Detecting fake-bad MMPI-A profiles

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) could identify adolescents who were faking-bad. This study also examined the extent to which the validity scales could differentiate between nonclinical adolescents instructed to fake-bad and both clinical and nonclinical adolescents who received standard instructions. Participants were 58 male and 80 female high school students and 58 male and 80 female adolescents from clinical settings. Results indicated that the mean profiles resembled those previously reported for adults on the MMPI (Graham, 1987) and MMPI-2 (Graham, Watts, & Timbrook, 1991) and for adolescents on the original MMPI (Archer, Gordon, & Kirchner, 1987). Accurate identification of students who were faking-bad was achieved. It was possible to differentiate between the clinical adolescents and nonclinical adolescents who were faking, and it was possible to differentiate between nonclinical adolescents who were faking and nonclinical adolescents with standard instructions; however, different cutoff scores were needed for these two discriminations. Optimal cutoff scores were presented.     

Experience of group work in counsellor training and preferred learning styles

Not all those experiencing group work as part of counsellor training appear to like or benefit from it. Here an attempt is ma& to identity individuals, categorized by preferred learning style, that might not make effective use of this learning opportunity. Questionnaires measuring preferences for learning styles and experience of group work were received from 37 students on a postgraduate counselling course. Significant differences in perception of group work were found to be correlated with preferred learning style.     

Brief therapy in the Israeli kibbutz

Analysis of results of therapy in an unselected sample of 211 kibbutz patients seen over a three year period by the author in his capacity as kibbutz member and psychiatrist indicated that over 70% of the identified patients responded very satisfactorily to brief therapy. About one-third of the clients did not need more than a single comprehensive therapy session to achieve continuous improvement. In a minority of the cases more than 10 sessions were required. The results were significantly better in cases treated by brief therapy than in the sample treated by long-term therapy, where the pre-treatment severity was determined to be greater. The paper describes the unique aspects of brief therapy in the kibbutz setting, giving an outline of the author's model of intervention, using all components of the individual, family, and community ecosystem.     

Book Reviews

A rne N aess : Scepticism
L auri R auhuala : Intentionality and the problem of the unconscious
R oy S chafer : Aspects of internalization
C. A. M eier : Die Empirie des Unbewussten
J olande J acobi : Vom Bilderreich der Seele—Wege und Umwege zu sich selbst
H onor M atthews : The hard journey: the myth of man's rebirth
R uth P orter (Ed.): The role of learning in psychotherapy
B. M. F oss (Ed.): Determinants of infant behaviour IV     

Book Reviews

M arion M ilner : The hands of the living God
L eonard P eonard : Death and dying
G ertrud H ess : Biology—psychology: two ways of research into life
G erald H andel (Ed.): The psychosocial interior of the family
H ans Z ulliger : The Zulliger individual and group test     

A multiple-choice airstream design for olfactory discrimination training of small animals

A multiple wind-tunnel olfactory discrimination apparatus is described and evaluated. The apparatus allows for the simultaneous presentation of odor or visual cues and permits direct comparisons to be made on visual and olfactory discrimination performance.     

Time-dependent contrast effects in a multiple schedule of food reinforcement

Four rats were rewarded for running in a wheel under two alternating conditions of food reinforcement. These periods of frequent and infrequent reinforcement, each accompanied by a particular stimulus, were presented a number of times in each daily session. Following shifts from high to low frequency of reinforcement, responding decreased suddenly and markedly, and then recovered within the next few minutes. The magnitude of this temporary depression was an increasing function of the duration of the immediately preceding component of high-frequency reinforcement. A transient elevation in performance, which did not vary with the duration of the prior component, was noted in two subjects following shifts from low to high frequency of reinforcement. The elevation and depression effects did not appear simultaneously during the 48 experimental sessions. A possible relation between the difficulty of the discrimination and the extent of contrast effects is discussed.