The role of memory and integration in early time concepts

The nature of 5- to 8-year-old childrens ' time concepts was examined by analyzing two possible explanations for the greater difficulty children demonstrate in comparing durations that differ in beginning times as compared to those that differ in ending times. The explanations were (a) poor recall of beginnings as compared to endings due to their lower salience, (b) difficulty in integrating information from both points and reliance on endings only due to their greater salience. The subjects were 630 boys and girls from kindergarten to second grade. The children were presented with a series of two lights in different orders and combinations and were asked to compare order of beginnings and endings, and duration of the two lights. Results contradicted the memory explanation. In addition, repetitious questioning about order of one point (beginning or ending) appeared to have shifted children's attention from that point to the complementary point. Possible sources of children's failure to integrate beginning and end points when comparing durations were discussed.     

Exposure and communications training in the treatment of agoraphobia

Twenty-one agoraphobics participated in a 6-month study designed to (a) compare imaginal flooding under high- (no sedation) and low- (sedation used) anxiety conditions: (b) examine the long-term effects of imaginal flooding in the absence of further exposure treatment; and (c) explore the impact of communications training on chronic anxiety and panic attacks. A reevaluation of the effects of sedation is presented in this report.Imaginal flooding without sedation was, on the whole, superior to the attention control placebo and imaginal flooding with sedation on therapists' and clients' ratings of fear and avoidance. However, the superiority of the non-drug flooding group cannot be attributed (as was concluded in an earlier report) to higher levels of anxiety across flooding sessions. Rather the drug (methohexitone sodium) appears to have impeded across-session habituation, perhaps by interfering with long-term memorial processes.The effects of imaginal flooding without sedation were stable over 4 months without further exposure treatment. These clients did receive training in solving important interpersonal problems through self monitoring and increased expressiveness. Contrary to hypotheses, not only was no further improvement obtained on fear and avoidance with this treatment, but also anxious mood and panic attacks remained unaffected. It is surprising to note that in-vivo treatment was no more effective than imaginal flooding on fear and avoidance. These and other findings suggest imaginal flooding well warrants further study.     

Family interaction and the course of adolescent psychopathology: An analysis of adolescent and parent effects

This study focused on evaluating the utility of three family measures for predicting outcome in a sample of disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents: (a) the affective quality of the adolescents' voice tone when communicating with his/her parents; (b) the predominant affective quality of the parents' voice tones when communicating with the adolescent, and (c) the affective quality of the content of the parents' verbalizations to the adolescent. These measures were derived from 5-minute face to face discussions between parents and their disturbed adolescent. Results indicated that adolescents using positive or neutral voice tones during emotionally laden discussions with their parents tended to show relatively adequate levels of psychosocial adjustment as young adults, while adolescents using exclusively negative voice tones tended to show sufficient adjustment difficulties in early adulthood to warrant diagnoses within the extended schizophrenia spectrum. Although adolescent voice tone was associated with outcome, considering both adolescent and parent affective response led to improved prediction, with consideration of adolescent and parent variables leading to accurate prediction of outcome for 30 of the 33 sample cases.     

A microcomputer interface to control reinforcement delivery

A method for interfacing a PET microcomputer to an operant arena is described.     

An operant arena for rats

A multiunit operant arena for the study of dispersion patterns in rats is described. Lawful relationships between the spatiotemporal organization of the group and reinforcement schedules have been found. The scientific and humanistic advantages of the system are discussed.     

Chronic effects of high salt intake and conflict stress on blood pressure in primates. A progress report.

The effects of combined behavioral stress and high dietary salt on blood pressure were examined in baboons (N = 4) over the course of 1 year. Either high salt diet (240 mEq Na+/day) or conflict stress were administered for 8 to 16 weeks, followed by high salt intake and stress combined. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased by 8 mmHg during high dietary salt alone, by 4 mmHg during stress alone, and increased further to 14 mmHg above baseline during combined salt and stress. Control baboons (N = 2) had no change in MAP across 47 weeks. The data indicate additive effects of chronic high dietary salt intake and behavioral stress on blood pressure in non-human primates.     

Doctoring medicine: Reading between the lines of drug advertisements

With the aid of techniques of art and literary criticism, I investigate the ideological function of drug advertisements. I propose that the deleterious effects of advertising practices on medical care extend well beyond the usual level of critical awareness of physicians.     

Chronic effects of high salt intake and conflict stress on blood pressure in primates

The effects of combined behavioral stress and high dietary salt on blood pressure were examined in baboons (N=4) over the course of 1 year. Either high salt diet (240 mEq Na⁺/day) or conflict stress were administered for 8 to 16 weeks, followed by high salt intake and stress combined. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased by 8 mmHg during high dietary salt alone, by 4 mmHg during stress alone, and increased further to 14 mmHg above baseline during combined salt and stress. Control baboons (N=2) had no change in MAP across 47 weeks. The data indicate additive effects of chronic high dietary salt intake and behavioral stress on blood pressure in non-human primates.