Effects of cocaine and alcohol, alone and in combination, on human learning and performance.

The acute effects of cocaine hydrochloride (4 to 96 mg/70 kg) and alcohol (0 to 1.0 g/kg), administered alone and in combination, were assessed in two experiments with human volunteers responding under a multiple schedule of repeated acquisition and performance of response chains. Subjects were intermittent users of cocaine and regular drinkers who were not cocaine or alcohol dependent. Alcohol was mixed with orange juice and ingested in six drinks within 30 min; cocaine was administered intranasally 45 min after completion of drinking. In each component of the multiple schedule, subjects completed response sequences using three keys of a numeric keypad. In the acquisition component, a new sequence was learned each session. In the performance component, the response sequence always remained the same. Results were consistent in both experiments, despite variations in the order in which the drugs were tested alone and in combination. Alcohol administered alone increased overall percentage of errors and decreased rates of responding in the acquisition component, whereas responding in the performance component generally was unaffected. Cocaine administered alone decreased rates of responding but did not affect accuracy of responding in the acquisition component, and enhanced accuracy of responding without affecting rates of responding in the performance component. The combined doses of cocaine and alcohol attenuated the effects observed with alcohol and cocaine alone. These results suggest that, under the conditions investigated in this study, (a) alcohol produces greater behavioral disruption than cocaine or cocaine-alcohol combinations, (b) cocaine and alcohol each attenuate effects of the other, and (c) such attenuation is most pronounced for cocaine attenuating the disruptive effects of alcohol.     

Splitting as a predictor of depression.

146 university students completed measures of splitting, depression, and self-esteem. Splitting was positively correlated with depression and negatively related to self-esteem.     

Linking empirically based theory and evaluation: The family bereavement program

Conclusion We have illustrated how our small theory (Lipsey, 1990) of bereavement guided the development and evaluation of a preventive intervention for bereaved children. Our small theory, based on prior empirical research, enabled us to identify family processes that appeared to mediate the effects of parental death on child mental health. Our intervention was designed to attempt to change these processes. The evaluation of our experimental trial of the intervention assessed changes on these processes as well as the more distal mental health outcomes. The experimental trial showed some-what encouraging results, in terms of the program's ability to modify the warmth of the parent–child relationship and to decrease symptomatology in the adolescent children. We also obtained further empirical support for our underlying theoretical model. Finally, implications for redesign of the program were derived from assessing the adequacy of the program components to change each of the mediators in the theoretical model.Support for this research was provided by NIMH grant P5OMH39246 which is gratefully acknowledged. David R. Pillow is now at Western Psychiatric Institute, Pittsburgh; Fred Rogosch is at the University of Rochester; Janette Beals is now at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Kim D. Reynolds is now at the University of Alabama, Birmingham; Carl Kallgren is now at the Pennsylvania State University, at Erie; and Rafael Ramirez is now at the University of Puerto Rico.     

Preschoolers' beliefs about sex and age differences in emotionality

The goal of the present study was to assess preschoolers' beliefs about the frequency and intensity with which boys, girls, women, and men experience anger, sadness, and happiness. Sixty-seven middle-class preschool children (35 girls, 32 boys) were presented with drawings of adult and child figures of each sex, and were asked to rate how frequently and intensely the emotions were felt (91% of the children were white; the remainder were primarily black). Children's gender stereotyped beliefs were particularly strong for sadness and appeared to be based on a deficit-experience model for males. Sex of target differences also were found for children's beliefs about anger (favoring males). However, the sex difference in anger was based more on the degree to which anger is believed to be experienced rather than on differences in beliefs regarding males' and females' capacity to experience anger. Age of target differences were also found for sadness and anger, but not for happiness. It was concluded that preschoolers' beliefs about differences in emotions are complex, and vary as a function of the sex and age of the target person, and as a function of the specific emotion.Partial support for Richard Fabes was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BNS-8807784). Partial support for Carol Martin was provided by a Women's Studies Research Award (CM1-1001) and a Faculty Grant in Aid (RWR-B658) from Arizona State University. The authors would like to thank Anita Petitti, Dennis Barrett, Amy Vogelson, Melinda Deacon, Kris Hughes, Amy Secklin, Hilary Rose, Melanie Smith, and Melinda Smith for their assistance with data collection and stimulus preparation. Thanks also goes to the teachers, staff, and children at the Arizona State University Child Laboratory Programs.     

Stereotypes about children with traditional and nontraditional gender roles

Two studies were done to assess different aspects of gender stereotypes about traditional and nontraditional girls and boys. In Study 1, 81 undergraduates (57 females, 24 males; 88% Caucasian, 12% Asian) rated the typicality and desirability of 25 personality traits and behaviors for boys and girls. Analyses showed that this sample believed that typical girls and boys differ on 24 out of the 25 behaviors and traits. There were fewer differences when they rated the desirability of the characteristics for each sex. In Study 2, 154 undergraduates (97 females, 57 males, 82% Caucasian, 18% Asian) estimated the percentage of occurrence of 26 traits and behaviors in traditional and nontraditional girls and boys (i.e., tomboys and sissies). These estimates were used to determine two aspects of stereotypes: the characteristics that are perceived to occur most often in a group and the characteristics that are particularly distinctive for a group. Again, stereotypes of girls and boys were found to be extensive. Percentage estimates, however, illustrated that stereotypes are probabilistic in that many boys and girls are believed to have both masculine and feminine characteristics. Stereotypes of nontraditional children were compared to stereotypes of traditional children. Analyses showed that tomboys were stereotyped similarly to traditional boys but sissies were not stereotyped similarly to traditional girls. Instead, the sissy stereotype was found to be very narrow. The advantage of using a variety of assessments methods is discussed.     

OPERANT TREATMENT OF OROFACIAL DYSFUNCTION IN NEUROMUSCULAR DISORDERS

The popularity and reported success of biofeedback treatment for neuromuscular disorders has occurred despite a lack of research identifying the critical variables responsible for therapeutic gain. In this study, we assessed the degree to which severe neurological dysfunction could be improved by using one of the components present in all biofeedback treatment, contingency management. Three cases of orofacial dysfunction were treated by reinforcing specific improvements reliably detectable without the use of biofeedback equipment. The results showed that contingency management procedures alone were sufficient to improve overt motor responses but, unlike biofeedback treatment, did not produce decreases in the hypertonic muscle groups associated with the trained motor behavior. The findings suggest that sophisticated, expensive biofeedback equipment may not be necessary in treating some neuromuscular disorders and that important clinical gains may be achieved by redesigning the patient's daily environment to be contingently therapeutic, rather than only accommodating the disabilities of the physically handicapped.     

The effects of competent behavior on interpersonal attraction and task leadership

Past research relating to competence and the status of sex-role stereotypes has produced highly divergent and confusing results, while research into their effects on leadership choices has been scarce. With these issues in mind, the current study varied subject sex, competence, and confederate sex to evaluate their influence on attraction, leadership choice, and sex-role stereotyping on a number of bipolar items. Results revealed that competent womenw ere found to be as attractive as competent men, while incompetent women were found to be more attractive than incompetent men. Leadership remained a masculine trait; women assumed much less responsibility for leadership than did men. Thus, while women may be viewed as being as attractive as men when both are competent, they are not given, nor do they assume equivalent amounts of responsibility for leadership. There was generally a lack of sex-role stereotyping on bipolar items.