An assessment of decision-making as a possible factor in the age-related loss of contrast sensitivity

The possibility that changes in decision-making may contribute to the age-related decline in contrast sensitivity has been investigated in nineteen young subjects (ages 21-38 years) and twenty-seven old subjects (ages 55-92 years). A signal detection paradigm was employed in which the detection of stationary sinusoidal grating patterns was measured at 3 and 15 cycles deg-1 for a range of contrasts which were psychophysically equivalent for each subject. A decline in contrast sensitivity with age at the spatial frequencies studied was confirmed for contrast thresholds obtained both by the ascending method and from the 50% hit rate for detection of the grating pattern. The criterion adopted for decision-making, expressed as both beta and percentage bias, did not change significantly between young and old subjects at 15 cycles deg-1. At 3 cycles deg-1, criterion beta did not change significantly at X0.8, X1.0, or X1.2 contrast threshold, but at contrast giving 50% hit rate there was a significant increase with age. The percentage bias increased significantly at contrast threshold but not at 50% hit rate. It is inferred from the results that the loss of contrast sensitivity was not accountable in terms of the adoption of a more conservative criterion by older subjects. Hence visual loss in ageing is attributed to changes within the visual pathway rather than within higher decision-making centres.     

Cognitive, motivational, social, and environmental influences on children's food choices

This study tested the applicability of a cognitive-motivational model of health behavior to children's food choices. A sample of 107 elementary schoolchildren provided ratings of 15 foods in terms of possible choice criteria (e.g., how tasty or healthful specific foods were) and social or environmental influences (e.g., whether foods were eaten by friends or were easy to get). Several measures of food consumption were taken, and cognitive-developmental level was assessed. Within-person correlations were calculated between food choices and each choice criterion and social/environmental factor. These "correlational indices" of influences on food choice subsequently were used to identify five distinct subgroups in the sample. Children at the operational level of cognitive development tended to be in one of three groups characterized by health orientation in food choice, taste orientation, or multiple-motive orientation. Dietary quality was poorest in the taste-oriented group. Children at the preoperational level tended to have one of two undifferentiated patterns of values across the correlational indices. Results provide evidence of: the viability of cognitive-motivational models to explain children's food choices, the promise of within-person research methodology, and the potential for enhanced health behavior-change programs by use of population segmentation and tailored interventions.     

Ten Years of Career Development: A Nationwide Study of High School Students

The authors summarize trends for several indicators of student career development collected in 1973 (when career education and career planning programs began to receive renewed emphasis) and again in 1983. The indicators, obtained for nationally representative samples of junior and senior high school students (N = 18,129 in 1973 and 15,432 in 1983), included career-related concerns, career planning involvement, and reactions to career planning services. Among the major trends was a 32% increase in the proportion of 11th graders who reported receiving “some” or “a lot” of career planning help from their schools. Moreover, the proportion of students involved in typical career exploration activities increased significantly over the 10 years of the study. In general, the 10-year trends indicate that schools are having a greater impact on student career development than they were in 1973.     

Dating age and stage as correlates of adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior

Dating experiences, especially the type or stage of dating, have consistently been found to be related to premarital sexual behavior. Findings regarding the age at 1st date and sexual behavior have been less consistent. This paper examined the age at which dating began and the type of dating relationship as correlates of premarital sexual attitudes and behavior among mid-teen adolescents. The analyses were based on a sample of high school students (n=836), most of whom were between the ages of 15 and 18 when the surveys were conducted. Early dating, especially early steady dating, was related to permissive attitudes and to premarital sexual experience among both males and females. The relationship between early dating and intercourse experience was particulary strong among Mormons, a religious group which has institutionalized age 16 as the legitimate age to begin dating.     

Social adjustment in the offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder

The social adjustment of the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar affective disorder (n=41) was compared to that of the offspring of parents with nonaffective psychiatric disorders (n=22) and the offspring of normal controls (n=26). In addition, the relationship between social adjustment and cyclothymia in offspring was determined. Social adjustment was assessed using the Life Activities Inventory, a new measure developed to assess social functioning in adolescents and young adults. Cyclothymia was assessed with the General Behavior Inventory. As a group, the offspring of bipolar parents did not differ significantly from either control group on social adjustment. However, the cyclothymic offspring of bipolar parents exhibited significantly poorer social adjustment than the noncyclothymic offspring of bipolars and the offspring of psychiatric and normal controls. These findings suggest that poor social functioning in the adolescent offspring of parents with bipolar illness may be associated with the early manifestations of affective disorder. In addition, these data indicate that despite its subsyndromal intensity, cyclothymia can result in significant social impairment.This study was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Grant MH-39782 to Daniel N. Klein and NIMH Grants MH-33083 and MH-37195 to Richard A. Depue.     

