Explorations using computer simulation to comprehend thematic apperceptive measurement of motivation

The new theory of motivation by Atkinson and Birch (1970), based on conceptual analysis of a change in activity, has been programmed to allow computer simulation of effects of differences in motivation on the stream of operant behavior. Simulation of conditions that exist when people who differ in strength of achievement motive write imaginative stories in response to a sequence of pictures shows that construct validity does not require internal consistency as traditionally supposed. The theoretically deduced differences in total time spent imagining achieving (instead of something else) can postdict input differences in motive strength (i.e., construct validity) even when there is little or no internal consistency reliability as indicated by Cronbach's (1951) alpha computed from theoretically deduced time spent imagining achievement in response to particular pictures. This general point has already been amply documented in 25 years of productive empirical research using TATn Achievement. Now a definitive theoretical refutation of the repeated psychometric criticism of the method is provided. Those who have been moved to dispel fantasies about fantasy-based measures of achievement motivation (Entwistle, 1972) are invited, instead, to examine the shallow theoretical foudation of our traditional myths of measurement.This paper elaborates a report presented August 30, 1975, at the 83rd annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. The authors gratefully acknowledge early assistance by Mary M. Moffett, and financial support by a Rackham Faculty Research Grant (JWA), a National Science Foundation Fellowship (KB), and a Michigan Student Medical Research Grant (LHP). Intricate detail has been avoided in describing the several simulations for the sake of clarity in this overview of exploratory work.     

Avoidance behavior and perceived arousal

Previous investigations of the effects of bogus arousal feedback on approach toward an aversive stimulus have failed to separate two conceptual issues: (1) the influence of perceived anxiety on approach behavior, and (2) the degree to which perceptions of decreased anxiety are central to systematic desensitization. The present research deals with only the first of these issues. The procedure required each subject to attach a microphone to his or her chest and approach a snake. Bogus heartbeat feedback was presented concurrently with the subject's approach. In Experiments 1 and 2, self-reported snake phobics approached more with a constant than with an accelerating heartbeat. Nonphobics in Experiment 2 were not systematically influenced by the feedback. In Experiment 3, subjects with moderate fear, but who had stated that they could pick up a snake, behaved like the previously tested nonphobics; moderate fear subjects who had stated uncertainty about their ability to handle a snake behaved like previously tested phobics. In no case did postexperimental self-rated fear of snakes yield a difference between feedback conditions. The results are discussed in terms of the attributional analysis of emotional behavior.     

History of psychotherapy in Russia and the Soviet Union]

Previously, articles on and contributions to the history of psychotherapy proceeded on the assumption that the most essential sources were to be found in Anglo-Saxon and German literature. Developments in other civilizations were usually treated as undeserving of consideration. It is important to note that a large amount of specialized literature on psychotherapy has been published in the Soviet Union, and this shows that a great importance is attached in that country to the treatment of nervous and mental disorders by psychological methods. A review of the writings of S. S. Korsakov and V. M. Bekhterev shows that the essential principles of group psychotherapy had been recognized by those authors already in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, respectively. Results achieved by Makarenko appear valuable in the light of what we know today. The method of "collective psychotherapy", which was first described by Libch, is discussed in detail. This method is being widely used in the Soviet Union. The concern of this paper is to describe developments which have not so far been covered in our literature, thus attempting to make an addition to psychotherapeutic activity in this country.     

Modification of impulsive tempo in learning-disabled pupils

Thirty-three impulsive learning- disabled males, aged 9–12 years, were assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (a) Modeling, in which subjects were exposed to a videotape of a boy demonstrating reflective problem-solving activities and instructing himself to perform cautiously; (b) Modeling Plus Self-Verbalization, in which subjects observed the same videotape and were additionally required to verbalize similar reflective instructions; and (c) Control, in which subjects were shown a videotape of the task materials used in the modeling videotape, but without the model. Subjects were tested immediately after exposure to treatment, and again 3 weeks later, on different forms of the Matching Familiar Figures test. Both Modeling and Modeling Plus Self-Verbalization conditions were superior to Control in reducing errors on the immediate test, but the three treatments did not differ on the delayed test. No significant differences among the three conditions were found with regard to response latency. Discrepancies between the present results and those of previous related studies were noted, and potential research directions were suggested.The authors appreciate the cooperation and support of Mr. Dan Hurd, superintendent of DeKalb County Special Education Association.     

