The Effects of Measurement Strategy on Attributions for Marital Problems and Behaviors1

The present study examined the relation of attributions for spouse behaviors, attributions for global conjugal conflict, and marital adjustment. The sample consisted of 74 French-Canadian couples who completed the Marital Attribution Style Questionnaire, the Conflict Rating Scale, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Results showed that the relation between attribution and marital satisfaction is stable across culture. In addition, specific and general attribution measures were low to moderately correlated. However, multiple regression analyses demonstrated that attributions for global conjugal conflict entered the regression equations more often than attributions for hypothetical spouse behaviors. These findings suggest that the comparability of marital attribution measures should not be taken for granted. The need to develop standardized measures is underlined.     

Growth coping,work satisfaction and turnover: A longitudinal study

A longitudinal organizational field study examined work satisfaction and employee growth coping as joint predictors of turnover. Three employee categories were examined: 1) No Turnover, 2) turnover within the same occupational field (Intraoccupational Turnover), and 3) turnover to a new occupational field (Interoccupational Turnover). Work satisfaction was moderate in the first two groups and low in the third group. As predicted, a specific strategy of employee coping, growth, was lowest in the first group, moderate in the second group, and highest in the third group. Through the use of linear discriminant analysis, 66.4% of the employees were correctly classified into No Turnover, Intraoccupational Turnover, and Interoccupational Turnover groups based only on information regarding work satisfaction and growth coping. The first squared canonical correlation was found to equal .30, far surpassing the modest work satisfaction/turnover correlations found in all previous studies.The authors wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments.     

A systemic belief approach to epileptic seizures: A case of being spellbound

A systemic treatment approach, namely systemic belief therapy, has been found to be useful when dealing with families constraining beliefs when experiencing physical health problems. Two interventions which facilitate the altering of constraining beliefs are the externalization of physical symptoms and therapeutic letters. Epileptic seizures are examined in the context of the interaction between families and health care professionals. A case example is presented which highlights the use of this systemic approach to assist a young couple in challenging their beliefs about their ability to control and monitor epileptic seizures.     

Electrophysiological and behavioral indicants of selective attention to multifeature gratings

The mechanisms underlying selective attention to gratings consisting of a particular conjunction of spatial frequency and orientation were investigated by means of both visual evoked potential (VEP) and behavioral measures. The effects of selective attention upon the VEP indicated two general types of selection processes: one which is specific to the features contained in the relevant gratings and is most pronounced approximately 225 msec post-stimulation, and another which is specific to the conjunction of features defining the relevant grating and is most pronounced 250–375 msec following the presentation of the stimulus. The behavioral responses primarily reflected this latter, or grating-specific, attentional process. The results are discussed in terms of the role of sensory feature channels in mediating selective attention to visual stimuli and are related to various information processing models of visual pattern selection.     

Effects of genetic vestibular defects on behavior related to spatial orientation and emotionality.

A large battery of behavioral tests was administered to normal mice and to mice with varying degrees of otoconial agenesis due to genes affecting vestibular development. Many significant differences were found, but a factor analysis revealed that the variance on the 11 best tests could be accounted for in terms of two underlying variables. Factor I, the more important of the two, was associated with activity, habituation, and spontaneous alternation. Factor II appeared to represent a fear of new stimuli or situations. In both cases factor scores were highly related to the degree of otoconial deficiency. One subgroup of mice with severe otoconial agenesis displayed hyperactivity and a total absence of either habituation or spontaneous alternation. In these animals, brain and body development were stunted, and the reactions to amphetamine and physostigmine were opposite to those seen in normal mice. The results support the idea that the static organs contribute importantly to spatial orientation and suggest that early-onset vestibular defects can result in profound alterations of emotionality.     

Same-sex imitation of and reported agreement with parents and unfamiliar adults

Children aged 7, 10, and 14 were shown sets of photographs of human figures for each of which they made judgments of age or attractiveness. Randomly determined responses appeared under each set of photographs. Half the children were told the responses represented choices of parents and the other half that they represented choices of unfamiliar adults. After the opportunity to imitate, children were asked whom they thought they agreed with the most. Findings indicated only a small, borderline-significant effect for same-sex imitation, but a large, highly significant effect for reported agreement, particularly in the unfamiliar adult condition (p < .001). Discussion centered on two issues: (1) Same-sex effects appear strongest when the act of choosing between adults and the adults' gender are accentuated; and (2) differences between present and previous findings regarding same-sex effects for parents vs unfamiliar adults may relate to the ages of the children investigated.