The development of procedures for the measurement of vocal loudness behaviors

Vocal loudness productions of five similar groups of speakers were analyzed. The groups differed significantly in comfortable loudness, in multiples (2x, 4x, and 0.5x) of comfortable loudness, and in ranges (4x-0.5x) of comfortable loudness. Interclass reliabilities for sets of measures were high and highly significant. Implications for the specification of vocal loudness behaviors are discussed.     

Group climate and group development in a community meeting on a short-term inpatient psychiatric unit

Group climate and group development of the community meeting on a short-term inpatient psychiatric unit are examined. The Group Climate Questionnaire (GCQ) was administered to all staff and patients present at the weekly community meeting on an acute treatment unit in a teaching hospital over a 12-week period. Results show that staff and patients perceive the community meetings in relatively similar ways, that the group climate of a community meeting can attain a positive working state, and that, at times, the meeting can progress through developmental stages of group process. Behavioral observations support the GCQ as a measure of group interaction.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mary Pat Donnelly with the statistical analyses and the cooperation of all staff and patients who participated in this study.     

Self- and interview-rated negative mood states in schizophrenia: Their convergence and prediction of thought disturbance

This longitudinal study evaluated the relations between self- and interview-rated negative mood in schizophrenics and compared the prognostic utility of these two methods. Thirty schizophrenics who had been stabilized on neuroleptic medications were evaluated with self-report and interview-based measures of mood and symptomatology at an initial assessment and again at 6-month follow-up. Results indicated that measures of self- and interview-rated negative mood showed little agreement at the initial assessment; however, at follow-up, significant convergent correlations between the two methods were obtained. Self-reported negative mood at the initial evaluation predicted the severity of thought disturbance at follow-up, whereas interview-based ratings of mood did not. The results underscore the importance of conducting multimethod assessments of mood and support other research suggesting that self-reported negative mood states may predict course of the illness in schizophrenia.This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants MH38636 and MH39998 and by a grant from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). Jack J. Blanchard was also supported in part by NIMH Grant MH18932 for the Collaborative Training Program in Schizophrenia Research at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/EPPI. Portions of this research were presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, San Francisco, California, November 2, 1990, and at the 3rd International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Tucson, Arizona, April 22, 1991.     

Preconceptional family health evaluation: A regional education program for family planning clients and health professionals

The Preconceptional Family Health Evaluation Program was a regional project developed and funded for 2 years by the New England Regional Genetics Group (NERGG) to educate family planning health professionals about genetics, and to offer family planning clients preconceptional identification of genetic and environmental exposure risks. To meet these goals, genetic education was provided on a regional basis to 45 family planning professionals. A self-administered family health risk questionnaire adaptable to individual family planning settings was developed. Five hundred and twenty-nine family planning clients voluntarily completed the questionnaire. Cigarette smoking (35%) and alcohol use (57%) were two major categories of risks identified. The Preconceptional Family Health Evaluation Program was well received by all participants and provided an effective means for regional education of family planning health professionals. As a result of the program, state program planners, clinical genetics services, and family planning health professionals developed a strong relationship that will serve future educational and genetic risk screening efforts.     

Allocation of visual attention in younger and older adults

Younger and older adults were compared in three experiments, using procedures that had been shown to affect the spread of visual attention. The attentional effects found in previous experiments were replicated. A broader focus of attention speeded responses to peripheral targets. In addition, two established findings concerning aging were replicated: Responses were slower in older than in younger adults, and, in certain conditions, they slowed more rapidly as target eccentricity increased. No interactions of age effects with attentional manipulations were found. The results of all three experiments were consistent with the interpretation that younger and older adults do not differ in the allocation of attention.     

Cross-modality priming in stem completion reflects conscious memory,but not voluntary memory

A comparison of incidental and intentional stem-completion tests confirmed that cross-modality priming occurs when performance conforms completely to the retrieval intentionality criterion, indicating involuntary—not voluntary—retrieval in the incidental test. However, an on-line measure of awareness in the incidental test, and a process-dissociation analysis of the intentional test, indicated only within-modality, but not cross-modality, transfer of involuntary retrieval that is unaccompanied by memorial awareness. These results imply that conscious memory should not be equated with voluntary retrieval, and unconscious memory should not be equated with involuntary retrieval, because involuntary retrieval can be accompanied by memorial awareness.     

Proactive Socialization and Behavioral Self-Management

The purpose of this study was to examine behavioral self-management as a form of newcomer proactive socialization behavior. A longitudinal field study was conducted with a sample of 153 entry-level professionals who completed questionnaires during their first month of entry and 6 months after entry. The results indicated that self-management behavior was related to newcomers’ general anxiety and stress at entry, and to internal motivation, ability to cope, and task-specific anxiety 6 months later. In addition, anxiety and stress at entry were found to mediate the relationships between self-management and ability to cope and task-specific anxiety. The research and practical implications of these findings are discussed. It is recommended that future research integrate the self-management and information seeking perspectives to provide a more complete theory of proactive socialization.     

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Adolescents’ Condom Use: A Panel Study1

The authors report a longitudinal study of factors determining use of condoms with new sexual partners in a representative sample of 650 German youth. Measures derived from the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) were obtained in 2 waves separated by 1 year. Consistent with the theory, intentions to use condoms could be predicted from attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control with respect to this behavior; and actual condom use was strongly related to intentions and perceptions of control assessed in Wave 2. Due to changes in beliefs and attitudes over time, only about 10% of the variance in reported condom use was accounted for by intentions and perceived control assessed 1 year earlier. Reported condom use was found to exert a direct effect on later intentions, unmediated by their hypothesized antecedents. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Category typicality effects in episodic memory: Testing models of distinctiveness

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Category typicality effects were investigated within the context of three models of distinctiveness: a univariate model, a fixed-multifeature model, and a weighted-multifeature model. High-typical, medium-typical, and atypical targets were embedded in lists containing a background set of mediumto high-typicality items. Atypical items were more poorly recalled than were medium- and high-typical items independently of list structure. In recognition, subjects who studied high-typical items had difficulty discriminating between high-typical items that were and were not presented as part of the list. However, item typicality had little effect on the recognition performance of subjects who did not study high-typical items. These findings were consistent with the weighted-multifeature model of distinctiveness.