A Parallax View of Counseling: The Social Influence Model

Heppner, Paul, & Heesacker, Martin. Interpersonal Influence Process in Real-Life Counseling: Investigating Client Perceptions, Counselor Experience Level, and Counselor Power Over Time. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1982, 29, 215–223. Hackman, Hollis, & Claiborn, Charles. An Attributional Approach to Counselor Attractiveness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1982, 29, 224–231.     

Attending to feelings and cognitive performance

The effect on cognitive performance of attending to internally generated stimuli was examined. Specifically, the effect of examining feelings and sensations upon performance in the Stroop test and upon the performance of mental addition was measured. In two initial experiments subjects more quickly named, in the Stroop test, the color of the ink (“red”) in which a color word (“green”) was printed following instructions to attend to their feelings. It was found that this facilitation was due in part to the slowing of the automatic, interfering habit of reading for word meanings. In a third experiment, the effect of attending to physical sensations on the back of the hand was found to have a similar facilitating effect and was seen as resulting from the allocation of attention to internally generated stimuli. In a final experiment, attending to feelings and to the physical sensations on the back of the hand was found to increase speed of mental addition. This effect was attributed to increased attention to internally generated stimuli (here knowledge about the arithmetic performance at the moment).     

NSF programs in the behavioral and neural sciences

The National Science Foundation’s new Division of Behavioral and Neural Sciences supports basic research and related activities in psychology, ethology, anthropology, linguistics, and the neurosciences. Research equipment and facilities can be provided either through a grant supporting a research project or through a separate grant. The scientific importance and soundness of the research to be conducted, as evaluated by reviewers from the research community, are the main criteria for support. Preparation of proposals is briefly discussed, and sources of further information are noted.     

Development of a standardized measure to predict employee productivity

The London House Employment Productivity Index (EPI-3) is a broad-based personality-oriented measure designed to predict successful employees. This paper focuses on the development and validation of the EPI-3 Dependability, Drug Avoidance, Interpersonal Cooperation, Safety, Validity, and overall Productivity scales. Three validation studies are reviewed. The first is a predictive study using 1,236 subjects from the retail industry. The second predictive study involved 167 subjects from a large discount retail chain. The final concurrent study involved 247 college students employed in various companies. All studies documented the validity of the EPI-3 as a pre-employment selection instrument. This paper also reviews adverse impact research, utility of the instrument for selection and ethical concerns when implementing this type of selection instrument.     

Type A personality, self-control, and vulnerability to stress

Type A behavior (hard-driving, competitive, time-urgent, hostile-irritable) has been linked to high stress levels and the risk of eventual cardiovascular problems (i.e., coronary heart disease, CHD). However, this pattern of behavior closely resembles the traditional masculine instrumental (goal-oriented) orientation, and, if kept within limits, may be viewed as adaptive in success-oriented, middle-class college students. Hypothetically then, Type A behavior may be displayed by a broad group of individuals, and only in those cases when it is allowed to reach extreme proportions is stress sufficient enough to confer risk. This article considers two lines of reasoning. Is greater self-control required for college women to be Type As, because it involves crossing into traditional male role behavior? Type A women displayed significantly better self-control then Type B women; the opposite result was disclosed for college men with Type As displaying poorer self-control than Type Bs. The question of whether risk-conferring Type A behavior would result from poorer self-control was answered in the affirmative. Self-control assumed moderator status; poorer self-control in both male and female Type As was associated with high levels of day-to-day stress relative to Type As with better self-control. Self-control did not influence stress level in Type Bs. This moderator effect suggests that only Type As who cannot contain their behavior within adaptive limits will be vulnerable to excessive stress and at risk for CHD.     

Men,shame and antisocial behavior: A psychodynamic perspective

This paper discusses the psychosocial factors that contribute to male antisocial behavior. The role of shame and related affects is emphasized. Compensatory defenses associated with these affects are also described. Developmental concepts are reviewed in the light of recent research. Finally, some of the issues involved in doing psychotherapy with this population are discussed, with an emphasis on the value of group therapy.Parts of this paper were presented at the second annual conference onCulture, Race and Ethnicity in Group and Family Therapy which was sponsored by the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society and New York University and was held in New York City, March 20–22, 1987.     

Effects of awareness and motor involvement on autonomic conditioning in chronic schizophrenics

Chronic schizophrenics under neuroleptic medication were compared with normals, matched for age and education, in two conditioning experiments. Both experiments employed a differential paradigm with long conditional stimulus-unconditional stimulus (CS-UCS) intervals. Skin resistance (SR) and finger pulse or heart rate (HR) were recorded. In Experiment 1, half of the subjects were trained in categorizing the to-be conditional stimuli. In a further step, half of the subjects were informed about the CS-UCS contingency. The UCS was an electric shock. Information improved discrimination of SR responses only of normals, and discrimination training had no effect at all on autonomic responses. In Experiment 2, only electrodermal responders were included. Each subject was tested in two sessions, using a loud tone as UCS in one, and a reaction time signal in the other. Again, half of the subjects were informed about the contingency. Information improved discrimination of SR responses of both diagnostic groups. Decelerations of HR following CS onset showed informed schizophrenics to discriminate better with the loud tone UCS than with the reaction time signal. General autonomic responsivity seems to determine not only discriminative conditioning of schizophrenic patients but also the reports of awareness and the effects of manipulations of awareness. However, when subjects are matched for electrodermal responsivity and are equivalent in terms of SR response conditioning, patients react to information about the contingency with enhanced HR deceleration to the CSs, possibly reflecting a heightened sensitivity of the cardiovascular system.     

APL functions for interactive data analysis: Principal components analysis

APL functions to support principal components analysis are presented: a general-purpose function to obtain eigen values and eigen vectors, a more specialized function to convert these into the results commonly given by principal components analysis, and a user interface function that accesses filed data, offers flexibility in data selection, and produces labeled output. A brief introduction to the logic and uses of principal components analysis is included. General-purpose support functions to simplify file use and to increase the range of options available to the user are also provided.