SOCIAL VALIDATION: THE EVOLUTION OF STANDARDS OF COMPETENCY FOR TARGET BEHAVIORS

The use of social validation procedures has become widespread in recent years. Although most researchers have used social validation procedures to select target behaviors and to evaluate whether the changes produced by a treatment program should be considered socially useful, little attention has been focused upon using the social validation process to determine the optimal levels for target behaviors. This paper suggests several ways in which social validation procedures can be employed in order to select when and how much to change target behaviors.     

Cardiovascular changes during social competition in a mixed-motive game.

Male and female subjects played a mixed-motive game against a male confederate under either a 20% cooperative or an 80% cooperative strategy while cardiovascular responses were computer monitored. Females had larger heart rate responses than males during play against the competitive strategy, and the opposite was true during play against the cooperative strategy. Subjects who were more competitive during the game or who scored higher on a coronary-prone (Type A) behavior scale or who reported having an action orientation toward life stress tended to have larger heart rate responses during the game than the remaining subjects. The results draw attention to the importance of covert autonomic responses for understanding overt behavioral choices in mixed-motive games and to the potential utility of this behavioral model for studying the role of psychosocial factors in psychosomatic illnesses.     

A multimethod analysis of selected self-esteem measures

This study investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of selected measures of global self-esteem and social self-esteem, using the multitrait-multimethod design. Orderliness was included as the third trait for appraising the discriminant validity of the self-esteem measures. Each trait was measured by three different methods: true-false self-report inventory, multipoint self-report inventory, and simple self-ratings. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (short form) were the selected measures of global self-esteem. The revised Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale and the Self-esteem scale of the Jackson Personality Inventory were included as measures of social self-esteem, while orderliness measures included the Order scales from the Personality Research Form and Comrey Personality Scales. Results from the multitrait-multimethod matrix and the multimethod factor analysis of data based on 93 males and 103 females provided strong evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the various trait measures.     

Hemispheric specialization in reading and word recognition

Three experiments dealing with hemispheric specialization are presented. In Experiment 1, words and/or faces were presented tachistoscopically to the left or right of fixation. Words were more accurately identified in the right visual field and faces were more accurately identified in the left visual field. A forced choice error analysis for words indicated that errors made for word stimuli were most frequently visually similar words and this effect was particularly pronounced in the left visual field. Two additional experiments supported this finding. On the basis of the results, it was argued that word identification is a multistage process, with visual feature analysis carried out by the right hemisphere and identification and naming by the left hemisphere. In addition, Kinsbourne's attentional model of brain function was rejected in favor of an anatomical model which suggests that simultaneous processing of verbal and nonverbal information does not constrict the attention of either hemisphere.     

AIDS Knowledge,Attitudes, Beliefs,and Practices (KABP) in Two Caribbean Countries: A Comparative Analysis1

The present paper presents the results of AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices (KABP) surveys conducted in two Caribbean countries: St. Vincent and St. Lucia. Despite religious, socioeconomic, and literacy differences between the two countries, their citizens are remarkably similar with respect to AIDS knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. The major differences between the two countries concern the perception of AIDS risk and the relative position of AIDS as a serious problem facing the country. These differences, however, appear unrelated to AIDS knowledge, sexual practices, or the likelihood of engaging in AIDS-protective behaviors. These findings question the role of perceived risk of AIDS as a determinant of AIDS-protective behaviors, and, more important, they question the utility of increasing perceived risk as a strategy in AIDS prevention programs.     

AN EVALUATION OF TWO METHODS FOR INCREASING SELF-INITIATED VERBALIZATIONS IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Three children with autism and mental retardation were treated for deficits in self-initiated speech. A novel treatment package employing visual cue fading was compared with a graduated time-delay procedure previously shown to be effective for increasing self-initiated language. Both treatments included training multiple self-initiated verbalizations using multiple therapists and settings. Both treatments were efffective, with no differences in measures of acquisition of target phrases, maintenance of behavioral gains, acquisition with additional therapists and settings, and social validity.