EXPERIMENTS IN A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER: INCREASING CLIENT PAYMENTS FOR OUTPATIENT SERVICES

Although public health care systems often depend on revenue generated from client payment for services, inadequate agency fee payment systems continue to create substantial administrative problems. The first study examined the effects of implementing a system for producing and maintaining routine client fee payment. The second study was a replication of the first study. The Credit Criterion System was designed to: (a) allow clients to establish intra-agency credit by paying cash for each of the first three visits; and (b) pay for services monthly after credit was established. The system resulted in a baseline collection rate of 20%, compared with the Credit Criterion rate of 96.6%. The Credit Criterion System did not create additional administrative costs and it had no effect on attendance. Thus, the Credit Criterion System appears to be a reasonable set of procedures for allowing clients to meet their financial obligations to an agency.     

Between-trial transporting of animals: A methodological consideration

The advantages of the one-way avoidance situation are numerous. However, to start a. new trial, the E is confronted with the additional problem of transporting S, usually by hand, from the nonshock compartment to the shock compartment. Two experiments were run in which the performance of a group transported between trials by hand was compared with a group transported by a specially designed box. The main finding in both experiments was that between-trial handling of Ss markedly retards the number of responses occurring during extinction. The importance of removing the handling variable from experiments was discussed.     

Reducing interference in forgetting

According to interference theories forgetting results from the intervention of extraneous associations which disturb the patterns built up during learning. It also seems that the period immediately following learning is critical for forgetting. The experiment which is described was carried out to investigate whether administration of the central-depressant drug nitrous oxide immediately after learning would reduce forgetting, since it had been shown to impair the formation of associations and ought therefore to reduce interference. This expectation was borne out, significantly less forgetting occurring when nitrous oxide was given than when air was given. A possible physiological basis, relating these results to those for sleep is discussed.     

Obtaining Systematic Teacher Reports of Disruptive Behavior Disorders Utilizing DSM-IV

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt AD/HD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale (VADTRS) and provides preliminary normative data from a large, geographically defined population. The VADTRS consists of the complete list of DSM-IV AD/HD symptoms, a screen for other disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety and depression, and ratings of academic and classroom behavior performance. Teachers in one suburban county completed the scale for their students during 2 consecutive years. Statistical methods included (a) exploratory and confirmatory latent variable analyses of item data, (b) evaluation of the internal consistency of the latent dimensions, (c) evaluation of latent structure concordance between school year samples, and (d) preliminary evaluation of criterion-related validity. The instrument comprises four behavioral dimensions and two performance dimensions. The behavioral dimensions were concordant between school years and were consistent with a priori DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Correlations between latent dimensions and relevant, known disorders or problems varied from .25 to .66.     

On the role of behaviorism in clinical psychology

This discussion presents the viewpoints of five well-known psychologists on the role of behaviorism in clinical psychology. The article is a condensed version of a symposium presented at the 1978 annual APA convention.