EVALUATING TREATMENT CHALLENGES WITH DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT OF ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR

In prior research, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) has been implemented at optimal treatment values: Problem behavior is never reinforced, and alternative behavior is always reinforced. However, in application, DRA is unlikely to be conducted optimally. In this study, following a functional analysis phase and a differential reinforcement at full implementation phase, we challenged initially positive treatment effects for 3 participants by implementing DRA at less than optimal parameters. For example, some occurrences of problem behavior were reinforced, and some occurrences of alternative behavior were not reinforced. Results suggested that when exposed to DRA at full implementation, participants showed a bias toward appropriate behavior in subsequent conditions during which “mistakes” (treatment challenges) were intentionally introduced. In addition, the negative effects of treatment challenges were quickly reversible, in comparison to the positive effects of DRA, which were not quickly reversible in the face of treatment challenges.     

Optimism, pessimism, and false failure feedback: Effects on vigilance performance

Following the logic of a prior experiment (Seligman et al., 1990) with varsity collegiate swimmers, sixty student volunteers performed a brief, but highly stressful vigilance task. Half were then given false feedback indicating poor performance; the others experienced a non-evaluative display at that point. All were then asked to repeat the vigil. Half the observers were assessed as high optimists and half as high pessimists. The pessimists showed a steeper vigilance decrement than the optimists, consistent with a model (Scheier and Carver, 1987) that proposes that pessimists are more emotion-focused under stress than optimists, and hence would be less attentive to the vigilance display, regardless of feedback condition. The false negative feedback actually turned out to be ineffective; hence, based on Seligman's account of the swimmer study, which requires effective negative feedback, there should have been no vigilance performance difference between optimists and pessimists, either pre- or post-feedback.     

Forms of Competitive Attitude and Achievement Orientation in Relation to Disordered Eating

The primary focus in this study was anexamination of the differential contributions of twodifferent forms of competitive attitude to disorderedeating in a nonclinical sample of Caucasian universitywomen. The results showed that it is not competitionper se that is a primary contributor to eatingdisorders, but rather a particular form of competitiveattitude. Specifically, hypercompetitiveness was related strongly to eating disorder symptoms, butpersonal development competitiveness was unrelated. Asecond purpose considered the relationship ofcontext-specific measures of achievement to eatingdisorder symptoms. Disordered eating was associatedpositively with the need to achieve in appearance, butnot to a need to achieve in academics and career.Discussion centered on the potential usefulness of these findings in the treatment of women who areeating disordered. It also argued for changes in asocialization process which often leads to thedevelopment of hypercompetitive attitudes and anovervaluing of beauty in American women.     

Social Cognition and Evolutionary Psychology: Physical Attractiveness and Contrast Effects on Women's Self-perceived Body Image

Self-evaluations of body image were examined in a 2 (attractiveness of stimulus person) × 2 (sex of stimulus person) design to determine if contrast effects consistent with evolutionary psychology occur for women's self-perceptions of their body image. Main effects for attractiveness were hypothesized. Higher self-ratings for figure-related aspects of body image were predicted for women exposed to an unattractive male or female. These effects were significant. Women exposed to an unnattractive male or female had more positive feelings about figure-related aspects of their body image than women exposed to an attractive male or female. Contrast effects in accordance with evolutionary theory occur for aspects of body image that play a role in inferences regarding reproductive fitness.     

AN ANALOGUE EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT: THE ROLE OF STIMULUS PREFERENCE

To evaluate the effects of environmental enrichment on stereotypic self-injurious behavior (SIB), we conducted an assessment of preference for manipulating alternative stimuli rather than engaging in SIB. First, for each of 3 participants, a functional analysis of SIB was conducted in Phase 1. Participants were selected for Phase 2 if the functional analysis showed that SIB persisted in the absence of social consequences. In Phase 2, a preference assessment was conducted in which participants were observed manipulating preferred stimuli in a free-operant format. A measure was taken of time spent manipulating each stimulus and time spent engaging in SIB. In Phase 3, environmental enrichment was evaluated using stimuli that were preferred over the target response, and alternative treatments were evaluated in the event of environmental enrichment failure. Results suggested that the free-operant preference assessment (a) predicted the efficacy or inefficacy of an environmental enrichment procedure and (b) suggested possible treatment alternatives when environmental enrichment was ineffective. Collectively, the results may provide a basis for interpreting the idiosyncratic effects of environmental enrichment and a rationale for treatment selection when behavioral function is unknown.     

On the relationship of data to theory: A reply to Ronis and Greenwald

Ronis and Greenwald (Dissonance theory revised again: Comment on the paper by Fazio, Zanna, and Cooper. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15, 1979, 62–69) question our integrative formulation of dissonance and self-perception processes. We argue that our formulation provides an explanation of both the full range of results in the literature and our own experimental data, while neither dissonance nor self-perception theory can singly explain the existing data.     

Clinical Frequencies Recording System: Standardizing staff observations by event recording

Certain aspects of staff performance and resident behavior are less adequately assessed by standardized time sampling procedures than by complete recording of the incidence of specified events. An approach to gathering such data through systematizing the observations of clinical staff — the Clinical Frequencies Recording System — is described. Scores from the Clinical Frequencies System reflect the rate per opportunity with which individual behaviors are performed, with computer summarization providing higher-level behavioral indexes for research and evaluation purposes. Staff training and system implementation are discussed, and reliability and validity data from a system employed on two different treatment units over a period of several years are presented.The research reported in this article was supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health.Presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979, as part of a symposium on New assessment systems for residential treatment, management, research, and evaluation.     

How to reverse the vicious cycle of low self-esteem: The importance of attentional focus

Recent research suggests that the cognitive processes of low self-esteem people (low SEs) perpetuate low self-esteem and its undesirable emotional and behavioral correlates. For instance, it has been suggested that low SEs are more “self-conscious” than high self-esteem people (high SEs) and that self-consciousness can impair task performance. It was reasoned that if low SEs were led to focus their attention away from themselves and onto the task, performance would improve relative to high SEs. In a 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial design, subjects high and low in chronic self-esteem performed a concept formation task under three conditions: (1) in the presence of an audience, where self-focused attention is presumably high; (2) in a control group, in which attention was not manipulated; and (3) with instructions to concentrate on the task diligently. A significant interaction effect was obtained, indicating that low SEs performed worse than high SEs in the audience condition (p < .025), no differently in the control, and better than high SEs (p < .01) when instructed to concentrate on the task. Although the latter results are unusual in the context of self-esteem research, they are strikingly parallel to recent findings in the study of test anxiety.     

Effects of electrocutaneous ready&#x2014;signal variation on visual reaction time

Two ready-signal variables (direction of change in electrocutaneous stimulation and method of presentation: “trace” or “delayed”) were combined in a 2 by 2 by Ss design. Neither variable produced a significant main effect but yielded a highly significant interaction. Results were interpreted in terms of arousal. intersensory. and conditioning explanations of ready-signal effects.     

Subliminal Motivation: A Story Revisited

Can people have their motivational states affected subliminally? Two experiments are presented that address this controversial question. In the first, participants watched an episode of The Simpsons television program. Embedded in the program were verbal and pictorial stimuli related to thirst that were presented below conscious awareness. The results show that, compared to their pre‐exposure ratings and compared to a control group, participants became thirstier following exposure. A second experiment replicated this finding and showed that the effect was not a result of straightforward linguistic priming. The implications of the results for subliminal advertising and for theoretical issues of preconscious processing are discussed.