Teaching awareness of strategic behavior in combination with strategy training: Effects on children's memory performance

The present study examined the effectiveness of two components (rehearsal training and strategy awareness) of an instructional package designed to train the developmentally young in the use of mature information processing techniques. Two groups of children of equivalent developmental age (MA = 8), one mildly retarded and the other of average intelligence, participated. Rehearsal training was effective in improving recall scores on the training task; however, neither rehearsal training, memory awareness, nor their combination significantly altered memory performance on the generalization tasks. There was evidence, however, that the combination of rehearsal training and strategy awareness did increase the likelihood of strategy transfer on the generalization task (recognition) which most closely resembled the training task. Post-task questioning revealed that instructions concerning memory awareness did improve subjects ability to verbalize appropriate strategic behavior; however, these improvements were not consistently translated into either actual use of a rehearsal strategy or improved performance. Discussion centered on the implications of these results and on the need for increased research on the metamnemonic skills involved in strategy generalization.     

A comparison of techniques to affect sociometric status: A small step toward primary prevention in the classroom?

Interdependent tasks and role play were implemented as treatment conditions in three elementary classrooms (n=142) to affect the peer nominations of the subjects. Third to fifth grade subjects, 68 female and 74 male, received $\text{1}\text{2}$ hour per day of treatment or a control condition for two weeks. Sociometric measurements were obtained prior to the treatment, one week after, and six weeks after. Analysis of covariance was used to test the effectiveness of the treatments. One week following treatment, intersependent tasks was effective (p<.05) in causing subjects in all grades to pick formerly low status children. On the six weeks followup only fifth grade subjects showed the effects of interdependent tasks (p<.01). Several post hoc analyses were performed to investigate the mechanisms behind the change. The results suggest that interdependent tasks may be an effective strategy in raising the popularity of low status children if the treatment becomes an ongoing part of classroom routine. The implications for primary prevention are discussed.     

Cognitive deficits in compulsive checkers: An exploratory study

Compulsive-checking behavior can be conceptualized as resulting, in part, from a memory failure. In order to determine if memory difficulties are associated with compulsive checking, the performance of college-student checkers were compared with the performance of non-checkers on a number of cognitive tasks hypothesized to be relevant to understanding checking behavior. Using the Checking and Cleaning subscales of the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, four groups of subjects were identified: (1) Cleaning Checkers (N = 13); (2) Noncleaning Checkers (N = 13); (3) Cleaning Noncheckers (N = 13); and (4) Noncleaning Noncheckers (N = 15). It was hypothesized that the cognitive deficits studied would characterize individuals with cheeking compulsions, but not persons with non-checking compulsions (i.e. Cleaning Noncheckers) or normal controls (i.e. Noncleaning Noncheckers). Compulsive checkers were found to have a poorer memory for prior actions than non-checkers and were also found to underestimate their ability at distinguishing memories of real and imagined events, a process referred to as reality monitoring. Both of these deficits were specific to compulsive checkers and can be viewed as contributing to the likelihood that an individual will engage in checking behavior. If an individual has difficulty in recalling whether an intended action has been executed, they may be inclined to engage in checking behavior to insure the intended action is carried out. Similarly, a tendency to underestimate reality-monitoring ability could result in increased checking behavior as the individual attempts to reduce his/her uncertainty over whether a previous behavior actually occurred or merely was thought to occur. It is concluded that the study of cognitive deficits in compulsive checking is a potentially fruitful avenue for further inquiry.     

Spatial and conjoint models based on pairwise comparisons of dissimilarities and combined effects: Complete and incomplete designs

In pairwise multidimensional scaling, a spatial representation for a set of objects is determined from comparisons of the dissimilarity of any two objects drawn from the set to the dissimilarity of other pairs of objects drawn from that set. In pairwise conjoint scaling, comparisons among the joint effects produced by pairs of objects, where the objects in a pair are drawn from separate sets, are used to determine numerical representations for the objects in each set. Monte Carlo simulations of both pairwise dissimilarities and pairwise conjoint effects show that Johnson's algorithm can provide good metric recovery in the presence of high levels of error even when only a small percentage of the complete set of pairwise comparisons are tested.     

The Assertive Interaction Coding System

Conceptual and theoretical issues concerning the assessment of assertive behavior are discussed. A summary of a variety of instruments utilized in experimental and clinical settings is offered that reflects these issues. This review is followed by the presentation of a new assessment device developed by the authors—the Assertive Interaction Coding System. Research evidence as to its reliability and validity in experimental and clinical settings is presented. Implications for its use in clinical and research protocols are addressed.     

Serotonin, the superior colliculus, and grooming behavior in cats with neocortical lesions.

Previous studies of cats with pontile lesions indicate that a serotonergic deficit exists in the superior colliculi and that this deficit is involved in the genesis of an abnormal grooming behavior. Cats with frontal neocortical lesions exhibit the same serotonergic deficit and the same abnormal grooming behavior. The present study established that the serotonergic deficit is involved in the mediation of the abnormal grooming behavior in cats with frontal neocortical lesions. Microinjections of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) into the superior colliculi abolished or signigicantly reduced the abnormal behavior in cats with frontal neocortical lesions, whereas no effects of 5-HTP were observed after injections into the cerebrospinal fluid above the superior colliculi, into the tegmentum beneath the superior colliculi, or into the medial dorsal nucleus rostral to the superior colliculi. Other substances (tryptophan, noradrenaline, and gamma-amino-butyric acid) had no effect on the abnormal behavior when injected into the superior colliculi. Further evidence implicating a serotonergic deficit in the mediation of the abnormal behavior was obtained by systemic injections: The abnormal behavior was abolished with 5-HTP in cats with frontal neocortical lesions and in adrenalectomized cats that were previously treated with p-chlorophenylalanine.. The present study also demonstrated that the abnormal grooming behavior is induced by frontal neocortical lesions and not by more caudal lesions of the neocortex. The anatomical relations between the frontal neocortex and the superior colliculus and the role of these structures in grooming behavior are discussed.     

Similarities in the physiological bases of an abnormal grooming behavior in thyroidectomized cats and in cats with lesions of the central nervous system.

Thyroidectomized cats display a dissociation of the appetitive and consummatory components of grooming behavior when the body surface is tactually stimulated, an abnormal behavior that also occurs in cats with pontile or frontal neocortical lesions. Systemic administration of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) abolishes the abnormal behavior, whereas dihydroxyphenylalanine administration does not, and p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) administration induces the abnormal grooming behavior in thyroidectomized cats that are not displaying the abnormal behavior because of spontaneous seasonal reversions. Microinjections of 5-HTP or serotonin into the superior colliculi also abolish the abnormal grooming behavior in thyroidectomized cats. Lesions of the superior colliculi prevent the development of the abnormal behavior after thyroidectomy, even with PCPA treatment. These pharmacological results in thyroidectomized cats parallel the behavioral effects observed in cats with pontile or frontal neocortical lesions.