in primary process content as well as in transitive verb concreteness. Results are consistent with psychoanalytic theory.     

Social support in the workplace: Tests of six theoretical models

Six theoretical models of social support in relation to perceived job stress, burnout, and health were tested both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Participants at Time 1 were state correctional officers (N = 262) who completed questionnaires in which multiple indicators of each construct were assessed. Time 2 participants (N = 177) were those officers from the Time 1 sample who completed the questionnaire again three months later. Structural equation analyses revealed that only one of the six models was supported by cross-sectional results. In this model a direct negative relationship between the WORKPLACE SOCIAL SUPPORT and BURNOUT latent variables was specified, along with direct, positive relationships between the JOB STRESS and BURNOUT latent variables and the BURNOUT and POOR HEALTH latent variables. However, none of the six models was supported by the longitudinal results. Thus, cross-sectional results were consistent with a model in which social support on the job influences positive health only through its direct and negative effect on burnout symptoms, but such causal connections were not validated longitudinally.     

Primary process cognition and hemispheric asymmetry

Several theorists have hypothesized that the right hemisphere operates in a primary process manner, whereas the left hemisphere operates in a secondary process manner. Evidence for this hypothesis, though supportive, has been indirect. In two experiments, we applied a validated content-analytic measure of primary process cognition to verbal material produced by subjects while right-hemisphere and left-hemisphere alpha-wave amplitude was monitored. Both experiments indicated that amount of primary process content in language is related to basal or long-term hemispheric asymmetry (high levels of right-hemisphere activation, as compared to left-hemisphere activation), and that the relation with asymmetry is stronger than that with absolute levels of either right-hemisphere or left-hemisphere activation. Both experiments showed that primary process content is not closely related to momentary asymmetry. The second experiment indicated that within subjects, momentary asymmetry is in fact weakly related to primary process content in the direction opposite to that predicted.     

Methodological developments in personality research: An introduction

This article first provides a brief overview of some of the empirical and conceptual work in personality following Mischel's (1968) critique Strengths and weaknesses of traditional personality research designs including laboratory experiments, experimental personality designs, and preexperimental correlational studies are presented Some more recent approaches to designing laboratory research that attempt to address issues of external validity and approaches to designing field Investigations that attempt to address issues of internal validity are discussed Issues associated with the measurement of constructs, the broadening of measurement methods, and newer data analytic techniques are noted Finally, a brief orientation to the other papers in the special issue is presented     

Clinical utility and validation of the Couple's Communicative Evaluation Scale

This study assessed the validity and clinical utility of a new test, the Couple's Communicative Evaluation Scale. With 24 couples from a variety of resources, e.g., churches, newspaper, and colleges, a discriminant analysis using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, indicated that satisfied couples could be discriminated from issatisfied couples with 91-96% accuracy. Significant differences on the scale were found for means between 7 distressed and 16 nondistressed couples using the satisfaction/dissatisfaction cutoff score of 200 on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and significant differences on the individual scales were found for means between 16 distressed and 31 nondistressed individuals using the satisfaction/dissatisfaction cutoff score of 100 on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Demographic variables, e.g., age, marriage length, were statistically significant. Scale scores were highly correlated with those on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, indicating good validity. Using all 400 items, an alpha of .99 indicated good internal consistency for the verbal, nonverbal, and listening communication scores.     

Probing the effects of individual components in multiple component prevention programs

Assessing the contributions of individual components in multi-component interventions poses complex challenges for prevention researchers. We review the strengths and weaknesses of designs and analyses that may be useful in answering three questions: (1) Is each of the individual components contributing to the outcome? (2) Is the program optimal? and (3), Through what processes are the components of the program achieving their effects? Factorial and fractional factorial designs in which a systematically selected portion of all possible treatment combinations is implemented are used to address question 1. Response surface designs in which each component is quantitatively scaled are explored in relation to question 2. Mediational analysis, a hybrid of experimental and correlational approaches, is considered in relation to question 3. Design enhancements are offered that may further strengthen some of these techniques. These techniques offer promise of enhancing both the basic science and applied science contributions of prevention research.     

Long-Term Stability and Change in Personality: An Introduction

ABSTRACT The purpose of this special issue is to foster an examination of recent work on long-term stability and change in personality Classic and recent research on long-term stability of personality is presented Personal transitions are examined as an opportunity for studying continuity and change Some recent metatheoretical and theoretical perspectives on stability and change are presented Finally, several Innovative methodological and statistical approaches to the study of stability and change are considered     

An Evaluation of Arizona's July 1982 Drunk Driving Law: Effects on the City of Phoenix1

In July 1982, Arizona implemented a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) law which mandated severe penalties for DWI convictions. Interrupted time series analyses conducted using data from the city of Phoenix showed an initial estimated reduction of 7.44 vehicular fatalities per month when the law went into effect, which then slowly returned to baseline. In a switching replication, parallel results were found in San Diego for the effect of a similar January 1982 California law. No changes in fatalities corresponding to the implementation of the Arizona or California laws were found in the El Paso comparison series. Time series analyses of DWI-related law enforcement activity in Phoenix showed no change associated with the implementation of the Arizona DWI law. Analyses of newspaper coverage in Phoenix suggested that another substantial decrease in fatalities occurred prior to the implementation of the law, coinciding with the beginning of intense media coverage of the DWI issue.