Fertility of mating in rats (Rattus norvegicus): contributions of androgen-dependent morphology and actions of the penis

Three experiments with rats (Rattus norvegicus) were conducted to examine the roles of the male's penile spines and penile cups (flaring of the distal glans) in the induction of luteal activity in the female, and in the removal of copulatory plugs from the vaginal tract. The results of Experiment 1 revealed no role for the cup in luteal induction but did suggest that elements of the ejaculatory reflex apart from cup formation contribute to the elicitation of this neuroendocrine response. The origin of this stimulatory effect was not directly determined, but indirect evidence suggested a role for penile spines. In Experiments 2 and 3, features of the glans penis that might help effect plug removal were investigated, and the experiments demonstrated that penile spines, perhaps in conjunction with penile cups, contribute to the extraction of plugs from the vagina.     

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.     

Multimodal therapy in an inpatient setting

Inpatient Multimodal Therapy (imt) is a residential treatment program, lasting a maximum of 36 weeks, for patients with severe neurotic symptoms. A group of 44 chronic obsessive-compulsive patients and a group of 40 chronic phobic patients were treated in order to assess the outcome and the process of treatment and to identify prognostic factors associated with the effect. At follow-up—on average, eight months after discharge—it was found that 60% had improved, 32% had remained the same, and 8% had deteriorated, indicating that, in general, the treatment was beneficial. That these effects were long-lasting is supported by the fact that, at follow-up, 78% of all patients were no longer receiving treatment, 18% were receiving outpatient or day treatment, and 4% were receiving inpatient treatment. Phobic patients appear to have gained more from the multimodal approach than did obsessive-compulsive patients, as indicated by the fact that the severity of symptoms decreased as they improved in rational thinking, assertiveness, and arousal. By contrast, obsessive-compulsive patients relapsed more than phobic patients did. This was attributed to the fact that the former gained less from the rational-emotive training, denied problems with assertiveness, and did not practice the acquired relaxation skills. It further appeared that a favorable outcome could be induced in patients who (1) expressed relatively mild symptoms in this otherwise severe group, (2) reported relatively few additional complaints, (3) could clearly indicate interpersonal problems, and (4) did not use psychotropic drugs. These prognostic factors are so widespread that not much weight can be ascribed to them. Yet they are useful for indication ofimt until better predictors are found.     

Microfeedback: Biofeedback Monitoring Using Home Computers - a Pilot Study

The increasing focus on information technology has led to widespread growth in the use of microcomputer systems in counselling settings. While many applications depend on expensive and sophisticated equipment, the humble home computer has many facilities to offer. High resolution graphics and versatile control interfacing, designed for games use, enable easy adaptation to tasks such as visual presentation of biofeedback with the facility for data retention and analysis. A pilot system based on the Commodore 64 is described.     

Factors Perceived as Helpful by the Members of Self-Help Groups: An Exploratory Study

The factors perceived as helpful by members of three different types of self-help groups are examined, using the 12 factors identified by Yalom as operative in group psychotherapy. Questionnaires were given to 45 members of self-help groups, asking for their views of the most and least helpful aspects of their experiences of their group, and for their judgement of its effectiveness. Results indicated that members of a group concerned with social and personal support in the face of a socially problematic situation (widowhood) found the experience of Universality to be the most helpful factor, while Self-Disclosure was least helpful. Members from a group for the physically sick (asthma sufferers) also reported the least helpful factor to be Self-Disclosure, but said that the most helpful factor was Guidance. By contrast, the group concerned with providing 'therapy' for depressives reported Cohesiveness to be most helpful, and Guidance to be least helpful. Comparison with other studies using similar methodologies with different group populations suggests that the factors likely to be effective in self-help groups for the socially unsupported and physically sick on the one hand, and for the psychologically disturbed on the other, may differ.