A re-view of cognitive mediators in learned helplessness

The findings of Oakes and Curtis (1982), Tennen, Drum, Gillen, and Stanton (1982), and Tennen, Gillen, and Drum (1982) provide a challenge to learned helplessness theory's focus on cognitive mediators of the helplessness phenomenon. In response to these findings, Alloy (1982) argues that these studies do not challenge helplessness theory because they do not measure expected control and because they confuse necessary and sufficient causes of learned helplessness. Silver, Wortman, and Klos (1982) contend that these studies provide an inadequate test of the model because subjects are confronted with experiences which are unlike those in their natural environment. The present article argues that by Alloy's (1982) criteria, an adequate test of the learned helplessness model has not yet been conducted. Previous studies which measured expected control have not supported the model's predictions. Moreover, if perceived response–outcome independence is a sufficient, but not a necessary cause of learned helplessness, the model loses much of its heuristic value. In response to the argument that these studies lack ecological validity, this article clarifies the distinction between experimental realism and mundane realism. While real-world studies have discovered intriguing relations between perceptions of control, attributions, and coping with illness or victimization, they have not tested predictions of the learned helplessness model.     

Competition among auditory streaming,dichotic fusion,and diotic fusion

When a component of a complex tone is captured into a stream by other events that precede and follow it, it does not fuse with the other components of the complex tone but tends to to be heard as a separate event. The current study examined the ability of elements of a stream to resist becoming fused with other synchronous events, heard either in the same ear or at the opposite ear. The general finding was that events in one ear fuse strongly with elements of an auditory stream in the other ear only when they are spectrally very similar. In this case, the fusion of simultaneous components at opposite ears is stronger than of simultaneous components heard in the same ear. However, when the spectra of the synchronous events are mismatched even slightly, components in the same ear fuse more strongly than components at opposite ears. These results are accounted for by a theory that assumes that decisions that perceptually integrate sequential events, synchronous events, and events at opposite ears are interdependent.     

Reliability of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ)

The stability and internal consistency of Spence and Helmreich's Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) and Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) are reported. An entire first-year class of 1,007 male and 78 female cadets at the U.S. Military Academy were given a battery of psychological tests before and after cadet basic training, a 2 1/2-month period. The AWS and PAQ proved to be highly reliable, comparable to other frequently used psychological tests. This psychometric information encourages researchers to make further use of these gender-related instruments.This research was conducted under research grants from the Army Research Institute (Alan G. Vitters and Jerome Adams, Principal Investigators). The views expressed herein are opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Military Academy, or the Army Research Institute. The authors appreciate the editorial comments of Dr. Brenda Major.     

Psychological and physical adjustment to breast cancer over 4 years: identifying distinct trajectories of change.

The goal of this study was to identify distinct trajectories of adjustment to breast cancer over 4 years as well as to distinguish among the different trajectories. The mental and physical functioning of 287 women with breast cancer who remained alive and disease free through 4 years of follow-up were examined. The majority of women showed slight and steady improvement in functioning with time, but subgroups of women were identified who showed marked improvement and marked deteriorations over time. Age successfully distinguished different trajectories of physical functioning. Indices of personal resources (i.e., self-image, optimism, perceived control) and social resources (i.e., social support) successfully distinguished different courses of mental and physical functioning.     

Family systems consultation with an athletic team: A case study of themes

Abstract

Utilizing family therapy theory and techniques to consult with businesses and other organizations has grown in popularity. In recent years, systems consultation has also been utilized with athletic teams (Schindler-Zimmerman, Washle, & Rotinsky, 1990; Zimmerman & DeVoe, 1993; Zimmennan & Protinsky, 1993; Zimmennan, 1991, 1993). The literature on systems consultation and athletic teams has primarily focused on interventions, guidelines for consulting with athletic teams, common concerns of athletes and specific theories utilized. This article presents themes which emerged from a consultation case study with a university women's athletic team. The themes emerged from videotape analysis using qualitative methodology. This presentation of themes will give the reader a flavor of systemic consultation with athletic teams including typical issues, team structure, and the similarities between families and sports teams.     

The Acquisition of Time Properties Associated with a Sequential Motor Skill

Three experiments are reported that examined the relative importance of phasing and duration training in the motor learning of a sequential task. In all three experiments, the task involved knocking down three barriers in a specified order. The Phasing task required the subject to contact each of the barriers in a particular goal time interval, that is, each segment had a particular movement-time goal. The Duration task required the subject to contact the final barrier in a total elapsed-time goal defined by the experimenter. Following training, half of the subjects in each training condition transferred to either a novel Duration or a novel Phasing task. Phasing-trained subjects, compared to Duration-trained subjects, produced equivalent transfer performance on the Duration transfer task but superior performance on the Phasing transfer task. These results suggest that phasing serves as a higher-order source of information for the performer in a sequential motor task. In addition, these experiments complement and extend previous work by Shapiro (1977) and Summers (1975) which demonstrated that learned phasing patterns were not modified despite changes in the overall rate of performing a motor sequence. Our experiments indicate that phasing training increases the performer’s sensitivity to phasing patterns such that novel temporal patterns can be produced when they are well-defined.     

Reviews

Abstract

Selected review of current books on sexuality and sex therapy, John P. Wincze, Brown University/V.A. Hospital, Providence

Becoming Orgasmic: A Program of Sexual Growth for Women. Heiman, J., LoPiccolo, L., and LoPiccolo, J. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1976.

Female and Male: Dimensions of Human Sexuality. Pierson, E. and D'Antonio, W. New York: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1974.

Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality. Lief, H.I. Baltimore: The Williams and Wilkins Co., 1975.

Sex After Sixty. Butler, R. and Lewis, M. New York: Harper and Row, 1976.

Sex Therapy at Home. Kass, D. and Stauss, F. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.

SIECUS Study Guides. Sex Information and Education Council of the United States. New York, 1976 (6th printing).

Adulthood and aging: An interdisciplinary developmental view, Douglas Kimmel, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1974, $12.50, 484 pages

Permanent weight control: A total solution to the dieter's dilemma, Michael J. Mahoney, Kathryn Mahoney, New York, W.W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1976, $7.95, 177 pages