Issues in prenatal cocaine use research: Problems in identifying users and choosing an appropriate comparison group

Prenatal cocaine exposure has been identified in 11 %–44% of deliveries in this country, and researchers are working to answer many important questions about cocaine-exposed infants. However, the process of discovery takes time, thoughtful planning of studies, and careful interpretation of results. This paper will review recently published data considering the impact on study results of two methodological issues in cocaine use research: identifying a population of users versus nonusers and choosing an appropriate comparison group. Additionally, some thoughts will be presented on the criminalization and sensationalism of prenatal cocaine use and their effect on both researchers and subjects.     

Inappropriate capture by diversionary dynamic elements

Greater capture of attention by a diversionary element that appeared to move (a dynamic stimulus) than by one that was static was shown in six experiments. In Experiment 1, an irrelevant dynamic stimulus captured attention when there were either two, four, or eight elements on the screen, and was shown with irregularly spaced characters. In the subsequent experiments, a dynamic element captured attention even when the targets never appeared at that location. In Experiment 6, when the response was in error, that response was most likely to be the identity of the character near the location of the dynamic diversionary element. These data could not be accounted for by either an attentional control setting, or a singleton detection mode hypothesis. The targets were the same throughout each experiment and only the type of diversions differed. The data seem to reflect the greater strength of dynamic stimuli in capturing attention.     

Effects consistent with behavioral contrast during a multiple schedule for discrimination training on mands for attention

This study used a multiple schedule to assess the effects of an S+ or S- in the absence of rules on excessive mand rates with three school-aged children with disabilities and assessed possible contrast effects occurring in conjunction with the intervention. Each of the three participants was exposed to the presence or absence of an S- (black baseball cap). When it was worn, mand approach rates decreased for all three participants; conversely, mand rates increased to twice the baseline rates when the experimenter was not wearing the black baseball cap. Generalization probes conducted for one of the three caregivers showed similar changes when the caregiver wore the cap. Results suggest that effects consistent with positive behavioral contrast occurred with all participants.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of counselling in primary care: Taking a fresh look

One criticism voiced by counsellors and psychotherapists is that research does not reflect either the culture or values of therapy. Researchers, on the other hand, accuse practitioners of not attending to their findings, and the implication is made that the latter engage in treatment processes that are ill‐informed. These polarised understandings give rise to the situation where the client — and his or her development — fall into the practice‐research gap. In more recent studies of counselling in primary care, an attempt has been made to offer new perspectives for interpreting and understanding findings, and the relative value — and limitations — of different research questions and methods. They provide just a few examples of how practitioner‐researchers in the future may ask more precise questions, yet reflect on their findings from a broader set of viewpoints.     

Attentional capture with various distractor and target types

Effects of nonpredictive distractors that involved changes in luminance, size, or shape were examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1, with two types of distractors (onsets and offsets), accuracy was better on trials when the distractor was near the location of either an offset or an onset target than on trials when the distractor was in a different location from that of the target, demonstrating attentional capture. Capture occurred both when the type of target (onset or offset) was blocked and therefore predictable and also when the type of target was mixed within blocks and therefore not predictable. Further experiments indicated that distractors captured attention even when the change to distractor did not create a new perceptual object. Neither a singleton-detection mode, nor a contingent involuntary orienting hypothesis, nor creation of a new object seems to explain all of these data adequately. Rather, capture may depend on a number of factors in the task.     

Personal and social support factors involved in students’ decision to participate in formal academic mentoring

In this study, we examined the role of personal and social support factors involved in students’ decision to participate in formal academic mentoring. Three hundred and eighteen students completing Grade 11 and planning to study sciences in college filled out a questionnaire and were then asked to participate in an academic mentoring program during their first year of college. A total of 150 students agreed to take part in this program (volunteers) and 168 declined the offer (non-volunteers). The overall findings support the hypothesis that academic mentoring is more attractive for some students than others depending on their personality, help-seeking attitudes, academic dispositions, perceived support from friends, and support available during the transition to college. These findings were discussed in light of the different mechanisms proposed by mentoring and social support literatures.     

Attention and nontarget effects in the location-cuing paradigm

Three experiments were conducted in order to determine whether irrelevant items presented outside the focus of attention would affect the identification of a precued target. A peripheral cue indicated one of eight possible locations in a circular array, centered on fixation with a radius of 5.25°. After a variable interval (0–200 msec), eight characters were presented briefly and masked. In each experiment, there was an effect of the identity of the characters at the seven noncued locations (the nontargets) on the accuracy of identification of the target. When there were more nontargets identical to the target, accuracy was higher than when there were fewer nontargets identical to the target. Nontargets consistently affected performance despite incentives to focus only on the target.