Personality and social resources in immediate and continued stress resistance among women

In this study we investigated the immediate and continued impact on women of a major stressful event, the outcome of pregnancy, and the mitigating effect of self-esteem and intimacy with their spouse on their reactions. Few other studies have investigated initial reactions to crisis events. Ninety-nine Israeli women who experienced either normal delivery or pregnancy complications were interviewed at the time of the event and 3 months later. High self-esteem was found to limit feelings of depression at both times. Intimacy with spouse limited depression at the event, but not at follow-up. High self-esteem was seen as always being exploitable by women who possessed it, whereas the benefit of intimacy with spouse was seen as being dependent on situational demands and environmental constraints. Cross-cultural implications were presented.     

Recipient's mood, relationship type, and helping

We conducted two studies to examine how a potential helper is affected by having a communal orientation toward a relationship with a potential recipient and by the potential recipient's sadness. We hypothesized that (a) having a communal orientation would increase helping and that (b) people high in communal orientation, but not others, would respond to a potential recipient's sadness by increasing helping. These hypotheses were tested in two studies. In Study 1, individual differences in communal orientation toward relationships were measured by using a new communal orientation scale reported for the first time in this article. In Study 2, manipulations were used to lead subjects to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another person. In both studies, subjects were exposed to a sad person or to a person in a neutral mood whom they were given a chance to help. As hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects helped the other significantly more than did others. Also as hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects but not others, increased helping in response to the other person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study.     

Role of structure in disordered thinking in borderline and schizophrenic disorders

Qualitative studies have noted that individuals with "borderline" psychopathology exhibit extreme thought disorder on unstructured tests, yet manifest relatively normal performance on more structured tests of cognitive performance. The present study provides empirical support for this clinical observation. Borderline syndrome patients, defined by DSM-III criteria for borderline personality disorder and/or schizotypal personality disorder, demonstrated significantly greater thought disorder on the Rorschach, as measured by Johnston and Holzman's (1979) Thought Disorder Index (TDI), than did nonpsychiatric controls and were indistinguishable from patients with schizophrenic disorder of relatively recent onset. Borderline patients did not differ from controls on a structured test of cognitive slippage. Further examination of the role of structure in the assessment and treatment of borderline syndrome disorders seems warranted.     

Assessment of death attitudes: an empirical approach

The Threat Index and the Death Anxiety Scale were administered to 228 subjects. Based on the high/low criterion scores, 105 subjects were assigned to the following four groups: (a) high death threat/high death anxiety, (b) high death threat/low death anxiety, (c) low death threat/high death anxiety, and (d) low death threat/low death anxiety. During the experimental phase of the study, subjects viewed a filmstrip on death rituals in various cultures. A recall test was then administered. Results indicated no significant group differences on recall performance. Initial no-show rates for the second part of the experiment were observed in the four groups reflecting a significant negative relationship between death anxiety and initial no-show rates. The possibility of defensive responding on the Death Anxiety Scale was suggested.     

Stimulus class membership established via stimulus-reinforcer relations

In an arbitrary matching-to-sample procedure, two mentally retarded subjects learned conditional discriminations with two sets of stimuli. Each set included a spoken name (N1 or N2), an object (O1 or O2), and a printed symbol (S1 or S2). One subject selected conditionally (a) O1 upon N1, and O2 upon N2, and (b) S1 upon O1, and S2 upon O2. The other subject selected conditionally (a) S1 upon N1, and S2 upon N2, and (b) O1 upon S1, and O2 upon S2. For both subjects, selections of O1 and S1 produced one type of food, F1; selections of O2 and S2 produced a different type of food, F2. Both subjects also learned identity-matching performances, selecting O1, O2, S1, S2, F1, and F2 conditionally upon those stimuli as samples; F1 followed selections of O1, S1, and F1; F2 followed selections of O2, S2, and F2. Matching performances consistent with stimulus class formation involving the names, objects, symbols, and foods were demonstrated on probe trials, even though these performances had not been taught explicitly. Next, new objects, X1 and X2, were presented on identity-matching trials, producing F1 and F2, respectively. Without further training, X1 was selected conditionally upon N1, S1, and O1, and X2 was selected upon N2, S2, and O2. When the contingencies were changed so that selections of X1 and X2 were now followed by F2 and F1, respectively, X2 was selected conditionally upon N1, S1, and O1, and X1 was selected upon N2, S2, and O2. Class membership of X1 and X2 had apparently changed. This study provides evidence that reinforcers may become members of stimulus classes, and that new stimuli may become class members through relations with reinforcers.     

Testing the dimensionality of the self-consciousness scales

The self-consciousness scale of Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (1975) was subjected to internal and external consistency tests based on the classical test theory model. The scale was found to have five underlying dimensions: two for private self-consciousness (viz., self-reflectiveness and internal state awareness), two for public self-consciousness, and one for social anxiety. The confirmatory factor analysis procedures employed by Burnkrant and Page (1984) are shown to be fallible as indicators of unidimensionality. Theoretical implications of newly identified dimensions in the public self-consciousness subscale are discussed.     

Invariance in the MMPI's component structure

Bernstein and Garbin (1985b) suggested that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory's major clinical scales (excluding Scales ? and 5) can be approximated by an oblique three-component structure: (a) Profile Elevation, (b) Test-taking Attitudes, and (c) Optimism-Pessimism, collectively termed the salient weight model. In this study, we found that both this model and the MMPI's principal component structure remain invariant across race, sex, and, as previously noted, context of testing (job applicants vs. inmates in correctional institutions). We further noted that several alternative definitions of Profile Elevation provide equally satisfactory representation of the relations among the scales. This factor invariance is necessary, but not sufficient, for the MMPI to be viewed as unbiased.     

Relative allocation on concurrent schedules can depend on schedule parameters when behavioral parameters are constant

We develop a simple model of switching between the initial links of a concurrent-chain procedure. Behavior is determined by four parameters μ₁, μ₂, q₁, and q₂. The first two are the basic rates of switching from Schedule 1 and Schedule 2, respectively. The second two are the probabilities of leaving Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 after the corresponding terminal link has been completed. We show that for fixed values of these four parameters, the relative allocation on the initial links may change as a result of changes in initial-link schedules. The effect can be quite large if the switching rates are low. An implication is that relative allocation is not necessarily a good measure of behavior.