The Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire: A revised measure of alcohol-related beliefs

Alcohol-related expectancies have been recently proposed as potentially important determinants of drinking behavior. This study describes the development of a New Zealand measure of such beliefs, the Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire (DEQ). Items selected through interviews, literature review, and the modification of other relevant questionnaires were piloted on 333 drinkers in a community sample and 275 college students. Factor analyses of both samples revealed nine alcohol reinforcement domains relating to assertiveness, affective change, sexual enhancement, social enhancement, relaxation, cognitive impairment, dependence, carelessness, and aggression. The potential clinical and research possibilities using this revised expectancy measure are briefly discussed, along with the scale's strength and weaknesses.The financial assistance of the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council of New Zealand in conducting this study is gratefully acknowledged.     

Age deficits in recall under optimal study conditions

Young and older adults studied lists of words under both standard and optimal study conditions for subsequent free recall. Under optimal conditions, the participants studied each word for as long as they wished, were allowed to take notes, and were encouraged to actively use whatever strategies they thought would maximize recall. Both age groups recalled more words under optimal study conditions than under standard conditions, but the improvement was greater for the young adults. This increase in the age-related recall deficit was not due to differences in study time. The results suggest that standard laboratory memory tasks do not overestimate the memory deficits of older adults because of a failure to provide either optimal learning conditions or sufficient study time.     

Expert evidence by psychologists: Sometimes problematic and often premature

This article provides a critical review of two major types of expert evidence: (a) clinical assessments, and (b) generalizations drawn from psychological research. Strong arguments both for and against both types of testimony have been offered by legal experts and psychologists. These arguments are evaluated and the conclusion is drawn that there are two fundamental problems for psychologists in the role of expert. First, the types of assessments clinicians are asked to make (e.g., concerning the accused's mental state at the time of committing the offense) may exceed the capacity of the discipline; such assessments are problematic. Second, the research foundation that psychologists employ in court does not always apply to the court situation in the way experts imply; the application of laboratory research findings to real world contexts is sometimes premature. The article concludes with an admonition that psychologists should adopt a more conservative response to requests to provide expert evidence.     

How and when to correct for juror hindsight bias in mental health malpractice litigation: Some preliminary observations

This article examines the hindsight bias in the context of mental health malpractice litigation, analyzes various legal mechanisms for dealing with the bias, and discusses whether the law should strive for debiasing in all mental health malpractice cases.     

The written summary in group psychotherapy revisited

This paper addresses the use of the weekly written summary with patients in group psychotherapy. In an effort to stimulate group process and effect cotherapist communication, the authors instituted this group recording in an ongoing psychodynamically oriented mixed adult group. While the utilization of this device did, in fact, stimulate the group process and became an important part of the group's life, the therapists additionally saw significant effects upon their working alliance. These included increased focused dialogue upon group dynamics, more purposeful planning for group interventions, and heightened awareness of the significance of interventions in the group.Ms. Bosman-Clark is formerly Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine.     

Countering perfectionism in research on clinical practice I: Surveying rationality changes after a single intensive ret intervention

The failure of controlled experimental research on therapy out-come to produce findings of clinical as well as statistical significance seems at least partly due to irrational, perfectionistic, beliefs about how research can be used to infer causes of therapeutic change. Irrational beliefs about controlled experimental designs and about incomplete sampling, in particular, appear to prevent appropriate consideration of probatively valuable quasi-experimental research. Models of more rational alternatives are identified, and an example of the functional advantages of adopting these rational beliefs is explicated. The example demonstrates that single-shot pre-post survey data from self-selected catch-as-catch-can samples can permit legitimate, but not absolutely certain, conclusions about the efficacy and efficiency of RET.Albert Ellis, Ph.D. is executive director of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in New York City.     

The potential of HyperCard for psychological research and instruction: A general discussion and description of two research applications

In this paper, we discuss the potential of HyperCard for research and instruction in psychology. First we give a general overview of the HyperCard program; after that, we present two HyperCard stacks as sample solutions for two specific research applications. Surveyor, a self-contained survey tool, is a HyperCard-based vehicle for developing, administering, and processing tests and surveys. Queston demonstrates how HyperCard can be used as a data-management and data-analysis tool during the stages of questionnaire development. Both stacks illustrate how flexible HyperCard is and how easy it is to use it to manage, analyze, and process data, to transfer data to other programs, and to print reports. HyperCard, unlike traditional applications, gives the user a great degree of control over the way information is stored, mainipulated, and presented. Although both stacks are custom-made for specific purposes, the concepts underlying the design can be generally applied and adapted for other purposes.     

Dental phobias and anxieties: evidence for conditioning processes in the acquisition and modulation of a learned fear

The present study investigated some of the factors which differentiate individuals with dental anxieties and phobias from those without such fears. In particular, two questions were addressed: (i) What differentiates subjects who have never been anxious about dental treatment from subjects who at some time have been anxious? and (ii) What factors lead to subjects changing their attitudes either from anxious to relaxed or from relaxed to anxious? The results suggest that the factors which influence the acquisition and modulation of dental anxieties are consistent with the associative and representational processes portrayed in contemporary models of human conditioning. Subjects who reported never having had anxieties about dental treatment were less likely to have had a painful dental treatment than subjects who did report an anxiety. Subjects who did report a painful dental experience but did not acquire anxiety reported a history of dental treatment favourable to the operation of latent inhibition. Subjects who reported that they were good at enduring pain were more likely to report a longer interval between their very first dental treatment and their first painful dental treatment. Under some conditions in which latent inhibition should have precluded the acquisition of a dental fear, an anxiety appeared to be acquired because a very painful experience had attenuated the latent inhibition process. Subjects whose dental anxiety did not remit reported significantly more painful and traumatic dental experiences than subjects whose anxiety did remit.