Coding modality vs. input modality in hypermnesia: Is a rose a rose a rose?

Recent experiments indicate that recall of pictures, unlike recall of words, may increase (hypermnesia) with time and effort. This study demonstrates that by recoding word inputs into ‘mental pictures’, i.e., images, subjects can transform inert word lists into hypermnesic ones. Thus, when word inputs are recoded into images, recall increases over time, and resembles in other respects the recall of pictures.     

Auditory and visual similarity effects in recognition and recall

The role of auditory and visual factors in short-term recall and recognition performance was evaluated. Auditory similarity, but not visual similarity, was found to be predictive of the probability of a correct response and response confidence for both types of tests. The results were interpreted as support for a single-trace model of recall and recognition performance.     

Further findings on assaultiveness and alcohol use in interpersonal disputes

In a previous study uniform observational data were collected regarding family disputes managed by police officers; those data contradicted views commonly held by social scientists and by police about the roles of assaultiveness and alcohol use in these events. In the present study police officers employed systematic naturalistic observation during their interventions as third parties in disputes between nonfamily members as well as those between family members. Tentative conclusions about assaultiveness, based on the data of both studies, are that it: does not usually precede the arrival of police in such disputes; is associated with interpersonal closeness of the disputants; is associated with poverty rather than race; and is as likely in a middle-class small city as in a poor inner-city area. Tentative conclusions about the use of alcohol in police-managed interpersonal disputes are: that these disputes are not usually influenced by alcohol use; and that assaultiveness is not related to alcohol use in such disputes.     

Text memory and integration at different times of day

This paper reports an experiment that explored whether the extent to which the ideas in a text are integrated changes over the day. In order to monitor integration, a task used by Wilkes, Alred and Al-Ahmar (1983) was adopted. The assumption underlying the task was that information that is inconsistent with respect to preceding information in a text will be remembered differently from information that is not inconsistent. Obviously, such selective remembering cannot occur if the information in the text is not integrated, so the degree to which differential remembering occurs can be taken as an index of degree of integration. Although the predicted differences in degree of integration between morning and afternoon subjects were not confirmed, the morning superiority effect in text recall was replicated, and it was demonstrated that this superiority arose because of the morning subjects' better memory for the exact wording of the text. In addition, subjects showed different types of recall error at the two times of day. These errors are discussed in relation to subjects' hypothesized changes in strategy over the day.     

The conflict cycle in families and therapy

Conflict is not an aberration but rather part of the structure of human relationships. It is defined in this paper as consisting of four stages. Once the first stage (the dispute) is triggered, there is a high likelihood that the second (blaming) will occur, and the third (shame, guilt, or denial), and then the fourth (reparation, reconciliation, or retaliation). Three case presentations illustrate the conflict cycle in various clinical and nonclinical situations. The family therapist should be readily able to identify the cycle in clinical situations, and knowledge of it should prove fruitful in identifying pathogenic relating and in planning interventions and their timing.     

Gender differences in attitudes toward nuclear war and disarmament

A survey on attitudes toward nuclear war and disarmament is used to test two hypotheses: (1) the fundamentally different world orientations of males and females will be reflected in different factor structures for attitudes toward nuclear war and disarmament, and (2) males are more pro-force than females. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the first hypothesis. In addition, components of the separate factor structures for males and females were compared. Differences between the means for males and females on three factors extracted from the entire sample were used to test the second hypothesis. Both hypotheses were found to hold for the present sample. Interpretation of the differing factor structures for males and females is presented as well as implications for the more pro-force emphasis of males.     

Use of the titles Ms., Miss,or Mrs.: Does it make a difference?

In a study of sexism and language 112 persons at a shopping mall were asked to read a paragraph about an achieving woman who was either given the title Miss, Mrs., or Ms., or not given a title. Persons receiving the paragraph with the Ms. title rated the woman as less honest. No effect of the title variation was obtained on a number of other rating dimensions. The results were interpreted as reflecting public acceptance of the use of the Ms. title.     

Parent Involvement Project

This article describes a project designed to provide assistance to parents of exceptional children in western Pennsylvania. The format for eight parent sessions is presented.     

Does family therapy produce change? an overview of outcome studies

Summary Families were randomly assigned to one of two forms of conjoint marital therapy: an insight-oriented treatment (n=10) or a problem-solving intervention (n=10.). The results on self-report measures of family functioning indicate that the problem-solving intervention produced more favorable changes after three months. However on long-term follow-up after a year, this more positive effect did not apparently persist, since the insight treatment group reported better results. Experienced therapists did better than inexperienced therapists in the insight treatment condition, but level of experience did not make a difference in the problem-solving intervention. A group of eight families who dropped out of the insight treatment group provided data on correlates of premature termination. Several of the practical obstacles to implementing an experimental design in a clinic setting are illustrated by the research.As we develop more sophisticated methodology, we hope that is the near future family therapy researchers will be better able to state which type of approach is more effective for whom and under what circumstances. A review of current studies of family therapy outcome research indicates that family therapy seems to be as effective as individual psychological treatment.