Estimating the parameters of the latent population distribution

Under consideration is a test battery of binary items. The responses ofn individuals are assumed to follow a Rasch model. It is further assumed that the latent individual parameters are distributed within a given population in accordance with a normal distribution. Methods are then considered for estimating the mean and variance of this latent population distribution. Also considered are methods for checking whether a normal population distribution fits the data. The developed methods are applied to data from an achievement test and from an attitude test.     

Strength of instigation as a determinant of the aggression—Attraction relationship

Somewhat surprisingly, previous research has failed to demonstrate what was thought to be an intuitively obvious negative relationship between aggression and attraction toward the victim of aggression. It was proposed that powerful instigation procedures in past research had served to obscure the effects of attraction on aggression. It was therefore hypothesized that aggression toward a stranger occurs as an inverse function of attitudinally induced attraction toward that stranger only when instigation strength is low. Male subjects (N=60) responding on the Buss aggression apparatus were exposed to a similar or dissimilar victim and to one of three levels of instigation: no instigation, a moderately aggressive model, or insulting evaluations. The hypothesized interaction between similarity and strength of instigation was confirmed for shock intensity (p<.02). For shock duration, main effects were found for both similarity (p<.02) and strength of instigation (p<.02). It was concluded that relatively negative feelings about another individual increase the probability of aggressing against him, but that such feelings do not constitute a necessary or sufficient condition for that aggression.This research was supported in part by Research Grant GS-40329 from the National Science Foundation. The authors wish to thank Dr. Don A. Nelson and Dr. Robert A. Baron for their aid in this experiment.     

Motivation×Expectancy×Value: A functional measurement approach

Functional measurement methodology was applied to test theMotive×Expectancy×Value (MEV) model of human motivation. Subjects judged the value of hypothetical games of chance in which hunger, chance of winning a sandwich, and sandwich preference were varied along with similar information concerning a drink. Graphical tests showed excellent agreement between the data and the theoretical properties of parallelism and linear fan shape. Exact statistical tests of goodness of fit confirmed these graphical tests. Despite the complexity of the task, which required integration of six pieces of information, subjects' judgments obeyed a simple cognitive algebra. Applications of functional measurement were suggested for approach-avoidance conflict, level of aspiration, work motivation, and achievement motivation. These methods can provide exact tests of the behavior models in terms of the subjective values at the level of the individual. They thus provide a unified nomothetic-ideographic approach to motivation theory.This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants MBS 74-19124 and BNS 75-21235, and by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health to the Center for Human Information Processing, University of California, San Diego. We wish to thank Donna Rodes for her assistance in the conduct of this experiment.     

The factor structure of ADHD items in DSM-III-R: Internal consistency and external validation

Previous research employing factor-analytic procedures to study the underlying dimensions of DSM-III attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) symptoms have consistently supported a two-factor model. Revision of the structure of the ADHD diagnosis in DSM-HI-R, as well as inclusion of new items, has raised the question of comparability of the two diagnoses. To explore the significance of these changes, teacher ratings of DSM-III ADDH items and DSM-III-R ADHD items of 85 nonreferred school children were factor-analyzed to determine their underlying factor structures. A similar two-factor solution was obtained for each diagnostic scale. The factors consisted of items believed to reflect inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity constructs. These factors were further evaluated against results of a cognitive test battery to ascertain whether objective, external validation could be demonstrated. The hyperactivity-impulsivity factor scores were related to continuous performance test measures of response inhibition, while inattention-disorganization factor scores were related to measures of attention and visual search. Implications for assessment and diagnosis of ADHD are discussed.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Sister Hildegarde Koger, the St. Francis de Sales School, and the parents and children who participated in this study.     

Small and unfilled psychotherapy groups: Understanding and using them effectively

Many open-ended psychotherapy groups have fewer than five members, and fewer than the number the therapist considers necessary for the group to be filled. This paper discusses the rationale for starting such groups and the special dynamics of running them. It then suggests strategies for the therapist to use in maximizing their therapeutic effectiveness. Suggestions are made for further research into the demographic and dynamic aspects of such groups.     

Medication dynamics in group psychotherapy

The use of medications in insight-oriented groups has not been adequately investigated. We report a group in which the anxiolytic buspirone appeared to be associated with attractiveness to the group in the face of impending therapists' termination. We feel that in this group, medications became a variable associated with group cohesiveness, served as a vehicle for the expression of group dynamics, and as an indicator of regression within the group. These observations suggest that, under certain circumstances, medications may become an important variable in the process and expression of group dynamics.They would like to thank Myron Pisetsky, M.D., for reading the original draft of this paper, and are also indebted to Daniel O'Neil, Ph.D., for his input.     

The capacity to join in the group process

This paper explores the difficulties certain individuals have in joining the interactional processes that make a group work. It explores the sequelea of traumatic early failures in need mediation, notably the encapsulation that renders them unresponsive to efforts by fellow group members to engage them. An uncanny similarity to holocaust victims is observed. Illustrative case examples are cited and suggestions for treatment offered.This paper was part of a symposium entitled Love and Hate in Group Therapy presented at The 11th International Congress of Group Psychotherapy, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, August 1992.     

Brief report: On becoming a group therapist

Clinicians have become group therapists via many routes, either voluntarily or not. Group psychotherapy itself has had a checkered history, in that it has often been seen as an ancillary or a second choice form of treatment. Indeed, we know that there is a growing number of well-respected clinicians who are not only not ambivalent about being seen as group clinicians, but embrace this reality as a primary clinical identity. It has occurred to us that no one has looked deeply at this developmental path or what facilitates or inhibits movement along this path. This article is a preliminary attempt to initiate this line of study.     

Binaural loudness matches in unilaterally impaired listeners

Binaural loudness matching data using a 2IFC adaptive procedure were obtained in high-frequency, unilateral cochlear-impaired listeners. The matches were obtained at frequencies where both ears had similarly normal thresholds, and also at other frequencies where the impaired ear had various degrees of hearing loss. In these listeners, one presumed difference between the ears is the limited or altered spread of excitation in the impaired ear. In agreement with previous studies using other approaches (Hellman, 1974, 1978; Hellman & Meiselman, 1986; Moore, Glasberg, Hess & Birchall, 1985; Schneider & Parker, 1987), the results of the present study suggest that both the range and the slope of loudness growth function are not dependent on the spread of excitation, but instead are related primarily to the degree of threshold elevation at the test frequency. Following this suggestion, a spread-of-excitation-independent model, based upon a group of neurons with the same characteristic frequency (CF) but different thresholds, is proposed to account for loudness growth in both normal and recruitment cases. In particular, it is shown quantitatively that a compressed distribution of thresholds due to threshold elevation may be responsible for loudness recruitment in sensorineural hearing loss.