No reliable effects of emotional facial expression, adult attachment orientation, or anxiety on the allocation of visual attention in the spatial cueing paradigm

The primary goal of the current study was to examine the allocation of attention to emotional facial stimuli as a function of adult attachment orientation. Using a modified version of the spatial cueing paradigm we examined these effects in three experiments. In each experiment predictable cue validity effects were observed and these effects were always modulated by the expression of the facial cue. Furthermore, the magnitude of these cue validity effects was also influenced by individual differences in both adult attachment orientation and anxiety. The direction of these effects, however, was not consistent across experiments and did not replicate previous findings. We conclude that this paradigm may not usefully elucidate the processes underlying the allocation of attention to emotional stimuli.     

Marital therapy: The importance of the assessment of the individuals on personality tests

The importance of assessing individuals in a marital conflict is seen as vital. The theoretical position that there are big ‘T’ and little ‘t’ individuals indicated that some members of the relationship are more eager for thrill seeking and being outgoing while little ‘t’ individuals are more eager for harmony and conservative personality traits. This has long been established. There are extremes of this but also these traits are on a continuum. While opposites attract in a relationship, the more individuals have in common, the more likely the marital relationship will work except in one area, that of seeking control or dominance. Here, opposites are likely to be more successful. Areas where there are likely to be difficulties between big ‘T’ and little ‘t’ individuals are in the rates of infidelity where big T's may predominate, also in sexual dissatisfaction and problems, attitudes to love, marital abuse and spouse abuse, child rearing issues, drug and alcohol abuse, the handling of money, household chores and division of labour, recreation interests, and religious differences. While not all of these may come into conflict or may be part of a big ‘T’ or little ‘t’ personality, there is a weighing in one direction rather than in the other. In order for rehabilitation between marital partners, it is important for each to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the other's personality, be they big ‘T’ or little ‘t’ individuals. Approaches by counsellors, psychologists to these individual differences are discussed.     

Adrenal hormone excretion and irrational thinking

Stress reactions to irrational thinking were assessed by studying the relationships between adrenal hormone levels and various psychological scales and indicators of stress symptoms. Of the psychological tests, the Jones Irrational Beliefs Test correlated significantly (negatively) with noradrenaline level. Further, both noradrenaline and adrenaline levels were strongly predicted by physiological variables and irrational beliefs.     

Behavioural treatment of obsessional-compulsive patients in routine clinical practice

There is a paucity of information available about the extent to which findings from research studies of behavioural treatments can be generalised to routine clinical practice. The characteristics and treatment at a series of 36 patients with obsessional-compulsive disorders who were referred to a National Health Service Behaviour Therapy Clinic are described. It appears that the methods developed and evaluated in research trials have been incorporated into everyday clinical practice, with some modifications (e.g. less in vivo practice but more home task assignment). The outcomes reported in the research trials were replicated in the clinical setting, and were shown to be achieved economically in terms of therapist time.     

Retest reliability of the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study and similar semiprojective techniques

Surveys the evidence for the reliability of the Adult, Adolescent and Children's Forms of the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration (P-F) Study. Analysis of variance and split-half methods, which assume item homogeneity and internal consistency, may be appropriate to psychometric tests, but they are not apposite to projective and semi-projective techniques. The implications of applying such criteria are critically examined, with the P-F Study as an example to demonstrate their nonapplicability. Investigations on retest (total test) reliability from the laboratory of the senior author and from those of other investigators demonstrate statistically significant consistency for the main scoring categories of the P-F, especially those relating to directions of aggression. Implications for other semiprojective techniques are expounded.     

On the numerical approximation of the bivariate normal (tetrachoric) correlation coefficient

In this paper a rapid and reliable method is found for estimating the value of the Bivariate Normal Correlation Coefficient, ρ, given values of the joint probability and the normal deviates,h andk, or the related areas. This technique finds useful application in the computational approximation of the tetrachoric correlation coefficient,r, when the underlying distributions may be assumed to be normal.