THOG: The anatomy of a problem

Summary Three experiments are reported on the attempts to solve a novel hypothetico-deductive problem. Its solution demands both the postulation of hypotheses about its structure and a combinatorial analysis upon the consequences of these hypotheses. The majority of subjects (students) failed to solve the problem because they argued from the properties of stimuli rather than from hypotheses about their conceptual status. The results suggest that a familiarity with the logical structure of the problem and the elicitation of appropriate hypotheses failed to correct this intuitive approach. These findings are discussed in relation to Piaget's theory of formal operations, and (very tentatively) in relation to habitual styles of thought.     

The Creative Use of Poetry in the Counseling Process

Poetry is an effective, creative tool in counseling. This article enumerates the advantages of using poetry and poetic methods (e.g., such language makes use of a natural system of communication) and mentions techniques for incorporating either the poem as a whole or in part. Ways of creating poetic awareness in counseling are emphasized. Guidelines for when to use poetry in counseling are suggested along with cautions on the incorporation of this method.     

Neuromuscular circuits in affect-laden information processing

Substantial evidence has accrued indicating the involvement of neuromuscular circuits in covert information processing. The physiological systems impartingemotional tone to covert processing, however, are less well understood. Reviewed here are findings from a variety of methodologies which suggest that somatic patterns, particularly in the face, reflect moment by moment emotional reactions. These findings imply neuromuscular involvement in affect-laden information processing; less conclusive, though suggestive, are data indicating that the proprioceptive feedback from these phasic and specific patterns of response are integrated cortically and influence covert processing and overt responding.     

Peer tutoring among elementary students: educational benefits to the tutor

To determine whether tutoring might be academically beneficial to the tutor, this study investigated the acquisition of spelling words by three elementary students in a peer tutoring program. The experimental design allowed a simultaneous comparison of each child's gain in performance on comparable word lists on which the child tutored another child, was tutored by another child, or neither gave nor received tutoring. The children's spelling improved nearly an equivalent amount on those words on which they tutored another child as on the words on which they were tutored; no such change was noted on the words on which they neither gave nor received tutoring. These findings, that peer tutoring is profitable for the tutor as well as the tutee, provide a basis for recommending peer tutoring as one method of individualizing education.     

Alcohol and human sexual behavior.

Despite the potential clinical significance of the relationship between alcohol consumption and human sexual responsiveness. the subject has received little systematic research attention. Clinical observations have suggested that alcohol abuse can lead to impotency disorders in males and sexual dysfunction in women. Alcohol has been associated with sex offences such as rape and pedophilia, increased sexual activity and extramarital affairs. However, correlation has been confused with cause, and unequivocal evidence of alcohol as the causal agent is lacking. Recent research using penile tumescence and vaginal pressure pulse as measures of sexual arousal has shown a significant negative linear relation between alcohol and sexual responsiveness in both men and women social drinkers. Findings that cognitive rather than pharmacological factors decisively influence alcohol's effects on sexual arousal, together with other psychosocial analyses, dispute the disinhibition hypothesis of alcohol's effects. A social learning analysis of alcohol's influence on sex is proposed.