Single-gender group psychotherapy: A “women's group” for adolescent inpatients

This paper describes an attempt at forming and conducting a unique single-gender psychotherapy group with severely disturbed female adolescents on a long-term, psychotherapeutically oriented co-ed inpatient unit. The focus of this group was assisting the female patients in negotiating the tasks and conflicts specific to their gender and developmental stage. The therapeutic approach and the role of female coleaders are described, emphasizing particular modifications made to meet the needs of this group. Clinical examples are offered to high-light salient group themes of identity formation and separation and individuation. Finally, group therapeutic factors specifically enhanced by single gender membership are discussed and observations regarding the group/milieu interface are explored.     

The effect of subject's gender on judgments of similarity and choice of a comparison other

This study examined the implications for social comparison theory of the proposition that women have lower self-confidence than men when there is a socially defined standard of performance. To this end, it was hypothesized that women would judge themselves to be similar to a lower ranked person, whereas men would judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that women would choose to see a score lower than their own, whereas men would choose to see a score higher than their own. The results on the measure of similarity indicated that men did judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person, whereas women showed no consistent preferences in their judgments of similarity. The results on the choice of a comparison other were not as clear-cut.     

On neurotransmitter mechanisms of reinforcement and internal inhibition

Experiments reported in this study have been performed in order to investigate cholinergic and GABA-ergic neurotransmitter systems and substance P in the realization of internal inhibition and pain reinforcement. This was accomplished during the elaboration of inhibitory and defensive conditioned reflexes to light flashes in alert, nonimmobilized rabbits. Present results together with a review of past research indicate that the cholinergic system is directly involved in transmitting the effects of pain reinforcement to neocortical neurons. Substance P, a neuropeptide, reduces the background activity of neocortical and hippocampol neurons and the response of cortical neurons to pain and positive conditioned stimuli. The cholinergic system and substance P exert a modulating effect on the elaboration of internal inhibition. Phenybut, a GABA derivative capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier, enhances inhibitory hyperpolarization in the cerebral cortex and improves discrimination between the inhibitory and reinforcing light flashes. It appears, therefore, that the GABA-ergic system plays a leading part in the elaboration of internal inhibition. Neuronal activity and slow potential changes in response to positive conditioned and pain stimuli occur in the same direction after administering the preparations, and the dynamics of these changes is different from that in responses to inhibitory stimuli. It may be supposed on these grounds that the neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems studied possess a considerable degree of plasticity.     

Science as a justification for psychology as a social institution

Psychology seeks to justify its claims to privilege as a social institution largely on the basis of its scientific knowledge claims. These knowledge claims tend to be based on, and to reflect a particular view about the nature of science which is under increasing challenge. This situation is discussed and some of its implications examined.     

The effects of ethanol intoxication on phobic anxiety

Behavioral conceptions of alcohol abuse often include the hypothesis that drinking behavior is a negatively reinforced operant, with ethanol intoxication viewed as alleviating aversive environmental and internal states. This hypothesis has not been confirmed or refuted by previous studies which employed mild stressors and limited assessment methodology. In the present experiment, 22 patients with severe phobias approached their phobic animal under two consecutive conditions—first while sober and second after drinking either a placebo or an intoxicating dose of ethanol. The severe anxiety induced was assessed behaviorally, physiologically and by the patient's self-report of fear. The intoxicated patients did not experience decreased anxiety, tachycardia or avoidance, compared to the placebo group. These results have clinical implications and suggest the need to reconsider tension-reduction theories of alcohol abuse.     

A word’s meaning affects the decision in lexical decision

The influence of an isolated word’s meaning on lexical decision reaction time (RT) was demonstrated through four experiments. Subjects in two experiments made lexical decision judgments, those in a third experiment pronounced the words used in the lexical decision task, and those in a fourth experiment quickly pronounced their first associative response to the words. Differences in lexical access time for the words were measured with the pronunciation task, and differences in meaning were assessed with the association task. Multiple regression analyses of lexical decision RT were conducted using associative RT, pronunciation RT, and other target word properties (printed frequency, length, instance dominance, and number of dictionary meanings) as predictor variables. These analyses revealed a relationship between lexical decision RT and associative RT after the effects of other variables had been partialed out. In addition, word frequency continued to have a significant relationship to lexical decision RT beyond that shared with pronunciation RT and the other variables. The results of these experiments indicate that at least some of the effect of word meaning and word frequency in lexical decision is attributable to a decision stage following lexical access.     

An individualized regression and clustering assessment of the social values of adults and children

Research investigating social values in interdependency situations has generally demonstrated age differences across the 5- to 10-year-old age range. However, the precise nature of these differences is unclear. Further, the differences in the social values of adults and children has not been addressed. The present study examined the social values of undergraduates and children using a measurement technique designed to allow an accurate inference of social values. Ninety-one 6- to 10-year-old children and 100 undergraduates rated the desirability of a set of outcomes which systematically varied with regard to the benefits to themselves and another person. Theoretically specified characteristics of the outcomes were then used to generate a regression equation predicting the desirability ratings separately for each individual. These regression equations were then clustered into groups of individuals who used decision rules characteristic of the major social values. The results indicate that the 8- to 10-year-old children, compared to the 6- to 7-year olds, more often expressed a social value involving equality and tended to less often express a social value involving superiority. Comparison of the social values expressed by the children and adults indicated that the adults more often expressed group-enhancement and individualism social values and less often expressed a social value involving superiority.     

Postsurgical enrichment aids adult hemidecorticate rats on a spatial navigation task

The effect of environmental enrichment on normal rats, rats that received hemidecortication at birth, and rats that received hemidecortication when adult was studied in the Morris water task, which is a spatial navigation task requiring the use of distal cues for successful performance. Enrichment was achieved by housing the rats for 90 days in a large outdoor compound that was designed to model a natural environment. Adult hemidecorticated lab-raised rats were severely impaired in the acquisition of the task but neonatally hemidecorticated rats, although also impaired, showed significant sparing. Postsurgical, but not presurgical, enrichment of adult hemidecorticated rats significantly enhanced their recovery. Enrichment had little effect on neonatally decorticated rats or on normal rats. Although there were no gross anatomical changes associated with enrichment, the paradigm provides both a robust phenomena and a cortically dependent task that is ideal for investigating the processes in the remaining intact hemisphere that must support recovery.     

Nonsexist curricula,sex of teacher,and children's sex-role learning

This study examined the impact of nonsexist curricula and teacher's sex on children's sex role learning. Thirty-two boys and 32 girls, aged three to five, were equally divided among four programs: nonsexist curriculum, female director; nonsexist curriculum, male director; control curriculum, female director; and control curriculum, male director. Sex role discrimination and preference were measured at the beginning and end of a six-month period. Exposure to the nonsexist curriculum produced significantly greater reductions in sex stereotyping on all measures than exposure to the control curriculum. Moreover, children in the male-directed nonsexist program displayed greater decreases in stereotypic knowledge and preference for sex-typed children's activities than those in the female-directed nonsexist program, while children in the male-directed control program showed more stereotypic increases on these measures than their counterparts in the female-directed control program. Finally, children under the direction of an opposite-sex teacher exhibited less stereotypic changes in preference for adult activities than children under the direction of a same-sex teacher. Implications for early childhood programs are discussed.This research was partially supported by an Oregon State University Foundation grant from the Shell Foundation and a grant from the Milne Computer Center.