Can Rachman's indirect pathways be used to un-learn fear? A prospective paradigm to test whether children's fears can be reduced using positive information and modelling a non-anxious response

This study investigated whether children's fears could be un-learned using Rachman's indirect pathways for learning fear. We hypothesised that positive information and modelling a non-anxious response are effective methods of un-learning fears acquired through verbal information. One hundred and seven children aged 6-8 years received negative information about one animal and no information about another. Fear beliefs and behavioural avoidance were measured. Children were randomised to receive positive verbal information, modelling, or a control task. Fear beliefs and behavioural avoidance were measured again. Positive information and modelling led to lower fear beliefs and behavioural avoidance than the control condition. Positive information was more effective than modelling in reducing fear beliefs and both methods significantly reduced behavioural avoidance. The results support Rachman's indirect pathways as viable fear un-learning pathways and supports associative learning theories.     

Estimation of a four‐parameter item response theory model

We explore the justification and formulation of a four‐parameter item response theory model (4PM) and employ a Bayesian approach to recover successfully parameter estimates for items and respondents. For data generated using a 4PM item response model, overall fit is improved when using the 4PM rather than the 3PM or the 2PM. Furthermore, although estimated trait scores under the various models correlate almost perfectly, inferences at the high and low ends of the trait continuum are compromised, with poorer coverage of the confidence intervals when the wrong model is used. We also show in an empirical example that the 4PM can yield new insights into the properties of a widely used delinquency scale. We discuss the implications for building appropriate measurement models in education and psychology to model more accurately the underlying response process.     

Response acquisition and fixed-ratio escalation based on interresponse times in rats

The effectiveness of a fixed‐ratio (FR) escalation procedure, developed by Pinkston and Branch (2004) and based on interresponse times (IRTs), was assessed during lever‐press acquisition. Forty‐nine experimentally naïve adult male Long Evans rats were deprived of food for 24 hr prior to an extended acquisition session. Before the start of the session, three food pellets were placed in the magazine. Otherwise, no magazine training, shaping, nor autoshaping procedure was employed. The first 20 presses each resulted in the delivery of a 45‐mg food pellet. Then, the FR increased (2, 4, 8, 11, 16, 20, 25, 30) when each IRT in the ratio was less than 2 s during three consecutive ratios. Sessions lasted 13 hr or until 500 pellets were earned. On average, rats reached a terminal ratio of 11 (mean) or 16 (median) during the first session. Seven rats reached the maximum value of FR 30 and only one rat did not acquire the response. In most rats, a break‐and‐run pattern of responding characteristic of FR schedules began to develop in this acquisition session. Subsequently, the ratio‐escalation procedure continued during daily 2‐hr sessions. In these sessions, the starting ratio requirement was set at the terminal ratio reached in the previous session. Using this procedure, over half (26) of the rats reached the FR 30 requirement by the fourth session. These data demonstrate that a ratio‐escalation procedure based on IRTs provides a time‐efficient way of establishing ratio responding.     

Ockham Efficiency Theorem for Stochastic Empirical Methods

Ockham’s razor is the principle that, all other things being equal, scientists ought to prefer simpler theories. In recent years, philosophers have argued that simpler theories make better predictions, possess theoretical virtues like explanatory power, and have other pragmatic virtues like computational tractability. However, such arguments fail to explain how and why a preference for simplicity can help one find true theories in scientific inquiry, unless one already assumes that the truth is simple. One new solution to that problem is the Ockham efficiency theorem (Kelly 2002, Minds Mach 14:485–505, 2004, Philos Sci 74:561–573, 2007a, b, Theor Comp Sci 383:270–289, c, d; Kelly and Glymour 2004), which states that scientists who heed Ockham’s razor retract their opinions less often and sooner than do their non-Ockham competitors. The theorem neglects, however, to consider competitors following random (“mixed”) strategies and in many applications random strategies are known to achieve better worst-case loss than deterministic strategies. In this paper, we describe two ways to extend the result to a very general class of random, empirical strategies. The first extension concerns expected retractions, retraction times, and errors and the second extension concerns retractions in chance, times of retractions in chance, and chances of errors.     

