Single-subject statistical analysis of computer-assisted biofeedback

Single-subject statistics were used to analyze physiological data [electromyographic (EMG) temperature] recorded from two patients receiving computer-assisted biofeedback treatment in a clinic. When the data were analyzed by an ANOVA method or a regression technique, the results demonstrated that both patients learned to significantly reduce EMG levels. The rationale of using single-subject statistics is discussed, and the applicability of the statistical technique to the clinic population is illustrated.     

Spiritual support for caregivers of dementia patients

Dementia is considered the major psychiatric disorder of old age and affects over 4 million people in the United States. As Alzheimer's disease and other dementias progress, the patient can become increasingly dependent on the family for care. This dependency can place the caregiver in a role that is both difficult and demanding. In this study coping strategies used by family caregivers of dementia patients and caregivers' sense of burden were assessed. Burden scores were significantly correlated with spiritual support, an external coping strategy. When spiritual well-being is integrated with medical and psychosocial needs, the clergy and spiritual community can play an integral role in the care for families and dementia patients.     

Gender roles,biological sex,and predisposition to conflict management

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Communication-Conflict Instrument were administered to 182 husbands and wives. Results suggest that gender-role classification is a more significant discriminator of communication behavior than is biological sex. Androgynous spouses, more than feminine though not significantly more so than masculine spouses, reported themselves to be the most disposed to handle conflict constructively. On the subscales of the conflict instrument, androgynous persons had significantly more positive feelings scores than either masculine or feminine persons, plus higher task energy and desire-for-control scores than feminine persons. Similarly, masculine persons reported a significantly greater predisposition to manage conflict constructively than did feminine persons, having higher task energy and desire-for-control scores. Undifferentiated persons reported the lowest scores for conflict management.     

Catastrophe theory applications in clinical psychology: A review

Catastrophe theory is a new mathematical science that permits some insight into the way in which sudden changes or discontinuities of behavior may occur even though the underlying causative forces are essentially continuous. This article aims to present a nonmathematician’s view of catastrophe applications in clinical psychology. Areas covered include anorexia nervosa, binge eating and drinking, affective disorders, schizophrenia, aggressiveness, and prison disturbances. Where appropriate, therapeutic implications and possible physiological correlates are offered. Examples are given of catastrophe theory’s ability to explain previously inexplicable findings. Attention is drawn to its refutability and predictive value, and hence its scientific respectability.     

Time perception and attention: The effects of prospective versus retrospective paradigms and task demands on perceived duration

This research was designed to compare time judgments obtained under prospective conditions (in which subjects are instructed to attend to time) and retrospective conditions (in which subjects are unaware that they will be required to judge time). In Experiment 1, subjects prospectively or retrospectively judged the duration of intervals spent performing a perceptual-motor task at different levels of difficulty. The results showed that subjects tested under both research paradigms tended to give increasingly shorter and/or more inaccurate time judgments with increases in nontemporal task demands. Experiment 2 was designed to test the effects of attentional deployment on perceived time by comparing prospective and retrospective judgments under control, selective attention, and divided attention conditions. Both types of time judgments became increasingly inaccurate as attention was more broadly deployed. The results of these experiments are consistent with an attentional allocation model, and they suggest that nontemporal task demands disrupt or interfere with timing in both prospective and retrospective situations.     

The performance of attention-deficit-disordered and normal children on conservation tasks

The present study was designed to investigate whether a specific subgroup of learning-disabled children (attention-deficit-disordered, ADD) differed from their normal counterparts on Piagetian tasks of conservation. The subjects were 34 third-and fourth-grade children. Seventeen children had been diagnosed as ADD; the remaining half were designated as normal. The two groups were equivalent in chronological age, mental age, and intelligence. The results indicated significant differences between the two groups on tasks tapping conservation of substance and number. These results may support the theory of a lag in the development of conservation in children with specific learning disabilities (ADD). Implications of the present research for therapeutic and remedial programs that serve ADD children are also discussed.     

Exner's Four Square: useful index in appraisal of learning disability?

Rorschach protocols, focusing on Exner's Four Square, were obtained for 14 boys who had been referred for a second opinion following an initial diagnosis as learning disabled. The findings indicated wide diversity, suggesting that a significant proportion of students manifest fundamental problems which are not essentially cognitive in nature. For these students, traditional psychoeducational decisions may be inappropriate and unproductive.     

Effects of social isolation in adulthood on odor preferences and urine-marking in male rats

Male rats isolated for 60 days in adulthood spent less time investigating odors of females and urine-marked less over these odors than did males kept in groups of three. Isolated males did not differ from grouped males in their responses to odors of unfamiliar males or their own odors. After social experience the isolated males showed an increase in urine-marking but no change in odor preferences. Individual housing therefore appears to alter olfactory communication in the same way that it does other social behaviors and these changes may be mediated by the same mechanisms.