Applications of multiprogramming software to real-time experiments in psychology

Multiprogramming operating systems are often advertised as solving the problem of competition among independent tasks operating on the same computer system. In real-time laboratories, multiprogramming systems are much more valuable for their ability to manage the relationships among asynchronous, cooperating tasks that are part of a single experiment. This cooperation allows the programming of paradigms that would otherwise require the use of faster and more expensive hardware. Examples are given from several languages and operating systems, including the small, home-built PSYCLE system and the commercially available VORTEX II system.     

Some effects of gaze on subjects motivated to seek or to avoid social comparison

In a conceptual replication and extension of Sarnoff and Zimbardo's study (Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1961, 62, 356–363), subjects were motivated to seek (Fear Arousal) or avoid (Embarrassment Arousal) social comparison. They were then required to affiliate with another person who either encouraged social comparison by gazing directly at the subject or discouraged it by averting his gaze. This other person was either an appropriate reference person (similar saate) or irrelevant for social comparison purposes. As predicted, Fear subjects liked a companion who looked at them and felt less tense in his presence, while Embarrassed subjects preferred the person who looked away. This interaction occurred only in the Appropriate Reference Person condition, a result consistent with an explanation based on social comparison processes.     

Gapping

Tukey's scheme for finding separations in univariate data strings is described and tested. It is found that one can use the size of a data gap coupled with its ordinal position in the distribution to determine the likelihood of its having arisen by chance. It was also shown that this scheme is relatively robust for fatter-tailed-than-Gaussian distributions and has some interesting implications in multidimensional situations.     

A ratio scale for social distance

Choosing a larger–later reward over a smaller–sooner reward may be thought of as altruism toward one's future self. A question that arises in this connection is: What is the relation between delay and social discounting? To begin to answer this question, social and delay discount functions need to be comparable. Delay is ordinarily measured on a ratio scale (time), which allows for meaningful division and addition. Social distance is ordinarily measured on an ordinal scale (rank order of social closeness). To convert social distance to a ratio scale we use a psychophysical distance function obtained via magnitude estimation (Stevens, 1956). The distance functions obtained are well described by a power function (median exponent = 1.9); we show how they may be used to rescale ordinal to ratio social discount functions.     

Factor structure of the Friends and Family interview

The aim of this study was to specify the latent construct structure of the Friends and Family Interview (FFI: Steele & Steele, 2005) based on its dimensional scale coding protocol. The FFI is a semi-structured interview measuring attachment in middle childhood. We analyzed data from 341 FFI interviews with children aged 7–12 years, recruited in the Scandinavian Öresund Region. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a three-component model as best fitting the data. The first component, denoting attachment security, gathered all dimensional scales for evidence of secure base/safe haven regarding mother/father and coherence in the child’s narrative style, along with scales regarding reflective functioning, self-perception, and social functioning. The second component comprised preoccupying feelings of anger, but also derogation. The third component gathered all scales coding idealization. Inter-relations among the components were consistent with attachment theory, and respondents’ scores for all three components differed significantly across the four categorical attachment classifications. Affect regulation of negative emotion through anger and through derogation co-occurred, and was distinct from regulation through maintaining a belief that things are better than they appear (idealization). These two affect regulation strategies appeared commonly when reflective functioning, and an organized self-perception, and positive peer relations were less in evidence. The multi-dimensional FFI coding system appears to measure successfully these diverse features of the child’s narrative provided in response to the interview. Overall, our findings support the construct validity of the FFI and provide further evidence of its usefulness for assessing attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence.     

Hypermnesia: The role of multiple retrieval cues

We demonstrate that encoding multiple cues enhances hypermnesia. College students were presented with 36 (Experiment 1) or 60 (Experiments 2 and 3) sets of words and were asked to encode the sets under single- or multiple-cue conditions. In the single-cue conditions, each set consisted of a cue and a target. In the multiple-cue conditions, each set consisted of three cues and a target. Following the presentation of the word sets, the participants received either three cued recall tests (Experiments 1 and 2) or three free recall tests (Experiment 3). With this manipulation, we observed greater hypermnesia in the multiple-cue conditions than in the single-cue conditions. Furthermore, the greater hypermnesic recall resulted from increased reminiscence rather than reduced intertest forgetting. The present findings support the hypothesis that the availability of multiple retrieval cues plays an important role in hypermnesia.     

Stimulus aspects of aversive controls: stimulus generalization of conditioned suppression following discrimination training

A tone ending with unavoidable electrical shock was periodically presented to pigeons while they pecked a key for food. A second group of birds was exposed to these tone-shock contingencies and also to a second tone which never ended with shock. The gradient of stimulus generalization following training to a single stimulus was symmetrical, whereas the gradient following discrimination training was asymmetrical, but there was no evidence of peak shift. During testing, suppression to all tones gradually extinguished and in both groups the slope of the gradient increased markedly. A second experiment with the discrimination birds revealed that free shock caused a recovery of the gradient, but the asymmetry persisted.     

Cognitive training in academically deficient ADDH boys receiving stimulant medication

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 16-week intensive cognitive training program in stimulant-treated, academically deficient ADDH boys. Cognitive training focused exclusively on academic skills and tasks, and included attack strategy training as well as self-monitoring and self-reinforcement of problem-solving behaviors and response accuracy. Control groups included remedial tutoring plus medication, and medication alone. Despite the scope of the program, the results provided no support for the notion that academically based cognitive training ameliorates the performance and achievement of academically deficient ADDH youngsters. Further, this intervention did not enhance self-esteem or attributional perceptions of academic functioning. There was poor agreement between teacher ratings of academic competence and test score changes. The lack of concordance between measures, and the scarcity of academically deficient ADDH children are discussed.Preparation of this article was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH30822.     

Confronting death: Group psychotherapy with terminally ill individuals

A model for group psychotherapy with terminally ill patients is proposed, one in which the group is homogeneous and open-ended. Cancer and HIV infection are used as examples of chronic, terminal illnesses, and the relevant literature on group psychotherapy with these conditions is reviewed. Treatment with both sets of patients has been characterized by considerable variation in the structure, composition, and duration of the group. Being diagnosed with a terminal illness is traumatic and leads to denial, which may be adaptive or maladaptive depending upon its behavioral manifestations. The homogeneous, open-ended group encourages adaptive denial, which fuels hope and the will to live. The mechanism through which this occurs involves the unconscious identification with the group as an entity. This causes the emergence of a fantasy of a mother-infant dyad, within which can occur reworking of the depressive position. Scheidlinger, Turquet and Anzieu are cited to demonstrate this unconscious function of the group. Finally, clinical implications of such a model are highlighted.