DISTRACTION: ITS UTILIZATION AND EFFICACY WITH CHILDREN UNDERGOING DENTAL TREATMENT

We investigated the utilization and efficacy of distraction in reducing the anxious and disruptive behavior of 4 children undergoing dental treatment. During the distraction procedure, the children were shown a poster and told a story about it during dental treatment. They earned a prize if they attended to the poster and story and could correctly answer questions about them following each intervention visit. The children's disruptive behavior was assessed via direct observation, and results were analyzed within a multiple baseline design. The children exhibited high levels of anxious and disruptive behavior across baseline visits, regardless of the length of time in treatment or number of visits. Anxious and disruptive behavior decreased upon introduction of the intervention for all children. This was accompanied by the children meeting the criterion for correct answers on the distraction quiz. However, 2 of the children demonstrated an increase in their anxious and disruptive behavior across intervention visits. Results are discussed in terms of the need to evaluate treatment strategies that promote maintenance as well as initial changes.     

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.     

Interpersonal attraction,social identification and psychological group formation

Two perspectives on the nature of the social group and psychological group formation are discussed. The traditional social cohesion approach traces group formation to processes of interpersonal attraction, while the social identity approach defines the group in cognitive terms and considers identification, or self-categorization, to be the mechanism of psychological group formation. On the basis of an experiment by Turner, Sachdev and Hogg (1983) it is hypothesized that interpersonal attraction (positive or negative) is related to group formation only in so far as it enhances intergroup distinctiveness. This hypothesis is experimentally tested in a 2 × 3 (interpersonal liking/disliking per se versus no explicit categorization/random categorization/criterial categorization on the basis of affect) factorial design employing the ‘minimal group’ paradigm. People who like each other and were not explicitly categorized formed a group. This effect was enhanced by criterial categorization but disappeared when categorization was random. Although the results do not support the hypothesis, they are not explicable in social cohesion terms. A social identity explanation is furnished—attraction influences group formation by acting, under certain specifiable conditions, as a cognitive criterion for common category membership. This explanation is located in current theorizing and is proposed as part of a reconceptualization of the relationship between interpersonal attraction and group formation.     

Prejudice,categorization and particularization: From a perceptual to a rhetorical approach

This paper seeks to offer an alternative approach to the study of prejudice than that based upon the notion of categorization which is currently influential in cognitive social psychology. It is argued that the categorization approach assumes the inevitability of prejudice and ignores the issue of tolerance. The assumptions of the categorization approach are criticized, and it is suggested that, by focusing on categorization as a cognitive process, it has overlooked an opposing process—that of particularization. The result has been a rather mechanical and bureaucratic model of cognition. A less mechanical view is possible if the relations between the two processes of categorization and particularization are considered from a rhetorical perspective, which examines the argumentative nature of thought. For theoretical and empirical reasons, this perspective does not equate prejudiced thinking with rigid categorization; instead a rhetorical approach permits a distinction between prejudice and tolerance on the basis of content, rather than form, and thereby avoids assuming the inevitability of prejudice.     

Physical self-efficacy and actualization

In his theorizing about self-actualization, Maslow speculated that physical ability and physical self-confidence were two aspects of cooperative dominance which were associated positively with actualization. These aspects of dominance bear close resemblance to the Perceived Physical Ability (PPA) and the Physical Self-Presentation Confidence (PSPC) dimensions of the Physical Self-Efficacy (PSE) Inventory. Accordingly, the PPA and PSPC scores of undergraduate men and women were correlated with their scores on the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), a popular measure of actualization, to test Maslow's hypotheses. The results showed that, contrary to Maslow's claims, PPA is not a positive correlate of self-actualization. However, strong support was found for Maslow's contention that high-PSPC individuals are more likely to be actualizing than low-PSPC people. Also, Maslow's hypothesis that actualizers are high in global sensation seeking (SS) was tested. The data indicated that only male actualizers were high in various aspects of SS, but female actualizers were not. Multiple regression analyses revealed further that both SS and PSPC are primary contributors to POI for men, but only PSPC contributes significantly to POI for women. Discussion focused on the reasons why research findings showing that increases in physical fitness lead to increases in self-esteem cannot be used to support the view that physical fitness and actualization are linked positively.     

The evolution of a therapy group for vietnam veterans on a general psychiatry unit

The evolution of a therapy group for hospitalized Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related symptomatology is described. The literature on group treatment for this population is briefly reviewed and discussed in relation to an inpatient psychiatry setting. The prevailing conditions at the time of group inception are recalled along with the initial goals of the therapeutic intervention. Problems encountered are also discussed, along with the changes made in response to these identified difficulties. The results of three and one-half years of experience with this group are described in detail.The authors would like to thank Cynthia Sturm, Ph.D. for her helpful editorial assistance.     

Recommended Regulation of Common Drugs: The Relative Influence of Facts vs. Labels

The present study examined the hypothesis that individuals are more influenced by a drug name than by the side effects associated with that drug when making recommendations regarding regulation. Subjects recommended the amount of regulation that should exist for eight drugs ranging from aspirin to LSD. One third of the subjects were asked to make recommendations based only on the drug name. Another third made recommendations based only on the facts associated with the drugs (i.e., side effects, symptoms). A final third made recommendations based on both facts and the drug name. Results indicated that, when given only the facts, subjects' recommendations deviated greatly from the actual regulation of the drugs but that the facts were ignored if subjects knew the name of the drug. These results suggest that critical information may be ignored when decisions are made about drug regulation. The implications for self-regulated drug use are discussed.     

Conceptual models and functions of meditation in psychotherapy

Although meditation is increasingly being employed as an adjunct in psychotherapy, there has been practically no comprehensive evaluation of its usefulness in this respect. This paper seeks to address this issue through conceptual models of the meditation experience. It is concluded that meditation practice may be associated with the acquisition of some useful skills (e.g., focused attention), that practice may be physiologically relaxing, that meditation may decrease anxiety, insomnia and drug usage, while enhancing hypnotic induction and self-actualization. There is still no compelling evidence, however, that meditation practice is associated with unique state effects compared with other relaxational procedures. Those who appear to benefit most from meditation appear to be those who present with milder disorders. The clinical value of meditation, therefore, appears to be limited. Furthermore, the long-term objectives of meditation are not in general congruent with those of mainstream psychotherapy, as they go beyond therapeutic gain in the clinical sense.