Can a shuttlebox computer analog be used to condition human avoidance behavior?

Freedman (1990) introduced a computer analog of the shuttlebox paradigm and presented results to show that this analog could be used for studying human avoidance conditioning. In the present study, a first experimental phase was conducted to test how the fact that the tone was considered aversive in the instructions and the intensity of this tone affect avoidance behavior. In a transfer-of-control test phase, it was tested as to whether the warning stimulus presented as a cue to the aversive stimulus had acquired either aversive or informative quality. An effect of instructions was observed for both levels of the auditive stimulus, and a stimulus effect was found for those groups that were given the instructions that described the tone as aversive. In the case of subjects who in the first phase achieved a certain learning criterion, it was recorded how often they in the second phase selected a condition in which the warning signal of the first phase was not presented. No transfer of control was observed. Thus, no positive evidence was found indicating that Freedman’s computer analog could be used for studying human avoidance conditioning.     

Recall and articulation of English and Chinese words by Chinese-English bilinguals

Three groups of subjects were tested to investigate the effect of language on the relationship between recall span and articulation rate. Native English-speaking monolinguals and native Chinese-speaking monolinguals recalled only English or Chinese words, respectively. Chinese-English bilinguals recalled both English and Chinese words. Articulation rates for English and Chinese monolinguals and Chinese-English bilinguals in each language were also obtained. When recall span was regressed on articulation rate, the slopes for Chinese and English words were significantly different for the Chinese-English bilinguals. This difference was not due to language proficiency but to phonological differences between English and Chinese.     

Haptic classification of common objects: Knowledge-driven exploration

In Experiment 1, haptically available object properties that would be diagnostic for constrained common object classification at the basic and subordinate levels were elicited in a questionnaire. The results are considered in terms of the nature of the haptically derived representations of common objects. Initial data are also presented regarding knowledge of the natural co-occurrence of properties in haptic object perception. In Experiment 2, the hand movements executed during haptic classification of manipulable common objects were examined. Manual exploration consisted of a two-stage sequence, an initial generalized "grasp-and -lift" routine, followed by a series of more specialized hand-movement patterns strongly driven by knowledge of the property diagnosticity for the specific object (obtained in Experiment 1). The current results may guide computational models of human haptic object classification and the development of perceptual systems for robots equipped with sensate dextrous hands, capable of intelligent exploration, recognition, and manipulation of concrete objects.     

The GRIMS. A psychometric instrument for the assessment of marital discord

Research in marital therapy has been disadvantaged by the lack of a good, short and recent psychometric questionnaire to objectively assess the state of a marriage for research, demographic and clinical purposes. The Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS) is a companion questionnaire to the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS), and concentrates on aspects other than the sexual in a dyadic relationship between two adults living together. It is a 28 item psychometrically constructed inventory designed to produce a single scale along which changes in a marriage may develop as marital therapy progresses. It has been shown to be valid for this purpose, and to have a good reliability.     

Sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among preschool children

The relationship between sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among preschool children was investigated. Subjects included 16 boys and 18 girls, ranging in age from 36 to 60 months, from intact families of the upper middle class. A nonhierarchical multiple regression analysis was undertaken to determine the contributions of the predictor variables of sex, age, IQ, and sex role flexibility, as well as their interactions with prosocial behavior (criterion variable). Results indicated that while the overall regression model was not significant, the variable of Sex × Sex Role Flexibility did contribute significantly to the model. Inspection of the correlation coefficients associated with this variable revealed that while sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among boys were significantly and positively related, among girls no significant relationship was found.     

Perspectives on the role of the eyewitness expert

Extensive controversy over the appropriate application of expert knowledge regarding issues of eyewitness accuracy led to a conference and a special issue of taw and Human Behavior in 1986. Arguments were presented both in support of and against the eyewitness researcher as expert testifier. The current research explored the views of the general public (N = 50), defense attorneys (N = 14), and prosecutors (N = 10) with regard to the use of eyewitness expertise in each of four roles (court-appointed expert, consultant, researcher, expert tesdfier for the defense). Extensive differences of opinion were found across both samples and expert roles. In general, prosecutors held significantly more negative views of the usefulness of expert witnesses for the defense than did the public or defense attorneys. The role of court-appointed expert was viewed positively by all three groups and may present a useful alternative to the battles of experts that may result from current practices.     

Notes on the Tenacity of Therapeutic Presuppositions in Process Research: Examining the Artfulness of Blamings in Family Therapy

In their recent contribution to the Journal of Family Therapy , Frosh et al . apply discourse analytic methods to the study of 'process' in family therapy. While we welcome this contribution, we suggest that the authors' reading of the data has been affected by a number of fundamental presuppositions, which have led them to neglect the skilful rhetorical work taking place in the session. In this paper, we have undertaken an alternative analysis of the data, examining its rhetorical features and suspending judgement on the efficacy of the therapeutic project and on the truth status of statements made by participants in the session. While acknowledging that our microanalytic method has some shortcomings, we contend that attention to the situated and strategic nature of 'therapy talk' has exposed the primacy of notions of responsibility and blame in family work, and has shown how these issues are artfully negotiated by therapist and family in the cut and thrust of the therapeutic interview.     

Personality and charismatic experience among adult christians

A sample of 368 committed Christian adults completed the Index of Charismatic Experience together with the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The data demonstrate that, according to the MBTI typology, Christians who prefer “thinking” are likely to score higher on the Index of Charismatic Experience than Christians who prefer “feeling”. According to the Eysenckian dimensional model of personality, the charismatic experience is associated with stable extraversion.     

Codependency: An interpersonal phenomenon

An alternative perspective to the clinical model of codependency is that codependency is contextual and reflects inequality within a relationship. This study examined whether the evaluation of codependent behavior depends on the context of the relationship, i.e., the reciprocity of the person’s partner, and the gender of the stimulus person (SP). College students (N=302, 46% non-Caucasian) read one of six scenarios in which the codependent SP’s behavior was held constant but the reciprocity of the partner and the gender of the SP were varied. The stimulus person and her/his relationship were rated significantly more healthy in the reciprocal condition than in the nonreciprocal or control conditions, but a better partner in the nonreciprocal condition. Codependent female SPs were judged less healthy but better partners than codependent male SPs. Judgments of codependent behavior and persons are contextual in nature, may reflect inequality within relationships, and to some extent, depend upon the gender of the codependent person.