The effects of videotape modeling on staff acquisition of functional analysis methodology

Lectures and two types of video modeling were compared to determine their relative effectiveness in training 3 staff members to conduct functional analysis sessions. Video modeling that contained a larger number of therapist exemplars resulted in mastery-level performance eight of the nine times it was introduced, whereas neither lectures nor partial video modeling produced significant improvements in performance. Results demonstrated that video modeling provided an effective training strategy but only when a wide range of exemplars of potential therapist behaviors were depicted in the videotape.     

Error and bias in comparative judgment: on being both better and worse than we think we are

People believe that they are better than others on easy tasks and worse than others on difficult tasks. In previous attempts to explain these better-than-average and worse-than-average effects, researchers have invoked bias and motivation as causes. In this article, the authors develop a more parsimonious account, the differential information explanation, in which it is assumed only that people typically have better information about themselves than they do about others. When one's own performance is exceptional (either good or bad), it is often reasonable to assume others' will be less so. Consequently, people estimate the performance of others as less extreme (more regressive) than their own. The result is that people believe they are above average on easy tasks and below average on difficult tasks. These effects are exacerbated when people have accurate information about their performances, increasing the natural discrepancy between knowledge of the self and knowledge of others. The effects are attenuated when people obtain accurate information about the performances of others.     

Overgeneral autobiographical memory and traumatic events: an evaluative review

Does trauma exposure impair retrieval of autobiographical memories? Many theorists have suggested that the reduced ability to access specific memories of life events, termed overgenerality, is a protective mechanism helping attenuate painful emotions associated with trauma. The authors addressed this question by reviewing 24 studies that assessed trauma exposure and overgenerality, examining samples with posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, depression, traumatic event exposure, and other clinical disorders. Limitations are discussed, including variations in assessment of events, depression, and overgenerality and the need for additional comparison groups. Across studies, there was no consistent association between trauma exposure and overgenerality, suggesting that trauma exposure is unlikely to be the primary mechanism leading to overgenerality. Instead, psychopathology factors such as depression and posttraumatic stress appear to be more consistently associated with overgenerality. Alternative overgenerality theories may help identify key overgenerality mechanisms, improving current understanding of autobiographical memory processes underlying psychopathology.     

Is the mind inherently forward looking? Comparing prediction and retrodiction

It has been suggested that prediction may be an organizing principle of the mind and/or the neocortex, with cognitive machinery specifically engineered to detect forward-looking temporal relationships, rather than merely associating temporally contiguous events. There is a remarkable absence of behavioral tests of this idea, however. To address this gap, we showed subjects sequences of shapes governed by stochastic Markov processes, and then asked them to choose which shape reliably came after a probe shape (prediction test) or before a probe shape (retrodiction test). Prediction was never superior to retrodiction, even when subjects were forewarned of a forward-directional test.     

The development of prudence in the face of varying future rewards

The choice to delay gratification, opting for a greater reward later instead of a smaller reward now, has been used as a measure of preschoolers' ability to make future-oriented decisions. The present studies investigated to what extent these choice tasks reflect children's ability to make choices in favour of their future self. In Experiment 1, preschoolers were presented with choices between a smaller immediate reward of one sticker and larger delayed rewards varying in amount from two to five stickers. Whereas 3-year-olds showed no increased tendency to choose the delayed option as quantity increased from two to five, 4-year-olds' future-oriented choices reflected the value of the delayed reward. In Experiment 2, preschoolers chose between immediate and delayed rewards that were equal in amount and varied between one and four stickers. Three-year-olds reliably chose the immediate reward and showed no differentiation among rewards, whereas 4-year-olds chose in a manner that suggested they were trying to satisfy both immediate and future desires. Together these results support the notion that future-oriented prudence reflects growth in concern for the future self.     

Children's Moral Evaluations of Ecological Damage: The Effect of Biocentric and Anthropocentric Intentions1

Moral evaluations of ecologically damaging events were studied in 5^th, 8^th, and 11^th graders and college students (N = 246). Participants made 4 kinds of judgments about 2 scenarios: decision rightness, damage rightness, blame of the decision maker, and blame of the agents causing the damage. In both scenarios, the decision maker's intentions varied (biocentric vs. anthropocentric) as did the damage severity. Overall, participants' judgments were less harsh when the decision maker had biocentric intentions and when the damage was less severe. However, there were age differences in use of intentions to judge decision rightness. The proposition that judgments of blame of the decision maker should be a joint function of decision and damage rightness was also supported.     

“Outsiders”: How some counselling psychologists construct themselves

The identity of counselling psychology in Britain is still developing. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of what counselling psychology is through an analysis of discourses that practitioners draw on when talking about their work. Drawing on data from interviews with eight practicing counselling psychologists, we identity a “maverick” repertoire and examine how it is used by the participants. This repertoire is used to characterize counselling psychology as occupying a position outside established schools of psychological therapy. We also identify how the maverick/outsider repertoire provides solutions to problems of internal consistency within counselling psychology. We discuss implications for the future and the importance of self-awareness for the profession.     

Fairness in Children's Resource Allocation Depends on the Recipient

ABSTRACT— Sixty-six children between 4.5 and 6 years of age were tested in a resource-allocation game with three different recipients. When the recipient was a friend, children made equitable decisions and shared as much when there was a cost to themselves as when there was no cost. When the recipient was another familiar child who was not a friend, children were less likely to allocate resources to that child. When the recipient was a stranger, children allocated resources as much as with a friend and more than with a nonfriend when there was no cost to themselves. However, when there was a cost to themselves, children treated strangers like nonfriends. These results show that resource-allocation decisions made by young children depend on the recipient. Young children prefer equitable division of resources with friends, treat nonfriends less well, and make prosocial moves with strangers when the cost to self is not high.     

SOME EFFECTS OF PROCEDURAL VARIATIONS ON CHOICE RESPONDING IN CONCURRENT CHAINS

The present research used pigeons in a three‐key operant chamber and varied procedural features pertaining to both initial and terminal links of concurrent chains. The initial links randomly alternated on the side keys during a session, while the terminal links always appeared on the center key. Both equal and unequal initial‐link schedules were employed, with either differential or nondifferential terminal‐link stimuli across conditions. The research was designed to neutralize initial‐ and terminal‐link spatial cues in order to gain a clearer understanding of the roles of conditioned reinforcement and delayed primary reinforcement in choice. With both equal and unequal initial links and with differential terminal‐link stimuli, all pigeons reliably preferred the chain with the shorter terminal link. However, with equal initial links and nondifferential stimuli, all pigeons were indifferent. With unequal initial links and nondifferential stimuli, some pigeons were also indifferent, while others actually reversed and preferred the chain with the shorter initial link, even though it was followed by the longer terminal link. The decrease if not reversal of the previous preferences implies that preferences in concurrent chains are a function of the conditioned reinforcement afforded by terminal‐link stimuli, rather than delayed primary reinforcement.