The termination phase of combined therapy

Three different kinds of termination are described and discussed. In combined therapy the group can help to resolve and clarify the meanings of moves to terminate therapy. The role of the therapist's countertransferences in this stage of the work is important to consider, and here, too, the group is an important part of the work. The author sees termination as an important part of the treatment process. In combined therapy it may be more complex but it also allows for a fuller exploration of the relevant issues.     

Open-field behavior in domestic chicks tested individually or in pairs: Differential effects of painted lines delineating subdivisions of the floor

The open field is a common test of fear, but the apparatus varies widely. Lines painted on the floor facilitate measurement of locomotion (areas entered), but, though some animals balk at lines, this variable has received little attention. In Experiment 1, 10-day-old female chicks were tested individually in an open field with an unmarked floor or one delineated into areas by 1- or 3-mm-wide black lines. In Experiment 2, chicks were tested in pairs in the presence or absence of 3-mm-wide lines. Strong intraindividual correlations demonstrated that both paces and areas entered are effective measures of locomotion. Chicks tested individually were unaffected by the presence or width of lines. Conversely, pair-tested chicks paced and pecked more when the floor was delineated. Given the latter findings, some standardization is recommended.     

Measurement and mismeasurement of mood: recurrent and emergent issues

The affective explosion in psychology has led to tremendous advances in mood measurement. Mood ratings reflect a hierarchical structure consisting of two broad dimensions-Positive Affect and Negative Affect-and multiple specific states. Brief scales have been developed that reliably assess Positive and Negative Affect across different populations and time frames, in both between- and within-subject data. We examine controversies related to (a) the content of these higher order scales and (b) the independence of Positive and Negative Affect. Regarding the latter, we show that Positive and Negative Affect scales remain largely independent across a wide range of conditions, even after controlling for random and systematic error. Finally, there remains little consensus regarding the lower order structure of affect. This lack of a compelling taxonomy has substantially slowed progress in assessing mood at the specific affect level.     

Attentional bias to threat: Roles of trait anxiety, stressful events, and awareness

Attentional biases for threat stimuli were assessed in high and low trait anxious subjects (n = 66) using a probe detection task. To examine the effects of trait anxiety and situational stressors, each subject was tested three times: Under no stress, laboratory-induced stress, and examination-induced stress. To evaluate the role of awareness, half the word stimuli were presented very briefly (14 msec) and masked, and the other half were presented for 500 msec without a mask. Results showed that high trait anxious subjects under exam stress showed an attentional bias towards unmasked threat stimuli compared with low trait subjects. This effect was not found under lab-induced stress, suggesting that the attentional bias for unmasked threat in high trait subjects may be a function of a prolonged stressor, rather than a transient increase in state anxiety. The results from the masked exposure condition were not predicted; high trait anxious subjects shifted attention towards the spatial location of threat words despite lack of awareness of their lexical content, but this bias was only apparent in the no-stress condition. The results are discussed in relation to recent cognitive theories of anxiety.     

Social reinforcement of operant behavior in rats: a methodological note.

An apparatus was developed to study social reinforcement in the rat. Four Long-Evans female rats were trained to press a lever via shaping, with the reinforcer being access to a castrated male rat. Responding under a fixed-ratio schedule and in extinction was also observed. Social access was found to be an effective reinforcer. When social reinforcement was compared with food reinforcement under similar conditions of deprivation and reinforcer duration, no significant differences were observed.     

Influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the reliability of young adults' self-reports of drinking

The influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the reliability of self-reports of alcohol consumption among young adults was investigated. Data were gathered from black and white college students of both sexes (N's=24) using a time-line procedure. The results snowed that these young adults provided highly reliable self-reports regarding their use of alcohol. Test-retest correlations for a criterion interval of 90 days were .96, .93, and .97 for the numbers of abstinent, moderate-drinking, and heavy-drinking days, respectively. Analyses also showed that white female subjects generally provided more reliable reports of abstinent and heavy-drinking days and that white female interviewers gathered more reliable reports across the three drinking disposition categories. These findings suggest that nonalcoholic young adults' retrospective reports of their drinking behavior can be reliably assessed using the time-line methodology. Future research is required to determine the validity of these self-reports and to understand the differential influence of subject and interviewer characteristics on the levels of reliability found.     

Debunking a stereotype: The female medical student

The combined research of Horner (1972) and Monahan, Kuhn, and Shaver (1974) has demonstrated the existence of a stereotype of the female medical student as sex-role deviant and disinterested in sex. The present study examined the validity of this stereotype. Male and female medical students' scores on two psychometric measures were compared with the male and female college norms. The stereotype was not supported. Female medical students demonstrated no greater sex-role deviance than did their male counterparts. Furthermore, only male medical students indicated significantly less heterosexual interest than their same-sex norm.The authors wish to thank Dr. David G. Fish, who was involved in the original data collection. Support for the analyses of these data was obtained from Grant Number 607-1034-21 and from a Career Scientist Award, Number 607-1001-22, to the Junior Author.