A comparison of three predictors of an individual's memory performance: the individual's feeling of knowing versus the normative feeling of knowing versus base-rate item difficulty

Distinctions are drawn between different predictors of an individual's memory performance, with emphasis on the notion of privileged access to idiosyncratic knowledge. Research is reported in which undergraduates attempted to recall the answers to general-information questions, then made feeling-of-knowing judgments on nonrecalled items, and subsequently had a criterion test (relearning, perceptual identification, or one of two versions of recognition). For predicting an individual's criterion performance, the individual's own feeling-of-knowing predictions were intermediate between two kinds of normative predictions: The individual's feeling-of-knowing predictions were more accurate than predictions derived from normative feeling-of-knowing ratings but were less accurate than predictions derived from base-rate item difficulty (normative probabilities of correct recall). Subsidiary analyses showed that factors other than unreliability are responsible for the partial inaccuracy of the individual's feeling of knowing. Ramifications are discussed for possible ways to improve the accuracy of an individual's feeling-of-knowing predictions.     

Counseling Clients with AIDS

The authors discuss issues and suggestions relative to counseling clients with AIDS. Several psychosocial issues are presented, and a psycho-educational model of treatment to meet the needs of AIDS clients is described.     

A Comparison of Two Cases of Counseling with the Same Counselor

Process analyses revealed that interpretations and exploration of feelings were helpful across two cases. Other interventions were helpful for one case but not the other.     

The interview for antisocial behavior: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity with child psychiatric inpatients

The present study evaluated psychometric features and correlates of the Interview for Antisocial Behavior (IAB), a new measure designed to assess antisocial child behavior. Parents of 264 psychiatric inpatients (ages 6–13 years) completed the measure to evaluate antisocial behavior of their children. The investigation evaluated the relation of IAB scores to clinically derived diagnoses and to aggression and externalizing behaviors, as measured by different raters (parents, teachers), across different settings (home, school, hospital), and with different assessment methods (rating scales, behavioral role-play test). The results indicated that the IAB showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. A priori scores (severity, duration, total antisocial behavior) and factor analytically derived scales (Arguing/Fighting, Covert Antisocial Behaviors, Self-Injury) distinguished children with a DSM III diagnosis of conduct disorder, and scores on the IAB were more consistently related to other measures of aggression and externalizing behavior than to measures of internalizing behavior or overall severity of dysfunction. The implications of the results for use of the measure, particularly in relation to evaluation of the overt-covert dimension of antisocial behavior, are discussed.Completion of this research was facilitated by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) and by grants (MH35408, MH39642) from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Rivendell Foundation.     

Acquisition of discrimination learning of patterns identical in configuration in macaques (Macaca mulatta and M. fuscata)

The acquisition of discrimination of five pairs of pattern cues in a Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus by 223 naive macaque monkeys was compared. The pairs of discriminanda were identical in configuration but varied slightly in either the size of the cue or the size of the background plaque; thus, the degree of separation of the cue from the fringe of the plaque, the response site, was slightly different for each pair of discriminanda. These small differences in cue-response separation had marked effects on the rate of acquisition of the discriminations. Even an increment of separation as small as 0.5 cm resulted in a remarkable retardation of the acquisition. This retardation was due entirely to prolonged performance at the chance level, and not to a slow rate of improvement from the chance to a criterion level. The finding indicates that the difficulty in the acquisition learning on pattern tasks depends largely on the difficulty of attending to the pattern cues at small cue-response separations.     

The challenge of technology transfer: Buying in without selling out

Highly effective technologies flowing from the discipline of behavior analysis have not been widely adopted, thus threatening the survival of the discipline itself. An analysis of the contingencies underlying successful technology transfer suggests the need for direct, empirical involvement in the marketplace in order to insure that the maximum demonstrable benefits reach the ultimate users. A successful example of this strategy of technology transfer is provided. Three areas of intense national concern-urban violence, illiteracy, and declining industrial productivity-provide immediate opportunities for the technologies of behavior analysis to secure the place of the discipline in the intellectual mosaic of the 21st century.     

Mentalism, behavior-behavior relations, and a behavior-analytic view of the purposes of science

In a behavioral view, the purposes of science are primarily prediction and control. To the extent that a scientist embraces both of these as a unified and generally applicable criterion for science, certain philosophical and theoretical practices are counterproductive, including mentalism in both its metaphysical and metatheoretical forms. It is possible and often worthwhile to recast some mentalistic talk into an issue of behavior-behavior relations. When behavior-behavior relations are approached non-mechanistically, however, analysis cannot stop at the level of the relations themselves. Several analytic concepts common in the behavioral community share some of the dangers of mentalism if not employed properly, including such concepts as self-reinforcement, response-produced stimulation, and self-rules.     

Criminal profiling from crime scene analysis

Since the 1970s, investigative profilers at the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (now part of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) have been assisting local, state, and federal agencies in narrowing investigations by providing criminal personality profiles. An attempt is now being made to describe this criminal-profile-generating process. A series of five overlapping stages lead to the sixth stage, or the goal of apprehension of the offender: (1) profiling inputs, (2) decision-process models, (3) crime assessment, (4) the criminal profile, (5) investigation, and (6) apprehension. Two key feedback filters in the process are: (a) achieving congruence with the evidence, with decision models, and with investigation recommendations, and (b) the addition of new evidence.     

MATHEMATICS AND SELF-ESTEEM: IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN'S CAREER CHOICE

The relationship of math participation and success to self-esteem and career goals is examined in a sample of 64 women and 52 men college students at the end of their sophomore year. No gender differences were found in math anxiety or perceptions of the usefulness of mathematics, but women were less likely to select a math-related career goal. Among the men students, math participation and self-assessments of math ability were positively related to more general self-estimates of competence; among women, these variables were not related significantly. Women's choices for math-related careers were more closely associated with scholastic ability and math background than were men's career choices. These results are discussed in the context of societal pressures and supports for men and women in regard to math participation.