Anticipation of electric shock: A psychophysical study

Successive measures of emotional intensity were obtained by a two-step scaling procedure from 23 subjects anticipating an electric shock to be given at the end of a 45-min period. Half of Ss had a clock available, while the other half had to estimate apparent time. The emotional reaction was shown to increase exponentially as time before shock decreased. Heart rate also increased as time for shock was approaching, but the trend was not regular.     

A comparison of two psychological treatments for bulimia nervosa

Two standardized psychological treatments for bulimia nervosa were studied. A cognitive behavioural approach was compared with a form of short-term focal psychotherapy. Twenty-four patients who met strict diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa were randomly allocated to the two treatments. All the interviews were tape-recorded so that checks on their content could be made. Assessments took place at the beginning and end of treatment, and at 4-, 8- and 12-month follow-up. None of the patients dropped out of treatment or follow-up, but 1 patient from each treatment group had to be withdrawn on clinical grounds. Patients in both groups made substantial improvements which were well maintained over the 12-month treatment-free follow-up period. The cognitive behavioural approach was superior to short-term focal psychotherapy in terms of its effect on the patients' overall clinical state, their general psychopathology and social adjustment, and their assessment of their outcome.     

Career pathfinders: a qualitative study of career development

This paper examined the perceptions of career path and issues of MBA students in response to Lore's The Pathfinder, a comprehensive career-planning model. Using internet discussion boards, an interactive dialogue was mentioned by participants in response to the components of Lore's model. The sample consisted of 50 fully employed MBA students enrolled in a course on self-assessment and career planning. A total of 1,781 separate postings were made and analyzed, using inductive analysis derived from discussion threads based on Lore's categories: comments on Lore's Pathfinder model, living a life you love (what's the holdup, career fantasies, work and family issues, and career selection), how to get there from here (commitment and future from the present), and designing your future career. Findings indicated several interesting trends in the career planning of current MBA students, particularly the importance of self or self-reflective observations in real time as students who are also fully employed formulate career plans. Implications for psychologists and career counselors, career development models, and suggestions for research are presented.     

KAREN HORNEY: A PORTRAIT1

■ ¹ This address was given on October 23, 2005, at the American Institute for Psychoanalysis, New York, celebrating the 120th anniversary of Karen Horney’s birth.     

Short-term effects of using verbal instructions and demonstration at the beginning of learning a complex skill in figure skating

This study examined whether providing verbal instructions plus demonstration and task repetition facilitates the early acquisition of a sport skill for which learners had a prior knowledge of the individual motor components. After one demonstration of the task by an expert, 18 novice skaters practiced a figure skating jump during a 15-min. period. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: a group provided with a verbal instruction that specified the subgoals of the task (Subgoals group), a group provided with a verbal instruction that used a metaphor (Metaphoric group), and a group not receiving any specific instruction during training (Control group). Subjects were filmed prior to and immediately following the practice session. Analysis indicated that the modifications of performance were related to the demonstration and the subsequent task repetitions only. Providing additional verbal instructions generated no effect. Therefore, guiding the learner toward a solution to the task problem by means of verbal instruction seems to be ineffective if done too early in the course of learning.     

Interhemispheric resource sharing: decreasing benefits with increasing processing efficiency

Visual matches are sometimes faster when stimuli are presented across visual hemifields, compared to within-field matching. Using a cued geometric figure matching task, we investigated the influence of computational complexity vs. processing efficiency on this bilateral distribution advantage (BDA). Computational complexity was manipulated by requiring different types of match decision (physical identity vs. category identity) and processing efficiency was varied by on-task training A pronounced BDA, initially present in both tasks, completely disappeared in the course of training for the less complex and decreased for the more complex task. Thus, the size of the BDA is determined by both, processing efficiency and task complexity.     

SUBJECTIVE INTOXICATION INDUCED BY NITROUS OXIDE IN VARIOUS CONCENTRATIONS

F rankenhaeuser , M. & J arpe , G. Subjective intoxication induced by nitrous oxide in various concentrations. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 171–176.—Subjective intoxication at various dose-levels of nitrous oxide was investigated by the method of magnitude estimation. Estimates of intoxication were obtained from the intoxicated subjects themselves and from a group of observers. Both these sets of subjective scale values showed a pronounced and regular increase with increasing dose-levels of the drug. Objective performance changes followed the same general pattern, but were much less pronounced. It was concluded that subjective scaling methods are well suited for measurements of drug-induced changes in subjective variables.     

“The interviewer is a machine!” Investigating the effects of conventional and technology-mediated interview methods on interviewee reactions and behavior

Despite the growing number of organizations interested in the use of asynchronous video interviews (AVIs), little is known about its impact on interviewee reactions and behavior. We randomly assigned participants (N = 299) from two different countries (Switzerland and India) to a face-to-face interview, an avatar-based video interview (with an avatar as a virtual recruiter), or a text-based video interview (with written questions) and collected data on a set of self-rated and observer-rated criteria. Overall, we found that whereas participants reported more negative reactions towards the two asynchronous interviews, observer ratings revealed similar performance across the three interviews and lower stress levels in the two AVIs. These findings suggest that despite technology-mediated interview methods still not being well-accepted, interviewees are not at a disadvantage when these methods are used in terms of how well interviewees perform and how stressed they appear to external observers. Implications are discussed.     

CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION, PERFORMANCE, AND SUBJECTIVE STRESS

Psycho-endocrine relations were explored in 52 students exposed to moderately stressful psychological tests demanding selective attention. Subjects with high excretion rates of adrenaline performed better during the entire stress session than did subjects with low adrenaline excretion. The level of subjective stress increased consistently throughout the session in subjects with low excretion rates of adrenaline, while it remained relatively constant in subjects with high adrenaline excretion. No consistent relationship could be demonstrated between noradrenaline excretion and the psychological variables. Possible effects on the catecholamine-excretion patterns of factors such as severity and duration of the stress are discussed.     

EFFECTS OF CHRONIC REDUCTIONS IN BRAIN CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY ON ACQUISITION AND EXTINCTION OF A CONDITIONED AVOIDANCE RESPONSE

R ussell , R. W., W atson , R. H. J., and F rankenhaeuser , M. Effects of chronic reductions in brain cholinesterase activity on acquisition and extinction of a conditioned avoidance response. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 21–29.—Significant effects of five different levels of reduction in brain ChE activity in the white rat were found during the extinction, but not during the acquisition, of a conditioned avoidance response. The reductions were produced and chronically maintained throughout the experiment by administration of an organo-phosphorous anticholinesterase. (1) Reduced brain ChE activity was associated with differential effects on the behavior, i.e., speed of conditioning was not altered significantly, whereas speed of extinction was so affected. (2) There appears to be a 'critical level' between 60 and 65 per cent reduction of normal ChE activity below which extinction was significantly affected.