The Efficacy of an Integrated Theoretical Approach to Group Psychotherapy for Male Inmates

To assess the efficacy of an interpersonal process-oriented and cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy program, 36 incarcerated male adults were assigned to either a treatment group (n = 20) or a no treatment control group (n = 16). Outcome measures consisted of paper-pencil self-report instruments, institutional behavioral data, and structured interviews with the group therapists (n = 3). Results indicated no significant changes in inmates' level of defensiveness, empathy, or institutional behavior; however, the inmates reported universally positive reactions to the treatment program. The group therapists also perceived the treatment program as efficacious, particularly in fostering a cohesive group atmosphere and increasing inmate responsibility for group leadership. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Phonotactic and Prosodic Effects on Word Segmentation in Infants

This research examines the issue of speech segmentation in 9-month-old infants. Two cues known to carry probabilistic information about word boundaries were investigated: Phonotactic regularity and prosodic pattern. The stimuli used in four head turn preference experiments were bisyllabic CVC.CVC nonwords bearing primary stress in either the first or the second syllable (strong/weak vs. weak/strong). Stimuli also differed with respect to the phonotactic nature of their cross-syllabic C.C cluster. Clusters had either a low probability of occurring at a word juncture in fluent speech and a high probability of occurring inside of words ("within-word" clusters) or a high probability of occurring at a word juncture and a low probability of occurring inside of words ("between-word" clusters). Our results show that (1) 9-month-olds are sensitive to how phonotactic sequences typically align with word boundaries, (2) altering the stress pattern of the stimuli reverses infants' preference for phonotactic cluster types, (3) the prosodic cue to segmentation is more strongly relied upon than the phonotactic cue, and (4) a preference for high-probability between-word phonotactic sequences can be obtained either by placing stress on the second syllable of the stimuli or by inserting a pause between syllables. The implications of these results are discussed in light of an integrated multiple-cue approach to speech segmentation in infancy.     

Fear-potentiated startle conditioning to explicit and contextual cues in Gulf War veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

Aversive conditioning to explicit and contextual cues was examined in Gulf War veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by use of the startle reflex methodology. Veterans participated in a differential aversive conditioning experiment consisting of 2 sessions separated by 4 or 5 days. Each session comprised two startle habituation periods, a preconditioning phase, a conditioning phase, and a postconditioning extinction test. In contrast to the non-PTSD group, the PTSD group showed a lack of differential startle response in the presence of a conditioned stimulus with or without an unconditioned stimulus in Session 1 and an increase in the baseline startle response during Session 2. The PTSD group also exhibited normal differential conditioning following reconditioning in Session 2. These data suggest that individuals with PTSD tend to generalize fear across stimuli and are sensitized by stress.     

Dyslexia, Neurolinguistic Ability, and Anatomical Variation of the Planum Temporale

This article addresses the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and dyslexia and neurolinguistic abilities. Considerable research indicates that dyslexic individuals typically do not display the predominant pattern of leftward planum temporale asymmetry. Variable findings on the structural basis of symmetry are due partially to measurement issues, which are examined in some detail in this critical review. The physiological basis of symmetry may be reduced neuronal elimination in the right planum, although other alternatives are offered. Theories are offered to explain how symmetrical plana are related to dyslexia, and it is evident that symmetrical plana are not sufficient to produce dyslexia. However, some evidence suggests that nonleftward plana asymmetry is associated with deficits in verbal comprehension, phonological decoding, and expressive language. It is concluded that nonleftward asymmetry is associated with linguistic deficits, but that explanatory theories need to be further developed. Among the many issues that need to be addressed, future research needs to determine whether the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and linguistic ability is specific to dyslexia or if asymmetry covaries lawfully with linguistic abilities in nondyslexic populations.     

Time-dependent changes in inaccessible memory

The present experiment examined whether forgetting of contextual attributes—the loss of discriminability of background stimulus features over time—also occurs when a memory remains inaccessible (amnestic) during the retention interval. To examine this issue, rats received an acute hypothermia treatment that caused reversible anterograde amnesia for a passive-avoidance task and were tested 1 or 7 days later in either the same or a different context. At the short retention interval, the subjects discriminated between the contexts, as evidenced by the finding that reversal of amnesia occurred only in the training context. However, at the 7-day interval, recovery of the avoidance response was induced in either context, reflecting the forgetting of differentiating characteristics. These findings indicate that inaccessible memory remains susceptible to processes of modification and distortion that typically influence intact memories.     

