The treatment of tension headache—I. Muscular abnormality and biofeedback

The specificity and efficacy of a short EMG biofeedback treatment were assessed in a selected group of chronic tension-headache cases—those having significantly elevated levels of muscle tension. The effects of training patients to raise/maintain EMG levels were compared to those obtained from patients who were trained to lower tension levels. The results showed little evidence of increased self-control of the muscle despite successful EMG control during six bio-feedback sessions. A progressive and significant reduction in resting level was found only in the groups trained to reduce EMG levels. The treatment proved ineffectual in reducing headache. The implications of the dissociation of muscle tension and headache are discussed both with respect to current views of tension headaches and the role of biofeedback in their treatment.     

The treatment of tension headache—II. EMG ‘normality’ and relaxation

A selected group of patients complaining of severe and chronic tension headache (without muscular abnormality) were given a short 3-week course of relaxation treatment. Half of the subjects received progressive relaxation instructions, while the other half received relaxation plus calming imagery. Both groups showed substantial improvements in pain behaviour and in pain experience. The improvements were synchronous and still present at the 6–8 week follow-up assessment. Although no significant differences were found between the groups, the addition of imagery appeared to produce larger improvements on a number of measures. These results were compared with those reported obtained in a previous biofeedback study and the implications of both the studies were discussed with respect to tension headache and its treatment.     

Natural science and the healing of persons

The importance of a counselor's philosophical point of departure is emphasized. Viewing the self as a conscious, free, and responsible decision-making actor in a world of substantial and self-transcendent meanings and purposes is suggested as the core of a definition that uses an existentialist point of departure. In the light of this definition, four specific inadequacies of counseling that uses a natural-scientific point of departure are identified and discussed: 1) it is overreductionistic; 2) it reinforces the view of self as helpless victim; 3) it disregards the importance of transpersonal concerns; 4) it ignores the importance of conflicting world views between therapist and client.     

The polar unities as a guide to psychotherapy

The author recognizes the need for a psychotherapy that aims to be either spiritual or wholistic to ground itself in appropriate philosophical and theological constructs. As one small step in this direction, the ontological elements as discussed by Paul Tillich are applied to some specific therapeutic issues. Striking parallels are found between Tillich's first two ontological elements (individualization-participation, and dynamics-form) and the two dimensions (cohesion and adaptability) of the circumplex model of family therapy. It is suggested that Tillich's third ontological element (freedom-destiny) throws useful light on the educational and psychotherapeutic issue of permissiveness versus authoritarianism.     

Concurrent schedules: undermatching and control by previous experimental conditions.

Five pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules. A series of conditions in which the ratio of reinforcement rates on two keys was progressively increased and then decreased was arranged twice. The birds were then exposed to an irregular sequence of conditions. Each condition in which reinforcement was available on both keys lasted six sessions. Performance in the first, third, and sixth sessions after a condition change was analyzed. Following a condition change, preference was biased toward the preference in the last condition, but this effect largely disappeared before the sixth session of training. The birds' preferences also appeared less sensitive to reinforcement rates in early sessions after a transition. Preference in a session was a function of both the reinforcements in that session and the reinforcements obtained in as many as four or five previous sessions. The effects of reinforcements in previous sessions could be summarized by the performance in the immediately preceding session, giving a relatively simple relation between present performance and a combination of present reinforcement and prior session performance. While such hysteresis could cause undermatching when only a small number of sessions are arranged in a condition, undermatching in a stable-state performance probably arises elsewhere.     

Prenatal experience and postnatal perceptual preferences: evidence for attentional-bias in bobwhite quail embryos (Colinus virginianus)

Previous studies have indicated that concurrent multimodal sensory stimulation can interfere with prenatal perceptual learning. This study further examined this issue by exposing 3 groups of bobwhite quail embryos (Colinus virginianus) to (a) no supplemental stimulation, (b) a bobwhite maternal call, or (c) a maternal call paired with a pulsating light in the period prior to hatching. Experiments differed in terms of the types of stimuli presented during postnatal preference tests. Embryos receiving no supplemental stimulation showed no preference between stimulus events in all testing conditions. Embryos receiving exposure to the unimodal maternal call preferred the familiar call over an unfamiliar call regardless of the presence or absence of pulsating light during testing. Embryos exposed to the call-light compound preferred the familiar call only when it was paired with the light during testing. These results suggest that concurrent multimodal stimulation does not interfere with prenatal perceptual learning by overwhelming the young organism's limited attentional capacities. Rather, multimodal stimulation biases what information is attended to during exposure and subsequent testing.     

Developing a Community Science Research Agenda for Building Community Capacity for Effective Preventive Interventions

Research has shown that prevention programming can improve community health when implemented well. There are examples of successful prevention in local communities, however many continue to face significant challenges, demonstrating a gap between science and practice. Common strategies within the United States to address this gap are available (e.g., trainings), but lack outcomes. Building community capacity to implement high quality prevention can help communities achieve positive health outcomes, thereby narrowing the gap. While there is ample research on the efficacy of evidence-based programs, there is little on how to improve community capacity to improve prevention quality. In order to narrow the gap, a new model of research—one based in Community Science—is suggested that improves the latest theoretical understanding of community capacity and evaluates technologies designed to enhance it. In this article, we describe this model and suggest a research agenda that can lead to improved outcomes at the local level.