Symbiosis and Confirmation Between the Parents of the Schizophrenic

Parents of schizophrenics (N = 17 ) were compared with parents of nonschizophrenic hospitalized patients (N = 14 ) and parents of normals (N = 15 ) on the degree of symbiotic enmeshment and confirmation of individuality in the parental relationship. Symbiosis was divided into six component variables: undifferentiation, dependency, intervention, disapproval of other relationships, separation difficulty, and injunctions. Confirmation was bifurcated into acknowledgment and accommodation. Projective tests (TAT and Make-A-Picture-Story) and interviews were used to measure both variables. The results suggest that mothers of schizophrenics tend to be symbiotically attached to their husbands and view their husbands as forming the same type of attachment to them. Fathers of schizophrenics do not tend to be symbiotically involved with their wives but fail to confirm them. The implications of the results for the family system of the schizophrenic are discussed.     

Interpersonal attraction as a function of affective state and affective change

Interpersonal attraction has been found to be highly correlated with the affective states of subjects. It was hypothesized that attraction is also highly related to affective changes induced in subjects by interpersonal stimuli associated with a stranger. Byrne and Rhamey's (1965) experiment was replicated with one change: subjects' affective states were assessed at the beginning of the session and immediately prior to the subjects' evaluation of a stranger. Four levels of attitude similarity (1.00, .67, .33, and .00) and three types of evaluation conditions (positive, negative,and control) were employed in a 4 × 3 factorial design, with 19 subjects per cell. As hypothesized, attraction was found to be highly related to subjects' affective states and affective changes induced by attraction stimuli (p < .001).     

On the selection of signals

In a previous paper, it was argued that alertness, selectivity (set), and processing capacity (consciousness) could be identified and studied as separate components of attention. The current paper develops this theme by showing that alertness does not affect the buildup of information within the memory system but only the rate at which a later system responds to that information. Thus, in standard reaction-time tasks, increased alertness produces a reduction in reaction ’time but no decrease in errors. In contrast, providing a model of the signal the S is to process improved both speed and accuracy. The,. presence of a model of what the S is to process varies the vertex neural response to that specific signal as compared to a mismatching signal in the first 200–300 msec after its presentation. Three accounts of this effect are: speeded processing of a matching stimulus, habituation of the electrical response to a matching stimulus, and prolonged or enhanced processing of a mismatch. Evidence favors the first of these explanations, but the other two cannot be dismissed as possible contributors to this effect.     

The coding of constrained and preselected movement distance: Same-limb versus switched-limb reproduction

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the codes subserving the retention of movement extent information. Each experiment compared preselected and constrained movements in two independent movement tasks: same-limb reproduction and switched-limb reproduction. When movement direction was the same for both criterion and reproduction movements (experiment 1), same-limb reproduction was more accurate than switched-limb performance. With movement direction altered, however, switched-limb reproduction was equal to same-limb reproduction (experiment 2). These results were confirmed in experiment 3 which manipulated both movement direction and reproduction limb in a within-subject design. Furthermore, while preselected reproduction was superior to constrained reproduction in all three experiments, the two groups were not differentially affected by either the movement task or direction variables. The overall findings were interpreted as providing support for a multiple-cue memorial representation of movement extent and the notion of coding flexibility.     

An investigation of sex differences in job satisfaction

A sample of 74 husband and wife management teams was chosen to examine sex differences in job satisfaction. As hypothesized, females reported significantly higher satisfaction with advancement and compensation. The hypothesis that females would be less satisfied than males with work relationships was not supported. No differences were expected, and none were found, for two other facets of satisfaction, i.e., satisfaction with the work itself and satisfaction with company policies and procedures.