Expectation and autokinesis

The reported direction of autokinesis for naive observers is not biased by gaze deviations of 22.5 deg of arc. However, instructions to expect either “inward” or “outward” movement produce reports of autokinetic movement that are progressively biased in the expected direction. Instructions to expect “more” or “less” movement resulted in a decrease in the reported duration of apparent movement for the “less” group but no change for the “more” group. Response bias is not considered to play a role in these results. The results are discussed in terms of fixational bias and selective attention mechanisms of autokinesis.     

Scaling apparent distance in a large open field: some new data

Judged distance in a large open field, scaled by the method of magnitude estimation, is related to physical distance by a power function with an exponent smaller than unity. The exponents obtained with two ranges of distance were not affected by the availability of a standard. The mean exponent for all 80 individual power functions was 0.86, with a standard deviation of 0.11.     

Quantitative amino acid determination in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid in endogenous depressions

The levels of 20 amino acids were measured in the plasma and cerbrospinal fluid of 41 patients with endogenic depressions. The plasma levels of 12 amino acids were found to be significantly lower in the patients than in the control group, but cerebrospinal fluid levels were significantly lower only in the case of taurine, glutamine, phenylalanine and aginine. Comparison of the same amino acid levels in treated and non-treated patients showed that serine and alpha-aminobutyric acid serum concentrations were higher in the nontreated patients. The tyrosine and phenylalanine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of the patients who had received medicamentous treatment were higher than in the other group.     

On the conflict between logic and belief in syllogistic reasoning

Three experiments are reported that investigate the weighting attached to logic and belief in syllogistic reasoning. Substantial belief biases were observed despite controls for possible conversions of the premises. Equally substantial effects of logic were observed despite controls for two possible response biases. A consistent interaction between belief and logic was also recorded; belief bias was more marked on invalid than on valid syllogisms. In all experiments, verbal protocols were recorded and analyzed. These protocols are interpreted in some cases as providing rationalizations for prejudiced decisions and, in other cases, as reflecting a genuine process of premise to conclusion reasoning. In the latter cases, belief bias was minimal but still present. Similarly, even subjects who focus primarily on the conclusion are influenced to an extent by the logic. Thus a conflict between logic and belief is observed throughout, but at several levels of extent.     

Central auditory processing : III. The “cocktail party” effect and anterior temporal lobectomy

The capacity to selectively attend to only one of multiple, spatially separated, simultaneous sound sources—the “cocktail party” effect—was evaluated in normal subjects and in those with anterior temporal lobectomy using common environmental sounds. A significant deficit in this capacity was observed for those stimuli located on the side of space contralateral to the lobectomy, a finding consistent with the hypothesis that within each anterior temporal lobe is a mechanism that is normally capable of enhancing the perceptual salience of one acoustic stimulus on the opposite side of space, when other sound sources are present on that side. Damage to this mechanism also appears to be associated with a deficit of spatial localization for sounds contralateral to the lesion.     

Alcoholics in inpatient,short-term interactional group psychotherapy: an outcome study

The differential outcome of 100 psychiatric inpatients distinguished by the presence/absence of secondary alcoholism was examined in shortterm closed group psychotherapy. Alcoholics did not differ from the general sample in outcome, but displayed distinct active/aggressive personality features. Group outcome was not affected by the presence/absence of alcoholic members.     

The influence of psychoticism and extraversion on classical eyelid conditioning using a paraorbital shock UCS

An experiment is described in which the effects of Psychoticism and Extraversion on classical eyelid conditioning were examined using a balanced design involving two levels of paraorbital shock intensity and two levels of response threshold. Questionnaire measures of Anxiety and Impulsivity were also analysed together with subjective ratings of the UCS. Results were broadly consistent with Eysenck's personality theory in that subjects scoring high on Psychoticism demonstrated lower levels of conditioning.     

Overcoming Obstacles to the Growth and Development of Guidance and Counseling in Thailand

Suggestions are presented for overcoming traditional customs and governmental problems that are currently obstacles to the growth and development of guidance and counseling in Thailand.     

Participation by women in behavior analysis

The participation of women in behavior analysis as authors of articles published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), as members of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), and as contributors to the 1982 ABA convention was examined. Since the inception of JEAB and JABA, men have appeared as authors far more frequently than women, although women have published relatively more frequently in the latter journal than in the former. Across years, there has been an upward trend in the proportion of JEAB authors who are female; this is not the case for all JABA authors, although it does hold for senior authors. In 1980-1981 and 1981-1982, females represented approximately half of ABA's student and affiliate members but less than a third of its full members. Approximately a third of the contributors to posters and symposia and a seventh of those delivering invited addresses at the 1982 ABA convention were women.     

Tailoring sex-education programs to adolescents--a strategy for the primary prevention of unwanted adolescent pregnancies

The data for this paper were derived from 88 unstructured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of adolescents from September 1978 through July 1979. We content analyzed all interview abstracts with particular emphasis on the comments and suggestions made by adolescents in regard to sex education in order to ascertain their needs. Three areas in need of immediate revision were identified--curriculum, format, and lecturer. Respondents also provided a variety of suggestions which can be used by educators and planners in developing and implementing sex-education programs; thereby making programs sensitive to the expressed needs and wants of adolescents. This qualitative study supports the findings of many quantitative studies which found that many adolescents do not have, yet want, sensitive sex-education programs.