PROBLEM SOLVING TO PREVENT WORK INJURIES IN SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT

A problem-solving strategy was used to teach three groups of 3 individuals in supported employment how to prevent work-related injuries. The problem-solving strategy was taught in two training phases. The first training phase involved the use of cue cards, and the second involved the withdrawal of the cue cards. Interviews and staged generalization assessments in the participants' natural work environments were conducted before, during, and up to 12 weeks after training. In these assessments, situations were presented that were either similar or dissimilar to situations presented in training. Results of both the interviews and staged assessments indicated that the participants' newly acquired problem-solving skills generalized to similar and dissimilar situations.     

Sentence encoding and implicitly activated memories

Some words have fewer direct associates than others, and, when words varying in set size are studied in a list-learning task, those with smaller sets are more likely to be recalled. This set-size effect is found in cued recall when the words are studied in the absence of related words, but not when studied in the presence of related words. Related words provide context and theoretically inhibit irrelevant associates. The present research determined that set-size effects are found when words are encoded in sentence contexts. In contrast to list-learning experiments, the results of three experiments found such effects even when lexically related words were present in the sentences. Other findings indicated that target-set-size effects were determined by the proximity of related words in the sentence and the nature of the test cue. The results are discussed in relation to a model for explaining set-size effects and to selective findings from the sentence-comprehension literature.     

Switching points of view in spatial mental models

In six experiments, subjects read narratives describing varying spatial scenes with more than one point of view. They were probed with questions about objects located in six directions from each character's point of view. Subjects' response times were consistent with a one place-one perspective rule. They seemed to form separate mental models for separate places and to take a character's perspective when there was only one relevant character in a scene, but they seemed to take a neutral perspective when there was more than one probed point of view, rather than switch perspectives.     

Electroencephalogram asymmetry during emotionally evocative films and its relation to positive and negative affectivity

The purpose of the present study was to determine if there were differences in hemispheric lateralization during the experience of emotions and if those differences were related to personality style. College-age adult subjects selected for high positive and negative affectivity on Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Tellegen, 1982) viewed video stimuli selected for their emotionally evocative nature and rated the intensity of the emotions they experienced. The ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while they watched the video clips. Analyses of the EEG data revealed that there were differences in regional activation during the emotional video clips, especially for those stimuli selected to elicit either happy or disgust emotions. These results support the hypothesis that the right hemisphere is specialized for the experience of certain negative affects, whereas the left hemisphere is specialized for the experience of certain positive affects. The findings also indicated some support for the theory that individual differences in personality style are related to differing levels of hemispheric arousal.     

Relationship between religion-related factors and obsessive compulsive disorder

This exploratory study sought to determine whether selected religion-related factors differentiated between 86 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), 73 patients with panic disorder, and 292 patients with other psychiatric (non-anxiety) disorders. A standard history questionnaire was used to obtain information from patients concerning religion of origin, involvement in religious activities, religious conflict, and perceived religiousness of parents. It was found that the percentage of patients who reported experiencing religious conflict was significantly higher for the OCD group than for the other two groups. Other findings suggested associations between Catholicism and OCD and between Protestantism and panic disorder, but further research is needed to clarify these relationships. This article is based on a paper presented at the 98th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, August 1990.     

The gestural repertoire and its evolution over the second year

The entire repertoire of communicative gestures was documented in a longitudinal, observational study of 10 infants, whose combined ages covered the range from 9 to 22 months. Early in the second year, giving as a request to do something with the object increased, while emotive gestures decreased. Later in the second year, pointing gestures increased, while protest gestures tended to decrease. Combining gestures with vocalization tended to increase only for protest gestures later in the second year. Eye contact showed a small but continuous increase in coordination with gestures over the second year, particularly with comment, request, and emotive gestures. These findings indicate an increasing use of the parent as an agent and of the informative function in non-verbal communication during this period of transition to verbal communication.     

Supportive and problematic social interactions: A social network analysis

Assessed the number of sources of supportive and problematic social interactions in the total social network as well as the number who were the sources of consistently supportive or problematic interactions in a sample of 2nd year medical students. Number of problematic interaction sources was hypothesized to be more predictive of psychological and physical well-being than number of supportive interaction sources. Results showed that total supportive and total problematic interaction sources were equally predictive of life satisfaction. The presence of at least one individual who is a consistent source of problematic interactions was most predictive of lower life satisfaction. Results indicate the importance of studying both supportive and problematic social interactions. They also suggest that interactions with individuals that are consistently problematic may negatively impact upon well-being.     

The Role of Sympathy and Altruistic Personality Traits in Helping: A Reexamination

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine the role of social evaluative concerns in the self-report of sympathy and in the relation of sympathy to helping; and (b) to determine the role of "altruistic personality" traits and situationally induced vicarious emotional responses in the intention to help. Dispositional and situational self-reports of sympathy and other vicarious emotional reactions were obtained for persons who also were given the opportunity to assist a needy other. Moreover, dispositional measures of concern with social evaluation and an altruistic orientation were obtained, and a bogus pipeline manipulation was instituted for half the study participants. Both dispositional and situational self-reported sympathy were positively related to helping, as were other personality indices viewed as reflecting altruistic characteristics. The relations for the dispositional indices of sympathy were not due solely to social evaluative concerns or to other egoistic concerns. The effects on intended helping of dispositional sympathy, perspective taking, and the tendency to ascribe responsibility for others to the self appeared to be both direct and mediated by situational sympathetic responding. Finally, situational sadness did not mediate the effects of sympathetic responsiveness.