A comparison of Guided Imaginal Coping and imaginal exposure in the treatment of panic disorder

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a new intervention, Guided Imaginal Coping (GIC), compared to imaginal exposure (IEX), and a waiting-list control (WLC) condition among 24 clinic outpatients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder (PD) or PD with agoraphobia. GIC was the more consistently effective intervention, with individuals demonstrating significant improvement in frequency and severity of panic attacks (Pas) as well as significant reductions in physiological and subjective arousal to provocative imagery. Individuals in the IEX intervention demonstrated less consistent improvement on the dependent measures, while individuals in the WLC condition essentially remained unchanged. Both GIC and IEX were effective according to a composite measure of clinically significant improvement. However, only GIC was superior to the WLC condition when clinical improvement was defined as zero PAs at follow-up. These findings, while preliminary, suggest that GIC can be added to the armamentarium of effective approaches to treating PD.     

Perceptions of maternal and paternal solicitude by birth children and adoptees: Relevance for maternal bonding theory

This study emanated from the long-standing question of whether a maternal bonding process similar to other mammalian species occurs in humans. The perceptions of adult adoptees and a matched sample of non-adoptees about their parents' behaviours towards them were compared on an original Parental Solicitude Scale. As hypothesized, birth children perceived their mothers as the more solicitous parent, but ratings of adoptive mothers showed a unilateral decline. Further, the differential ratings for birth and adoptive mothers occurred mostly for the factors labelled benignity vs abuse and tolerance vs control, rather than caretaking vs neglect, which was congruent to reported effects in prior studies of lack of mother-infant contact during the sensitive period for bonding. An alternative explanation of the data was also tested but not substantiated.     

Can a shuttlebox computer analog be used to condition human avoidance behavior?

Freedman (1990) introduced a computer analog of the shuttlebox paradigm and presented results to show that this analog could be used for studying human avoidance conditioning. In the present study, a first experimental phase was conducted to test how the fact that the tone was considered aversive in the instructions and the intensity of this tone affect avoidance behavior. In a transfer-of-control test phase, it was tested as to whether the warning stimulus presented as a cue to the aversive stimulus had acquired either aversive or informative quality. An effect of instructions was observed for both levels of the auditive stimulus, and a stimulus effect was found for those groups that were given the instructions that described the tone as aversive. In the case of subjects who in the first phase achieved a certain learning criterion, it was recorded how often they in the second phase selected a condition in which the warning signal of the first phase was not presented. No transfer of control was observed. Thus, no positive evidence was found indicating that Freedman’s computer analog could be used for studying human avoidance conditioning.     

INCREASING CALORIE CONSUMPTION IN CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS: REPLICATION WITH 2-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

Three mildly malnourished children with cystic fibrosis and their parents participated in a behavioral group-treatment program that focused on promoting and maintaining increased calorie consumption. Treatment included nutritional education, gradually increasing calorie goals, contingency management, and relaxation training, and was evaluated in a multiple baseline design across four meals. Children's calorie intake increased across meals, and total calorie intake was 32% to 60% above baseline at posttreatment. Increased calorie consumption was maintained at the 96-week follow-up (2 years posttreatment). The children's growth rates in weight and height were greater during the 2 years following treatment than the year prior to treatment. Increases in pace of eating and calories consumed per minute were also observed 1 year posttreatment. These findings replicated and extended earlier research supporting the efficacy of behavioral intervention in the treatment of malnutrition in children with cystic fibrosis.     

Recall and articulation of English and Chinese words by Chinese-English bilinguals

Three groups of subjects were tested to investigate the effect of language on the relationship between recall span and articulation rate. Native English-speaking monolinguals and native Chinese-speaking monolinguals recalled only English or Chinese words, respectively. Chinese-English bilinguals recalled both English and Chinese words. Articulation rates for English and Chinese monolinguals and Chinese-English bilinguals in each language were also obtained. When recall span was regressed on articulation rate, the slopes for Chinese and English words were significantly different for the Chinese-English bilinguals. This difference was not due to language proficiency but to phonological differences between English and Chinese.     

Haptic classification of common objects: Knowledge-driven exploration

In Experiment 1, haptically available object properties that would be diagnostic for constrained common object classification at the basic and subordinate levels were elicited in a questionnaire. The results are considered in terms of the nature of the haptically derived representations of common objects. Initial data are also presented regarding knowledge of the natural co-occurrence of properties in haptic object perception. In Experiment 2, the hand movements executed during haptic classification of manipulable common objects were examined. Manual exploration consisted of a two-stage sequence, an initial generalized "grasp-and -lift" routine, followed by a series of more specialized hand-movement patterns strongly driven by knowledge of the property diagnosticity for the specific object (obtained in Experiment 1). The current results may guide computational models of human haptic object classification and the development of perceptual systems for robots equipped with sensate dextrous hands, capable of intelligent exploration, recognition, and manipulation of concrete objects.     

Deconstructing the declaration: A case study in pragrammatology

I would like to thank Jonathan Lee, Terry Pinkard, Steven S. Schwarzschild, Jill Petzall, Bob Gibbs, Bill Hamrick and Jim Bohman for their very helpful criticisms of earlier drafts of this paper.     

Family satisfaction with medical care after traumatic brain injury

Ratings during acute and follow-up care by 35 families having members with traumatic brain injury showed none of the medical facilities met families' needs though some aspects of patients' care were rated higher in hospitals. Findings suggest comprehensive surveys are needed.     

The GRIMS. A psychometric instrument for the assessment of marital discord

Research in marital therapy has been disadvantaged by the lack of a good, short and recent psychometric questionnaire to objectively assess the state of a marriage for research, demographic and clinical purposes. The Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS) is a companion questionnaire to the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS), and concentrates on aspects other than the sexual in a dyadic relationship between two adults living together. It is a 28 item psychometrically constructed inventory designed to produce a single scale along which changes in a marriage may develop as marital therapy progresses. It has been shown to be valid for this purpose, and to have a good reliability.