Social attitudes of schizophrenics

The Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale was given to 34 schizophrenic and 34 non-schizophrenic patients in a Dutch mental hospital. The absence of liberal-scoring schizophrenics was interpreted as consistent with the theory that the social withdrawal seen in chronic schizophrenia represents a strategy for coping with stimulus overload. Internal consistency analysis of C scale performance indicated that this test might be used to assess thought disorder in much the same way as the Bannister and Fransella Grid Test, but a great deal more economically. Furthermore, the questionnaire permits a more detailed examination of the source of inconsistency than does the repertory grid method.     

Book reviews

Sun at Midnight. The Rudolf Steiner Movement and the Western Esoteric Tradition by Geoffrey Ahern The Aquarian Press, Wellingborough 1984 ISBN 0–85030–338–9 (H/B) £7.95

Religion and Medicine World Religions and Medicine (4th Volume of Essays in the IRM Religious and Medicine Series) (ed) D. Goodacre. Institute of Religion and Medicine, St Giles Oxford. £1.95

Believing and Belonging: The Practice of Believing in The Church by Anthony E. Harvey SPCK £2.50 pp.136 p/b

E. Milingo: The World In Between: Christian healing and the Struggle for Spiritual Survival Edited, with introduction, Commentary and Epilogue by Mona Macmillan London: C Hurst & Co, 1984. pp vi+138. Price: hard covers ‐ £7.95; soft covers ‐ £3.95

Hinduism in England edited by David G. Bowen The faculty of Contemporary Studies, Bradford College, 1981     

The relationship between frontalis muscle activity and self-reports of headache pain

The relationship between levels of frontalis muscle activity and self-reports of pain was evaluated in two studies. In Study I frontalis muscle activity and self-reports of pain collected during biofeedback treatment of muscular contraction headache clients were correlated. In Study II frontalis EMG activity was increased and decreased using biofeedback techniques while concurrent reports of headache pain were recorded. The results of Study I indicated a significant relationship between EMG activity and reported headache pain for only two of the five subjects studied. The biofeedback procedures in Study II were associated with reliable increases and decreases in EMG activity. Concordance between EMG and pain reports occurred only during the EMG increase condition. Overall correlations were significant for one of the 2 subjects. The results suggest that EMG activity may not be sufficient to account for pain reports in all chronic headache clients, and variables other than EMG activity may be influencing reports of pain in some patients.     

Nature of intellectual development of Punjabi children

This research was planned to probe into the nature of cognitive development of four groups of Punjabi children. Children aged 10 to 11 years, belonging to four sub-cultural groups (mainly based on caste) were randomly selected from six primary schools. Following our previous research in this field (Ghuman, 1975) two major hypotheses were set up: (1) The professional group (mainly based on high castes) would be significantly better on a range of cognitive tasks than the other three groups; (2) The Harijans (the lowest caste) would be the most field-dependent group. All the children were tested on a battery of Piagetian tests, a Number test, WISC Block Design and the Coloured Progressive Matrices. The data were analysed by the analysis of variance and t-test techniques. Both the hypotheses were supported. Children's responses on the Piagetian tests were analysed in greater detail and an attempt is made to relate the performance of the children to their social and educational experiences.     

Sexual arousal and interpersonal evaluations

In an attempt to reconcile conflicting results concerning the effects of sexual arousal on interpersonal evaluations, hypotheses based on adaptation level, arousal-need gratification, and labeling of arousal explanations were tested. The variables of sexual arousal, technique of stimulus material presentation, physical attractiveness of the original stimulus female, and physical attractiveness of the final target person being judged were manipulated in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 design. A significant three-way interaction (Arousal × Stimulus Attractiveness × Target Attractiveness) obtained on all measures of interpersonal evaluation was interpreted as supporting a labeling of arousal explanation. It is suggested that subjects first interpret their arousal as being caused by their attraction toward the stimulus person. The characteristics of the stimulus person then become a factor used by subjects when they subsequently make judgments of target females. The adaptation-level and arousal-need gratification hypotheses were not supported.     

The effect of punishment and reinforcement procedures on a stutterer's factor II avoidance response

The purpose of this clinical experiment was to investigate the manipulability of a Factor II avoidance response (arm movement). The substantive hypothesis under test was that its suppression would be enhanced by repeated punishment sessions. During the first of nine therapy sessions response-contingent negative stimulation was not delivered. In the next five, after a base-rate period, “wrong” was made consequent upon the target response. In each of these sessions the suppression of arm movement was apparent. However, the magnitude of the suppression decreased from session to session. Evidently, the continued use of punishment did not enhance suppression. Because of this finding procedural changes were introduced in the next three therapy sessions. Verbal praise was added as a consequence of increasingly stringent omission criteria and three consecutive units of praise led to time-out from the reportedly fatiguing task of continuous speech. A marked reduction and then complete extinction resulted. Moreover, learning was evidenced since the frequency of arm movement lessened in the base-rate period of each session.     

The universal nature of human intelligence: Evidence from games

Mentally retarded individuals have relatively greater difficulty in dealing with strategic games and puzzles than with many other tasks. Consequently, it is of interest to find that strategic games have been played since ancient times, are played throughout the world, and that players who excel are frequently considered wise. Hidden within the more obvious differences between cultures, strategic games are an invariant expression of certain universal intellectual traits.