Noncontingent peer attention as treatment for disruptive classroom behavior

A functional analysis isolated peer attention as the primary maintaining variable for disruptive behavior displayed by a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Using a brief reversal design, noncontingent reinforcement was then shown to reduce disruptive behavior relative to the peer attention condition. Implications for assessing behavior disorders in mainstream school settings are discussed.     

Quantifying construct validity: two simple measures

Construct validity is one of the most central concepts in psychology. Researchers generally establish the construct validity of a measure by correlating it with a number of other measures and arguing from the pattern of correlations that the measure is associated with these variables in theoretically predictable ways. This article presents 2 simple metrics for quantifying construct validity that provide effect size estimates indicating the extent to which the observed pattem of correlations in a convergent-discriminant validity matrix matches the theoretically predicted pattern of correlations. Both measures, based on contrast analysis, provide simple estimates of validity that can be compared across studies, constructs, and measures meta-analytically, and can be implemented without the use of complex statistical procedures that may limit their accessibility.     

Self-awareness, deindividuation, and social identity: unraveling theoretical paradoxes by filling empirical lacunae

In an effort to examine paradoxes involving self-awareness, deindividuation, and social identity, this article reports the results of a study that examines the effects of a range of manipulation operationalizations of self and social identity on a complement of measurement operationalizations of self and social identity. Specifically, participants completed measures of self-awareness and ethnic social identity while confronted with their mirror image, while wearing a mask, or while exposed to a family tree delineating their ethnicity. Patterns of mean levels of self-awareness and ethnic social identity are used to examine the paradox of depersonalization and deindividuation, the paradox of (a)symmetrical activation of components of identity, and the paradox of deindividuation and the search for identity. Discussion considers the limitations of this approach and considers the implications of these results for the long-standing study of the interplay between self and social identity.     

Neuropsychological sequelae of chronic recreational gasoline inhalation

Brief summary test profiles are described for two cases of long-term inhalation recreationally of gasoline.     

Lifting the curtain on the Wizard of Oz: biased voice-based impressions of speaker size

The consistent, but often wrong, impressions people form of the size of unseen speakers are not random but rather point to a consistent misattribution bias, one that the advertising, broadcasting, and entertainment industries also routinely exploit. The authors report 3 experiments examining the perceptual basis of this bias. The results indicate that, under controlled experimental conditions, listeners can make relative size distinctions between male speakers using reliable cues carried in voice formant frequencies (resonant frequencies, or timbre) but that this ability can be perturbed by discordant voice fundamental frequency (F-sub-0, or pitch) differences between speakers. The authors introduce 3 accounts for the perceptual pull that voice F-sub-0 can exert on our routine (mis)attributions of speaker size and consider the role that voice F-sub-0 plays in additional voice-based attributions that may or may not be reliable but that have clear size connotations.     

Group membership,group norms,empathy, and young children's intentions to aggress

This study assessed the effect of ingroup norms and empathy on 6 and 9‐year‐old children's (N=161) attitudes and aggressive intentions toward outgroup members. Prior to an intergroup drawing competition against an outgroup, participants' empathy was measured, and they were randomly assigned to a simulated group with a norm of direct or indirect aggression, or no aggression norm. Results indicated participants' attitudes were less positive toward the outgroup vs. the ingroup, and that both direct and indirect aggressive intentions were displayed toward the outgroup. Most importantly, the ingroup was liked less when it had an aggression norm, and the participants' aggressive intentions were not enhanced by the group aggression norm. Empathy was a significant negative predictor of direct but not indirect aggression intentions. Implications for understanding the instigation and inhibition of children's aggression intentions are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 35:244–258, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Deception in psychotherapy: Frequency,typology and relationship

Deception in therapy has been documented anecdotally through various narratives of therapists. The investigation of its occurrence within therapy has largely been overlooked. We explored the reported frequency of deception within psychotherapy, the types of deception used within therapy, the likelihood of people lying to a therapist compared to other groups of people, and client perceptions of the types of deception that therapists use. Ninety‐one participants were provided with a series of deception examples, asked questions about the use of these types of deception within therapy, and asked generally about their use of deception in therapy. We found that a majority of the participants had been deceptive in therapy, and a majority were willing to be deceptive in future therapeutic contexts. Participants were more likely to use white lies than other forms of deception in therapy. Lastly, participants were less likely to lie to therapists compared to strangers and acquaintances. Implications for research and practice are discussed.