Influence of occupational information giving on cognitive complexity in decided versus undecided students

Some research in the area of vocational counseling has focused on information-processing variables of subjects, such as the cognitive complexity-simplicity dimension. Because much vocational counseling consists of giving occupational information to the client, researchers have investigated the effect of information giving on the processing styles of subjects. Bodden and James (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 23, 280–282, 1976) found that giving occupational information to subjects caused them to become more cognitively restricted; they concluded that the practice of giving occupational information in counseling should be reexamined. The present study attempts to replicate that work while additionally controlling for the decided/undecided status of the subjects. Ninety-three subjects were administered the Career Decision Scale and the Cognitive Differentiation Grid at pretest. Subjects were then randomly assigned to the experimental-information condition or the control-no-information condition and were tested 48 hr later on the Cognitive Differentiation Grid. No significant differences were found between decideds and undecideds as a result of vocational information that they were given, and the results failed to replicate the Bodden and James (1976) findings. Implications of the results are discussed and further necessary research is specified.     

CONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT FOR BENZODIAZEPINE-FREE URINES: EVALUATION OF A DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT INTERVENTION

This study evaluated contingent reinforcement for benzodiazepine-free urines as a therapeutic intervention for promoting reduced use of supplemental benzodiazepine drugs among methadone maintenance outpatients. Ten methadone maintenance patients were selected for participation on the basis of positive urinalysis results. During a 12-week intervention period these patients were offered clinic privileges, including monetary payments or methadone take-home doses, contingent on benzodiazepine negative urinalysis test results. Eight of ten participants responded to the intervention with at least 2.5 weeks of consecutive clean urines. An increase in benzodiazepine-negative tests during the contingent reinforcement period was significant for the group as a whole. The results suggest that more widespread application of contingent reinforcement procedures may be warranted in drug abuse treatment clinics.     

The letter-frequency effect and the generality of familiarity effects on perception

A widely accepted perceptual principle is that familiar patterns are easier to recognize than are less familiar patterns. Previous letter-recognition studies are examined to determine whethermore frequent letters in English are easier to recognize than less frequent letters (the letterfrequency effect). Most studies required subjects to identify single letters, while some measured reaction time to compare two letters or name or classify a letter. The results, based on over 800, 000 observations from 58 studies that span nearly 100 years, showed that: (1) there is no letter-frequency effect in recognition studies in which subjects simply report letters, and (2) there is a letter-frequency effect in reaction time studies. The presence of la letter-frequency effect for reaction time studies is interpreted as demonstrating an effect of familiarity on a comparison stage and perhaps a response stage, but not on input coding. The absence of a letter-frequency effect for single-letter recognition studies is interpreted as limiting the generality of the effect of familiarity on perception and as limiting the generality of models that correctly predict frequency effects for words. Alternative explanations for the absence of a letter-frequency effect are discussed.     

Reliability of headache diagnosis

The literature on diagnosis of head pain associated with psychological factors indicates that these diagnoses rely almost exclusively on self-report criteria. The reliability of self-report criteria for diagnosis of headache has not been previously reported. The present study investigated the reliability of headache diagnosis based on the criteria suggested by the Ad Hoc Committee on Classification of Headache. The results indicated modest rater agreement. It was concluded that the headache literature may be confounded by unreliable diagnostic procedures. Improved methods of classifying headache types using self-report, behavioral, and physiological measures during pain-free and headache states are required before adequate reliability of headache classification can be achieved. It is suggested that reliable and valid measurement and classification would eliminate much of the confusion currently existing in the headache literature.     

ABSTRACTS OF LITERATURE

This paper attempts to formulate dynamics based on clinical material from family sessions rather than based on individual reconstruction. It is believed that the identified adolescent patient regresses with narcissistic symptoms because, in the struggle for independence, he upsets the family equilibrium. The parents emerge from their adolescence with low self-esteem and the need for the support of external objects. The adolescent's separateness from the family recreates the problem for the parents and prevents his individual growth as well as his separation from the family.     

Detection and identification of words and letters in simulated visual search of word lists

Ss were shown a rapid sequence of words and had to (a) make a speeded response to the presentation of a predefined target and (b) report a "response word" which they thought immediately followed the target in the sequence. In Experiment I presentation rate was varied orthogonally with the number of alternative targets. Detection errors and latency increased with target set size, as did the distance of the response word from the target in the list sequence. Increases in presentation rate produced greater target-response distance without affecting detection time. In Experiment II Ss were in some conditions given only the initial letter of the targets; the response could be either the whole word following the target or only its initial letter. The results indicated that Ss could, within limits, concurrently detect initial letters and identify words. Alternatives to hierarchical-type models of stimulus processing in visual search were discussed.     

Suppression of ethanol self-administration in alcoholics by contingent time-out from social interactions

In a residential research ward setting six volunteer chronic alcoholics were given daily access to 17 alcoholic drinks provided that a minimum of 40 min elapsed between receiving successive drinks. Each drink contained 1 oz 95-proof ethanol in orange juice. During baseline phases subjects were free to drink and socialize on the dayroom. However, during social time-out phases subjects were not permitted to socialize for the 40 min period following receipt of each drink. This contingent social time-out manipulation was systematically replicated across three conditions which varied with respect to the number of non-contingent ward privileges available. The results show that contingent social time-out suppressed drinking; and its effectiveness depended directly upon the conditions of available privileges. Within individual subjects, contingent time-out was increasingly effective in suppressing drinking as the available privileges were increasingly restricted.     

Metacontrast suppression and criterion content: A discriminant function analysis

Three test and three mask energies of a metacontrast display were varied orthogonally and randomly over trials. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) separating them was varied over blocks of trials from 0 to 180 msec in 30-msec steps. Both the accuracy in judging the test and the coherence (consistency) of the judgments were U-shaped functions of SOA. Thus, metacontrast suppression is in part due to inadequate information. In addition, mask energy was found to correlate negatively with judgments of the test at short SO As but positively at longer SOAs. This indicates that part of the masking effect is due to inappropriate use of information. Certain similarities were noted between these findings and those obtained with judgments of frequency in the auditory-recognition masking paradigm. In general, the results indicate that subjects respond to different features of the stimulus situation as SOA varies.