Ethology and psychoanalysis

Ethology has sometimes been considered a distant, perhaps quaint discipline which on occasion has peripherally enriched psychoanalysis. In contrast to this, it is suggested that the evolution of ethology, which is barely seventy years old, has, to a remarkable extent, mirrored the development of psychoanalysis. A comparison is made between the classical instinct concept in psychoanalysis and the classical ethological concept of instinct; and a parallel between the fate of the concept in each discipline is drawn. It is further suggested that the dialectical relationship and complementary evolution between ethology and psychoanalysis stems from both disciplines having introduced into an explanatory model of human behavior an element that was innate, instinctual, genetic—in short, biological.     

Effects of a school-based cognitive-behavioral intervention for ADHD children

Two variations of school-based cognitive-behavioral training (CBT) program were compared to each other and to a waiting-list control condition in the treatment of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The experimental interventions included a multicomponent condition that provided coordinated training programs for parents, teachers, and children and a teacher-only condition that offered training for classroom teachers only. Evaluation of outcome occurred at pre-intervention, post-intervention and at 6-week followup periods. Depedent measures included classroom behavior observations, teacher ratings of child behavior, child self-report, and teacher ratings of adjustment. The multicomponent CBT condition was significantly better than the other conditions at improving observed off-task/disruptive behavior at post-test. This improvement was maintained at followup, although treatment condition differences were no longer significant. There were no treatment condition differences on any other measures at postintervention or followup. It was concluded that the intervention had minimal short-term effects on the ADHD children. The results are discussed within the context of several methodological limitations of the study which serve as proposals for continued research in this area.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of the faculty and staff at Echo Park, Cedar Park and Westview Elementary Schools (Rosemount, MN, Independent School District), and the parents and children who participated in this study. The authors would also like to extent special thanks to the principals of these schools, Mr. Robert Keaton, Mr. William Mack and Mr. Marvin Skinner, and the school psychologists servicing these schools, Ms. Sheila Peterson, Ms. Ann O'Brien, and Mr. Mark Kaloski, for their commitment and service to children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.     

Belief, knowledge, and uncertainty: A cognitive perspective on subjective probability

This paper presents a cognitive analysis of subjective probability judgments and proposes that these are assessments of belief-processing activities. The analysis is motivated by an investigation of the concepts of belief, knowledge, and uncertainty. Judgment and reasoning are differentiated, Toulmin's (1958) theory of argument being used to explicate the latter. The paper discusses a belief-processing model in which reasoning is used to translate data into conclusions, while judgmental processes qualify those conclusions with degrees of belief. The model sheds light on traditional interpretations of probability and suggests that different characteristics of belief—likelihood and support—are addressed by different representational systems. In concluding, the paper identifies new lines of research implied by its analysis.     

Introduction: Special issue on behavioral neuropsychology

Dr. Horton's contribution was in his private capacity and was neither endorsed nor supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.     

An Approach to Teaching Ethics Courses in Human Services and Counseling

This article presents multiple facets of a team approach to teaching and facilitating an ethics course for undergraduate human services students and a graduate ethics course for students majoring in counseling. Starting with general points, this article describes a specific, week‐to‐week approach to a 1‐semester course, concluding with sample student evaluative comments and an experienced professor/author's processing of the experience of preparing and teaching this course for many years.     

Changes in maternal ratings of children's overt and covert antisocial behavior

Maternal ratings of overt and covert forms of aggression were collected for two samples of children ranging in age from 2 through 12 years. It was hypothesized that longitudinal analyses would show the slope scores for these two forms of aggression to be quite different from each other. The data were consistent with this hypothesis. An effort was made to find alternative explanations for the negative slope for overt antisocial behavior. Alternatively, it was hypothesized that the more extreme cases would not show this negative slope. It was also hypothesized that careful examination of intraindividual curves would identify a significant number of individuals growing from normal to clinical levels of overt antisocial behavior. The findings led to the rejection of both alternative hypotheses. It was hypothesized that overt and covert scores would correlate significantly for first grade boys. It was also assumed that both covert and overt scores would show moderate stability over the 5‐year interval. The findings were consistent with both of these hypotheses. Aggr. Behav. 00:1–12, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.