WITHDRAWAL OF CHRONIC CHLORPROMAZINE MEDICATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

Approximately 50% of all institutionalized, mentally retarded adults receive psychotropic medication to control inappropriate behavior. In this study, behaviors exhibited by five retarded adults were formally observed while they were on and off medication. Each subject had been receiving chlorpromazine for six or more years prior to the start of the study. The drug was withdrawn and readministered using a double-blind B-A-B (drug-placebo-drug) design. Effects were highly individualized. Some desirable behavior emerged when chlorpromazine was discontinued.     

Pathological left-handedness: Evaluation of a model

This study investigated the relationship between manifest handedness and the localization of EEG abnormalities in a large group of mentally retarded persons. Persons who had abnormal EEG recordings, regardless of whether the dysfunction was bilateral or asymmetric, exhibited approximately twice the incidence of left-handedness than persons who had normal EEG's. Data for persons having asymmetric damage support a model of pathological left-handedness, with left-handers showing a substantially higher probability of having left brain dysfunction than right-handers.     

Differences in human ability to judge veracity from the audio medium

The few past studies in this topic area have consistently found that human subjects, as a group, are able to judge veracity better than chance; but no findings have been published relating individual differences to judgmental accuracy. Thus the present study was designed as a first step in filling this knowledge gap. To create a stimulus set of lies and truths, which listeners would later judge for veracity, a method was employed that generated 10 audio-tape recorded lies and 10 audio-tape recorded truths. Each of 100 subject-listeners judged each audio-tape for veracity, and also provided information on a set of personological variables. Listener, as a group, were significantly better than chance in accurately judging veracity (p < .001). In addition, a set of personological variables (social intelligence, field dependence/independence, number of siblings, TV viewing habits, and confidence in judgments) was identified that accounted for 22% of the variance in accuracy (p < .0002). It is acknowledged that these findings are tentative and will require replication before they can be regarded as reliable or valid.     

Increasing Career Center Accessibility for the Blind

To improve career planning services for visually impaired persons, the career center at Florida State University developed a self-directed program. This article describes strategies for making career information materials and resources more accessible to the blind.     

New assessment systems for residential treatment,management, research,and evaluation: A symposium

An introduction and overview are presented to new observational assessment systems for ongoing assessment and monitoring of both staff and resident (client or patient) functioning in residential treatment programs for emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded adults.Preparation of articles and the research and development on which the articles are based was supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from the Joyce Foundation and the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.A symposium presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979.     

Systems use to objectify program evaluation,clinical, and management decisions

The utility of the observational assessment systems at different levels — from local clinical to systemwide management — is outlined. An overview is provided of TSBC information applied to individualized problem identification and programming/monitoring, discharge and competency determinations, and both absolute and comparative program evaluation. The utility of SRIC information for prgoramming/monitoring and for staff training and evaluation is outlined in addition to the applied uses of the information of the assessment systems in combination. Once implemented, the continuous data from the systems allow for empirically based self-corrective improvements in the quality of mental health services while automatically providing a basis for legal documentation and accurate cost/effectiveness comparisons of mental health programs.Preparation of this article and the research and development on which the article is based were supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from The Joyce Foundation and the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.Presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979, as part of a symposium on New assessment systems for residential treatment, management, research, and evaluation.     

KIM and the rabbit: The use of the KIM-1 microprocessor to control classical conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response

The KIM-1 microprocessor combined with a plug-board interface provides an inexpensive and highly flexible system for controlling classical conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response. The system is described in the context of a program for differential conditioning.     

The effects of smoking and urinary pH on a detection task

Performance was measured in a detection task over a period of 50 min. Subjects were either non-smokers or smoked more than 15 cigarettes per day. No smoking was allowed during the task, but smokers were all asked to smoke a cigarette immediately before doing it. One hour previously, subjects had been given a double-blind dose of a substance which would shift the pH of their urine either upwards or downwards, by small amounts sufficient to affect the rate of renal excretion of nicotine in the smokers. The pH manipulation had no effect on the performance of the non-smokers, who improved steadily throughout the task. After some 40 min of performance, the deprived smokers showed less improvement than the non-smokers, and the smokers whose urine had been made acid improved less than those whose had been made alkaline. The results are interpreted as evidence for a phasic effect on performance of small degrees of nicotine deprivation, which has consequences for theories of nicotine dependence.