Comparison of two locus of control scales in predicting relapse in an alcoholic population

A 3-mo. follow-up was made of 64 male veterans who were discharged from a 21-day Alcohol Detoxification Treatment Program at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Lyons, NJ. Scores on the Rotter I-E and Alcohol Responsibility Scales were significantly correlated with tendencies toward a more external direction among the 13% who relapsed, significant on the I-E scale and nonsignificant on the Alcohol Responsibility Scale. When tests were compared as possible predictor variables of alcoholic relapse, the difference in favor of the I-E scale was statistically nonsignificant.     

Manual discrimination of force using active finger motion

In these experiments, two plates were grasped between the thumb and forefinger and squeezed together along a linear track. An electromechanical system presented a constant resistance force during the squeeze up to a predetermined location on the track, whereupon the force effectively went to infinity (simulating a wall) or to zero (simulating a cliff). The task of the subject was to discriminate between two alternative levels of the constant resistance force (a reference level and a reference-plus-increment level). Results of these experiments indicate a just noticeable difference of roughly 7% of the reference force using a one-interval paradigm with trial-by-trial feedback over the ranges 2.5≤F _o≤10.0 newtons, 5≤D≤30 mm, 45≤S≤125 mm, and 25≤V≤160 mm/sec, whereF _o is the reference force,D is the distance squeezed,S is the initial finger-span, andV is the mean velocity of the squeeze. These results, based on tests with 5 subjects, are consistent with a wide range of previous results, some of which are associated with other body surfaces and muscle systems and many of which were obtained with different psychophysical methods.     

Psychoticism scores in graphic design students

Of a group of graphic design students, males were found to have higher psychoticism and neuroticism scores than normal on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Extraversion and lie scores were not significantly different from normal. Females did not differ significantly from the normative data on psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism or lie scores. A further group of new 1st year students showed raised psychoticism scores for females but not for males. The meaning of psychoticism in relation to the personality of artists is questioned by way of two paradoxes.     

Book reviews

Hamilton, Vernon and Veronon, Magdalen D. (Eds). The Development of Cognitive Processes. London and New York: Academic Press. 1976. Pp. 772. £21.00. ISBN 0 12 321750 4.

Miller, G. A, and Johnson-Laird, P. N. Language and Perception. Cambridge University Press. 1976. Pp. viii + 760. £12.50. ISBN 0 521 21242.

Neisser, U. Cognition and Reality. San Francisco: Freeman. 1976. pp. 230. Hardback $11.00; paperback $4.95. ISBN 0 7167 04781.

Norman, D. A. Memory and Attention. Second edition. New York: Wiley. 1976. Pp. 262. £8.45.

Hammond, K. R. and Joyce, C. R. B. (eds). Psychoactive Drugs and Social Judgment: Theory and Research. New York and London: Wiley. 1975. Pp. 278. £9.25. ISBN

Fodor, J. D. Semantics : Theories of Meaning in Generative Grammer. Sussex: Harvester Press. 1977. Pp. 225. £12.95. ISBN 0 85527 500 6.

Plomp, R. Aspects of Tone Sensation. London: Academic Press. 1976. Pp. id + 167. £6.50. ISBN 0 12 558350 8.

Fite, K. V. The Amphibian Visual System. London: Academic Press. 1977. Pp. 374. £20.95. ISBN 0 12 257450 8.

Eliot, J. and Salkind, N. J. Children's Spatial Development. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 1975. $23.50. Pp. 296. ISBN 0398 03210 6.

Wong, R. Motiviation : A Biobehavioral Analysis of consummatory Activities. London: Collier-Macmillan. 1976. Pp. 326. £ 4.95. ISBN 0 0242 9400 4.