Book review

Bruner, J., Cole, M. and Lloyd, B. (Eds.). The Developing Child. London: Fontana/Open Books. 1977. (1) MacFarlane, A. The Psychology of Childbirth. Pp. 128. £1.00. (2) Garvey, C. Play. Pp. 128. £1.00. (3) Schaffer, R. Mothering. Pp. 128. £103. (4) Dunn, J. Distress and Comfort Pp. 128. £1.00. (5) Bower, T. The Perceptual World of the Child. Pp. 128. £1.00. (6) Goodnow, J. Children'sDrawing. Pp. 128. £1.00. (7) Tucker, N. What is a Child? Pp. 128. £1.00. (8) Stern, D. The First Relationship. Pp. 128. £1.00.

Mandler, G. Mind and Emotion. New york: Wiley. 1975. Pp. 280. Hardback £7.65; paperback £3.70. ISBN 0471 56690 X.

Elcock, E. W. and Michie, D. (Eds). Machine Intelligence 8. Chichester: Ellis Horwood. 1977. Pp. 630. £24.00. ISBN 85312 058 7.

Griffin, D. R. The Question of Animal Awareness: Evolutionary Continuity of Mental Experience. New York: The Rockefeller University Press, 1976. Pp. viii + 133. $8.95. ISBN 87470 020 5.

Drucker-Colin, R. R. and McGaugh, J. L. (Eds). Neurobiology of Sleep and Memory. New York: Academic Press. 1977. Pp. 456. £13.85. ISBN 0 12 222350 0.

Elkind, D. Child Development and Education: A Piagetian Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. 1977. Pp. 274. HArdback £8.95. ISBN 0 19 502068 5; paperback £3.75. ISBN 0 19 502069 3.

Tyrer, P. The Role of Bodily Feelings in Anxiety. Londn: Oxford University Press. 1976. Pp. 128. £6.50. ISBN 0 1971 2145 4.

Desmedt, J. E. (Ed.). Progress in Clinical Neurophysiology. Vol. 2. Auditiory Evoked Potentials in Man. Psychopharmacology. Correlates of Evoked Potentials. Basle: KArger. 1977. £37.75. ISBN 3 8055 2629 6.

Snow, C. E. and Ferguson, C. A. (Eds). Talking to Children. Cambridge.: Cambridge University Press. 1977. Pp. 369. £8.00. ISBN 0 521 21318 5.

Lerner, R. M. Concepts and Theories of Human Development. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. 1976. Pp. 324. £9.10. ISBN 0 2010 4342 4.

Gesell, A., Ilg, F. and Ames, L. The Child from Five to Ten. Revised edition. New York: Harper & Row. 1977. Pp. 461. £7.95. ISBN 06 011501 7.

Bergling, K. The Development of Hypothetico Deductive Reasoning in Children. IEA Monograph studies No. 3. New York: John Wiley. 1975. Pp. 127. £7.50. ISBN 0470 06972 2.     

Cynical Hostility: A Risk Factor in HIV-1 Infection?1

The aims of this study of HIV-1 positive and HIV-1 negative gay males without disease were (a) to determine whether cynical hostility in these groups (measured by the Cook-Medley Ho scale) is associated with psychosocial deficits that potentially could influence the course of HIV infection; and (b) to examine the construct validity of the sum of three Ho subsets in this sample. Correlational analyses on the full samples, and multivariate analyses of high- and low-hostility groups (formed using Ho scale cutoffs from previous research), examined person variables (traits, coping style), environmental variables (social support, stressors), and affect. In all domains other than stressors (traits, coping styles, social support, and affect), cynical hostility was associated with psychosocial deficits, with results generally stronger for the full Ho scale than for the subset sum. Results support previous research on psychosocial deficits of the cynically hostile, extend findings to HIV-infected gay males, and enlarge our understanding of the trait and coping style correlates of cynical hostility. Implications of these findings for HIV infection are discussed.     

Temporal experience as metaphysically lightweight

Experience is the most primitive kind of intentional contact with reality. Metaphysical inquiry is one of the heights of human thought. It would not be surprising if experience was often silent on metaphysics, failing to offer support to one metaphysical disputant over the other, forcing them to fall back on nonexperiential considerations. I argue that the dispute between A- and B-theorists about time is a dispute about which experience is silent. B-theorists have typically conceded that the manifest image of time conflicts with how time turns out to be, on their own view of time. They have offered an array of accounts of why that conflict should not worry us. I argue here that these accounts are unconvincing. I also argue that they are unnecessary. Nothing about how time is experienced conflicts with B-theory. An independently plausible method for discovering what properties experience represents—the method of phenomenal contrast—implies that experience does not favor A-theory over B-theory.