An exposure approach to alcohol abuse

The drinking behaviour of alcoholics was firstly analysed in terms of antecedents, behaviour and consequences. Thereafter, treatment consisted of exposure to the antecedents of drinking, whilst patients were prevented from drinking. Five out of the six patients attained abstinence from drinking by the end of therapy, this abstinence being maintained over follow-ups of up to 9 months, and also noted an absence of desire to drink at the end of therapy. The possible mechanisms in operation during treatment are discussed, including operant or classical conditioning, teaching of self control and cognitive invalidation.     

Differential runway performance using goal box placement and running trials as discriminative stimuli

Two experiments compared the effects of reinforced, partially reinforced and nonreinforced intertrial goal box placements (ITR, ITP, and ITN respectively) on runway performance. In Experiment I differential responding (animals running slower on nonreinforced (N) trials than on reinforced (R) trials) was observed during acquisition for subjects receiving ITP preceding N trials or subjects receiving ITP before R trials, and also for subjects receiving ITR preceding N trials. No differential responding was observed in subjects receiving ITP prior to both N and R trials or ITN prior to N trials. In extinction, the subjects which had responded differentially during acquisition demonstrated reduced resistance to extinction in comparison to the subjects which had not. In Experiment II, a 2 × 2 factorial design was utilized with placement schedule (ITN and ITP) and type of trial predicted by placement (N and R) serving as the factors. Differential responding was observed in all four groups. The apparent contradiction between the results and the discrimination hypothesis proposed by Capaldi and Olivier (1967) to explain the attenuation of ITR and ITN effects on resistance to extinction is discussed.     

Effects of information presentation mode on subjects' hypotheses in a probabilistic inference task

The effects of two modes of information-presentation (visual access to an ordered array of cue values vs. no access) on subjects' performance in a two-cue probability learning (MPL) task were investigated.The results showed that the visual access to an ordered array of cue values led to a larger proportion of correct hypotheses and of optimal selection strategies and to a better learning performance. These results were interpreted as supporting the conjecture that the situational variables may affect the subject's hypotheses about the cue-criterion relations. The results were also discussed with respect to their implications for the theory of MPL.     

Prolonging the effects of deposit contracts with smokers

Three group-comparison studies are reported which investigate possible ways of prolonging the effectiveness and increasing the acceptability of deposit contracts with smokers. In Experiment 1 deposits held for a total of 4 months were compared with those lasting 2 months. In Experiment 2 a ‘reinforcement thinning’ procedure in which the intervals between deposit repayments are progressively increased was compared with contracts involving equal intervals between repayments. In Experiment 3 the effects on compliance, drop-out rates and treatment outcome of a cumulative-deposit procedure were studied. Subjects in this condition were asked to supply a deposit in 4 weekly instalments rather than as a lump sum. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 were disappointing. There were no significant differences between treatments, although there was a trend in favour of ‘thinning’ deposits. Experiment 3, however, showed that the cumulative-deposit procedure was effective in influencing more subjects to provide deposits. Neither drop-out rate nor treatment outcome was adversely affected. It is difficult for a straightforward reinforcement model to account for these results. Other models are discussed, and ways of testing them suggested. A larger study is still needed to determine whether certain deposit-contract procedures can add to the long-term effectiveness of behavioural-package programmes for stopping smoking.     

A systems approach to decision making on student services

It is argued that student services in higher education need to be made more accountable. A systems approach to planning and evaluation is outlined, and problems of resource allocation and of performance measurement are discussed. Some research problems are also indicated. It is suggested that a system of the kind proposed will enable wider use to be made of limited resources.     

Assessing the accuracy of conflicting autobiographical memories

We examined criteria that rememberers and neutral audiences use to validate conflicting memories. In Experiment 1, rememberers described an incident that they recalled differently from someone else from their own and the other person’s perspective. Rememberers and audiences then evaluated the accuracy of statements in both accounts, explained their accuracy ratings, and appraised the qualities of the memories. In Experiment 2, dyads who possessed conflicting memories of a shared past episode evaluated each other’s recollections. In both studies, rememberers rated their own recollections as more accurate than other people’s and based their judgments primarily on the internal coherence of the memories. Rememberers used consensus more frequently and sensory detail less often to evaluate other people’s memories than their own. Audiences (Experiment 1) reported examining the consistency between the accounts and their own experiences; they also used consensus and normative behavior to a greater extent than rememberers. In both studies, rememberers judged their own accounts to be more detailed and coherent. Their ratings of detail and coherence predicted their ratings of accuracy.     

Exploring Conflict Culture in the Family: Consistency and Continuity of Conflict During Family Meal Discourse

Conflict discourse in the context of everyday activities of families during mealtimes was examined with a view to determining consistency and continuity on two occasions one year apart. In particular, the use of authority, the part played by each member of the family, and the ways in which conflicts were terminated was addressed. Data derived from Jewish families was considered not only to enable comparisons to be made with data derived from the broader community, but to illuminate the issues pertinent to the exploration of conflict within the family. It was observed over a period of time that there was a continuity of conflict culture within each family. Additionally it was found that generally, family conflict interactions terminated in standoffs rather than resorting to full blown conflicts and the outcome was, on the whole, favourable to all parties, with conversations continuing to be pursued without further conflict. In some instances termination of the episode was through an external agent, rather than a family member. The key part that family members play in deflecting conflict, especially the part played by mothers and siblings was noted. The extension of existing conflict coding schema to account for different types of authority moves, so as to discriminate between authority based on status and that which invokes an idea of shared responsibility or a common code of conduct is recommended. A further extension of the coding schema to account for paralinguistic aspects of communication is suggested.     

Escalation of Commitment and the Framing Effect: An Empirical Investigation

Research and theory are reviewed which consider two decision biases: escalation of commitment and decision framing. Some authors (Bazerman, 1986; Whyte, 1986) have suggested that escalation of commitment may be explained by the decision framing used in the research paradigms. A study was conducted which simultaneously manipulated both responsibility for a prior decision and decision frame. Results show a main effect on resource allocation for responsibility and no effect for decision frame. A follow-up study found that amount of information provided systematically affected the framing bias, and that when responsibility was added to a large amount of contextual information, the framing effect became nonsignificant. These results suggest a need to further examine the boundary conditions of framing.     

Children's reactions to serial murder

This study examined the psychological reactions of children who lived in a community exposed to serial murder. The research also examined how parents coped with their children's psychological responses. Thirty-four parents of 64 children between the ages of 5 and 18, inclusive, were asked to identify changes in their children since the serial murders. Data collection began 4 weeks following the murders and included assessment of emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of the child's responses. Follow-up data collection occurred at 9 months and 18 months after the murders. Results indicated that children, as a group, experienced a number of psychological changes following the murders, even though none of the actual victims were children. The most frequently reported symptoms were anxiety-based (fear of being alone, difficulty falling asleep and wanting to sleep with patents). Most children showed a significant decline in symptoms across time. The most popular parent coping strategies involved discussing issues of risk minimization, talking about the murders, and spending more time with children.