Structural models for the mediation of salience effects on attribution

Previous research has demonstrated that salient information is overrepresented in causal attributions. Two experiments were conducted to investigate potential mediators for this effect and to make a case for the use of structural models in explanations of process. Two mediators were considered: enhanced visual recall of salient stimuli and exaggerated schema-relevant recall of salient stimuli. Although analyses of variance supported the visual recall model, structural analyses demonstrated its implausibility. Analyses of variance and structural models revealed that schema-relevant recall, that is, information seen as representative of causal influence, is a plausible mediator; this was particularly true of relevant visual information. Results suggest that salience effects (S. E. Taylor & S. T. Fiske in L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 11). New York: Academic Press, 1978) are due to: (a) the attentional advantage of inherently salient visual events and (b) the influence of stored visual and nonvisual schema-relevant information on causal judgments.     

The interrelationships and reliability of a multilevel behavior-based assessment package for distressed couples

Twenty-six couples interested in improving their marital relationships participated in a multi-level behavior based assessment battery. The measures included self-reported, self-monitored, and observed components, all of which were examined for their interrelationships. Test-retest reliability was carried out with six of the couples. Self-reported measures, self-monitored pleasing behaviors, observed positive nonverbal and some negative verbal interactions were found to be consistent. In general, the various levels of measurement were found to be significantly related to each other. Some of the findings were applied to coercion and reciprocity formulations of marital interactions.     

Factors in the Use of Oral Contraceptives by Young Women

This study examined the use of oral contraceptives in a sample of sexually active college women. The analytic approach employed was based on Fishbein's model for the prediction of behavior, which emphasizes perceived consequences and normative influences. It was found that each of these factors was significantly related to use of oral contraception, and that a stronger relationship was obtained when both components were combined. Results suggested that nonusers are more Likely to associate oral contraception with unhealthful consequences than are users, and that users believe employment of this method enhances their sexual satisfaction. It was also suggested that the opinions of these young women's partners and close friends, but not of their parents, are reflected in respondents' use of the pill. These results were compared with earlier findings on the correlates of intentions to use oral contraceptives, and applied implications were discussed.     

EFFECTS OF SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL TRAINING ON SECOND- AND THIRD-GRADE HYPERACTIVE CHILDREN: A FAILURE TO REPUCATE

Bornstein and Quevillon (1976) demonstrated generalization from a 2-hour self-instructional training session to on-task behavior in the classroom with 4-year-old overactive children. In an attempt to replicate this work with older children, eight 7- and 8-year-old hyperactive children were assigned to either a self-instructional training group or an attention-practice control group. On-task behavior in the classroom and performance measures in reading and arithmetic were assessed. The level of difficulty of these tasks was varied. The results of Bornstein and Quevillon's (1976) study were not replicated, although the subsequent introduction of a token program significantly increased on-task behavior.     

Imaging,empathy, and causal attribution

Three studies were conducted to test whether imagery accounts for the effects of empathy on attributions, that is, whether attributers construct and scan a mental image of social scenarios the same way that actual participants scan a real environment. According to this interpretation, attributers “see” the world as the participant does and make vicarious attributions. An alternative interpretation holds that subjects base vicarious attributions on recreating the motivations and affect of the actor, so that imaging is irrelevant to empathy and attributions. In the first study, subjects who imagined a story from the perspective of a particular character later showed differential recall of story details as a function of role, but not differential attributions. In Experiment 2, role-taking subjects showed clear effects of imaged perspective on recall for story details, but no effects on attributions of causality for an accident. Further, recall and attribution were uncorrelated. In the last study, empathy and imagery role-taking instructions produced independent effects: imagers showed pronounced perspective-relevant recall and empathizers did not. Neither showed unambiguous vicarious attributions. Recall and attribution were again uncorrelated. These studies suggest that the imagery explanation of empathy effects is untenable, and imply that the recall of perspective-relevant details is unlikely to mediate attributions of causality in imaginary scenarios.     

Student counseling groups in senior high school settings: An evaluation of outcome

This paper reviewed the studies which evaluated counseling groups in senior high school settings. A methodological evaluation was conducted within four areas: subjects, counselors, treatment, and outcome criteria. The studies were reviewed according to the type of outcome measure: achievement, attitude and personality, behavioral, and vocational. Three levels of voluntariness (voluntary, semivoluntary, and nonvoluntary) were examined in relation to outcome. Subjects who were free to volunteer for the group experience achieved greater gains than subjects who were coerced into participation. Overall, behavioral and directive groups achieved greater success than nondirective or client-centered groups. The time spent on topics relating to treatment goals appeared to be an important factor for success. Future researchers should assess the effects of treatment on each participant instead of relying upon group mean changes.     

Behaviorally-based decision-making training for children

A seven-step, behaviorally based, decision-making process was taught to 17 children, age 9–10 years. Each child's decision-making ability was measured before and after training, using two audiotaped stories that described problem situations typically encountered in the school or home. The children were asked to identify the problem, generate alternative solutions, think of positive and negative consequences for each solution, and offer a personal value supporting their decision. As compared to a no-treatment control group, the children receiving the decision-making training obtained significantly greater scores on four of five dependent measures. Implications for teaching decision-making as a self-management skill are offered.     

Dissociative effects of different types and amounts of nonreinforced CS exposure on avoidance extinction and the CER

Two experiments examined the effectiveness of two amounts of flooding or response-prevention on hastening avoidance response extinction and on reducing CS-produced suppression of bar-pressing for food. In Experiment 1, 20 and 30 flooding trials were both shown to be effective in hastening the extinction of a well-learned shuttlebox avoidance response. In Experiment 2, rats trained under comparable conditions to those in Experiment 1 were tested following flooding for the CER in a different apparatus. The results indicated that 30, but not 20, flooding trials were sufficient to reduce the CER. In each experiment the results of additional control groups equated with the flooded groups for nonreinforced CS exposure also revealed a dissociation between the effectiveness of this CS time control procedure in hastening avoidance response extinction and in reducing the CER. Further comparisons showed that although 30 flooding trials did reduce the CER, the same total duration of nonreinforced CS Exposure in the form of avoidance extinction trials did not. Thus the context in which CS exposure occurs may affect the dynamics of extinction of the CER. The experiments are discussed in the broader context of dissociation of various indices of fear in humans.