Comorbid Substance Use and Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents

To explore the coexistence of substance use disorders and anxiety disorders in adolescents, we assessed adolescents presenting for treatment to an inpatient substance abuse treatment facility (SUH), an inpatient psychiatric treatment facility (IPH), and a community-based psychiatric facility (CMHC) for comorbid substance use and psychiatric diagnoses. Thirty subjects from each facility (N=90) were interviewed using the revised Child Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) and the Structured Clinical Interview DSM-III-R (SCID-R) for substance use diagnoses. Overall, comorbidity (anxiety and substance use disorders) prevalence was 67% (20/30) of adolescents in the SUH group, 33% (10/30) of the CMHC adolescents, and 33% (10/30) of the IPH adolescents. Alcohol and marijuana were the most frequently abused substances. Anxiety disorders commonly coexist with substance use disorders in adolescents. Early identification and treatment of anxiety disorders may in fact prevent substance abuse in this population.     

Teaching Different Tasks Using Different Stimuli in a Heterogeneous Small Group

The effectiveness of a simultaneous prompting procedure was evaluated in a heterogeneous small group using different tasks and different stimuli for each student. Participants included four middle school students whose functioning levels ranged from typically developing to moderate and severe disabilities. A multiple probe design across behaviors and replicated across students was used. Observational learning maintenance, and generalization also were assessed. Results indicate that the procedure was successful in teaching all four students their targeted stimuli as well as some of the non-targeted stimuli (i.e., observational learning). Students maintained and generalized their information with a high degree of accuracy. Limitations of the study and future research implications are discussed.     

Whammies and double whammies: The effect of length on nonword reading

In the work presented here, the length effect in nonword reading aloud was investigated in order to assess whether that effect is driven by the number of letters in a string or by the number of graphemes in a string. Simulation work with the Dual-Route Cascaded (DRC) model (e.g., Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993; Coltheart & Rastle, 1994) uncovered a surprising finding regarding the length effect; the same result was obtained in an experiment with human subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the DRC model, with particular reference to serial processing and interphoneme inhibition, two properties critical to understanding the effect reported here.     

Temporal delay,type of forewarning,and resistance to influence

Previous researchers have manipulated forewarning by providing premessage information about the topic and position of the upcoming communication, or the communicator's persuasive intent. Subjects in the present experiment were force-warned either 10 min prior to the communication, or just before the message began of the speaker's topic and position, persuasive intent, or topic only. As hypothesized, forewarning of the communicator's persuasive intent inhibited persuasion regardless of the length of the delay period, but forewarning of the topic and position required a delay in order to confer resistance to subsequent persuasion, suggesting that although both manipulations have been called “forewarning they may lead to reduced persuasion through different mechanisms. Foreknowledge of the source's topic, but not his position also increased resistance to persuasion when followed by a delay period. The results were discussed in terms of both cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may underly the persuasion inhibiting effects of forewarning.     

A recodification of the Palermo and Jenkins word-association norms

The Palermo and Jenkins (1964) word association norms were recodified, with responses alphabetically arranged, and related to the various levels of stimuli.     

The importance of subject control in reinforcing brain stimulation

A comparison between the reinforcement strength of self-administered and externally imposed brain stimulation was undertaken. Rats performed on a chain schedule in order to receive brain stimulation, either selfadministered or imposed, during the second component of the chain. Response rates during the first component of the chain schedule indicated that self-stimulation was more reinforcing than imposed stimulation. In addition, contrast, both positive and negative, seemed to be present. It was concluded that reinforcement strength may be enhanced when the subject controls the presentation of reinforcement.     

Different ways to get the job done: comparing the effects of intellectual stimulation and contingent reward leadership on task‐related outcomes

Two experiments were conducted to compare the effects of intellectual stimulation and contingent reward leadership on performance, task enjoyment, and extra effort. Participants (N = 78 and N = 158) viewed one of three videos and performed an in‐basket exercise. Several interesting differences emerged. Across both studies, participants in the control and contingent reward leadership conditions generated more ideas than their counterparts in the intellectual stimulation condition. Additionally, participants reported more willingness to exert extra effort when the leader was either intellectually stimulating or emphasized contingent reward leadership, as compared to the control condition. Finally, while task enjoyment was higher in the contingent reward leadership condition than in the control condition in Study 1, no significant differences emerged among conditions for enjoyment in Study 2.