Self-Modeling and Competitive Beam Performance Enhancement Examined Within a Self-Regulation Perspective

The observation of oneself on video that has been edited to show a performance level higher than one can actually perform is a feedforward form of modeling, termed self-modeling (SM; Dowrick, 1999 Dowrick, P. W. 1999. A review of self-modeling and related interventions. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 8: 23–29. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In this research, gymnasts alternated between viewing and not viewing a SM video during their competitive season. Results showed that gymnasts attained significantly higher beam scores when they viewed the video versus when they did not. No differences in self-efficacy were observed using a quantitative measure; however, a qualitative analysis of interviews based on Zimmerman's (2000) Ram, N. and McCullagh, P. 2003. Self-modeling: Influences on psychological responses and physical performance. The Sport Psychologist, 17(2): 220–241.  [Google Scholar] model, indicated that a number of self-regulatory processes, including self-efficacy, were employed.     

Outplacement services for displaced employees: attitudes of human resource managers based on differences in internal and external delivery

The results from a survey of 238 human resources executives from organizations that offer outplacement counseling (OPC) internally and 168 that offer it externally suggest that internal OPC delivery is inferior to external OPC delivery. The author found that most internal OPC organizations did not offer the 13 traditional OPC services, even when they were viewed as important. However, both groups had deficiencies in measuring their OPC relative to gender, age, and effectiveness. Internal OPC organizations rated the quality of their OPC service as 4.77 on a scale of 10, whereas external OPC organizations rated their services as 7.96.     

Worry and Sleep Length Revisited: Worry,Sleep Length,and Sleep Disturbance Ascribed to Worry

The author administered university students (N = 222; 152 women, 70 men) the Worry Domains Questionnaire (F. Tallis, G. C. L. Davey, & A. Bond, 1994) and a newly constructed scale (the Sleep Disturbance Ascribed to Worry Scale) to measure sleep disturbance attributed to worry. To revisit previous studies (i.e., E. Hartmann, F. Baekeland, & G. R. Zwilling, 1972; S. J. H. McCann & L. L. Stewin, 1988) that suggested that sleep length was positively related to worry, the author also asked the students a question about habitual sleep length. The results indicated that worry and sleep disturbance attributed to worry were negatively related to sleep length. A regression analysis revealed that worry was significantly negatively related to habitual sleep length irrespective of sleep disturbance ascribed to worry.     

An Elementary Syllabus of Psychological Tests

The purpose of this study was to examine the universality of the “inverse square root law” insofar as it purports to show a constant relationship between emotional involvement and subjectively perceived geographical distance. It was argued that the square root exponent in the “law” was derived from experiments that used a limited range of stimuli (place names). With students as subjects, two experiments were conducted in order to discover the relationship between emotional involvement and subjective distance when both very close and very distant places were considered. It was shown that the inverse square root function was not constant but rather varied with the range of stimuli.     

Religion and United States Physicians’ Opinions and Self-Predicted Practices Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration

This study surveyed 1,156 practicing US physicians to examine the relationship between physicians’ religious characteristics and their approaches to artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH). Forty percent of physicians believed that unless a patient is imminently dying, the patient should always receive nutrition and fluids; 75 % believed that it is ethically permissible for doctors to withdraw ANH. The least religious physicians were less likely to oppose withholding or withdrawing ANH. Compared to non-evangelical Protestant physicians, Jews and Muslims were significantly more likely to oppose withholding ANH, and Muslims were significantly more likely to oppose withdrawing ANH.     

Transformation on the Pacific Crest Trail: A Review of Cheryl Strayed’s Narrative “Wild”

Cheryl Strayed shares her experience of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in her book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed’s narrative provides readers with insights into her arduous adventure and offers occupational therapy practitioners some understanding of personal transformation through her daily mundane occupations and exceptional accomplishments. Strayed transforms her self-identity, acknowledges the “gifts” given to her during the trek, and shares the epiphanies she discovers.