Effect of EMG-biofeedback training in reduction of muscle tension for individuals displaying type A behavior patterns

This study investigated the effect of EMG biofeedback training in reducing muscle tension among subjects who displayed Type A behavior. 22 Type A college students (19 to 22 yr. old) were randomly assigned to either a biofeedback group or a control group. After 6 wk. of training, Type A subjects showed a significant reduction in muscle tension for both resting and aroused states; however, the reduction of muscle tension did not result in reduction of Type A behavior patterns.     

Effect of directed attention on cerebral asymmetries in stuttering adults

9 stutterers and 9 nonstutterers were administered a dichotic digits test under conditions of free recall and directed attention. Analysis indicated right-ear preference for both groups and no differences between the free recall and directed listening conditions. Results are discussed in relation to previous studies in which dichotic digit-stimuli were presented to stutterers.     

Classification of empirically derived prototypes as a function of category experience

In three experiments, subjects learned to classify dot patterns into three categories represented by either three, six, or nine exemplars. Following learning, subjects were tested on an additional set of patterns, which included patterns from the learning phase, the category objective prototypes, and new distortions of the objective prototypes. Also included in the test set were empirical prototypes and distortions of empirical prototypes. Empirical prototypes were derived by averaging feature values of category exemplars in the learning phase. The overall results revealed that empirical prototypes were classified more accurately than were objective prototypes. In addition, a pattern of convergence in error rates was observed for distortions of the objective and empirical prototypes as category set size increased, but this same pattern was not observed for the objective and empirical prototypes themselves. This lack of convergence for the prototypes is inconsistent with explanations of the category set size effect that rely on the central limit theorem.     

Some modifications of Scott's theorem on injective spaces

D. Scott in his paper [5] on the mathematical models for the Church-Curry -calculus proved the following theorem.A topological space X. is an absolute extensor for the category of all topological spaces iff a contraction of X. is a topological space of Scott's open sets in a continuous lattice.In this paper we prove a generalization of this theorem for the category of , -closure spaces. The main theorem says that, for some cardinal numbers , , absolute extensors for the category of , -closure spaces are exactly , -closure spaces of , -filters in , >-semidistributive lattices (Theorem 3.5).If = and = we obtain Scott's Theorem (Corollary 2.1). If = 0 and = we obtain a characterization of closure spaces of filters in a complete Heyting lattice (Corollary 3.4). If = 0 and = we obtain a characterization of closure space of all principial filters in a completely distributive complete lattice (Corollary 3.3).     

Interparent agreement on the Personality Inventory for Children: Are substantial correlations sufficient?

Mothers' and fathers' responses on the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) were compared for 360 clinic-referred children and adolescents. Interparent agreement was measured by several different indices. Correlations between parental pairs of scale T-scores derived from each parent averaged .66 for 13 of the profile scales; 9 of the scales exceeded this value. In contrast, mothers and fathers agreed in the classification of the presence of clinical significance an average of 77% of the time across these 13 scales, and pairs of parental PIC profiles contained an average of 3 scales in disagreement. The type of index used to measure interparent agreement was found to affect the results. The discussion examines the nature of interparent disagreement and addresses the implications regarding the use of fathers as informants on this instrument.This article is based on Thomas A. Hulbert's master's thesis. The authors extend their appreciation to James Orisell and Dena Mussaff for their assistance in data preparation and analysis.     

The Rotter locus of control scale: The comparison of alternative response formats and implications for reliability, validity, and dimensionality

Participants completed the Rotter internal/external (IE) instrument using three different response formats before and after completion of the Outward Bound program, and were evaluated by external observers at the end of the intervention. Multitrait-multimethod analyses indicated that five specific IE facets identified in previous research were consistently distinguished with each of the response formats. While responses were substantially more internal after the intervention, effect sizes varied with the IE facet and with the response format. Observer responses were significantly correlated with self-responses, and provided additional support for the construct validity of responses to the Rotter instrument and the interpretation of the intervention effect. Nevertheless, problems with the Rotter instrument were identified, and the implications for further research were discussed.     

An evaluation of the family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scales and the circumplex model

Two basic assumptions of the Circumplex Model of family systems were evaluated: (1) Healthy families evidence balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, whereas problem families evidence extreme degrees, and (2) families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability possess more positive communication skills than families with extreme degrees. Subjects were 58 mother-son dyads from father-absent families. In 29 of the families the adolescent was a juvenile offender, while in the remaining families there was no history of arrest or psychiatric referral. The dyads completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES) and an unrevealed differences interaction task. FACES was highly proficient at differentiating delinquent from nondelinquent families. Moreover, in families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, the mothers' communication was significantly more supportive and explicit, and the dyads evidenced significantly greater warmth and affection than dyads with extreme degrees.This research was supported by funding to the Department of Psychology at Memphis State University granted through the Centers of Excellence Program of the State of Tennessee. We thank the staff of the Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project for their consideration and assistance.