Effects of extraneous stimulation on visual afterimage serials produced by young schizophrenics

Smith, G. J. W. & Ruuth, E. Effects of extraneous stimulation on visual afterimage serials produced by young schizophrenics. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 34–38.- Two groups of young schizophrenics, 20 in each, produced afterimages (Als) of a schematic face in 20 consecutive trials. In one group an acoustic signal was administered at the 8th, 12th and 16th trials. The signal effect in a previous experiment implied that the ongoing adaptive trend was disrupted by a return to the trend characterizing the before-signal portion of the sequence. This result was cross-validated, with particular emphasis put on the regressive characteristics shown by schizophrenics. However, the present schizophrenic subjects seemed to be more resistant to the contraction and eventual mechanization of their adaptive processes being the usual consequence of iteration.     

Standardized Tests Used in Correctional Institutions

This study provides data from 11 adult correctional institutions on the percentage of residents who took standardized tests — educational, intelligence, vocational, and psychological tests — over a one-year period. The Gray-Votaw-Rogers and the General Educational Development tests were the most often administered educational tests. Many more residents were given educational or academic achievement tests than intelligence tests. The two measures of personality most common to all institutions in the study were the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank. Five of the 11 institutions gave no vocational tests other than the General Aptitude Test Battery. Many individual differences in institutions are noted.     

Age and brief separation: Note on children's distress reactions

26 children, one to three years old, were briefly separated from their parents in a strange situation in order to investigate the relation of age to children's crying and manipulation behavior. A significant negative correaltion was found between age and crying ( r =÷0.51), while no relation was observed between age and manipulation. The results support Bowlby's (1973) view that the peak of separation distress occurs during the child's second year of life.     

The Impact of World Views on Professional Life-styling

A world view expresses the presuppositions a person makes about his or her world. These basic presuppositions center on the nature of ultimate reality, of the universe, of mankind, the meaning of death, the basis of ethics, and the meaning of human history. The four perspectives of theism, deism, agnosticism, and atheism summarize views regarding these six issues. Then the influence of each of the four perspectives on certain counseling issues that are seen as the warp and woof of a counselor's value system are analyzed. These special counseling issues are the counselor-client relationship, motives for counseling, counseling goals, the method of dealing with special problems, and the choice of counseling strategies. One implication of this analysis is that counselors-in-training should study all the perspectives and also formulate for themselves a personal counseling approach that reflects thinking on both the six world issues and the special counseling issues. The second implication of the analysis is that the authentic counselor can work with others in a climate of respect for world views that differ from his or hers. The counselor does not threaten their beliefs—even when helping them to explore, clarify, and develop personal values. Jeffry Tindall reviews the philosophical approach that Smith proposes and urges that the emphasis of counselors be focused in the philosophical area of axiology.     

Prevalence and severity of anxiety, depression and Type A behaviors in angina pectoris

The role of psychological factors in coronary heart disease was examined by administering the Bech Rating Scale (BRS) of mood disorders and the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) for Type A behavior patterns (TABP) to a consecutive sample of angina patients ( N = 94), to a consecutive sample of noncardiac patients ( N = 47), and to a random sample of adults from the general population ( N = 217). Anxiety and depression were both more frequent and more severe in angina patients than in noncardiac patients or in the general population. There was a tendency for certain components of TABP (i. e. speed, impatience, hard-driving and competitive disposition) to be elevated in angina patients, but a similar trend was noted in noncardiac patients. Although no consistent relations were observed between negative emotions and TABP scores in angina patients, their anxiety and depression scores were reliably related to their use of nitroglycerin. The findings concur with previous studies concerning the presence of anxiety and depression in patients with angina pectoris and indicate that such negative emotions are not closely related to Type A personality traits.     

THE ASA FRAMEWORK: AN UPDATE

In 1987, B. Schneider proposed a person-oriented model of organizational behavior based on the proposition that it is the collective characteristics of people who define an organization. He further proposed that, over time, organizations become defined by the persons in them as a natural outcome of an attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) cycle. We provide a brief overview of the ASA cycle and review literature relevant to two facets of the theory. The literature reviewed provides some indirect support for the proposal that founders and the members of top management have long-term effects on organizations through the ASA cycle. The literature reviewed provides both indirect and direct evidence supporting a central proposition of ASA theory–that organizations over time become relatively homogeneous with regard to the kinds of people in them. Suggestions for future research on ASA are presented.     

Idea-Generation Techniques: A Formulary of Active Ingredients

The profusion of creativity techniques that have been proposed and used is based on a much smaller set of active ingredients, devices that promote idea generation. This paper reports the results of a study that identified these active ingredients through an analysis of 172 idea-generation methods. Fifty idea-generation devices of three types — strategies, tactics, and enablers — were identified and organized in a formulary. Research results facilitate the evaluation of idea-generation methods and the selection of methods suited to particular idea-generation tasks.     

THE "BIG FIVE" PERSONALITY FACTORS IN THE IPI AND MMPI: PREDICTORS OF POLICE PERFORMANCE

Rational and empirical linkages were formed between the "Big Five" personality factors and two personality inventories: the Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI), which is a personality inventory designed especially for use in the selection of corrections officers, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). A criterion-related validation of the study was then conducted to assess the validity of these two measures of the Big Five in predicting various measures of police performance. Results indicated that while both inventories provided adequate measures of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, neither inventory consistently contributed incremental validity over the Civil Service exam.