Cognitive styles in the development of medical careers

Recent research has shown that academic choice and achievement may be partly a function of the student's standing on the field-dependence-independence cognitive-style dimension. The results of two longitudinal studies suggest that information about field dependence-independence may be of value for student guidance in the medical setting. The first, a study of college undergraduates who early expressed an interest in medicine, showed that these cognitive styles play a discernible role in determining who will eventually enter medical school. The second, a study of medical students, showed that field-dependent and field-independent students subsequently tend to choose different medical specialties. These results are consistent with cognitive-style theory, which proposes that field-independent people will choose vocations that require cognitive restructuring skills, whereas field-dependent people will choose vocations that require greater social-interpersonal involvement.     

MULTIVARIATE ASSESSMENT OF CONFLICT IN DISTRESSED AND NONDISTRESSED MOTHER-ADOLESCENT DYADS

A battery of measures was used to assess conflict between mothers and young adolescents (females and males, 11 to 15 years of age). Two groups of families, one composed of a distressed clinical sample (N = 38), the other a nondistressed normative sample (N = 40), participated. The assessment battery included retrospective judgments, frequency estimates, self-monitored home recording, and tape-recorded discussion of a home problem. Content of assessment measures tapped aspects of parental control, decisionmaking, self-reported interaction behavior, arguments, interaction behavior rated by independent “blind” observers, frequency and anger-intensity of specific problematic issues, and perceptions of positive and negative behaviors of the other family member. Based on univariate analyses, 21 of the 26 defined variables discriminated significantly in the predicted direction. Maternal and adolescent reports of behavior and independent ratings of tape-recorded interaction emerged as strong and consistent discriminators. Stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis provided successful classification of 100% of the families based on the inclusion of nine variables. In a cross-validation sample, 84% of the families were correctly classified. Implications for systematic outcome research as well as clinical application are discussed.     

USE OF A SELF-RECORDING AND SUPERVISION PROGRAM TO CHANGE INSTITUTIONAL STAFF BEHAVIOR

The use of a self-recording and supervision program to increase interactions between direct care staff and profoundly retarded persons in a state residential facility was investigated. Following baseline, staff were provided with instructions regarding what to self-record, criteria for how many interactions to record, and a prepared card on which to make the recordings. Throughout the study, the staff supervisor monitored intermittently staff-client interactions. Observations indicated that when the staff recorded their interactions with clients in a loosely structured dayroom setting, the rate of interactions increased noticeably for each staff person. Behavioral ecology measures indicated that other staff responsibilities, such as maintaining the cleanliness of residents and the physical area, were not affected detrimentally when social interactions increased and actually showed small improvements. Additionally, small decreases in resident self-stimulatory and disruptive/aggressive behaviors occurred when the rate of social interactions from staff persons increased. Follow-up measures indicated that the rate of staff self-recording was variable, but when staff did self-record, the increased rate of staff-client interactions maintained.     

Comparison of observational recordings in vivo, via mirror, and via television

Simultaneous observational recordings were made in vivo, via an observation mirror, and via closed circuit television. Three of nine observers had extensive experience recording behavior in vivo; three had extensive experience recording behavior via mirror; and three had extensive experience recording via television. Observers recorded nine categories of disruptive behavior for children in a special class setting. Frequencies of behavior recorded in vivo, via mirror, and via television differed significantly for only one category, vocalization. There were no significant main effects or interactions involving the observers' previous experience. Occurrence reliability coefficients computed within and between media demonstrated the similarity of observer agreement in all three media. Data collection procedures using an observational mirror or closed circuit television appear to be reasonable alternatives to in vivo observation in circumstances similar to those in the present study.     

Standardized classroom management program: Social validation and replication studies in Utah and Oregon

A comprehensive validation study was conducted of the Program for Academic Survival Skills (PASS), a consultant-based, teacher-mediated program for student classroom behavior. The study addressed questions related to: (a) brief consultant training, (b) subsequent teacher training by consultants using PASS manuals, (c) contrasts between PASS experimental teachers and students and equivalent controls on measures of teacher management skills, student classroom behavior, teacher ratings of student problem behaviors, and academic achievement, (d) reported satisfaction of participants, and (e) replication of effects across two separate school sites. Results indicated that in both sites significant effects were noted in favor of the PASS experimental group for (a) teacher approval, (b) student appropriate classroom behavior, and (c) four categories of student inappropriate behavior. Program satisfaction ratings of students, teachers, and consultants were uniformly positive, and continued use of the program was reported a year later. Discussion focused upon issues of cost-effectiveness, differential site effects, and the relationship between appropriate classroom behavior and academic achievement.     

Remarriage after divorce: dissolution and reconstruction of family boundaries.

Remarriage is analyzed from the perspective of family boundaries and roles. The nuclear and remarriage family models are compared, and the process that begins with the formation of the first-marriage nuclear family and ends with the formation of a second-marriage family is conceptualized in terms of changing family boundaries and roles. Discussions with remarriage group members provide concrete illustrations of this process and suggest solutions to some of the problems confronting remarriage family members.     

Evaluation of infant vocal conditioning.

The use of the operant conditioning paradigm, as it has been applied to infant social, vocal behavior, reflects a failure to take into account the social nature of human infants over and above the rigid theoretical rationale of the paradigm. It is argued that: (1) the baseline procedure used in operant conditioning studies is methodologically and conceptually invalid; (2) the reinforcing stimulus used in social conditioning studies elicits the very response that it is assigned to reinforce; and (3) the effect of the response-reinforcer relationship is not the reinforcement (strengthening) of vocal response rate.     

Imaging,empathy, and causal attribution

Three studies were conducted to test whether imagery accounts for the effects of empathy on attributions, that is, whether attributers construct and scan a mental image of social scenarios the same way that actual participants scan a real environment. According to this interpretation, attributers “see” the world as the participant does and make vicarious attributions. An alternative interpretation holds that subjects base vicarious attributions on recreating the motivations and affect of the actor, so that imaging is irrelevant to empathy and attributions. In the first study, subjects who imagined a story from the perspective of a particular character later showed differential recall of story details as a function of role, but not differential attributions. In Experiment 2, role-taking subjects showed clear effects of imaged perspective on recall for story details, but no effects on attributions of causality for an accident. Further, recall and attribution were uncorrelated. In the last study, empathy and imagery role-taking instructions produced independent effects: imagers showed pronounced perspective-relevant recall and empathizers did not. Neither showed unambiguous vicarious attributions. Recall and attribution were again uncorrelated. These studies suggest that the imagery explanation of empathy effects is untenable, and imply that the recall of perspective-relevant details is unlikely to mediate attributions of causality in imaginary scenarios.