ASSESSMENT OF STIMULUS PREFERENCE AND REINFORCER VALUE WITH PROFOUNDLY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS

We evaluated a procedure for identifying potential reinforcers with profoundly retarded individuals. In Experiment 1, six persons were repeatedly exposed to 16 stimuli, and approach behaviors to each stimulus were used to identify preferred and nonpreferred stimuli. In Experiment 2, we examined the reinforcing properties of preferred and nonpreferred stimuli by delivering them contingently on the occurrence of arbitrarily selected responses. Results revealed that the preferred stimulus conditions typically produced higher rates of responding than did either the baseline or the nonpreferred stimulus conditions, suggesting that the procedure can be used to assess reinforcer value for individuals with limited behavioral repertoires.     

School psychology in Australia

The status of school psychology in Australia is reviewed. Information is presented on the education system, the role of the school psychologist, historical development, special problems, contributions, and future trends in Australian school psychology.     

Satisfaction with intimate exchange: Gender-role differences and the impact of equity,equality, and rewards

The relative effects of equity, equality, and reward level upon assessments of marital satisfaction are investigated. In doing so, the impact of gender-role orientation upon the relationship between the predictor variables and marital satisfaction is specified. The data indicate that reward level is the major variable affecting assessments of satisfaction for both moderns and traditionals. Further, the effect of reward level is more pronounced for those with modern gender-role orientations. Contrary to expectation, the effects of the exchange-related variables, equity and equality, are minimal for both moderns and traditionals. These findings suggest that intimates, regardless of gender-role orientation, tend to avoid the “bookkeeping” involved in global equity and equality comparisons and instead accentuate individual reward levels. It appears, however, that moderns are significantly more demanding than traditionals in their emphasis upon reward levels.     

Alternation behavior, spatial discrimination, and reversal disturbances following 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in the nucleus accumbens of the rat

The effects of dopaminergic depletion of the nucleus accumbens was tested in various behavioral tasks such as alternation, spatial discrimination, and reversal learning, and in an extinction paradigm in a T maze. Animals with lesions showed impairment of spontaneous alternation behavior, disturbances in the acquisition of spatial discrimination, and great difficulty in reversing previously learned habits. In the extinction phase, experimental animals are unable to adjust their behavior, and continue to choose the previously reinforced arm of the T maze. It is suggested that the nucleus accumbens plays an important role in the transition of motivation into action, and that dopamine has a facilitatory influence on the mediation of these processes.     

Values and personality: a survey of their relationship in the case of juvenile delinquece

Attempts to verify Eysenck's theory of criminality have usually been concerned with the proportion by which delinquents differ from non-delinguents on the dimensions of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. There are very few studies concerned with the proportion in which these dimensions are related to the acquisition of moral or social rules, the real core of this theory. The current study examines the theory from a new approach, trying to show in what measure the value priorities of a group of 113 juvenile delinquents are related to the personality dimensions stated by Eysenck.     

The Egocentricity Index and Self-Esteem in court ordered psychiatric evaluations

An attempt was made to test the hypothesis that the Egocentricity Index (Exner, 1974), a ratio which incorporates pair and reflection responses, is related to self-esteem. Sixty criminal defendants referred for psychiatric evaluation were routinely administered the Rorschach. After all other testing was completed the subjects were asked to complete the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory. Results found no significant relationships between the Egocentricity Index and self-esteem as measured by the Coopersmith. It was recommended that the Egocentricity Index not be used as a measure of self-esteem until research evidence to support its use in this manner is provided.     

Compliance with homework to employ self-instructions in controlling ice water pain: an analogue to counseling

40 women were taught to use self-statements to cope with pain caused by ice water. The trainer used four different strategies for reassigning a homework task of using self-statements to cope with pain produced by immersing one hand in ice water. The strategies were equally effective in eliciting compliance with the homework assignment.     

Autonomy as a Source of Pro-social Influence Among Incarcerated Adolescents1

Previous research has found that greater autonomy for incarcerated adolescents is associated with pro-social outcomes. The present paper interprets the pro-social impact of autonomy in terms of three established lines of research in social psychology: leadership style, coercive social control, and reactance. In addition, it attempts to clarify whether autonomy in this setting has a direct influence on residents' values or an indirect influence resulting from an increase in residents' acceptance of the treatment goals. Data were collected by questionnaires administered to 434 residents and 156 staff members at four residential institutions for adjudicated adolescents. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model with unobserved variables (LISREL). A model positing both direct and indirect influences of autonomy fit the data very well. Autonomy contributed to pro-social values both through greater acceptance of the treatment goals as well as through a direct influence on values.