Psychology impaired?

This article comments on M.J. Layman and J.R. McNamara's (1997) article about remediation for ethics violations. The author addresses the practice of regarding ethical violation, and its subset, boundary violation, and its subset, sexual misconduct, as synonymous. When professional impairment (disability) is seen as equivalent to sexual misconduct, the resulting generalized confusion impedes much needed progress in critical areas. The profession awaits structured assistance from the American Psychological Association to clarify and provide leadership in policy development.     

Extinction of an emotional response in the presence of facial expressions of emotion

Previous studies (Lanzetta & Orr, 1980, 1981; Orr & Lanzetta, 1980) have demonstrated that fear facial expressions have the functional properties of conditioned excitatory stimuli, while happy expressions behave as conditioned inhibitors of emotional responses. The present study uses a summation conditioning procedure to distinguish between associative and nonassociative (selective sensitizations, attentional) interpretations of these findings. A neutral tone was first established as a conditioned excitatory CS by reinforcing tone presentations with shock. In subsequent nonreinforced test trials the excitatory tone was paired with either fear, happy, or neutral facial expressions. A tone alone and a tone/nonface slide compound were used as controls. The results indicate that phasic and tonic skin conductance responses to the tone/fear expression compound were significantly larger during extinction than for all other experimental and control groups. No significant differences were found among these latter conditions. The findings support the assumption that the excitatory characteristics of fear expressions do not depend on associative mechanisms. In the presence of fear cues, fear facial expressions intensify the emotional reaction and disrupt extinction of a previously acquired fear response. Happy facial expressions however, do not function as conditioned inhibitors in the absence of reinforcement, suggesting that the previously found inhibition was associative in nature.This research was supported by NSF grant No. 77-08926 and by funds from the Lincoln Filene Endowment to Dartmouth College.     

Prediction of the reading and spelling performances of normal and retarded readers: A four-year follow-up

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative predictive accuracy of a number of measures employed in a 4-year longitudinal study of the neuropsychological abilities of normal and retarded readers. The results indicated that there were some very accurate predictive measures of reading and spelling achievement levels over the 4-year age span studied, and that the relative accuracy of these measures differed markedly for normal and retarded readers. Especially in the case of retarded readers, performance on the Underlining Test was a much more accurate predictor of eventual achievement levels in reading and spelling than were tests of reading, spelling, or psychometric intelligence.This investigation was supported in part under Grant #195 of the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, funds provided by the Research Division, Windsor Western Hospital Centre, and funds from the Ontario Department of Education Grants-in-Aid of Educational Research and Development program. Dr. M. W. Starr offered advice regarding the statistical design.     

Hispanic and black American adolescents' beliefs relating to sexuality and contraception

Popular beliefs and level of scientific knowledge regarding sexuality and contraception were elicited from black and Hispanic inner-city adolescents. Significant differences were found: Hispanic males were the most knowledgeable, Hispanic females the least, and black males and females were intermediate. A cultural basis for the dramatic difference between Hispanic male and female scores is suggested and the need to design culturally appropriate sexuality education classes is discussed. In addition, the data depicted two conflicting beliefs that were held simultaneously by many of the adolescents: Contraception is "good" because it prevents pregnancy, and it is "bad" because the various birth control methods carry serious health hazards for users.     

Excitatory strength of expressive faces: effects of happy and fear expressions and context on the extinction of a conditioned fear response

In a recent study, Orr and Lanzetta (1984) showed that the excitatory properties of fear facial expressions previously described (Lanzetta & Orr, 1981; Orr & Lanzetta, 1980) do not depend on associative mechanisms; even in the absence of reinforcement, fear faces intensify the emotional reaction to a previously conditioned stimulus and disrupt extinction of an acquired fear response. In conjunction with the findings on acquisition, the failure to obtain extinction suggests that fear faces have some of the functional properties of "prepared" (fear-relevant) stimuli. In the present study we compared the magnitude of conditioned fear responses to happy and fear faces when a potent danger signal, the shock electrodes, are attached or unattached. If fear faces are functionally analogous to prepared stimuli, then, even in the absence of veridical support for an expectation of shock, they should retain excitatory strength, whereas happy faces should not. The results are consistent with this view of fear expressions. In the absence of reinforcement, and with shock electrodes removed, conditioned fear responses and basal levels of arousal were of greater magnitude for the fear-face condition than for the happy-face condition.     

Rating scales for hyperactivity: Concurrent validity,reliability, and decisions to label for the Conners and Davids abbreviated scales

Rating scales have become the instrument of choice in labeling and assessing change in behavior of hyperactive children. However, several criticisms have recently have levied against their use. The present investigation examined the concurrent validity, and inter- and intrarater reliability for the Abbreviated Teacer Questionnaire (ATQ, Conners, 1973) and the Rating Scales for Hyperkinesis (Davids, 1971). Sixteen teachers from two special and two regular schools (grades 1-4) rated 211 normal and 49 special children using both scales. High correlations were found suggesting excellent predictability between scales and considerable stability across time and rater. Lower scores on a subsequent rating relative to an initial rating were demonstrated, dependent on time between ratings but independent of (a) teacher expectation of treatment gains, (b) bias produced by rating selected children, and (c) whether children were hyperactive or normal. Use of initial and infrequent rating scores versus subsequent, closely spaced ratings was related to the rater's objective (e.g., diagnosis, treatment, or assessment).     

Family relations as perceived by emotionally disturbed and normal boys

The perception of feelings within the family of 9-13-year-old boys were studied. The purpose was to determine the sensitivity of the Family Relations Test (FRT) in discriminating between inpatients, outpatients, and normal controls. Both patient groups more frequently identified family members as sources of negative feelings than normal controls. Inpatients expressed more self-flattery and self-criticism and an absence of a reciprocal, positive relationship with their fathers. The FRT is only able to make a few quantitative differentiations between a clinical and a normal sample of boys but certain qualitative aspects of the responses were particularly noteworthy.