The effects of context extinction on US signal value

Two experiments with rats examined the effects of context extinction on responding to the signal value of an unconditioned stimulus (US). In Experiment 1, US signal value was first trained when a single food pellet signaled the delivery of three additional pellets. After training, rats received either context extinction (CE) or home cage (HC) exposure before testing US signal value by single food pellet presentations. Results showed responding was significantly reduced in Group CE compared to Group HC. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 and showed that exposure to a different context did not reduce responding to the signal value of a US. The results complement research by Kehoe et al. [Kehoe, E. J., Weidemann, G., & Dartnall, S. (2004). Apparatus exposure produces profound declines in conditioned nictitating-membrane responses to discrete conditioned stimuli by the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 30, 259–270.] and have key implications for prominent theories of conditioning.     

A prevocational training project for emotionally disturbed adolescents

Adult inpatient populations, trained to develop a repertoire of work-related skills such as tracking and following directions, utilizing emotional controls, relating to the world in a realistic manner, as well as acceptance of supervision, grooming, punctuality, and attendance. These skills eased their transition to the community and assisted in a more positive existence once within that community as compared to their untrained cohort. Additionally, the process of vocational training has been demonstrated to have therapeutic benefits. This project used many of the same adult training principles but applied them to an adolescent inpatient population. A vocational training project using specific behavioral interventions resulted in comparable improvement for adolescent subjects otherwise evidenced in adult patients' work-related skills and abilities. This training project was conducted yearly, 32 h per week for 10 weeks for 4 years. The project combined actual work experience, classroom time and behavioral interventions and rewards. A 16 × 10 analysis of variance was computed to assess improvement in work-related skills and abilities. The analysis yielded and F = 2.57, p < 0.01, suggesting the efficacy of the behavioral interventions when applied to adolescent inpatient populations. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Short-Term Memory of Profoundly Deaf People for Words,Signs, and Abstract Spatial Stimuli

The short-term memory (STM) of 25 deaf and 20 hearing adults fluent in Australian Sign Language (Auslan) was tested using both free- and serial-recall versions of three tasks. On two tasks, where stimuli were presented as either written words or Auslan signs, hearing subjects performed significantly better than deaf subjects. This difference was attributed to the facility of the hearing subjects in translating these two classes of language-based stimuli into phonological codes, which have a preferred status in STM. On the third, language-free task, which was an adaptation of the Corsi Blocks test, the deaf and hearing subjects performed at comparable levels, indicating that differences in their STM became evident only with the introduction of language-based factors. Analyses restricted to the deaf subjects showed that performances on the language-based STM tasks correlated positively with scores on a reading comprehension test. Also, deaf subjects who reported an oral education outperformed their counterparts, who reported a total communication (oral plus signed English) education on the language-based STM tasks. Thus, for this diverse adult deaf sample, proficiency in STM for language-based material, skill in reading, and report of an oral rather than total communication education appear to covary.     

W. I. Thomas,behaviorist ethnologist

Over the course of his academic career in the anthropology wing of the University of Chicago's Department of Sociology and Anthropology, W. I. Thomas rejected the influence of Herbert Spencer, became skeptical of the instinctual explanations for human behavior, and became increasingly Boasian. His study of Polish peasant acculturation to American cities is Boasian in its focus on texts and on culture. After his dismissal by the University of Chicago in 1918 Thomas was influenced by John B. Watson. In the national interdisciplinary conferences of the 1920s, Thomas was an advocate for behaviorism and critical of Freudian doctrines and other subjectivist approaches to human science. Recalling Thomas's behaviorism and his long-running interest in comparing cross-cultural data should call into question the enlistment of Thomas as a father of subjectivist traditions of symbolic interactionism.     

The subjective experience of problem irresolvability and suicidal behavior: dynamics and measurement.

This article presents the dynamics and measurement of a relatively unstudied concept in children's and adolescents' suicidal behavior: the subjective experience of problem irresolvability (SEPI). This concept relates to the youngsters' sense of lack of control due to being pressured to resolve irresolvable problems within the family circle. The first study describes the construction and factor analysis of the SEPI scale as well as its relationship to suicidal tendencies, perceived parental care, and self-esteem. The second study presents a repeated factor analysis and the association between the SEPI scale and suicidal tendencies, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and commitment to parents. The results suggest that the scale has a 4-factor structure with sound psychometric properties that distinguish successfully between suicidal adolescents on the one hand, and psychiatric and normal adolescents on the other. The SEPI was also found to be associated with the various studied variables.     

A training outline for conducting psychotherapy process ratings: An example using therapist technique

Aims: This study addresses the effects of structured training on the development of coding skills used in psychotherapy process research. Method: Participants included graduate trainees enrolled in an APA approved Clinical PhD programme. A course outline for training is reviewed and examined in relation to ratings of therapist techniques used during psychotherapy sessions. Results: The effects of this structured training protocol for raters resulted in good to excellent levels of interrater reliability. Different groups of raters were compared along multiple factors such as level of graduate training, training received on a particular measure, and psychotherapy experience. Discussion: The implications of these findings for rater training in psychotherapy process research are discussed.