Clocking g: Relating intelligence and measures of timed performance

The relationships between intelligence test scores and measures derived from reaction time (RT) and perceptual speed procedures were investigated in 137 twelve-year-old students with IQs ranging from 59 to 142. A range of intelligence tests were used and the scores factor analyzed to produce general, spatial and verbal factors. Test and factor scores were correlated with perceptual speed and with measures taken from 2, 4, and 8 choice RT tasks using a response keyboard upon which the subject's fingers directly rested, thus avoiding interpretive problems associated with a “home key.” Inspection time correlated poorly with intelligence. Only three of the RT measures produced correlations greater than .25 with the general factor. These were the slope of Hick's law, B, (correlation −.28), the 8 choice mean RT, RT8, (−.33) and the 8 choice standard deviation, SD8 (−.41), compared with the average intercorrelation between the intelligence measures of .40. Test-retest correlations of the RT measures, taken over a year for half the subjects, were low as reliability measures, with .35 for B, .52 for RT8, and .48 for SD8. Correlations of RT measures with spatial scores were not significantly greater than with verbal scores, suggesting that whatever relationship exists is with a general factor rather than only a spatial one.     

Recognition memory for prose items in noise

Using a probe-recognition technique the signal detection theory parameters d' and Beta were estimated for three types of probe (common surnames, uncommon surnames and synonyms) for material contained in a prose passage. Subjects were presented with the prose passage either in the presence of noise (85dBA) or in quiet (60dBA). In two experiments the effects of noise on auditory and visual presentation of the passage were studied. In both cases the recognition test took place in quiet. Noise decreased values of Beta for rare names and increased Beta for common names in both auditory and visual versions of the task. Noise influenced d' values in the auditory version only, with d' increasing for common names in loud noise. The results support the view that noise influences performance by disturbing the pigeon-holing mechanism with the qualification that when material may not be recapitulated (as in the auditory presentation in the present study) greater attention may be allocated to easily recognizable material. The findings give little support to theories of noiseinduced deficits in performance based on the masking of inner speech.     

An evaluation of the effectiveness of a telephone counseling center

Three-thousand questionnaires were distributed to students on campus to identify a sample of actual telephone counseling center users and their ratings of the effectiveness of the help received and of the counselor. Ratings of help received and impact of counseling on life as it is today were considered for sex of caller and counselor across type of problem. A sample of 66 actual callers was identified who had used the service for personal problems at least once. Of male callers, 67% reported that telephone counseling helped at least somewhat, while 80% of female callers reported favorable results of telephone counseling. Female callers who talked with male counselors reported a significantly greater impact on their life than did the callers in any other caller/counselor sex interaction. Only one average rating of counseling effectiveness by problem type fell below the neutral rating. Results are presented as evidence for the effectiveness of paraprofessional counselors.     

Psychological well-being in great Britain: An evaluation of the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale

Analysis of the Affect Balance Scale using a representative national British sample (N = 932) confirms Bradburn's (1969) two-dimensional model of psychological well-being. Comparisons between the British results and data from the United States are found to yield largely similar results between socio-demographic variables and the two postulated dimensions of well-being: positive and negative affect. In addition, support is found for Bradburn's claim that the balance derived from summing scores on the positive and negative affect scales is a more powerful predictor of psychological well-being than either of the independent affect scales taken separately. Finally, the lack of account made of predisposing personality variables as potential predictors of well-being is discussed.     

“Strong objectivity”: A response to the new objectivity question

Where the old “objectivity question” asked, “Objectivity or relativism: which side are you on?”, the new one refuses this choice, seeking instead to bypass widely recognized problems with the conceptual framework that restricts the choices to these two. It asks, “How can the notion of objectivity be updated and made useful for contemporary knowledge-seeking projects?” One response to this question is the “strong objectivity” program that draws on feminist standpoint epistemology to provide a kind of logic of discovery for maximizing our ability to block “might makes right” in the sciences. It does so by delinking the neutrality ideal from standards for maximizing objectivity, since neutrality is now widely recognized as not only not necessary, not only not helpful, but, worst of all, an obstacle to maximizing objectivity when knowledge-distorting interests and values have constituted a research project. Strong objectivity provides a method for correcting this kind of situation. However, standpoint approaches have their own limitations which are quite different from the misreadings of them upon which most critics have tended to focus. Unfortunately, historically limited epistemologies and philosophies of science are all we get to choose from at this moment in history.     

Boundary Violations and the Psychoanalytic Training System

A number of features of psychoanalytic training contribute to boundary violations and their sequelae. Intergenerational transmission of sexual misconduct is well-known and often operates unconsciously in the generation inheriting the legacy. Idealization and loyalty are frequent components of collusion and cover-up when a senior member of an institute is sexually involved with a patient. Other factors include the unique features of the termination of training analysis, the compartmentalization required in analytic work, and the ambivalent attitude towards autonomy and consultation.     

PREFERRED CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND REDUCED PROBLEM BEHAVIORS IN STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

This research examined the relation between students' preferences for curricular activities and the occurrence of problem and desirable behaviors in 3 students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Activity preference was determined with a systematic assessment procedure. Subsequently, the influence of activity preference on student behavior was evaluated using a reversal design. Results showed that preferred activities were associated with reduced levels of problem behavior and increased levels of desirable behaviors. The findings of this investigation contribute to the applied literature on activity preference and suggest directions for future research in the areas of curriculum design, preference, and curricular modifications as a viable behavior-management strategy.     

The development of an autonomy scale

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and relaible instrument to measure four areas of autonomy. The instrument is composed of four subscales that measure the following constructs of autonomy: (a) family loyalty autonomy, (b) value autonomy, (c) emotional autonomy, and (d) behavioral autonomy. A detailed four-step procedure was used to provide the scale with construct, content, and predictive validity. Presented here is the four-stage process used to develop the Autonomy Scale, data supporting the validity and reliability of the scale, and the final version of the instrument.This article is based on dissertation research in partial fulfillment of degree requirements at Texas Woman's University.     

A BRIEF COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL TREATMENT PACKAGES IN AN OUTPATIENT CLINIC SETTING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to develop outpatient clinic assessments that allowed us to assess multiple treatment variables, produce relatively quick effects, and isolate active treatment components. Assessment began by evaluating a treatment package consisting of antecedent and consequence variables followed by a component analysis to determine the separate effects of the treatment variables. Three examples of the findings are presented.