The Use of Contextual Information by Right Brain-Damaged Individuals in the Resolution of Ambiguous Pronouns

Two experiments were conducted with the primary purpose of investigating the ability of right brain-damaged (RBD) individuals to use contextual information—at the level of the single sentence, in terms of the integration of information between clauses, and at the level of a minimal discourse (i.e., two sentences)—in the resolution of ambiguous pronouns. The investigation was extended to a group of left brain-damaged (LBD) and non-brain-damaged (NBD) individuals. Contrary to the prevailing view that RBD patients have difficulty in the use of contextual information to process language, both experiments were consistent in demonstrating that the RBD group was influenced by contextual information in a manner similar to that demonstrated by both the LBD and NBD groups.     

Codependency: An interpersonal phenomenon

An alternative perspective to the clinical model of codependency is that codependency is contextual and reflects inequality within a relationship. This study examined whether the evaluation of codependent behavior depends on the context of the relationship, i.e., the reciprocity of the person’s partner, and the gender of the stimulus person (SP). College students (N=302, 46% non-Caucasian) read one of six scenarios in which the codependent SP’s behavior was held constant but the reciprocity of the partner and the gender of the SP were varied. The stimulus person and her/his relationship were rated significantly more healthy in the reciprocal condition than in the nonreciprocal or control conditions, but a better partner in the nonreciprocal condition. Codependent female SPs were judged less healthy but better partners than codependent male SPs. Judgments of codependent behavior and persons are contextual in nature, may reflect inequality within relationships, and to some extent, depend upon the gender of the codependent person.     

Predictors of Rape Occurrence and Victim Blame in the William Kennedy Smith Case

In an attempt to understand the bases of rape attributions in the well-publicized accusation of rape against William Kennedy Smith in 1991, background and attitudinal variables were used to predict 277 college students' beliefs that a rape had occurred, and their extent of victim blame prior to his rape trial. Gender differences were found in the belief that a rape had occurred and in victim blame, but were no longer significant when combined with other predictors in a regression equation. Among women, no significant predictors of rape occurrence emerged, whereas for men, political affiliation (Democrats more than Republicans) and ethnicity (people of color more than whites) predicted the belief that a rape had occurred. Belief in victim precipitation of rape strongly predicted victim blame in the Smith case. These findings reinforce the significance of victim-precipitation beliefs in blaming date-rape victims and the probable role of these myths in keeping date rape a hidden crime.     

The spiritual dynamics of chronic post traumatic stress disorder

Although there have been numerous articles and books written about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), relatively little has been written about the spiritual dynamics of this disorder. The authors of this article suggest that the spiritual components of PTSD should be addressed in treatment because they may have profound impact on chronic PTSD patients. A framework for treatment involving eight Rs—Risking and Revealing, Responding and Releasing, Reflecting and Reconciling, and Resurrecting and Rebuilding—is described.J. LeBron McBride, Ph.D. is Coordinator of Behavioral Science and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the Georgia Baptist Family Practice Residency Program in Morrow, Georgia. Gloria Armstrong, M.Div., M.A. is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and Professional Counselor and works at the Pastoral Institute in Columbus, Georgia.     

Beyond belief bias: Reasoning from conceptual structures by mental models manipulation

Mental models constitute an alternative to the rule-based systems in the explanation of human reasoning (Johnson-Laird, 1983). In this paper, we claim that the concept of believability generally used to categorize content and context effects is of little use within a semantic theory. Thus, we propose the use of categories that are directly extracted from subjective relations among concepts within the reasoning problem. We demonstrate that manipulations based on this kind of categorization produce predictable patterns of responses in reasoning problems. We present two experiments to test our predictions, using conditional and syllogistic reasoning problems, and in both cases, we demonstrate the influence of conceptual knowledge not only in natural contexts, but also in experimentally created artificial contexts.     

Depression in children: Parent,teacher, and child perspectives

Depressed and nondepressed children were found to differ in the types of behavior problems manifested at home and at school. Children rated as depressed by their parents on the Personality Inventory for Children evidenced significantly more conduct problems, anxiety, impulsive hyperactivity, learning problems, psychosomatic problems, perfectionism, and muscular tension at home than children rated as nondepressed. Depressed children were rated by their teachers as displaying more inattentionpassivity than nondepressed children. A significant but modest relationship was found between parent report and child selfreport of the child's depression. Depressed children attributed positive events to external causes and negative events to internal causes significantly more than did nondepressed children. The specificity of these results to depression was also examined;the particular features of childhood depression are compared to the features of adult depression. The investigators would like to thank Jim McFerren and Ralph Zalazar for their work as research assistants and David Watson for his help with the statistical analyses. The helpful comments of Eric Klinger and Auke Tellegen are gratefully acknowledged. The cooperation of Dr. Loren Benson, director of personnel services of the Hopkins School District #274; Mr. Edward Ryshavy, principal of Glen Lake Elementary School; and the teachers of that school is greatly appreciated.     

Biculturalism,Locus of Control,and Leader Behavior in Ethnically Mixed Small Groups1

The study examined the interactive effects of degree of biculturalism and locus of control on leader behavior in supportive and nonsupportive ethnically mixed small groups. Subjects were 36 male Chicano college students who participated in a small group discussion composed of four members: a naive subject who invariably served as group leader, and three confederates representing distinct ethnic groups (Anglo, Black, and Chicano). Behavioral observations revealed several interesting interactions involving group support. High biculturals, in comparison to low biculturals, adopted a more active leader role in nonsupportive than in supportive groups, asking for more opinions and evaluations, and making more clarification statements. Furthermore, while low bicultural externals and high bicultural internals tended to be more interpersonally assertive and to make more clarification statements under supportive conditions, it was low bicultural internals and high bicultural externals who exhibited the most active leader roles in nonsupportive groups. Additional findings revealed that statements made by the Anglo confederate were clarified more often in the supportive condition, while statements made by either the Black or the Chicano confederate were clarified more often in the nonsupportive condition. The results are discussed in relation to previous literature and the need to develop a more responsive social psychology of interethnic dynamics.     

Career decision making and interview frequency

A survey of one university's graduates in 1971 and an analysis of its student case notes in 1973 indicated a relationship between level of indecision, frequency of careers advisory interviews, and ability to make an early career choice. In 1974, therefore, one of the two careers advisers responsible for arts students adopted a policy — with those students whose career choice seemed uncertain at first interview — of agreeing appropriate short-term goals and arranging a follow-up interview. In 1975 both arts advisers adopted this method, restricting single interviews to those who had initially expressed clearly-defined career goals, and significant increase in early decisions was achieved. The importance of early decisions is discussed in relationship to job opportunities and student satisfaction.