Delayed alternation in the rat: Effect of contextual stimuli on proactive interference

The effect of contextual stimuli on proactive interference in the rat was investigated in three experiments. The task was a modified delayed alternation procedure in which the rat was initially forced to one side of a T maze (the interfering forcing) followed by a forcing to the opposite side (the target forcing). A free choice run followed the target forcing in which a turn in either direction could be made. In order to obtain reinforcement on the free choice run, the rat was required to turn in the direction opposite that of the target forcing (i.e., in the same direction as the interfering forcing). Manipulation of the context prevailing during the interfering forcing, target forcing, and free choice runs revealed that free choice accuracy was (a) greater when the interfering and target forcings were conducted in different contexts than when they were conducted in the same context and (b) influenced only slightly, if at all, by whether the free choice context coincided with that prevailing during the interfering forcing or with that prevailing during the target forcing.     

The effects of Familial Sinistrality and preferred hand on dichaptic and dichotic tasks

Processing asymmetries for tactile-spatial and auditory-verbal processing were investigated in two studies using the S. F. Witelson (1974, Cortex, 10, 3–17) dichaptic procedure. Experiment 1 used eight right-handed males in a free recall procedure. More shapes were correctly detected by the left hand but only with a right hand response. In Experiment 2, right and left handers with no Familial Sinistrality (FS) were compared with left handers with various types of FS, looking at pre- and postcued order of report and precuing the response hand. No group showed hand asymmetry with pre- or postcuing for either responding hand. Right handers showed no difference with order of report; however, left handers made fewer correct detections for items to be reported second. There were differences between the Parental FS and the Sibling FS groups both on the dichotic listening and the haptic tasks.     

A CPI comparison of engineers and managers

Seventy-one male employees of three high-technology content product industries in northern Utah were divided into three contrast groups: engineers, engineering-trained managers, and non-engineering-trained managers. The California Psychological Inventory was administered and multivariate analysis of variance performed on seven preselected CPI scales. Results revealed that nonengineering managers scored significantly higher than engineers on scales Dominance, Capacity for Status, Social Presence, and approached significance on Sociability. Engineering-managers also scored significantly higher than engineers on Dominance, and significantly higher than other managers on Psychological Mindedness. A multivariate main-effect significant p < .001 to predict group membership was found. Engineering-managers share with other managers a confident, persuasive, and aggressive self-presentation combined with a preference for leadership roles. Their elevation on Psychological Mindedness, however, suggests a more pragmatic analytical and less intuitive approach to management situations.     

Efficacy of self-instructional training for reducing children''s anxiety in an evaluative situation

Fifty-six fourth-grade children were categorized as either high or low in trait anxiety and then assigned to a self-instruction treatment, minimal-treatment, or no-treatment control condition. At both pretest and posttest, the subjects recited a memorized poem while being videotaped with the expectation that they would be judged on their performance. State anxiety measures, a behavior rating of anxiety, a measure of performance accuracy and the time involved in reciting a poem were obtained at both pretest and posttest. Contrary to expectation, the self-instructional training resulted in subjects' exhibiting greater signs of behavioral anxiety, subjects' hurrying through the task (taking less time to recite the poem) and high trait-anxiety subjects' reporting more state anxiety while anticipating reciting the poem. Correlational analyses indicated that trait anxiety was significantly related to the measures of state anxiety and the behavior rating of anxiety but not to performance accuracy.     

Reasoning in the personal and moral domains: Adolescent and young adult women's decision-making regarding abortion

The present investigation of adolescent and young adult women's reasoning, and decision-making about abortion was conducted to determine whether reasoning about abortion could be described by moral, social-conventional, and personal concepts and to examine relationships between domain of reasoning and action choices. Seventy single women, ranging in age from 13 to 31 and divided between 25 women having abortions, 23 women continuing their pregnancies, and 22 never-pregnant women, were administered a semi-structured clinical interview about abortion and two hypothetical moral judgement dilemmas. A classification task was developed to provide an additional measure of reasoning in different domains. Another 29 single, first-pregnant women provided a comparison of the effects of these procedures on decision-making. Content analysis of the protocols revealed that responses to the abortion interview could be reliably distinguished between concepts of morality and personal issues and their coordination or lack of coordination. Subjects treating abortion as a moral issue were more likely to continue their pregnancies while subjects treating abortion as a personal issue were more likely to obtain an abortion. Differences in reasoning between pregnant and nonpregnant subjects were not observed. Moral responses to the abortion interview were found to be highly related to hypothetical moral judgments.     

Recognition and treatment of incestuous families

Incest is a major mental health problem, in terms of both prevalence and morbidity. Father-daughter incest constitutes the majority of reported cases. The possibility of incest should be considered in a family which includes a violent father, a disabled mother, a child in an adult maternal role, or an acting out adolescent girl. Intervention requires recognition of the criminal and addictive aspects of the father's behavior. Active cooperation between mental health professionals and mandated child protective and law enforcement agencies is necessary for effective treatment. Group therapy and affiliated self-help programs appear to be the treatment modality of choice. Rehabilitation of the family is based upon restoration of the mother-daughter bond as a guarantee of safety for the child.     

Pastoral Care: Myth and Reality

The increase in pastoral-care systems in secondary schools over the last fifteen years is examined. It is suggested that pastoral care is more effective in allaying the anxieties of teachers and their organisations than it is in meeting the social and personal needs of pupils. It is also suggested that pastoral-care systems assume responsibilities which are more properly those of the family, and that the best way schools can offset the effects of poor home environments is via good subject teaching and increased pupil involvement in schools.     

Using a computer simulation to teach attitude surveying

An interactive computer program that simulates, for teaching purposes, the procedures involved in carrying out an attitude survey is described. Students make decisions about the content and length of an attitude questionnaire, as well as about the procedures to be used to sample the population. Students’ inferences about the population characteristics can be compared with the actual characteristics (predetermined by the instructor) to provide students with an indication of the merits of the alternatives they chose.     

Acute back pain: a psychological analysis.

A cross-sectional evaluation of 117 people who sustained acute back injuries was undertaken within 15 days of the first report of the pain. The subjects showed no discal or neural signs and had not experienced previous episodes of back or neck pain. All subjects were given a structured interview and filled in a series of psychological evaluation instruments. Results show acute pain reactions to be comparable to those seen in chronic pain groups. The predominant emotion is one of frustration rather than anxiety or depression and considerable behavioural disruption is evident from this early point. The extent to which these data undermine the model of gradual evolution of chronic back pain problems is discussed.     

The conflicts of postmodern and traditional epistemologies in curricular reform: A dialogue

A radical opponent of Western higher education asserts that its pedagogy and content depend on belief in objective truth and knowledge. This epistemology and education are attacked as exclusive and domineering toward women, minorities, and non-Westerners. The critic puts forward a pragmatist epistemology, leading to multi-cultural education aimed at social criticism and personal autonomy. The critic's dialogue with a defender of traditional epistemological ideas provides a critical introduction to the claims justifying many radical criticisms of Western curricula and pedagogy.