EVALUATION OF BIOFEEDBACK IN THE TREATMENT OF BORDERLINE ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION1

Direct biofeedback of blood pressure was compared with frontal EMG biofeedback and with self-instructed relaxation for the treatment of essential hypertension in a controlled group outcome study. Patients were followed up for four months after the end of treatment. Generalization of treatment effects was assessed through pre- and posttreatment measurements of blood pressure under clinical conditions in a physician's office. There were no significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of the patients receiving blood pressure biofeedback decreased 8.1 mm mercury (p = 0.07) and the SBP of the patients in the relaxation condition decreased 9.5 mm mercury (p = 0.05). In the generalization measures, there were significant reductions in SBP for the relaxation group. The results are discussed in terms of the general lack of replicability within the area of biofeedback treatment of hypertension.     

Guruitis: Epidemiology,causes, symptoms,and remediation

This article summarizes the current understanding of the condition known asguruitis. A general picture of the etiology, prognosis, and treatment of this illness is presented. Guruitis emerges as a multifactorial, nonlethal, widespread professional disease. The illness essentially involves the idealization of some professional figure who may have varying degrees of closeness with a larger theoretical base or orientation, but whose personal attributes interact with those of the potential victim, thus producing onset of the disease.     

The role of attribution in the experience of crowding

The theory that the subjective experience of crowding results from an attribution of arousal process was examined. Specifically, it was predicted that subjects who were aroused by having their personal space violated would experience less crowding if they were led to believe that some other environmental factor was responsible for the arousal. Groups of subjects were placed in a room in which their personal space was either violated or not violated. Some subjects were told that either an arousing or a relaxing subliminal noise would be played into the room. (Actually there was no noise.) Other subjects were told nothing about subliminal noise. The subjects worked on a number of tasks and were then asked to report how crowded they felt. The noise manipulation had no effect on subjects' performance nor on feelings of crowdedness when their personal space was not being violated. However, when there was a violation of personal space, subjects who felt the noise would arouse them reported being less crowded and performed better than subjects in the relaxing noise or no explanation conditions. It was suggested that subjects attributed their arousal to the “arousing noise” and hence felt less crowded.     

Friendship patterns of overseas students: A functional model1

The respondents were 30 foreign students at the University of Hawaii (6 each from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand), and 6 host national (American) students, balanced for sex. The subjects identified their 5 best friends, and the 5 people with whom they spend most of their time. The subjects were then presented with a list of 15 activities, and identified a preferred companion for each of the situations. The data were used to test a functional model of the academic sojourn, which predicts that foreign students will belong to three social networks, in descending order of salience: a) a conational network whose function is to affirm and express the culture of origin; b) a network with host nationals, whose function is the instrumental facilitation of academic and professional aspirations; and c) a multinational network whose main function is recreational. The results confirmed the existence, predicted differential function, and salience hierarchy of these three social networks, and reconciled previous conflicting reports regarding the social relations of foreign students.     

COMPARING TREATMENT TACTICS WITH A HYPERACTIVE PRESCHOOL CHILD: STIMULANT MEDICATION AND PROGRAMMED TEACHER INTERVENTION1

Two treatment tactics, food and praise contingent on appropriate play and varying doses of methylphenidate (Ritalin), were evaluated for their effects on a preschool child's activity changes. In addition, other social, verbal, and academic behaviors were monitored to examine possible side effects of the two treatment tactics. Fewer free-play activity changes occurred during contingent reinforcement phases while medication had variable effects: increasing attention to tasks but, at higher doses, decreasing intelligibility of speech and responsiveness to mands. The study outlines a replicable model for comparing medication with alternative behavioral strategies to control hyperactivity and enhance skill development.     

Language and disfluency variables in normal speaking children from discrete chronological age groups

Thirty male and female children from three chronological age groups were compared on Developmental Sentence Score, total words spoken in a language sample, total disfluency, and eight specific disfluency subtypes. Analyses were performed to determine in differences existed among the three age groups, between sexes, and whether language and disfluency were related. No sex differences in either language or disfluency were found. Total disfluency showed only a slight decrease with an increase in chronological age between 4 and 8 years. This suggests that the major disfluency decrease must occur subsequent to age 8. Although the total disfluency changed minimally between ages 4 and 8, some of the disfluency subtypes shifted considerably. Older children were almost as disfluent as younger children, but the topography of their disfluency was different. No significant relationship was found between the disfluency and language variables studied.     

Listener ratings of severity for specific disfluency types in children

This study investigated whether some types of disfluency are perceived as more severe than others and if listener groups differ in their perception of severity for some disfluency types. Three normal speaking children were trained to produce eight types of disfluency and one sample of fluency. The experimental tape, consisting of three examples for each of the eight disfluency types and of fluency, was presented auditorily to 40 judges divided into four groups of 10 each: parents of stutterers, parents of nonstutterers, speech clinicians, and elementary school teachers. The judges rated the disfluency and fluency on a 15-point severity continuum, divided into four nominal categories of Fluent, Normal Disfluency, Mild Stuttering, Moderate Stuttering, and Severe Stuttering. Results showed that although listener groups did not significantly differ in their severity ratings, the specific types of disfluency did differ significantly. The type of disfluency emitted by a speaker is apparently more salient in perceiving and judging disfluency than the type of listener making the judgment.     

Some uses of simulation in an in-service counselling training programme

In an in-service, pre-professional training programme offered in Gwent, a variety of simulation techniques are used to promote an understanding of the core facilitative conditions of counselling and to enable participants to experience their importance in counselling situations. In this paper, eight specific simulation techniques are described in terms of their objectives and procedures. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique are explored. Teaching and ethical issues raised through the use of such simulations in training programmes at this level are also discussed.     

Re:Views

Adventures in Therapy Part I: Actualizing Therapy: Foundations for a Scientific Ethic. Everett L. Shostrom, Lila Knapp, and Robert Knapp. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Handbook for the Personal Orientation Inventory. Robert Knapp. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Individual Psychology in Counseling and Education, Parts I and II , (Distinguished Contributors to Psychology series). Adventures in Therapy Part I: Psychotherapy: The Hazardous Cure. Dorothy Tennov. Adventures in Therapy Part I: R. D. Laing: The Man and His Ideas. Richard I. Evans. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Four Psychologies Applied to Education: Freudian, Behavioral, Humanistic, Transpersonal. Thomas B. Roberts, Editor. Adventures in Therapy Part I: A Complete Guide to Therapy From Psychoanalysis to Behavior Modification. Joel Kovel. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Evaluation of Psychological Therapies—Psychotherapies, Behavior Therapies, Drug Therapies and Their Interactions. Robert L. Spitzer & Donald F. Klein, Editors. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Primer for the Nonmedical Psychotherapist. Joyce A. Bockar. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. Aaron T. Beck. Adventures in Therapy Part I: Biofeedback Applications in Counseling and Education. David G. Danskin and Timothy J. Lowenstein.