Contributions of Behavioural Decision Theory to Research in Political Science

Cet article aborde la question de l'application de la Théorie de la Décision Comportementale (BDT) à deux domaines de la recherche en Sciences-Politiques, le comportement électoral et les relations internationales. On commence par un bref survol de la BDT, puis on passe à ce qui n'est maintenant que l'amorce de l'exploitation de la BDT dans les Sciences-Politiques. Dans le premier exemple, notre intérêt est focalisé sur les décisions prises par le public et dans le second sur celles prises par les élites politiques, mais la distinction masse-élite peut se révéler secondaire par rapport aux situations dans lesquelles émergent les décisions électorales ou de politique étrangère. Dans la présentation de ces deux exemples, on tente de replacer l'investigation reposant sur les aperçus de la BDT dans le contexte plus vaste de la recherche dans ce secteur.
This paper discusses the application of behavioural decision theory (BDT) to two areas of political science research: voting behaviour and international relations. We begin with a brief overview of BDT, and then turn to what is now only the beginnings of the utilisation of BDT in political science. In the first instance we focus on decision making by the mass public, and in the second on decision making by political elites, but, as we shall see, the mass-elite distinction may not be as important as the different situations or contexts in which voting and foreign policy decisions are typically made. In both instances, we will try to put research relying on the insights of behavioural decision theory into a broader context of research in the field.     

Comments on “Sexual Contact Between Psychologists and Their Former Therapy Patients: Psychoanalytic Perspectives and Professional Implications” by Natalie Shavit and Steven Bucky

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Mobility,Cognitions, and panic

Responses to the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia and the Cognitions Questionnaire were compared from samples of agoraphobics, social phobics, senior citizens, students, and students' relatives. The data illustrate the occurrence of avoidant behavior and panic in groups other than agoraphobics. The Mobility Inventory was shown to have good discriminative power, but the Cognitions Questionnaire failed to discriminate between agoraphobics and social phobics. The relationship of panic to mobility and cognitions is considered.     

Self- and interview-rated negative mood states in schizophrenia: Their convergence and prediction of thought disturbance

This longitudinal study evaluated the relations between self- and interview-rated negative mood in schizophrenics and compared the prognostic utility of these two methods. Thirty schizophrenics who had been stabilized on neuroleptic medications were evaluated with self-report and interview-based measures of mood and symptomatology at an initial assessment and again at 6-month follow-up. Results indicated that measures of self- and interview-rated negative mood showed little agreement at the initial assessment; however, at follow-up, significant convergent correlations between the two methods were obtained. Self-reported negative mood at the initial evaluation predicted the severity of thought disturbance at follow-up, whereas interview-based ratings of mood did not. The results underscore the importance of conducting multimethod assessments of mood and support other research suggesting that self-reported negative mood states may predict course of the illness in schizophrenia.This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants MH38636 and MH39998 and by a grant from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). Jack J. Blanchard was also supported in part by NIMH Grant MH18932 for the Collaborative Training Program in Schizophrenia Research at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/EPPI. Portions of this research were presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, San Francisco, California, November 2, 1990, and at the 3rd International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Tucson, Arizona, April 22, 1991.     

Tonal Coarticulation in Thai after Unilateral Brain Damage

The magnitude and temporal extent of anticipatory and perseverative tonal coarticulation was investigated in Thai-speaking normal and brain-damaged adults. A total of 47 speakers (10 young normal, 10 old normal, 13 nonaphasic right-brain-damaged patients, 14 left-brain-damaged aphasic patients, 9 fluent, 5 nonfluent) produced all 25 possible sequences of two tones from the five lexical tones of Thai embedded in a carrier sentence.F₀contours were analyzed in terms of height and slope at 10% intervals throughout the duration of the two syllables. Acoustic analysis revealed that anticipatory and perseverative tonal coarticulation of tones was markedly reduced in left fluent aphasics, totally absent in left nonfluent aphasics, but reasonably intact in right hemisphere patients. Findings are interpreted to highlight the nature of speech disturbances in nonfluent and fluent aphasia, hemispheric specialization for tone, and tonal coarticulation in Thai.     

EVALUATION OF TWO HEALTH EDUCATION STRATEGIES FOR TESTICULAR SELF-EXAMINATION

We evaluated the effects of two health education teaching methods, a pamphlet based on a task-analyzed checklist and two professionally developed films, on the completeness, accuracy, and maintenance of testicular self-examinations (TSE). Subjects (N = 48) were videotaped while performing a TSE after training and at a follow-up visit. Direct observation of the tapes showed that checklist-based training resulted in more complete and longer TSEs (p < .05). Social validation ratings, however, suggested that physicians were unable to discriminate reliably the performances of subjects taught using the two methods. Accuracy of detection of simulated lesions on plastic models was also similar for the two groups. Adherence to TSE recommendations was high during the study, but declined across the follow-up period. Further study is needed to promote adherence to TSE and to document the effects of early detection on morbidity and mortality of testicular cancer.     

Teaching problem solving skills to teachers-in-training: An analogue experimental analysis of three methods

This analogue study sought to determine the relative effectiveness of different instructional methods for teaching problem solving skills to teachers-in-training. Three instructional conditions (didactic, didactic + modeling, and didactic + modeling with rehearsal/feedback) and a control condition were compared on measures of problem identification and problem analysis. Results indicated that the didactic + modeling and didactic + modeling with rehearsal/feedback conditions were superior to didactic training in teaching problem-solving skills. Discussed are possible explanations for differences between the instructional conditions, the implications of these findings, limitations of this study, and directions for further teacher-training research in problem solving.     

On Measuring Work Ethic: A Neglected Work Commitment Facet

Work ethic has been underrepresented in work commitment studies, compared to other work commitment facets such as job involvement, career commitment, and organizational commitment. Using exploratory factor analysis on an overall sample of 543 participants, this study identified a four-dimension work ethic concept. The four dimensions found were hard work, nonleisure, independence, and asceticism. Various subsample analyses further supported this four-factor structure. Results and limitations of the study, including the potential incorporation of a shortened 12-item work ethic scale into a more general work commitment measure, are discussed.     

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CHRONIC FOOD REFUSAL IN HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

In this study, we examined the eating behavior of four handicapped children, none of whom exhibited self-feeding skills. All children had a history of food refusal and were nutritionally at risk; one child received all nourishment by way of a gastrostomy tube. Baseline data taken during mealtimes indicated that all children accepted very little food, expelled food frequently, and engaged in a number of disruptive behaviors. Treatments consisted of one or more of the following contingent events: social praise, access to preferred foods, brief periods of toy play, and forced feeding. Results of multiple-baseline and reversal designs showed marked behavioral improvement for each child and increases in the amount of food consumed. Further improvements were noted at follow-up, which ranged from 7 to 30 months posttreatment.     

“Girl,” “woman,” “guy,” “man”: The effects of sexist labeling

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of sexist labeling. Sixty males and 60 females were asked to evaluate an artist and a series of paintings on a variety of cognitive and affective measures. For half the subjects, the artist was identified as a male with either a high status label (man), a low status label (guy), or a neutral label (person); for the other half of the subjects, the artist was identified as a female with either a high status label (woman), a low status label (girl), or a neutral label (person). The findings indicated that for the female artist, the low and high status labels had an equally negative effect on subjects' judgments; for the male artist, the low and high status labels had an equally positive effect on subjects' judgments. There were no significant differences between male and female subjects. The social and psychological implications of the findings are discussed.The present study is based in part on a paper presented at the meetings of the Western Psychological Association held in San Diego, California, April 1979, in collaboration with Ms. Julie Horowitz.