Deconstructing Dispositional Bias in Clinical Inference: Two Interventions

In this study, the authors examined the effectiveness of instruction in attribution processes and practice in empathic perspective taking in deconstructing dispositional bias of counselor trainees. Videotaped stimulus cases and a clinical attribution scale were used to assess the treatment effects when compared with a placebo control condition. Results revealed significant differences among groups. Counselor trainees receiving either of the 2 interventions showed significantly lower dispositional bias in responding to videotaped clinical cases than did their counterparts in the placebo condition. The study points to a need for a paradigm shift from a person-focused to a system-focused approach in counseling practice. Implications also point to the need for including critical thinking and empathic experiencing in clinical training     

Construct validity and test-retest reliability of a date rape decision-latency measure

In two studies, the construct (convergent and discriminant) validity and test-retest reliability of a date rape decision-latency measure was examined. In Study 1, 174 college men completed measures related to sexual aggression and listened to an audiotaped simulation of a date rape, during which cues of nonconsent and force gradually escalated over time. Participants were instructed to respond, by pressing a button which recorded the latency of their decisions in seconds, if and when they believed the man depicted in the scenario should stop his sexual advances. Results demonstrated positive associations between prolonged decision latencies and sexually aggressive behavior, calloused sexual beliefs, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and sexual promiscuity. In Study 2, initial results were cross-validated in a sample of 102 college men, and discriminant validity was established as decision latencies were unassociated with measures of social desirability, alcohol consumption and drug use. Test-retest reliability assessed over a 2-week interval was .87.The authors wish to thank Alan Gross and Brian Marx for providing the audiotaped stimulus materials, Richard Marsh for writing the decision-latency computer program, Jason Hicks for assisting with programming, and the undergraduate research assistants for serving as experimenters.     

Evolutionary skepticism

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Response to John Beebe

This paper briefly describes the history of the professional interaction between psychoanalysts and analytical psychologists in the United States. There has been little public contact between the two groups since the personal feud between Freud and Jung has beer carried forth to the present generation of analysts. The relationship between Otto Rank and Freud and his circle demonstrated many of the same dynamics that were activated between Freud and Jung, who had broken off their relationship ten years earlier; this paper highlights the similarities between Jung's, then Rank's, exile from the psychoanalytic group, Jung's interest in spiritual matters, including his interest in the nature of religious experience, and his questionable dealing with the Nazis during the 1930s have been the stated reason for the taboo set against Jung's writings. Presently there seems to be a growing realization that there are large areas of mutual interest, and both the similarities and differences between the schools need further exploration.     

I am not a Crook: Effects of Denials on Perceptions of a Defendant's Guilt, Personality, and Motives

Two studies were conducted to explore the effects of a defendant's overinformative denials (i.e., denials not prompted by an accusation or specific request) in a courtroom trial. Subjects read the testimony of a defendant who either did or did not deny several negative propositions (Study I) or whose denials either were or were not in response to the prosecutor's questions (Study 2). The denials had little effect on subjects' beliefs regarding the denied propositions. However, the defendant who provided the overinformative denials was perceived as being less trustworthy, more nervous, more concerned with presenting a positive image, and more likely to believe that others believed the negative propositions. Subjects who read the testimony of this defendant also generated more negative and fewer positive thoughts, and they perceived the defendant as being more guilty. The results illustrate the importance of the conversational context for determining the pragmatic meaning of a speaker's remarks.     

A NOTE ON TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL IN THE DELAYED-CUE PROCEDURE: FACILITATION BY AN OVERT DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE

This case study describes initially unsuccessful attempts to use the delayed-cue procedure to teach conditional discriminations to an individual with moderate mental retardation. The task was matching printed-word comparison stimuli to dictated-name sample stimuli. In three experiments, the subject typically waited for the delayed cue unless differential responses to the dictated samples (repeating the sample names) were required. Hence, the study provides an example of a way to make the delayed-cue method more effective. The stimulus control bases for the results are discussed.     

AN EXPLOSION OF DAZZLING FLASHES: TEILHARD'S UNITY OF FAITH AND SCIENCE

Abstract. Science and revelation have been presented as two books with the same “author,” their reconciliation being called “concordism.” Teilhard opposed concordism, insisting that supposed “revelations” be treated as scientific hypotheses to be verified or not in experience. Applying his criterion for truth (Does it bring “coherence and fecundity” to the phenomena?) to Christian revelation, he told of finding “an explosion of dazzling flashes.” So Teilhard spoke of the hypothesis as the supreme spiritual act wherein the dust of experience takes on form and is kindled at the fire of knowledge.     

INCREASING COMPLEX SOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: EFFECTS OF PEER-IMPLEMENTED PIVOTAL RESPONSE TRAINING

Two children with autism were taught to engage in a variety of complex social behaviors using peer-implemented pivotal response training (PRT), a set of procedures designed to increase motivation and promote generalization. Typical peers were taught to implement PRT strategies by modeling, role playing, and didactic instruction. After training, peers implemented the procedures in the absence of direct supervision in a classroom environment. After the intervention, both children with autism maintained prolonged interactions with the peer, initiated play and conversations, and increased engagement in language and joint attention behaviors. In addition, teachers reported positive changes in social behavior, with the largest increases in peer-preferred social behavior. Further, these effects showed generality and maintenance. Implications of these findings are discussed.