The Wakonse Conference on College Teaching

A Wakonse Conference on College Teaching is a week-long retreat that provides renewal and support for college teaching. Offered in a secluded environment away from campus, it engages faculty from various colleges in demonstration and discussion of what makes teaching effective and rewarding. Wakonse is a grassroots movement within the academy to bring teaching to the forefront and make it central to the mission of higher education. Support for what makes Wakonse effective can be found in much of the student development literature.     

The effects of masturbatory reconditioning with nonfamilial child molesters.

Abel and Annon's (Reducing deviant sexual arousal through satisfaction, Denver, Colo., 1982) suggested combination of 'directed masturbation' and 'satiation' to alter deviant sexual preferences, was applied to 10 nonfamilial child molesters. Post-treatment assessments revealed significant reductions in deviant arousal as was expected, but unfortunately there were also reductions in appropriate arousal although these changes did not achieve statistical significance. The results are discussed in terms of their meaning but it is concluded that empirical support for these clinically popular procedures remains weak.     

Cognitive models of stereotype change: (2) Perceptions of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups

The reported study compared change in stereotypic perceptions of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups, when subjects were presented with a pattern of stereotype-inconsistent information that was either concentrated in two extreme group members or dispersed across six members. Results pro vided some support for the ‘conversion’ model (in which stereotypes change in response to salient instances) in the case of a homogeneous group, where stereotypical responding was lower in concentrated than dispersed conditions. In the heterogeneous-group conditions, there was no effect of pattern. In addition, subjects' estimates of stereotype-consistent information were higher, and of inconsistent information were lower, and they perceived more members as typical, and fewer as atypical, when the target group was heterogeneous versus homogeneous. There was also support for the ‘subtyping’ model (in which disconfirming individuals are isolated from other group members) in the concentrated conditions. A theoretical account of these findings is given in terms of stereotype change via salience for homogeneous groups, and the need to integrate research on cognitive models of stereotype change and perceived group variability.     

Self-repair in dialogues of schizophrenics: effects of hallucinations and negative symptoms.

This paper concerns the discourse features of verbal hallucinations and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. A total of 46 schizophrenics, varying in verbal hallucination and in negative symptoms status, and 22 controls were tested on the Reporter Test. The frequency with which they issued inadequate instructions, attempted to repair the inadequacies, and the success of repairs were compared. We observed that schizophrenics, on the whole, issued more wrong and incomplete instructions. This was in part related to their worse working memory, but it was not affected by verbal hallucinations or negative symptoms. We observed, further, that schizophrenics had no particular problems monitoring messages for inadequacies. We did find, however, that schizophrenics with verbal hallucinations had a specific problem with self-repairing wrong instructions. We interpret these results in the framework of Hoffman's (1986b) plan disruption-based model of verbal hallucinations; the Frith (1987) and Frith and Done (1988) internal monitoring model of positive and negative symptoms; and finally Frith and Frith's (1990) model of negative and positive schizophrenia and we use the results to specify the models.     

认知与情绪过程的脑诱发电位研究——情绪的适应性假说

本研究观测了30名女性被试在月经周期中的不同激素时相对图像刺激的情绪价值的主观评估和脑诱发电位反应。调节刺激的情绪价值的五类幻灯片分别为普通人像、婴儿像、皮肤病人像、男模特儿像和女模特儿像。实验发现只有脑诱发电位的P3成份随刺激的情绪价值和激素的时相而变化。被评为喜爱与不喜爱的图像(婴儿像和皮肤病人像)所诱发的P3波在幅度上均明显高于中性图像(普通人像)所致的P3反应。在高孕激素时相,对婴儿像和男模特儿像的P3反应高于在低孕激素时相对同类刺激的P3反应。高孕激素时相还伴有对各类图像性感程度评估值的降低。对各类图像喜爱程度的评估则随雌激素水平的上升而增高。上述实验结果表明,P3波敏感于刺激的情绪价值并反映了认知与情绪过程中受生理状态调节的适应性变化。     

Recognising faces: effects of lighting direction, inversion, and brightness reversal.

When information about three-dimensional shape obtained from shading and shadows is ambiguous, the visual system favours an interpretation of surface geometry which is consistent with illumination from above. If pictures of top-lit faces are rotated the resulting stimulus is both figurally inverted and illuminated from below. In this study the question of whether the effects of figural inversion and lighting orientation on face recognition are independent or interactive is addressed. Although there was a clear inversion effect for faces illuminated from the front and above, the inversion effect was found to be reduced or eliminated for faces illuminated from below. A strong inversion effect for photographic negatives was also found but in this case the effect was not dependent on the direction of illumination. These findings are interpreted as evidence to suggest that lighting faces from below disrupts the formation of surface-based representations of facial shape.     

Similarity in the qualities of individual odors among kin and species in Turkish (Mesocricetus brandti) and golden (Mesocricetus auratus) hamsters.

In this investigation, the authors used habituation techniques to explore similarities and differences in the qualities of individual odors from hamsters. In Experiment 1, male Turkish hamsters (Mesocricetus brandti) treated flank-gland odors of 2 males from 1 litter as similar compared with the odor of a male from another litter, whether the odor donors were familiar or unfamiliar. At the same time, the Turkish hamsters discriminated between the subtle differences in the individual odors of their familiar brothers. In Experiment 2, male Turkish and golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) treated the flank-gland odors of 2 unfamiliar, unrelated conspecifics as similar compared with the flank odor of a heterospecific individual. The results suggest that similarities in individual odors are related to genetic similarity of the odor donors. These similarities could provide a basis for different types of social recognition, including kin and species recognition.     

Mood in chronic disease: Questioning the answers

The main research questions concerning mood and chronic disease are about the extent, sources, and consequences of emotional distress. Answers to these questions are informative both to psychological theory and to the design of interventions aimed at improving outcomes for patients. However, as a result of practical and ethical limitations in research designs, the answers obtained are rarely definitive and typically need to be interpreted carefully. This article illustrates some of the problems using studies of patients with cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke, and other disabling conditions. The first group of studies illustrates problems in the timing of mood measurement including both timing within an interview, and issues concerned with identifying equivalent timing in the stages of disease and its treatment. The remaining studies are used to illustrate the limits of non-experimental longitudinal, and of experimental designs. It is concluded that research in this area requires the use of more than one research paradigm to achieve dependable answers.     

Nietzsche and the dilemma of suffering

In this paper, we attempt to view a long-held assumption in nursing as mistaken. That is, that patient suffering is something to be overcome. Utilizing Nietzsche's statements on Amor Fati, we carefully examine the cultural assumptions behind our denigration of suffering, look at specific nursing examples of this situation, and attempt the beginnings of a discourse on what it would take for nurses to overcome their own predetermined views of suffering in order to better help their patients "own" their own suffering.     

What can behavior analysis learn from the aversives controversy?

The paper argues that behavior analysis may have contributed to the aversives controversy in a number of ways. The role that the field has played and the lessons that may be learned are discussed in the areas of research, training, and politics.