Implicit memory for phonological processes in visual stem completion

Four experiments were conducted investigating the role of phonology in repetition priming. Experiment 1 used a cross-modal priming paradigm in which participants made semantic judgments about spoken words and then performed a visual stem completion task. In Experiments 2–4, both the primes and the test stems were presented visually. The results of the first three experiments revealed that priming transfers across interpretations of a homophone. That is, seeing or hearingweek primes bothweek andweak. The results of Experiment 4 showed that homophone priming cannot be attributed to the orthographic similarity of homophonic words. Together, these results indicate that repetition priming on a visual word completion task includes a phonological component.     

Adrenocortical reactivity and social competence in seven year-olds

We examined temporal changes in salivary cortisol in response to a peer self-presentation task in a group of seven year-olds, some of whom scored high, average, and low on the Harter, 1983 Perceived Social Competence Scale. Salivary cortisol was measured pre-task, and 20 and 35 min post-task. We found a significant relation between individual differences in perceived social competence and salivary cortisol reactivity in response to the task. Children who perceived themselves as socially competent exhibited a significantly greater decrease in salivary cortisol from 20 to 35 min following the task compared with children who self-reported a relatively lower degree of social competence. We speculate on the meaning of salivary cortisol changes in childrens socio-emotional development.     

How Not to Apply to College

Samples of letters written by college students are excerpted to demonstrate the deterioration of students' writing skills. The relative unimportance many college students and graduates attach to the art of writing letters of inquiry is emphasized. A checklist is provided to assist students in preparing letters requesting information from colleges and universities.     

Why grown-ups cry

Adults appear to cry only during a “recovery” phase following a period of arousal. Depending on the perturbation that caused the arousal, the first phase is sometimes described by them in positive terms (e.g., excitement, anticipation) and sometimes in negative terms (loss, threat). However, the tears always seem to be associated with tension reduction and signify that a second event has permitted the system to shift into recovery. In this sense, all tears can be thought of as “tears of joy” they follow the same mechanism regardless of the tone of the initiating circumstances. To provide evidence for this point of view the responses of 11 individuals (including 2 filmmakers) toThe Miracle Worker were analyzed. Their responses supported the hypothesis that crying occurs when a psychological barrier or perturbation “disappears”—it signifies recovery and adaptation rather than the continuation of distress or arousal.     

Ideas that handicap therapy with young people

A review is done of ideas that handicapped therapists, particularly therapists of young people defined as schizophrenic, and were abandoned over the last twenty years. It is suggested that therapists currently seek theories that lead to success and avoid theories that lead to failure. The criteria for an effective theory of therapy are offered. Past ideas and theories are described in terms of meeting the criteria. Included in the review of unfortunate ideas for the therapy of mad young people are the organic theory, the psychodynamic theory, and those aspects of systems theory and double bind theory which were not helpful. How therapists recovered from these ideas is discussed. A contemporary theory of family oriented theory which meets more of the criteria of an effective theory of therapy is suggested.This paper, in a somewhat different form, was presented at the meeting Beyond the Double Bind in March, 1977. It will also appear as a chapter in a forthcoming book on the therapy of disturbed young people.     

Responsive supervision of the psychiatric resident and clinical psychology intern

The joy of common work between student and supervisor, the excitement of discovery, the struggle with doubt, self-depreciation and despair, the opening up of new horizons, the aesthetic experience of fresh perspectives both given and received make the reciprocal teaching learning process one of depth and sharing among those most cherished in human experience (1, p. 363).     

AN EVALUATION OF TWO METHODS FOR INCREASING SELF-INITIATED VERBALIZATIONS IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Three children with autism and mental retardation were treated for deficits in self-initiated speech. A novel treatment package employing visual cue fading was compared with a graduated time-delay procedure previously shown to be effective for increasing self-initiated language. Both treatments included training multiple self-initiated verbalizations using multiple therapists and settings. Both treatments were efffective, with no differences in measures of acquisition of target phrases, maintenance of behavioral gains, acquisition with additional therapists and settings, and social validity.