A short form of the Common Beliefs Survey III

Previous studies have shown that the Common Beliefs Survey III (CBS III) is an irrational beliefs inventory with satisfactory psychometric properties. We extended research on the CBS by examining this 54-item inventory for redundant material, and substantially abbreviated it without compormising its reliability or validity. This article describes the development of the new, 19-item short form (CBS19), convenient for clinical use, that preserves the psychometric properties of the original.     

A form of behaviour therapy for some states diagnosed as “affective disorder”

Certain of the states commonly diagnosed by psychiatrists as “affective disorder” do not respond favourably to the usual treatments prescribed, and it is argued by Lum (1976) that such states are not appropriately labelled, as they are primarily due to the somatic condition of hypocapnoea—an abnormally low level of arterial carbon dioxide. This condition is well-recognized and can be diagnosed by appropriate physiological investigation. Hypocapnoea seriously affects various somatic systems, and if the patient later experiences affective distress it is a secondary symptom due to a vicious circle mediated by autonomic responses. The treatment of choice is a form of behaviour therapy aimed at altering the breathing response in the direction of building up toleration of a higher habitual level of arterial carbon dioxide. Existing work by behaviour therapists and others on the physiological and behavioural responses to varying levels of arterial carbon dioxide is cited, and the rationale of symptomatic treatment is discussed. Current treatment methods for hypocapnoea, although behaviourally oriented, are not closely in accord with the principles of modern behaviour therapy, and this paper suggests some directions of improvement.     

A comparison of the personal values and operative goals of school psychologists and school superintendents

A survey of 96 school psychologists and 75 school superintendents throughout the state of Ohio showed the two groups to have generally similar personal value systems and to be in overall agreement in their respective rankings of school psychology goals. Both groups held the traditional school psychologist's goal of conducting individual testing to be lower relevance than acting as an internal consultant or resource person. Of those differences identified, superintendents assigned greater relevance to values which were consistent with their administrative concerns, while psychologists held values preferring individualism as more relevant. Superintendents held goals associated with increased learning efficiency and interacting with community agencies as more relevant, while psychologists assigned higher relevance to goals associated with parent-psychologist interactions.     

The order of continuous,partial and nonreward trials and resistance to extinction

In the first experiment rats were given either 16 or 48 nonrewarded or continuously rewarded trials prior to 24 continuously or partially rewarded trials, followed by extinction. Increased resistance to extinction was found for increasing numbers of nonrewarded trials when they were followed by partial reward, but not when followed by continuous reward. Similarly, more continuously rewarded trials followed by partial reward tended to increase resistance to extinction. Because of the theoretical importance of the effect of continuous reward followed by partial, a second experiment was performed where the range of the number of continuously rewarded trials was extended to 0, 48, and 96. Contrary to many theoretical predictions, resistance to extinction increased as a function of increasing amounts of continuous reward.     

Sex differences in self- and teachers' reports of self-esteem in preadolescents

The short form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was administered to 952 fourth- and fifth-grade children (482 males, 470 females) from 41 classes. The children's teachers completed Coopersmith's Behavior Rating Form, a measure of self-esteem-related behavior. In the self-ratings, girls were significantly lower than boys; in the teachers' ratings, girls were significantly higher. In 32 of the 41 classes, boys ranked higher in their self-ratings than in the teacher ratings; the reverse was true for girls — a highly significant difference. This pattern of findings did not occur in the 8 classes which had male teachers. Issues concerning the measurement and conceptualization of self-esteem are discussed.This research was supported by Lehigh University, using Institutional Grant funds from the National Science Foundation. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Patricia Horton for her assistance in the collection of the data.     

A method of restraining goldfish during conditioning of electric-shock-induced suppression of breathing movements

An efficient method of holding individual fish in position for delivery of visual conditioned stimuli and electrical unconditioned stimuli, and for registration of breathing movements with a thermistor, is described. The holder restrains the fish gently and is readily opened and closed. In addition, a “mechanical fish” signal generator, for assessing thermistor performance in detecting breathing movements, and a safe constant-current electrical shock stimulus generator are described.     

Sharing behavior and racial preference in children

Three groups of white children, 43 preschoolers and first-graders, 46 third-graders, and 44 fifth-graders, were asked to choose either a white child or a black child as a recipient of sharing and also as a companion for several social interaction situations ordered for social distance. The preschoolers and first-graders preferred to share and interact socially with the white child. The third-graders and the fifth-graders displayed a weaker preference for the white child over the black child on the sharing task, no preference in situations of high social distance, and a preference for the white child in situations of low social distance. The results from ancillary measures suggested that the choices of the younger children were motivated by a generalized color preference but that the choices of the older children were guided by an awareness of the social meaning of racial categories.The investigation was supported by the Research Advisory Council of East Tennessee State University.