Inhibition of return: Unraveling a paradox

Although inhibition of return (IOR) is widely believed to aid search by discouraging reexamination of previously inspected locations, its impact actually appears to decline as the number of target locations increases. We test three possible reasons for this paradoxical result: (1) IOR is capacity-limited, (2) IOR is sensitive to subtle changes in target location probability, and (3) IOR decays with distance from a previously attended location. The present investigation provides strong support for the third explanation, indicating that a gradient of inhibition is centered on previously attended locations. We note that this inhibitory gradient resolves a paradox in the literature. Moreover, we speculate that the inhibitory gradient may reflect a “similarity space” within which target locations near to the cue are tagged with inhibition due to their similarity to the cued location. The farther the target location is away, the less similar it is to the cued location, and thus the less inhibition it receives.     

The Puerto Rican Prison Experience: A Multicultural Understanding of Values,Beliefs, and Attitudes

This article presents the perspective that Puerto Rican men who are or who have been incarcerated are in multicultural variance with the dominant, middle class beliefs of American society. The authors also provide suggestions for counseling interventions with this population.     

The Social Psychology of Counselling and Psychotherapy: A Base for Integration

The use of interpersonal influence theory as an integrative model for counselling is described. This model relies heavily on theory and research in social psychology in particular, interpersonal power and attitude change. The use of constructs derived from the model is discussed for the three phases of the counselling relationship. Implications of the model for training are outlined.     

The Spinal Cord Injured Revisited: The Relationship Between Self-Blame, Other-Blame and Coping

Self-blame has been viewed as functional for victims' adjustment to negative life events. This perspective has been primarily based on the findings of Bulman and Wortman's 1977 study of the spinal cord injured. The present study replicates and extends the Bulman and Wortman study, using similar measures on a comparable sample and comparable life event. Patients did not differentiate among the concepts of responsibility, fault, and blame for the cause of the accident. Patients were behavioral rather than characterological self-blaming and alcohol use prior to the accident was the best predictor of self-blame. Attributions of responsibility for the cause of the event versus responsibility for rehabilitation (sequelae of the event) did not distinguish effective from ineffective copers. Bulman and Wortman's (1977) single-item measure of coping correlated with this study's multidimensional assessment of coping. There was no relationship between patients' attributions of self-blame and nurse's ratings of patients' coping but other-blame was associated with poorer coping.