Discriminative conditioning of prism adaptation

Two experiments were used to demonstrate that adaptation to ll-deg prism displacement can be conditioned to the stimuli associated with the goggles in which the prisms are housed. In Experiment 1 it was found that repeated alternation between a series of target-pointing responses while wearing prism goggles and a series of responses without prism goggles led to larger adaptive shift when S was tested with nondisplacing goggles than when tested without goggles. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that the adaptation revealed in the first experiment was primarily proprioceptive, rather than visual. Surprisingly, most Ss reported greater difficulty during the exposure period in overcoming the negative aftereffect than they did the prism-induced error.     

GENERALIZATION OF NAMING RESPONSES TO OBJECTS IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AS A FUNCTION OF TRAINING STIMULUS MODALITY WITH RETARDED CHILDREN

Picture-cards, photographs, and real objects were compared as training stimuli in order to determine which best facilitated the generalization of naming responses learned in a special training room to real objects in the natural environments of four retarded children. The amount of transfer of naming behavior between the three stimulus modes and the average amount of training time required per stimulus mode were also assessed. Three of the four children displayed considerably more generalization to the real objects in the natural environment when they were trained with real objects. The fourth child displayed substantial generalization regardless of the training stimulus mode. No particular training stimulus mode clearly facilitated the transfer of naming responses to other modes or greatly reduced training time. The results of two supplementary procedures conducted with one child showed that: (1) training in several environments facilitated generalization to real objects in the natural environment when real objects were used as training stimuli but not when picture-cards were used, and (2) transfer from picture-cards to real objects was facilitated by training other picture-cards and the real objects portrayed by them at the same time.     

Dual adaptation of apparent concomitant motion contingent on head rotation frequency

Perceived movement of a stationary visual stimulus during head motion was measured before and after adaptation intervals during which participants performed voluntary head oscillations while viewing a moving spot. During these intervals, participants viewed the spot stimulus moving alternately in the same direction as the head was moving during either .25- or 2.0-Hz oscillations, and then in the opposite direction as the head at the other of the two frequencies. Postadaptation measures indicated that the visual stimuli were perceived as stationary only if traveling in the same direction as that viewed during adaptation at the same frequency of head motion. Thus, opposite directions of spot motion were perceived as stationary following adaptation depending on head movement frequency. The results provide an example of the ability to establish dual (or “context-specific”) adaptations to altered visual—vestibular feedback.     

Concern for appropriateness as a moderator variable in the statistical explanation of self-reported use of alcohol and marijuana

Two studies examine the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (Lennox & Wolfe, 1984) as a likely moderator of dispositional and environmental variables associated with self-reported use of alcohol and marijuana by college and precollege students. In Study 1, data from 408 upper division students show that concern score interacts significantly with religiosity in analyses of use of both drugs, but not with any of 11 other dispositional variables nor with drug-specific environment predictors in analyses of use of either drug. In Study 2, data from 242 recent high school graduates show that concern score interacts significantly with religiosity and drug-specific environment in the explanation of alcohol use but not in the explanation of marijuana use. All of the significant interactions are in the predicted direction. Results therefore suggest that the concern scale is valid for some of its intended purposes.     

Androgyny and Derived Identity in Married Women with Varying Degrees of Non-Traditional Role Involvement

Three groups of women—(1) wives with no outside employment, (2) wives employed in non-professional occupations, and (3) wives employed in professional occupations—were administered the Derived Identity Questionnaire (DIQ) and the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). The two working groups revealed less "derived identity" than did the non-employed group, although the difference was only marginally significant. On the BSRI it was found that while the obtained femininity scores were essentially equal and high for the three groups, masculinity increased as a direct function of degree of departure from the housewife role. This finding led to the conclusion that working wives (especially professionals) are more "androgynous" than non-working wives. Finally, the signed difference between the masculinity and femininity scores and the DIQ scores were correlated positively, indicative of a negative relationship between derived identity and androgyny.     

Anorexia Nervosa,Major Depression,and Suicide Attempts: Shared Genetic Factors

The extent to which genetic and environmental factors influenced anorexia nervosa (AN), major depressive disorder (MDD), and suicide attempts (SA) were evaluated. Participants were 6,899 women from the Swedish Twin Study of Adults: Genes and Environment. A Cholesky decomposition assessed independent and overlapping genetic and environmental contributions to AN, MDD, and SA. Genetic factors accounted for a substantial amount of liability to all three traits; unique environmental factors accounted for most of the remaining liability. Shared genetic factors may underlie the coexpression of these traits. Results underscore the importance of assessing for signs of suicide among individuals with AN.     

Body Shape Questionnaire: Psychometric properties of the short version (BSQ-8C) and norms from the general Swedish population

There is a need for brief, sensitive, and reliable instruments for contextual assessment of body dissatisfaction. Suitable selection and optimal use of psychological assessment instruments requires appropriate psychometric as well as normative data. Two studies were conducted to investigate the psychometric properties and collect general population norms for a short, eight item version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-8C). In the first study, a sample of undergraduate students (N = 182) was recruited to investigate the psychometric properties of the BSQ-8C, while in the second study a sample from the general population of Swedish women aged 18–30 years (N = 747) was used to collect norms. The test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity for BSQ-8C were high. Given the questionnaire's briefness and good psychometric properties, particularly when used in conjunction with norms, the BSQ-8C is considered a valuable instrument for measuring body shape dissatisfaction among young adult women.     

Clinical Behaviors for Addressing Religious/Spiritual Issues: Do We Practice What We Preach?

To determine if counselors integrate clinical behaviors for addressing religious/spiritual issues in counseling consistent with their ratings of the importance of such behaviors, the authors conducted a national survey of American Counseling Association (ACA) members. Seventy‐eight ACA members rated the importance of and frequency with which they engaged in a set of 30 clinical behaviors that were identified in the existing literature as addressing religious/spiritual issues within counseling. Results indicated possible disparities between importance and frequency ratings. Potential barriers to counselors' utilization of religious and spiritually directed clinical behaviors were identified.