Perceiving Violence: The Influence of Motivational Status and Environmental Setting

Previous studies examining perceptions of violence within a public house context have shown that the presence of door control (bouncers), interior tidiness, and the actions of the victim play an important role in shaping judgments of the aggressor and the victim (Lawrence & Leather, 1999; Leather & Lawrence, 1995). However, the extent to which individuals belonging to the same group as the victim make similar patterns of judgments to those recruited from a different group has not been investigated. This paper reports the findings of a study in which the perceptions of 80 licensees (same group as victim) and 80 undergraduate students (different group from victim) are compared after exposure to an account of a violent incident. Also manipulated were environmental variables (presence of door control and interior tidiness) and the actions of the victim. Results support the JWH, whereby the victim is blamed more by those from the same group than by those from a different group. Results are discussed in light of defensive attributions and the JWH and highlight the importance of taking environmental information into account in studies of social cognition.     

Introducing Mindfulness to Clinical Psychologists in Training: An Experiential Course of Brief Exercises

A 14 session, structured, mindfulness skills group utilizing short (10 min) practices was undertaken by clinical psychologists in training as a voluntary lunchtime activity. The present study was a preliminary investigation into whether a short course of brief mindfulness exercises could facilitate the development of personal understandings of mindfulness without requiring a significant time commitment that might impinge upon participants’ ability to take part. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations suggested that the course could be a useful experiential introduction to mindfulness for clinicians. The results also suggested that the format of frequent, brief exercises could have utility for conducting mindfulness-based training in time-limited environments but further research is required to examine the effects of frequency and duration of practice on the development of mindfulness skills.     

Survey on Using Ethical Principles in Environmental Field Research with Place-Based Communities

Science and Engineering Ethics - Researchers of the Northeast Ethics Education Partnership (NEEP) at Brown University sought to improve an understanding of the ethical challenges of field...     

Age trends in stimulus overselectivity

Stimulus overselectivity refers to the phenomenon whereby stimulus control over behavior is exerted only by a limited subset of the total number of stimuli present during discrimination learning. It often is displayed by individuals with autistic spectrum disorders or learning disabilities, but is not exclusive to those groups. The present studies investigated the impact of aging on stimulus control and overselectivity. Three age groups--18-22, 47-55, and 70-80 year olds-were studied in two experiments. All participants were trained on a simple discrimination task, randomly assigned to one of two conditions (either with or without a distractor task), and then tested for the emergence of overselectivity (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2 responding controlled by the overselected stimulus elements was reduced by introducing a verbal punisher. In subsequent tests, control of behavior by the previously underselected elements from Experiment 1 was enhanced across the two younger age groups but not the oldest group of participants. The results are discussed in relation to the attention-deficit and overshadowing accounts of overselectivity.     

Human sensitivity to reinforcement feedback functions

Two experiments investigated human sensitivity to the temporally extended aspects of reinforcement schedules. Experiment 1 investigated human sensitivity to the extended and local aspects of three reinforcement schedules: variable ratio (VR), variable interval (VI), and variable-interval-plus-linear-feedback (VI+) schedules. Experiment 2 investigated this sensitivity on two reinforcement schedules: VI and VI+ schedules. In both experiments, there was evidence of sensitivity to the temporally extended aspects of the schedule: There were differences between the response rate on the VI+ and yoked-VI schedules, but no statistical difference in rates of response between the VR and VI+ schedules. The VI+ versus VI difference was much more pronounced when a lower response force needed to depress a lever was used. These results suggest that human subjects do show some sensitivity to temporally extended aspects of schedules of reinforcement.     

Rats' performance on variable-interval schedules with a linear feedback loop between response rate and reinforcement rate

Three experiments investigated whether rats are sensitive to the molar properties of a variable-interval (VI) schedule with a positive relation between response rate and reinforcement rate (i.e., a VI+ schedule). In Experiment 1, rats responded faster on a variable ratio (VR) schedule than on a VI+ schedule with an equivalent feedback function. Reinforced interresponse times (IRTs) were shorter on the VR as compared to the VI+ schedule. In Experiments 2 and 3, there was no systematic difference in response rates maintained by a VI+ schedule and a VI schedule yoked in terms of reinforcement rate. This was found both when the yoking procedure was between-subject (Experiment 2) and within-subject (Experiment 3). Mean reinforced IRTs were similar on both the VI+ and yoked VI schedules, but these values were more variable on the VI+ schedule. These results provided no evidence that rats are sensitive to the feedback function relating response rate to reinforcement rate on a VI+ schedule.     

Promoting psychoanalytic understanding in the core professions: The case against establishing a new profession of adult psychotherapist

Currently there is much enthusiastic talk about the possibility of establishing a new National Health Service profession of Adult Psychotherapist. This paper questions the assumption that such a development would be rational and advantageous. Four main points are discussed here: there are problems arising from training in a uni-dimensional context when returning to work in amulti-dimensional context; there are dangers in taking a method-oriented stance rather than one which is service-oriented; there is something peculiar about the notion of a profession based on a single method or mode of treatment; one of the most important contributions of psychoanalysis to the core professions is the creation of an analytic space for thinking.     

The NICE guidelines are misleading,unscientific, and potentially impede good psychological care and help

NICE guidelines have been given the authority to determine what psychological therapies can be provided within the UK National Health Service. This also has implications for private practice. The guidelines are based on a medical model and consider psychotherapy as analogous to a drug. Psychological thinking is discouraged by this approach. A large amount of psychotherapy research evidence is ignored by NICE, particularly the persistent finding that differences in effectiveness between therapies are minimal and elusive. Differences between the skills of therapists are a more significant factor. Practice-based evidence, and learning from the patient's feedback (both conscious and unconscious) may be a better approach. For most forms of psychological distress, none of the main psychological therapies studied in randomized controlled trials can be considered to be clinically effective, even though they facilitate some degree of statistically significant change.     

From research to practice: The first tentative steps

This article traces the history of the Somerset Spirituality Project as it moved from the research findings of Foskett et al. (2003) and Macmin and Foskett (2003) to the application of their findings in practice. It summarizes the results of the research, the attempts to publicize these and to promote better practice within the mental health services and local religious groups. It records the developments already undertaken or planned, the resistance to these encountered along the way and the sacrifices made by those most intimately involved. This is set within a Christian Liberation Theology's analysis of social and political systems, its bias to the poor and their understanding of the human drive to health of mind and soul.