On the general form of Stevens’ law for loudness and softness

The loudness of a 1000-Hz tone at weak sound pressures and its softness at intense ones were scaled by the method of magnitude estimation. Estimates of loudness plotted as a function of sound pressure on double logarithmic coordinates showed the well-documented steepening near threshold. A similar steepening occurred in the softness function at high intensities. Stevens’ law, which is linear on these coordinates, could be recovered either by translating the pressure scale to a new origin, or by translating the response scale. Translations of the response scale were preferred because they produced functions in which loudness and softness were reciprocally related, whereas transformations of the stimulus made the softness function almost three times as steep as the loudness function.     

SINDSCAL source weight transformations are not always necessary or desirable: reply to Hodgkinson

Hodgkinson (1998) argues that we should have transformed the SINDSCAL source weights we used for an analysis presented on page 15 of our paper on the judgement of HIV cases (Irwin, Jones, and Mundo, 1996). In this reply we present theoretical and empirical arguments for why we did not transform the weights. Our statements are presented in the context of a more general discussion of how source weights should be interpreted and used. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resurgence is greater following a return to the training context than remaining in the extinction context

The present study examined whether resurgence of a previously reinforced target response upon removing alternative reinforcement would be greater when (1) returning to the original training context (ABA context changes) versus (2) remaining in the analogue treatment context in which the alternative response was differentially reinforced (ABB context changes). Experiment 1 arranged reinforcement of button pressing with points exchangeable for money in university students. Experiment 2 arranged reinforcement of lever pressing with food for rats. Experiment 3 arranged reinforcement of responses to a touchscreen with small bites of food with children diagnosed with ASD. Overall, resurgence of target responding tended to be greater when returning to the original training context (A) than when remaining in the analogue treatment context (B). These findings suggest context changes with differential reinforcement treatments could exacerbate the recurrence of problem behavior resulting from reductions in treatment integrity through failure to reinforce appropriate behavior.     

Did You Say He Has a Hitler Mustache?: Analytic Vulnerability and Destabilization in the Face of Trauma

This paper looks at analytic vulnerability and destabilization through a detailed clinical example. There are different ways in which we may be vulnerable with our patients. In this paper I describe the raw and sudden vulnerability of allowing ourselves to be in a place of not knowing when both patient and analyst are unable “to see.” I describe an experience in which I lose my ability “to see,” both literally and metaphorically, while in session with a patient who is unable “to see” because she has dissociated her experience of loss and her experience of a sense of danger when in the presence of her stepfather. I link this clinical experience to the patient’s dissociated feelings and to my history of intergenerational trauma as well to current cultural violence and hate.     

Longitudinal Profiles of Girls’ Irritable,Defiant and Antagonistic Oppositional Symptoms: Evidence for Group Based Differences in Symptom Severity

Three subdimensions of ODD symptoms have been proposed –angry/irritable (IR), argumentative/defiant (DF) and antagonism (AN). This study tested whether longitudinal symptom trajectories could be identified by these subdimensions. Group-based trajectory analysis was used to identify developmental trajectories of IR, DF and AN symptoms. Multi-group trajectory analysis was then used to identify how subdimension trajectories were linked together over time. Data were drawn from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS; N = 2450), an urban community sample of girls between the ages of five--eight at baseline. We included five waves of annual data across ages five-13 to model trajectories. Three trajectories were identified for each ODD subdimension: DF and AN were characterized by high, medium and low severity groups; IR was characterized by low, medium stable, and high increasing groups. Multi-trajectory analysis confirmed these subdimensions were best linked together based on symptom severity. We did not identify girls’ trajectory groups that were characterized predominantly by a particular subdimension of ODD symptoms. Membership in more severe symptom groups was significantly associated with worse outcomes five years later. In childhood and early adolescence girls with high levels of ODD symptoms can be identified, and these youth are characterized by a persistently elevated profile of IR, DF and AN symptoms. Further studies in clinical samples are required to examine the ICD-10 proposal that ODD with irritability is a distinct or more severe form of ODD.