The Effect of Incentives upon Information Gathering in Diagnostic Problem Solving

Tasks reflecting both Level I and Level II abilities as defined by Jensen (6) were performed with more accuracy by preschool children identified in the upper SES level. This performance trend remained the same even after the variable of IQ was controlled for by covariance for the SES levels involved in the study.

These results may reflect a general state of cognitive deprivation for children in the lower SES level as opposed to a specific Level II deficit. However, the performance on Subtest 2 was not significantly different for the two socioeconomic groups involved. This subtest involves choosing, from an array of four pictures of objects, the picture that is conceptually similar to a stimulus picture presented to the youngster. This is supposedly a Level II task. Therefore, some doubt is cast upon the notion of the generic differences between Level I and Level II abilities. At least for the sample in this study the Level I-Level II dichotomy has not been substantiated, and the corollary Arthur Jensen (6) hypotheses have equivocal substantiation.     

Strength of a Secondary Reinforcement as a Function of the Quality of Food Reward

Thirty-two children were presented 18 stories containing either a good, neutral, or negative act which was followed by either a reward or punishment. It was predicted that Ss' responses would be influenced by the sanctions. It was also predicted that the type of story (good, neutral, or bad) would influence the extent to which a child judged the act independent of the effects of the sanction (reward or punishment).

These predictions were supported. Ss made more positive responses to acts followed by reward than to those followed by punishment. However, an examination of a Content × Sanction interaction found the sanction of reward relatively ineffective for the stones with negative content.     

The Loneliness Questionnaire–Short Version: An Evaluation of Reverse-Worded and Non-Reverse-Worded Items Via Item Response Theory

Two Rorschachs were inadvertently administered to the same client within a period of three months. Although the ensuing personality pictures were very similar, an important difference appeared. The first Rorschach report stopped with the client's present condition. The second report saw the protocol as an interim Rorschach, suggesting the possibility that positive changes could lie ahead, if the client were given the appropriate help. The point is made that unwittingly, examiners may do their clients harm by not thinking ahead, in a way which the Rorschach uniquely makes possible. The Rorschach record and graph are presented, along with the various evidences of potential change. In conclusion, a problem is raised concerning the obligation inherent in the examiner-client relationship.     

Oral Pessimism and Depressive Symptoms

I examined the relation of oral optimistic and oral pessimistic personality traits to depressive symptoms to assess the psychoanalytic claim that fixation at the early phase of the oral stage of psychosexual development is related to depression. College students (N = 140) were administered the Oral Optimism Questionnaire (OOQ; Kline, 1978) and Oral Pessimism Questionnaire (OPQ; Kline, 1978) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelsohn, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). Oral pessimism and levels of depressive symptoms were positively correlated, and a subsample of subjects with clinical levels of depressive symptoms also scored significantly higher on the Oral Pessimism Questionnaire than the rest of the sample. For the whole sample, 10 BDI items correlated significantly with the OPQ scores, and 5 OPQ items correlated significantly with the total BDI scores. The psychoanalytic claim relating fixation at the oral pessimism stage to depressive symptoms was supported.     

The Measurement and Interpretation of Organizational Climate

This study describes the development and application of a new organizational climate instrument, the Survey of Organizational Characteristics (SOC). The participants in the development phase were 94 master's of business administration students, and the participants in the validation phase were 77 medical professionals: 24 medical faculty, 17 postdoctoral students, and 36 medical technicians. The final instrument consisted of 8 relatively independent scales with alpha coefficients based on the combined sample ranging from .77 to .98, and with 6 coefficients that were higher than .90. Validity hypotheses based on a priori knowledge about the 3 medical groups were for the most part well substantiated, although the small sample of postdoctoral students was a limitation. In relation to the findings, an attempt was made to clarify and perhaps narrow several of the conceptual and methodological gaps that persist between organizational climate and organizational culture.     

Understanding Peace within Contemporary Moral Theory

In this essay, I continue Nicholas Wolterstorff’s work of developing a rights-based theory of ethics called eirenéism, which maintains the good life only occurs when justice—as a moral state of affairs where agents enjoy the goods to which they have a right—is achieved. As a result, justice is eirenē (the Greek word for peace). In the process of developing eirenéism I explain how eirenē differs from other conceptions of peace, and I offer several interpretive arguments for how best to understand eirenéism in relation to better-known competing ethical theories, like utilitarianism, virtue ethics, duty ethics, and care ethics.     

Neurophysiological Markers That Predict and Track Treatment Outcomes in Childhood Anxiety

The present study examined the cortical processes that mediate cognitive regulation in response to emotion-eliciting stimuli, before and after anxious children participated in a cognitive behavioral therapy program. Electroencephalographic activity was recorded from anxious children (n?=?24, 8 males) and comparison children (n?=?16, 7 males) at pre-and post-treatment sessions. The change in anxiety T-scores from pre- to post-treatment was used to signify clinical improvement among anxious children (Improvers: n?=?11 vs. Non-improvers: n?=?13). Event-related potential components were recorded while children performed a Go/No-go task using emotional facial expressions. For the P1 component, believed to reflect attention and/or arousal processes, Non-improvers had greater activation levels relative to Improver and comparison groups at both sessions. Greater P1 amplitudes at pre-treatment predicted non-improvement following treatment. For the frontal N2 component, thought to reflect cognitive control processing, Improvers recruited greater activation from pre- to post-treatment, a change in activation that was predictive of treatment outcome. Non-improvers showed increased cortical activation within the time window of the P1, whether at pre- or post-treatment. These data suggest that heightened perceptual vigilance may have led to poorer outcomes. Improvers showed increased prefrontal activation within the time window of the N2 from pre- to post-treatment. These data suggest that increased cognitive control may have led to improved treatment outcomes. In sum, P1 activation may serve as a predictor of treatment outcome, while N2 activation may serve as an indicator of treatment response.