Processing letters in words at different levels

Subjects indicated whether two letters, two words, or a letter and the first letter of a word were the same. Letter targets were matched more quickly than word targets when the stimuli were presented simultaneously. When the target and comparison stimuli were separated by a 3-sec interval, word targets were matched more quickly than a letter and a letter in a word. It was also shown that the physical similarity of the targets and comparison stimuli had a greater effect in the simultaneous matching conditions. These findings are consistent with a model of word processing in which letters are individually compared prior to word identification at a physical level of processing. At a higher level of processing, words may be encoded as a unit, and the identification of the letters within the word may require a decoding of the word unit.     

Sex,masculinity—feminity,and intelligence

Masculine and feminine subgroups of males and females were selected from samples of high school and college students on the basis of composite scores from several M—F scales. They were compared on intelligence as measured by a verbal test, Terman's Concept Mastery Test, and a nonverbal test, D-48. Results did not support previous findings of sex differences in intelligence but showed that masculine subgroups of both sexes scored higher of the nonverbal test.     

New approaches in counselling: Healthy diversity or anti-therapeutic?

Concern is expressed about the proliferation of new or 'innovative' approaches in counselling or psychotherapy. Most of these approaches appear to be regressive in that they ignore what we have learned about the importance of certain conditions for the therapeutic relationship. They place the counsellor or therapist in the position of a charismatic expert controlling and directing the lives of his clients. The potential dangers of these methods are noted. Yet there seems to be no good way to protect clients either from well-intentioned but misguided professionals or from the untrained non-professional. If professionals are not successful in policing the field, injured consumers and an aroused public may succeed in imposing unnecessarily rigid restrictions on all practice of counselling and psychotherapy.     

Conceptual encoding and locus of the Stroop effect

Subjects reacted to coloured season and month names by naming the season associated with the print colour of the word, or by naming the season opposite to the one associated with the print colour. Reactions were facilitated in both tasks when the word on the display named the season associated with the colour or was a month belonging to that season. Opposite season naming was not facilitated when the word named the response which the subject made. A comparable effect of print colour was found when subjects reacted to season names by naming the colour associated with the name, or with its opposite. These results suggest that Stroop congruity and interference effects occur during conceptual encoding, and not during response production.     

Book reviews

Hamilton, Vernon and Veronon, Magdalen D. (Eds). The Development of Cognitive Processes. London and New York: Academic Press. 1976. Pp. 772. £21.00. ISBN 0 12 321750 4.

Miller, G. A, and Johnson-Laird, P. N. Language and Perception. Cambridge University Press. 1976. Pp. viii + 760. £12.50. ISBN 0 521 21242.

Neisser, U. Cognition and Reality. San Francisco: Freeman. 1976. pp. 230. Hardback $11.00; paperback $4.95. ISBN 0 7167 04781.

Norman, D. A. Memory and Attention. Second edition. New York: Wiley. 1976. Pp. 262. £8.45.

Hammond, K. R. and Joyce, C. R. B. (eds). Psychoactive Drugs and Social Judgment: Theory and Research. New York and London: Wiley. 1975. Pp. 278. £9.25. ISBN

Fodor, J. D. Semantics : Theories of Meaning in Generative Grammer. Sussex: Harvester Press. 1977. Pp. 225. £12.95. ISBN 0 85527 500 6.

Plomp, R. Aspects of Tone Sensation. London: Academic Press. 1976. Pp. id + 167. £6.50. ISBN 0 12 558350 8.

Fite, K. V. The Amphibian Visual System. London: Academic Press. 1977. Pp. 374. £20.95. ISBN 0 12 257450 8.

Eliot, J. and Salkind, N. J. Children's Spatial Development. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 1975. $23.50. Pp. 296. ISBN 0398 03210 6.

Wong, R. Motiviation : A Biobehavioral Analysis of consummatory Activities. London: Collier-Macmillan. 1976. Pp. 326. £ 4.95. ISBN 0 0242 9400 4.