The long-term evaluation of a behavioral treatment program for child molesters

Recidivism data derived from various sources over a follow-up period of 1–11 yr, provided the basis for appraising the effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment program for familial and nonfamilial child molesters. Unofficial records held by police and Children's Aid Societies proved to be the best data for estimating recidivism. These data revealed increases in recidivism with longer follow-up periods, but there were consistent advantages for the treated over the untreated patients. Men who had sexually abused the daughters of other people demonstrated the clearest treatment benefits. The younger offenders and those who had engaged in genital-genital contact with their victims were more likely to reoffend even if they were treated. Contrary to the expectations of behavior therapists, indices of deviant sexual preferences did not predict outcome.     

Conditioning of appetitive and consummatory sexual behavior in male Japanese quail.

Two different types of stimulus objects, a live female quail artificially adorned with bright orange feathers and an inanimate toy dog, served as conditioned stimuli. For subjects in experimental groups, the conditioned stimuli were presented shortly before access to a sexually receptive normal female quail. For subjects in control groups, exposure to the conditioned stimuli was unpaired with copulatory opportunity. Subjects in the experimental but not in the control groups quickly came to approach the location of the conditioned stimulus objects. When an adorned female quail served as the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned approach behavior was controlled by a combination of the presence of the orange adornments and the visual cues of the head and neck of the female bird, and the approach behavior persisted as the adorned female moved to new locations. When the toy dog served as the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned approach behavior was limited to the spatial cues that surrounded the toy dog during conditioning trials. Although both types of stimulus objects evoked conditioned approach behavior, only the adorned female stimulus supported copulatory behavior. This last finding indicates that copulatory behavior can become redirected toward novel stimuli as a result of conditioning, but only under special circumstances. The results are consistent with the suggestion that appetitive components of reproductive behavior are more susceptible to conditioning than consummatory components. Possible reasons for this are discussed, together with implications of the results for the contribution of conditioning processes to sexual selection.     

Self-control in mentally retarded adolescents: choice as a function of amount and delay of reinforcement.

Three severely mentally retarded adolescents were studied under discrete-trial procedures in which a choice was arranged between edible reinforcers that differed in magnitude and, in some conditions, delay. In the absence of delays the larger reinforcer was consistently chosen. Under conditions in which the smaller reinforcer was not delayed, increasing the delay to delivery of the larger reinforcer decreased the percentage of trials in which that reinforcer was chosen. All subjects directed the majority of choice responses to the smaller reinforcer when the larger reinforcer was sufficiently delayed, although the value at which this occurred differed across subjects. Under conditions in which the larger reinforcer initially was sufficiently delayed to result in preference for the smaller one, progressively increasing in 5-s increments the delay to both reinforcers increased percentage of trials with the larger reinforcer chosen. At sufficiently long delays, 2 of the subjects consistently chose the larger, but more delayed, reinforcer, and the 3rd subject chose that reinforcer on half of the trials. These results are consistent with the findings of prior studies in which adult humans responded to terminate noise and pigeons responded to produce food.     

A cost-benefit analysis of demand for food.

Laboratory studies of consumer demand theory require assumptions regarding the definition of price in the absence of a medium of exchange (money). In this study we test the proposition that the fundamental dimension of price is a cost-benefit ratio expressed as the effort expended per unit of food value consumed. Using rats as subjects, we tested the generality of this "unit price" concept by varying four dimensions of price: fixed-ratio schedule, number of food pellets per fixed-ratio completion, probability of reinforcement, and response lever weight or effort. Two levels of the last three factors were combined in a 2 x 2 x 2 design giving eight groups. Each group was studied under a series of six FR schedules. Using the nominal values of all factors to determine unit price, we found that grams of food consumed plotted as a function of unit price followed a single demand curve. Similarly, total work output (responses x effort) conformed to a single function when plotted in terms of unit price. These observations provided a template for interpreting the effects of biological factors, such as brain lesions or drugs, that might alter the cost-benefit ratio.     

中国心理学史研究的新进展

新开拓的一个分支学科——中国心理学史已经宣告建立。它填补了世界心理学史的一项重大空白,为国内外心理学界所瞩目。它正朝着纵深的方向发展:研究对象和指导思想更加明确,划清了一些基本的界限;基本范畴与术语的研究更加深入,整理出了一套中国古代心理学思想的范畴体系;开展了中西比较研究,更有说服力地确立了中国古代心理学思想的历史地位;建立和发展了国际学术联系,扩大了中国心理学的影响。     

基本奖和超额奖的不同配比对作业绩效的影响研究

现今工业企业中所采用的奖励系统多数是由基本奖和超额奖两部分构成。本研究考察了基本奖和超额奖不同的配比结构对作业绩效的影响。结果表明:不同配比结构的奖励系统具有不同的激励功效,关键的影响因素是超额奖励率和基本奖励率之间的奖励比,在多数情况下,奖励比越高,作业绩效越好。最后,讨论了这一结果产生的原因及有关问题。     

海南岛黎汉中小学生智能发展差异性及其根源的跨文化研究

本研究的目的是探讨海南岛黎汉中小学生智能发展的差异性及其根源。研究对象是120名海南岛保亭县纯黎族的山区和黎汉杂居的通什市区小学五年级和初中二年级学生。研究方法包括智能测查、文化背景调查和个性特征的问卷调查。研究结果表明海南岛保亭、通什两地黎汉学生的智能发展存在显著差异,这种差异与两地文化背景差异和某些个性特征有关,而与民族性无关。     

汉字词匹配的偏侧化效应和事件相关脑电位

本研究用音同或形似汉字词对为材料检验大脑半球偏侧化问题。反应时的结果表明音同材料是右视野左半球优势,形似材料是左视野右半球优势。ERP的振幅(特别是P_(300))在音同条件下左半球比右半球显著的小,而在形似材料条件下左右半球无大差别。在两种材料的条件下,ERP潜伏期在左右半球之间也没有显出任何差别。实验结果表明左半球与汉字词匹配时的语音编码有关,而ERP(P_(300))似乎可以做它的一个有效指标。     

王清任“脑髓说”及其在心理思想发展史上的重要地位

王清任是中国清代著名的医学家。本文在分析主心说和主脑说的基础上,着重论述了脑髓说的基本内容,探讨了它在我国心理思想发展史上的重要地位,即:结束了我国几千年主心说占统治地位的历史;完成了我国古代主脑说的基本理论。     

Mass media treatment of violence in sports and its effects

There appears to be a strong relationship between mass media portrayals of violence and real-life violence itself. This article reviews the available literature on the effects of media treatment of sports violence; analyzes the theoretical explanations for this treatment; and makes proposals on how the problems of both sports violence and its media coverage may be remedied, with a particular focus on amateur hockey in Canada.