Validation studies of a multifactor cognitive-behavioral Anger Control Inventory

Two studies are reported on a new Anger Control Inventory based on a cognitive-behavioral person-situation interaction model. In Study 1, the inventory responses of 118 clinical subjects and 190 normal subjects were correlated with an anger problem criterion based on observable signs. Factor analyses were conducted to clarify the construct base of the inventory. In Study 2, comparisons were made between the inventory responses of 100 spouse batterers and 96 normal subjects. Significant differences between the pretreatment and posttreatment scores of 65 batterers given treatment in anger control were obtained on the inventory scales, which were found to be correlated with the problem criterion and discriminating between the clinical and normal groups. The construct validity and clinical utility of the Anger Control Inventory are discussed.     

Invariance in the MMPI's component structure

Bernstein and Garbin (1985b) suggested that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory's major clinical scales (excluding Scales ? and 5) can be approximated by an oblique three-component structure: (a) Profile Elevation, (b) Test-taking Attitudes, and (c) Optimism-Pessimism, collectively termed the salient weight model. In this study, we found that both this model and the MMPI's principal component structure remain invariant across race, sex, and, as previously noted, context of testing (job applicants vs. inmates in correctional institutions). We further noted that several alternative definitions of Profile Elevation provide equally satisfactory representation of the relations among the scales. This factor invariance is necessary, but not sufficient, for the MMPI to be viewed as unbiased.     

Male liberation

This article on Liberation approaches the subject from the perspective ofmen. Women have taken the lead in trying to throw off the bondage of patriarchy. Men have, for the most part, been reactors to the evolving changes. The author feels that there is a more creative role for men to play, but first, we must become more conscious of the ways in which our privileged position oppresses us. The author documents this dynamic as well as points to some possible directions for men to move in their personal and professional lives. The priority on developing collegiality and inclusiveness in our professional associations gives this subject an important place in our thinking and decisionmaking.This paper was read at a workshop on male liberation at the National A.A.P.C. Convention in San Antonio, April 30,1982.     

The perception of continuous curves in dot stimuli

Two categorisation experiments are reported in which the perceptual phenomenon that some simple arrays of discrete dots appear as a continuous curve whereas others are perceived as an angular contour or as consisting of separate groups of dots was investigated. Triplets of dots were presented in the first experiment, and complete or incomplete regular dot polygons (ie dots positioned on the vertices of imaginary regular polygons) in the second. In both experiments the perception of a curve versus an angle was determined mainly by the relative orientations of the dots, ie by the angles between successive virtual lines, whereas the lengths of the virtual lines had relatively little influence. In experiment 2 the number of displayed dots was shown to be a second independent factor for perceiving continuity. These results are in agreement with results from experiments on dipole textures discrimination, and suggest the psychological existence and importance of virtual lines in the visual processing of dot stimuli.     

Stereokinesis with moving visual phantoms

When a flat pattern composed of a solid ellipse with two symmetrical semirings (corresponding to the visible parts of a contour ellipse whose major axis is perpendicular to that of the solid ellipse) is slowly rotated in the frontoparallel plane, a compelling three-dimensional impression occurs. Subjects report seeing an egg-shaped object that is inserted into a circular ring: the two objects move solidly into three-dimensional space and a moving visual phantom is generated so that the ring appears completed by an illusory curved bar in the region closest to the observer during rotation. A number of variations of this illusion are presented. It is shown that stereokinetic phantoms (i) maintain the shape of the inducing elements; (ii) appear only after the stereokinetic transformation has taken place; and (iii) depend on the organization of the three-dimensional percept as a whole. Relations between stereokinetic phantoms and other completion phenomena are presented and discussed.