Assertive training for agoraphobics

Twenty-one unassertive agoraphobic patients were assigned to one of three treatments: (1) prolonged exposure in vivo, (2) assertive training and (3) a combination of assertive training and prolonged exposure in vivo. Each treatment was conducted in groups which were led by two therapists. Assessments involved both phobic targets and assertiveness, and were made before and after treatment, and at 1-month follow-up. Exposure in vivo was found to be superior to assertive training on phobic targets. Assertive training produced greater gains in assertiveness than exposure in vivo. The combination of treatments produced results comparable to exposure in viro. Results indicated that the type of change produced by the treatments is a rather specific one and is related to the specific target of treatment.     

Preprogramming vs. on-line control in simple movement sequences

In the present experiment the acceleration traces produced during a repetitive arm extension/flexion movement were measured in addition to the RT required to initiate such a movement. The speed at which this task was completed as well as the number of extension/flexion segments were varied to allow for either preprogramming or on-line control. Evidence from the acceleration traces and the RT data suggested that the movements completed as quickly as possible were preprogrammed; whereas, those completed more slowly were controlled on-line. Furthermore, the topologies of the power spectral density functions from the acceleration traces of each type of movement displayed characteristics typical of these forms of control.     

Work-Home Role Conflict,Family Climate,and Domestic Responsibilities Among Men and Women in Dual-earner Families1

Correlates of work-home role conflict for dual-earner couples were examined. Respondents (N= 208) were an equal number of married, employed men and women with children. Data were collected in the northeastern U.S.A. through a survey which measured work-home role conflict, family climate, domestic responsibilities, and activities performed during one's free time. LISREL was used to determine if domestic responsibilities mediate the correlation between gender and work-home conflict. A regression analysis was used to determine the relative effects of domestic responsibilities and family climate on work-home conflict. Results indicate that (a) work-home role conflict is negatively related to family climate for men as well as for women, (b) gender differences in role conflict are partially attributable to gender differences in domestic responsibilities, and (c) domestic responsibilities and family climate each correlate significantly with work-home role conflict. Findings suggest that how one works hard (the conditions under which one lives) may be just as important as how hard one works (the number of tasks one performs).     

INDUCING VARIABILITY IN COMMUNICATIVE GESTURES USED BY SEVERELY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS

Handicapped individuals who have been taught spontaneous gesture requests often use only a small part of their vocabulary. Procedures to recover the unused part of this vocabulary have not been documented. This study was designed to identify procedures for increasing the proportion of gestures used spontaneously. Six mentally handicapped individuals served as subjects. After a baseline phase during which spontaneous gesture requests were reinforced, consequences were withheld for high-rate gesture requests. This led to an increase in different gesture requests. Although gesture requests did not return to baseline levels during a reversal condition, functional control was demonstrated by way of a multiple baseline across subjects. The absence of a reversal effect suggests enduring effects of the procedure.     

Local and global mechanisms of one- and two-dimensional orientation illusions.

One-dimensional (1-D) orientation illusions induced on a test grating by a tilted and surrounding 1-D inducing grating have a well-known angular function that exhibits both repulsion and attraction effects. Two-dimensional (2-D) orientation illusions are those induced on a test grating by 2-D image modulation, such as a pair of superimposed inducing gratings at different orientations, usually orthogonal (a plaid). Given the known angular functions induced by the plaid component gratings, two hypotheses were developed that predicted different plaid-induced illusion functions. Hypothesis 1 states that the 1-D component-induced effects simply add linearly; Hypothesis 2 states that there is an additional mechanism that responds to the virtual axes of mirror symmetry of the plaid and adds to the effect. The data of two experiments were consistent with the predictions from the second hypothesis but not the first. Possible neural substrates of mechanisms that extract axes of symmetry are discussed; it is suggested that such global symmetry axes may underlie the perceived orientation of complex shapes.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to regular auditory patterns

Subjects (N = 32) were asked to synchronize a motor response with tones in auditory patterns. These patterns were created from six tones and six intertone intervals of equal duration. The pitch of the first tone differed from the others. It was found that subjects used three types of timing in their motor response: (1) the first intertone interval was prolonged and the second interval was shortened, (2) the second intertone interval was prolonged and the first interval was shortened, and/or (3) the first interval and the second interval were of approximately the same length. The prolongation of the fifth interval was observed during all three types of timing. The results are explained using the concept of suprasegmental control of timing, which explains a prolongation of intervals at critical control point of the patterns. The occurrence of three different strategies of timing is discussed in connection with similar principles in musical performance.     

Analysis of the components of disparity in Wilde's dot-row phenomenon

Summary In this study on Wilde's phenomenon (Wilde 1950) the two components of disparity, one of them processing displacement, and the other one apparent rotation, are analysed in terms of dependence on the disparity of the end-lines of the pattern (), and on the percentage of magnification (M) of one of the monocular patterns in relation to the other one. It was found that the component of disparity for displacement ' can be expressed as a linear regression equation '=–a+b.The component of disparity for rotation, expressed as a percentage of magnification effective for rotation (M) can be expressed as M=a–b₁+b₂M.It was concluded that the two components of disparity are processed through independent parallel channels, the processing of the component of disparity for displacement being the faster process, accounting for the larger part of the total disparity.     

Maximum likelihood estimation for Luce's choice model

A terminology for general choice models based on the choice axiom is given. It applies to all kinds of choice experiments, such as confusion choice experiments, paired comparisons, triadic comparisons, directional rankings, scores on binary test items, and others. Maximum likelihood estimation for such general choice models is considered. Conditions for the uniqueness of maximum likelihood estimates are given, and it is shown that the estimates can be derived by iterative proportional fitting. This offers the opportunity of a general test of the choice axiom for all kinds of choice experiments using the likelihood ratio. The estimation and testing procedure is applied to data from a form recognition experiment, reported by W. A. Wagenaar (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Psychologie, 1968, 23, 96–108).     

Belief and Values in the Nuclear Debate1

A questionnaire was administered to 47 participants attending a workshop on nuclear energy shortly after publication of a report on a proposed nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Supporters and opponents of the proposed development differed markedly in their estimates of its possible consequences, and of the relative importance of these consequences. They also differed in their endorsement of pro- and anti-nuclear lobbies, and the factors which they felt contributed most to the “quality of life”. Overall, pro-nuclear subjects appear to place emphasis on the economic benefits of nuclear energy, while anti-nuclear subjects appearad more concerned with social and political risks, and regraded alternative energy sources as more viable. It is concluded that an analysis of such attitudinal differences requires a consideration not only of differences in beliefs, but also of differences in belief salience.