Psychosocial treatments for social phobia

Increasing recognition of the prevalence and impairment associated with social phobia has spurred the development of effective psychosocial treatments for this disorder. Exposure-based interventions have the most empirical support. This article applies the tripartite model of anxiety to social phobia, describes state-of-the-art psychosocial treatments, and highlights studies on the comparative and combined efficacy of psychological and pharmacologic treatments. Clinical issues related to treatment implementation, limitations of extant psychosocial interventions, and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Unique stereotypes for Holland's personality types,testing the traits attributed to men and women in Holland's typology

The researchers used experimental and control groups to compare the rankings of selected stereotypes by 67 male and 124 female college freshmen for the occupational representatives of Holland's six personality and occupational types. The stereotypes were found to be reliable and valid, single stereotype lists were concluded to be adequate for males and females, and unique stereotypes were found for each occupational type. Suggestions for future research were offered.     

Hardware design style: The vital element

This is a tutorial in the application of digital integrated circuits to laboratory experimental design. For appropriate experiments, a hardware controller may be the most economical as well as the most enjoyable approach. By and large, the hardware profession has done a poor job of providing clear, straightforward principles of hardware design; therefore, the design process is often viewed as a “black art” accessible only to specialists. The computer software profession has begun to realize the vital need for systematic approaches to problem solving. We hope to contribute to a similar movement in the digital hardware design area.     

Arm-movement responses to Müller-Lyer stimuli

Similarities between eye- and arm-movement patterns during the Müller-Lyer illusion were investigated. The study was designed to find out if characteristics of a visual illusion would be reflected in tracings of an unseen ann. Six stimuli, three experimental and three control, were presented five times to each of seven Ss who were familiar with the illusion. Data were analyzed by measuring lengths of tracings and by making intraindividual comparisons using t tests for correlated means. Results for the arm were similar to those reported elsewhere for the eye. Arrows with outward-directed obliques were traced longer than arrows with inward-directed obliques, as well as longer than control stimuli. Agreement between eye- and arm-movement responses to the illusion lend support for using each technique to investigate stimuli that affect man’s distance metric.     

Book reviews

POULTON, E. C. Environment and Human Eficiency. Springfield: Charles C .Thomas. 1970. Pp. 328. $15.50.

TOBIAS, J. V. (Ed.). Foundations of Modern Auditory Theory. Vol. II. New York: Academic Press Inc. 1972. Pp. xviii + 508. $24.00.

JAMES L. MCGAUCH (Ed.). Psychobiology: Behaviour from a Biological Viezupoint. London: Academic Press. 1971. Pp. 366. £6.75.

BAKKER, D. J. Temporal Order in Disturbed Reading. Rotterdam: Rotterdam University Press. 1972. Pp. 100