r equivalent: A simple effect size indicator

The purpose of this article is to propose a simple effect size estimate (obtained from the sample size, N, and a p value) that can be used (a) in meta-analytic research where only sample sizes and p values have been reported by the original investigator, (b) where no generally accepted effect size estimate exists, or (c) where directly computed effect size estimates are likely to be misleading. This effect size estimate is called r(equivalent) because it equals the sample point-biserial correlation between the treatment indicator and an exactly normally distributed outcome in a two-treatment experiment with N/2 units in each group and the obtained p value. As part of placing r(equivalent) into a broader context, the authors also address limitations of r(equivalent).     

Network therapy for addiction: bringing family and peer support into office practice

Network therapy was developed as a specialized type of combined individual and group therapy to ensure greater success in the office-based treatment of addicted patients by using both psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches to individual therapy while engaging the patient in a group support network composed of family members and peers. This article outlines the role of group cohesiveness as a vehicle for engaging patients in this treatment; the patient's family and peers are used as a therapeutic network, joining the patient and therapist at intervals in therapy sessions. This network is managed by the therapist to provide cohesiveness and support, to undermine denial, and to promote compliance with treatment. The author presents applications of the network technique designed to sustain abstinence and describes means of stabilizing the patient's involvement. Some specific techniques discussed include ambulatory detoxification, disulfiram and naltrexone administration, relapse prevention, and contingency contracting. Also discussed are recent research on the use of psychiatric residents and counselors for treatment, and use of the Internet in dissemination.     

From Mystical Moment to Therapeutic Method: Connections Between Psychology of Religion and Pastoral Counseling

Argues for a connection between psychology of religion, represented by William James, and pastoral counseling, especially as informed by the therapeutic methods of the brief therapy centers in Palo Alto and Milwaukee. Ludwig Wittgenstein, the philosopher, is seen as the key bridge figure between the two. Inspired by the film Six Degrees of Separation, the proposal is made for connective links between the philosophical and experimental interests of Benjamin Blood and William James in the mystical experience, Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical method in the Tractatus, and the therapeutic methods of Paul Watzlawick and Steve de Shazer. This transmission process is considered similar to that which occurs in religion itself, as transcendent experiences are routinized through liturgical and sacramental practices. The essay is viewed as an exercise in pastoral theological method.     

Applying Utilization Management Principles to a Comprehensive Service System for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Families: A Feasibility Study

The Comprehensive Services Act for At Risk Youth and Families of Virginia (CSA), is a service, funding, and organizational reform initiative designed to improve the provision of child centered and family focused services within a community setting. We conducted this study in order to assess the feasibility of applying utilization management principles to the CSA in order to improve the appropriateness, quality, and cost effectiveness of this service delivery system. Data were gathered through focus groups, surveys, clinical profiling, and analysis of costs, and service utilization. While overall program costs increased since inception of the program, the costs per child served rose less than the rate of inflation. CSA appeared to be serving children with a high degree of emotional and behavioral difficulties. There was considerable variation among localities in placement patterns. A majority of survey and focus group respondents were willing to consider the application of utilization management principles to the CSA as long as decision making remained within localities. We concluded that there is a constructive role for utilization management approaches to improve the appropriateness and quality of services as well as enhancing efficiency in child mental health.     

Parsing silhouettes: The short-cut rule

Many researchers have proposed that, for the purpose of recognition, human vision parses shapes into component parts. Precisely how is not yet known. The minima rule for silhouettes (Hoffman & Richards, 1984) defines boundary points at which to parse but does not tell how to use these points to cut silhouettes and, therefore, does not tell what the parts are. In this paper, we propose the short-cut rule, which states that, other things being equal, human vision prefers to use the shortest possible cuts to parse silhouettes. We motivate this rule, and the well-known Petter’s rule for modal completion, by the principle of transversality. We present five psychophysical experiments that test the short-cut rule, show that it successfully predicts part cuts that connect boundary points given by the minima rule, and show that it can also create new boundary points.     

The Prediction of Negative Events Associated with Anxiety and Dietary Restraint: A Test of the Content Specificity Hypothesis

The prediction of future negative events was studied in a sample of undergraduate students varying on measures of anxiety and dietary restraint. Cognitive theories of psychopathology hypothesize that the emotional concerns of an individual determine which types of information are most often cognitively processed with a biased interpretation. This prediction has generally been called the content specificity hypothesis. Based upon this aspect of cognitive theory, we hypothesized that a high level of trait anxiety would be associated with higher ratings of the probability of future physically threatening events. In addition, it was hypothesized that a high level of dietary restraint would be associated with lower ratings of the probability of future occurrences of overeating. The results of the study supported these hypotheses. These prediction biases were found to be more pronounced in women, as compared to men. The findings were interpreted as supportive of the content specificity hypothesis.     

Testing the Idea of Distinct Storage Mechanisms in Memory

This paper sets out quantitative foundations for testing the idea that memory is served by two distinct storage mechanisms, a short-term and a separate long-term store, using data from the single-trial free-recall experiment by Murdock and Okada (1970). In single-trial free recall one can observe which word is recalled next and how long that recall takes, but that is all. So justification for two separate stores must turn either on the probabilities of recall, or on the latencies, for particular serial positions in the stimulus list. (a) Nearly one-third of all recalls after the first are successors (Word n+1 immediately following recall of Word n). So recall is dominated, not by absolute serial position (as a short-term store would require), but by position relative to the preceding recall. (b) To a first approximation, all first recalls have the same latency distribution except for Word 1. A common latency distribution is compatible with a single store. An explanation is offered why Word 1 should take longer, in which Word 1 is the second retrieval from a common store. The idea of two separate stores appears to lack experimental support.     

Effects of Directed Thinking on Intentions to Engage in Beneficial Activities: Actions Versus Reasons1

An important application of psychological principles involves increasing intentions to engage in activities that, although admittedly beneficial, are often not initially appealing (e.g., studying, quitting smoking, dieting). The present study tests the utility of directed thinking as a tool for eliciting intentions to engage in such activities. Undergraduate students were directed to think either about the reasons why people should find studying enjoyable or about the actions that people might take to make studying enjoyable. Regardless of whether they thought as individuals or in cooperating dyads, students who thought about actions later reported greater intentions to spend time studying than did students who thought about reasons. The results have both theoretical and practical significance.     

The Effects of Feedback Equivocality on Escalation of Commitment: An Empirical Investigation of Decision Dilemma Theory1

The effects of feedback equivocality on escalation of commitment were examined in a laboratory study. Subjects had multiple opportunities to allocate money to market a software product. During the initial phase, subjects received feedback that was of either low or high equivocality. Half of the subjects in each equivocality level were given a standard by which to judge the feedback. In the second phase, all subjects received negative feedback. Consistent with Bowen's (1987) decision dilemma theory, subjects who received low equivocality feedback did not escalate allocations, and subjects who received high equivocal feedback escalated allocations. The presence of a standard or goal attenuated escalation. These results are consonant with a dynamic, temporally based account of escalation and are discussed in a synthesis of the literatures in behavior analysis, economics, forecasting, and psychology.