An exposure approach to alcohol abuse

The drinking behaviour of alcoholics was firstly analysed in terms of antecedents, behaviour and consequences. Thereafter, treatment consisted of exposure to the antecedents of drinking, whilst patients were prevented from drinking. Five out of the six patients attained abstinence from drinking by the end of therapy, this abstinence being maintained over follow-ups of up to 9 months, and also noted an absence of desire to drink at the end of therapy. The possible mechanisms in operation during treatment are discussed, including operant or classical conditioning, teaching of self control and cognitive invalidation.     

Bender Gestalt Test performance and the word recognition skills of disadvantaged children

The Bender Gestalt Test and the WRAT reading section were administered to 147 disadvantaged children. The zero-order correlation of ?.62 was found to be moderated by the variable of age. For younger subjects, highly significant first- and second-order partial correlations were obtained with age and/or WISC information scores held constant.     

Alcoholic Korsakoff patients' retrieval from semantic memory

Alcoholic Korsakoff patients' rate of retrieval from semantic memory was investigated. It was found that their rate of retrieval from “lexical” semantic memory was nearly normal, but their rate of retrieval from “conceptual” semantic memory was impaired. In addition, an attempt to “prime” their lexical semantic memory by requesting the same category to be searched on adjacent trials met with failure. It was concluded that Korsakoff patients' lexical storage is probably organized normally, but their conceptual organization is not. Parallels with these patients' episodic memory impairments are discussed and possible interactions between episodic and semantic memory are proposed.     

When “reliability” fails,must a measure be discarded?—The case of Kinesthetic Aftereffect

Critics of Kinesthetic Aftereffect (KAE) recommend abandoning it as a personality measure largely because of poor test-retest reliability. Although no test can be valid if lacking true reliability, to discard a measure because of poor retest reliability is an oversimplification of validation procedures. This pitfall is exemplified here by a reexamination of KAE. KAE scores involve measures before (pretest) and after (test) aftereffect induction. Internal analysis of a KAE study showed: Differential bias is present; its locus is the second session pretest; its form makes second-session pretest scores functionally more similar to first- and second-session test scores and functionally more dissimilar to first-session pretest scores. Given this second session bias, the retest correlation tells us nothing about the true reliability of a one-session KAE score. However, if a measure possesses external validity, it must to some degree show true reliability. Based upon a literature review of one-session KAE validity studies, we conclude that one-session KAE scores are valid and hence show true reliability. KAE remains a promising personality measure.     

Explicit and Implicit Persuasive Communications over Time To Initiate and Maintain Behavior Change: New Perspective Utilizing a Real-life Dental Hygiene Situation1,2

Reacting to the failure of most persuasive communications to maintain behavior changes once they are established, in the context of junior high school dental hygiene programs, the present investigation explores the effects of behavioral measurement itself (as an unplanned treatment effect) in maintaining a specific behavior once it is established. Using a modified time-series extension of a basic pretest-treatment-posttest design with a variety of treatment conditions and a novel behavior measure as the dependent variable, it was established that the process of measuring behavior itself was possibly as effective as treatment conditions. All conditions effected behavior changes and maintained them for a 10-week period.     

TRAINING MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH1

The need for self-care by retarded individuals in behaviors such as brushing teeth led to the development and evaluation of a comprehensive toothbrushing program that included a task analysis and training procedure specific to each component of the task analysis. Eight mentally retarded adolescents, in two groups, individually received acquisition training that included scheduled opportunities for independent performances, verbal instruction, modelling, demonstration, and physical assistance. The first group of four subjects received token plus social reinforcement; the second received only social reinforcement. All eight subjects showed improved toothbrushing behaviors when compared to baseline. Six of the eight subjects correctly performed all toothbrushing steps in two of three consecutive sessions. The study emphasizes the need for systematic program development and evaluation.     

Retrieval in cued recall

Three experiments examined retrieval in a cued recall paradigm by manipulating the pattern of output cues. In the first two experiments, subjects were paced through recall of a categorized list by recalling one word at a time in response to a category name as a retrieval cue. The pattern of these output cues exerted a strong influence on performance. Subjects recalled considerably more when the cues were blocked by category than when required to recall successive words from different categories. This output effect increased over trials, and was interpreted in terms of a model in which subjects develop a retrieval strategy that can be interfered with by the circumstances of output. The last experiment contrasted structural and strategy models in a hierarchical recall paradigm. Subjects were given a set of postinput recall cues that either made evident the hierarchical structure of the input list or contained the same cue words but with no hierarchical information. Information about the hierarchical structure improved performance even when provided only during recall. The data were discuss in terms of recent models of recall, and a compromise was suggested.     

A theory of catharsis

This paper first discusses the history of the idea of catharsis, suggesting that the differences between the advocates of catharsis and its critics may be reconcilable. A definition of emotion is proposed which involves interactions between biological, psychological, and social systems. This definition gives rise to a theory of catharsis which seems to reconcile the claims of the advocates of catharsis with the criticisms that have been made of their claims. The discussion of the theory also suggests methods of testing it. As a preliminary example of one such test, the results of a pilot study of the effects of laughter on tension levels are presented.     

Behavioral variability as a function of noncontingent adult attention,peer availability,and situational demands in three hyperactive boys

Recommendations about placements for children in need of special education are routinely made and carried out without empirical validation for the efficacy of particular approaches nor the appropriateness of an approach for a particular child. A study was designed to examine a methodological model which focuses on empirically deriving recommendations for the most appropriate teaching situation for any given child requiring special education. Prosocial, problem, and task-related behaviors in three hyperactive boys were assessed in eight prearranged situations: (1) group play with one adult supervising; (2) group play with three adults; (3) group teaching with one adult; (4) group teaching with three adults; (5) individual play with low density noncontingent adult attention; (6) individual play with high density noncontingent adult attention; (7) individual teaching with low density noncontingent adult attention; and (8) individual teaching with high density noncontingent adult attention. Behaviors assessed included adult, peer, and target child attention given and received; compliance; aggression; disruption; task involvement; and percent tasks correctly completed of tasks attempted. Data revealed that the most disruptions and least efficient task performance occurred in the group teaching situation with one adult. The most efficient task performance and fewest disruptions in a teaching situation occurred in the individual teaching setting with high density noncontingent adult attention. In addition. overall mean rates of disruptive behavior were higher in group situations than in individual situations. The data strongly validate the need for carefully selecting educational environments for problem children, and that the behavior of such children is, at least, partially influenced by environmental factors.     

Individual differences in immediate serial recall: A matter of mnemonics?

Normal adults differ in a fairly general immediate serial recall ability which is commonly assessed on individual IQ tests. Two experiments tested the role of rehearsal, grouping, and chunking strategies in producing such individual differences. The general approach was to limit interindividual variation in the application of these mnemonics and observe the effects on individual differences in recall. This was accomplished by (1) presenting items too fast to allow variation in rehearsal strategy and (2) requiring all subjects to group and chunk items in the same way. Both manipulations affected average recall, but neither one affected the size or order of individual differences. It was concluded that immediate serial recall differences between normal adults are largely a consequence of something other than differences in rehearsal, grouping, or chunking strategies.