Dual effects of response blocking following avoidance learning

It was shown that either enhanced or decreased avoidance responding by rats could be produced by the same response blocking procedure occurring after avoidance training. The particular result produced depended on (1) the duration of the blocking trial and (2) when during the retention interval the blocking trial occurred. Results were interpreted in terms of a memory reactivation explanation and implications for the therapeutic uses of extinction were discussed.     

New assessment systems for residential treatment,management, research,and evaluation: A symposium

An introduction and overview are presented to new observational assessment systems for ongoing assessment and monitoring of both staff and resident (client or patient) functioning in residential treatment programs for emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded adults.Preparation of articles and the research and development on which the articles are based was supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from the Joyce Foundation and the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.A symposium presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979.     

Systems use to objectify program evaluation,clinical, and management decisions

The utility of the observational assessment systems at different levels — from local clinical to systemwide management — is outlined. An overview is provided of TSBC information applied to individualized problem identification and programming/monitoring, discharge and competency determinations, and both absolute and comparative program evaluation. The utility of SRIC information for prgoramming/monitoring and for staff training and evaluation is outlined in addition to the applied uses of the information of the assessment systems in combination. Once implemented, the continuous data from the systems allow for empirically based self-corrective improvements in the quality of mental health services while automatically providing a basis for legal documentation and accurate cost/effectiveness comparisons of mental health programs.Preparation of this article and the research and development on which the article is based were supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from The Joyce Foundation and the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.Presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979, as part of a symposium on New assessment systems for residential treatment, management, research, and evaluation.     

Flooding therapy: Effectiveness,stimulus characteristics,and the value of brief in vivo exposure

Three analogue experiments examined flooding therapy. Experiment 1 showed that flooding was more effective than standardized desensitization in reducing snake phobia. Experiment 2 examined three different modes of presenting the feared stimuli in flooding: taped auditory presentation, pictorial presentation, and a combination of these two. An additional combination group were given a brief in vivo exposure to the feared object immediately after each of three treatment sessions. Both a behavioral test and subjective estimates of fear showed advantages for the combined group that had the in vivo exposure, although it appeared that auditory instructions to imagine interaction with the snake was the best method for presenting the feared stimuli. Experiment 3 compared the auditory imagined method with and without ‘aversive’ or ‘implosive’ scenes, and with either an immediate or a delayed in vivo exposure. The only procedure to produce marked effects was the one that omitted ‘aversive’ scenes and provided immediate post-treatment in vivo exposure.     

A biphasic 60-Hz synchronizer circuit for the recording of visually evoked responses in high-noise environments

A simple synchronizer clock circuit is described that aids in the rejection of 60-Hz noise from evoked potential measurements.     

Measuring circadian cycles: A simple temperature recording preparation

While measurement of temperature as an index of circadian rhythmicity is not a difficult task with infrahuman subjects, long-term monitoring of deep body temperature with human subjects poses numerous measurement and safety problems. A preparation is described that is highly accurate, inexpensive, chronic, comfortable, and eliminates safety problems associated with more traditional methods of temperature measurement.     

Sex characteristics,task clarity,and authority

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sexual stereotyping on the exercise of authority. The hypotheses were that the sexual composition of the group affects the authority behavior of group leaders when the task has low clarity but that sex characteristics have no effect on authority behavior when the task has high clarity. These predictions were expected to hold both in situations where there is a direct association between sex and the task ability and in situations where no such connection is established. As predicted, no significant difference was found in the number of high control acts made by male and female leaders in the high task clarity conditions, even when sex was directly related to the task ability. Also as hypothesized, sex effects did operate strongly in the low task clarity conditions. Male leaders made significantly more high control acts than female leaders, even in conditions where no prior relation was established between sex and the task ability. Thus, these results indicate that the effect of sex characteristics on the exercise of authority is enhanced in low task clarity situations and is neutralized in high task clarity situations.A preliminary version of this paaper was presented at the West Coast Conference for Small Group Research, San Francisco, California, April 24, 1974. We would like to acknowledge the comments made by Anne McMahon and Mary Walshok and the research assistance provided by Sue Aldrich, Patti Baird, Jim Hart, Debbie Jones, Glenn Kassel, Jane Morrison, Karen Scheblein, and Kay Smith.     

Children's attention to stimulus components with variation in relative salience of components and degree of stimulus integration

A total of 400 children at ages 5, 9, and 12 years were given a component selection task with stimuli differing in color and shape. Relative salience of these two stimulus components was manipulated across subjects in two ways: the standard shapes and colors from previous studies were compared with standard shapes in fluorescent colors, and the latter materials were compared with nonsense shapes in fluorescent colors. While fluorescence of color had little effect, the replacement of standard shapes with nonsense figures caused attention to be redirected from shape to color as the primary cue for learning. This effect was more pronounced at age 9 than at age 5. Apparently there is a greater tendency for older than for younger children to withdraw attention from a normally dominant component such as shape, when it is advantageous to adopt another feature such as color as the primary functional cue. An additional variable was integration of components (color within shape vs color as background for shape). Integration produced generally greater attention to color but did not affect the general pattern of salience effects.