The use of computer networks in data gathering and data analysis

In our research, the data are gathered in the laboratory on a DEC PDP-11/24 minicomputer. Once the data are gathered, they are analog-to-digital (A/D) converted and sent by the PDP to an IBM 370-3031. The data are submitted to a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the IBM computer. Once the FFT is completed, the data are accessed by an IBM PC-XT that is equipped with an IRMA system. The PC is used in its emulation mode to access the data in the mainframe. In the mainframe, SPSS or SAS is used to do the initial statistical analyses. When necessary, subsets of the data are transferred to the PC, where other computer programs are used to analyze the data. In many instances, they are returned to the mainframe from the PC, where they are submitted to multivariate statistical analysis. Finally, all of the data are stored on floppy disks, which are prepared on the PC.     

Passive avoidance in syndromes of disinhibition: psychopathy and extraversion

According to the physiological animal model proposed by Gorenstein and Newman (1980; see also Newman, Gorenstein, & Kelsey, 1983), psychopaths and extraverts may be characterized by a common psychological diathesis related to behavioral inhibition (see also Fowles, 1980; Gray, 1982). One aspect of this diathesis involves deficient passive avoidance learning, which has been central to explanations of "unsocialized" (e.g., Trasler, 1978) and antisocial behavior (e.g., Hare, 1970). Results from three experiments supported our prediction that psychopaths and extraverts would exhibit deficient passive avoidance relative to nonpsychopaths and introverts, respectively. In addition, the passive avoidance deficit was particularly evident in tasks that required subjects to inhibit a rewarded response in order to avoid punishment. The latter finding may be important for explaining the inconsistent results regarding passive avoidance learning in psychopaths (e.g., Chesno & Kilmann, 1975; Schmauk, 1970). Discussion of the results focuses on the importance of reward in mediating the passive avoidance deficit of "disinhibited" individuals and on the existence of an indirect relationship between psychopathy and extraversion: one that is consistent with the observed experimental parallels as well as with the more ambiguous evidence regarding a direct correlation between measures of the two syndromes.     

The effect of attending to feeling on memory for internally generated stimuli

The present experiments examined the effects of self-focus, as produced by focusing on feelings, on memory. In an initial experiment subjects did complex mental arithmetic significantly faster after self-focus. Because complex mental addition involves internally generated stimuli, the remaining experiments compared the effects, on memory, of self-focus on internally generated stimuli to the effect of self-focus on stimuli supplied by the experimenter. In a second experiment, self-focus facilitated memory for digits recalled in reverse order but not for digits when recalled in the given order. In a third experiment, self-focus facilitated the memory for the classification of digits but not for the digits themselves. In a fourth and fifth experiment, self-focus aided memory for classification of objects into categories such as small, medium, or large but did not aid memory for the objects themselves. In general, improved performance due to feeling focus was attributed to the role that self-focus may play in increasing attention to internally generated stimuli.     

The impact of high school on social development

In reviewing the literature on the social impact of high school, six themes were identified: (1) students perceive strong norms for conformity to school rules, (2) the emphasis on conformity and control influences the quality of student/teacher relations which tend to be role bound and inflexible, (3) paths to social status continue to emphasize athletic competence, (4) peer group identification has an impact on social relations within the larger community as well as in the school setting, (5) powerlessness is felt as a result of the authoritarian approach to decision making, and (6) the overall high school environment does not enhance students' beliefs in the Bill of Rights. It was concluded that high school students have limited opportunities for flexible self-definition. As a result of the way they are treated by authority figures and the strong pressures toward conformity, many adolescents fail to learn the extent of their rights or effective strategies for the exercise of power.     

Psychoanalytic supervision and the larger truth

If one asks, then, what is the larger truth in supervision and where is it to be found, the answer is that it is to be found in the history and character of the student; in the intersubjective encounter between the student and the supervisor; in the secret use of supervision by the student as he creatively searches for himself. However one chooses to define truth or to speak to a theory of supervision, it is important to note that supervision is not purely an educational activity nor a therapeutic one. It lies somewhere in between and therefore requires some unique theoretical formulations.     

Expectancy and academic achievement

Two possible explanations of the relationship between expectancy and subsequent academic achievement were formulated and tested. The assumption that goal setting, by influencing actual and intended effort expenditure, might also determine both expectancy and subsequent performance, and thereby explain the relationship between the latter two variables, found little support. The hypothesis that expectancy determines how hard people work and thereby how well they perform found support only in a male group. Moreover, when previous academic achievement, goal setting, and effort expenditure were all controlled, expectancy was still found to relate to subsequent grades for both women and men. It was concluded that neither goal theory nor effort calculation theory could fully account for the relationship between expectancy and academic achievement.