Establishing operations

The first two books on behavior analysis (Skinner, 1938; Keller & Schoenfeld, 1950) had chapter-length coverage of motivation. The next generation of texts also had chapters on the topic, but by the late 1960s it was no longer being given much treatment in the behavior-analytic literature. The present failure to deal with the topic leaves a gap in our understanding of operant functional relations. A partial solution is to reintroduce the concept of the establishing operation, defined as an environmental event, operation, or stimulus condition that affects an organism by momentarily altering (a) the reinforcing effectiveness of other events and (b) the frequency of occurrence of that part of the organism's repertoire relevant to those events as consequences. Discriminative and motivative variables can be distinguished as follows: The former are related to the differential availability of an effective form of reinforcement given a particular type of behavior; the latter are related to the differential reinforcing effectiveness of environmental events. An important distinction can also be made between unconditioned establishing operations (UEOs), such as food deprivation and painful stimulation, and conditioned establishing operations (CEOs) that depend on the learning history of the organism. One type of CEO is a stimulus that has simply been paired with a UEO and as a result may take on some of the motivative properties of that UEO. The warning stimulus in avoidance procedures is another important type of CEO referred to as reflexive because it establishes its own termination as a form of reinforcement and evokes the behavior that has accomplished such termination. Another CEO is closely related to the concept of conditional conditioned reinforcement and is referred to as a transitive CEO, because it establishes some other stimulus as a form of effective reinforcement and evokes the behavior that has produced that other stimulus. The multiple control of human behavior is very common, and is often quite complex. An understanding of unlearned and learned establishing operations can contribute to our ability to identify and control the various components of such multiple determination.     

Relationship between trust in appraisal and appraisal effectiveness: A field study

The current study examined the influence of trust in the appraisal system on ratees' reactions to performance evaluations. One-hundred and sixty eight bank tellers completed an instrument that assessed their trust in the appraisal system, appraisal satisfaction, perceived utility of evaluations, behavioral intention to improve performance, and intention to leave the job. Trust and performance evaluations were significant predictors of ratee reactions to appraisals and intention to improve on performance weaknesses. In addition, performance ratings were a better predictor of intention to improve on performance weaknesses for ratees who had high trust in the appraisal system. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Miami, Florida, April, 1990.     

Validity of the DSM-III-R personality disorder Clusters

This study assessed the validity of the DSM-III-R personality disorder clusters (i.e., odd-eccentric, dramatic-emotional-erratic, and anxious-fearful) by examining the relationships between self-report measures that tap the core features shared by disorders from each cluster and Cluster scores established via a semistructured interview in a sample of 57 outpatients. Results indicated a high degree of correlation among the DSM-III-R personality disorder Cluster scores. In addition, a series of regression analyses revealed that self-report scores did not account for a significant amount of variance in their respective Cluster scores over and above that accounted for by other self-report measures and other Cluster scores. These results suggest that the current DSM-III-R cluster classification scheme may not be appropriate, and it is recommended that a more empirically justifiable classification of the personality disorders be adopted in DSM-IV.     

Family psychopathology: Cross training graduate marital and family therapy students in family assessment and psychiatric nosology

The structure of a course entitled Family Therapy with Major Psychopathology taught annually in the Mercer University Graduate Marriage and Family Therapy Program is presented. An epistemological presentation regarding the interface of psychiatric nosology and family systems assessment is discussed. Methods of diagnosing and assessing dysfunctional family systems are presented and training in individual psychiatric nosology is discussed, with particular attention given to family systems dysfunction as an etiological factor in the development of individual psychopathology. Learning techniques are discussed including lecture, discussion, case presentations, readings, and testing methods.     

The uses of Aristotle's Rhetoric in contemporary American scholarship

In contemporary American scholarship, interpretation of Aristotle'sRhetoric has become the locus of sustained and sharp controversy. Differing views of theRhetoric and its significance have become tokens in a more general dispute about what rhetoric is or ought to be. This essay examines three central issues that have emerged in this larger arena of controversy: the relationship between Aristotelian and Platonic conceptions of rhetoric, the relationships among rhetoric, ethics, and epistemology in Aristotle, and the placement of rhetoric within Aristotle's system of arts and sciences.     

Confession evidence,psychological vulnerability and expert testimony

There have been major changes in English Law with regard to confession evidence, which followed the implementation of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) in January 1986. This paper reviews the main legal changes that are relevant to the admissibility and reliability of confessions and their psychological importance within the context of both research and expert testimony.