Humanness: A Therapeutic Variable

Since attempts by adherents to various psychotherapeutic orientations have failed to demonstrate the efficacy of any one of them, this paper tries to explicate the single variable—humanness—that seems to underlie all therapeutic approaches, and may account for the positive results obtained by all approaches. Many investigators have emphasized the importance of a positive relationship as a factor in counseling; but an influential force, behavior modification therapy, has attempted to once again place the role of technique in the spotlight. Their results have not been striking. A second aim, therefore, of this paper is to offer a critique of this position in the light of humanistic and research considerations. The implications of a technique-oriented therapeutic approach are also discussed. A plea is entered for emphasis being placed on, and an investigation of, the role of humanness as the most important variable in the counseling process.     

The effect of encoding training on perceptual recall

The effect of encoding training on tachistoscopic performance was measured by training groups of Ss in either an octal or a standardized English encoding of nine place binary numbers. A control group of Ss was allowed to encode ad lib during an equivalent training period. Performance was measured before, during and after the encoding training. It was found that imposing a code on S impaired tachistoscopic performance both during and for some time after the encoding training. Possible reasons for this effect are discussed.     

Delayed reinforcement and runway performance

The Psychological Record -     

Reviews of current books

Pastoral Psychology -     

Fixed ratio and extinction performance of infants in the second year of life

Five 14(1/2)- to 19(1/2)-month-old infants were trained to lever press for snacks on small fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement. Within four to nine sessions, responding under FR 10 was established for four subjects and FR 15 for the other. Each subject's last session revealed behavioral patterns similar to animal and human FR trained subjects-a high and constant ratio rate, mixed with a zero rate following reinforcements. Deviations were mostly in the form of prolonged and variable post-reinforcement pauses. These and other irregularities were probably due to the limited deprivation conditions and improper training procedures in which the ratio (for two subjects) was ascended too early and too quickly. Extinction was instituted during the last session. The degree to which extinction performance matched that of other organisms depended upon how stable and "ratio-like" performance was during conditioning.     

Investigations of a mirror-image transfer effect in pigeons

In two separate experiments, pigeons trained binocularly to peck a key on which an oblique line (e.g., 60 degrees counter-clockwise rotation from horizontal) was projected yielded bi-modal angularity generalization gradients in extinction, with peaks of responding at both the training stimulus and its mirror image (in this case 120 degrees ). This mirror-image transfer effect may be analogous to an "octave effect" in auditory generalization, but Mello's finding of a mirror-image reversal transfer effect following monocular training in pigeons suggests an alternative interpretation.