Why classroom token economies fail

The reasons for clinical failures of classroom token economies are divided into three groups: (1) Problems associated with the token program itself, (2) Problems associated with the teacher, and (3) Problems associated with the specific population on which the classroom token economy is used. Each of these problem areas is discussed. Methods of anticipating problems before they occur are enumerated and ways of solving them should they occur are illustrated.     

Relations between multidimensional scaling and three-mode factor analysis

A combination is achieved of two lines of psychometric interest: a) multidimensional scaling and b) factor analysis. This is accomplished with the use of three-mode factor analysis of scalar product matrices, one for each subject. Two of the modes are the groups of objects scaled and the third mode is the sample of subjects. Results are an object space, a person space, and a system for changing weights given to dimensions and of angles between dimensions in the object space for individuals located at different places in the person space. The development is illustrated with data from an adjective similarity study.Supported in part by the Personnel and Training Branch of the Office of Naval Research under Contract Number 00014-67-A-0305-0003. A number of very helpful comments were made by an anonymous editorial reviewer forPsychometrika.During 1970–71 at the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory, University of North Carolina.     

Differentiating the N3 and N4 electrophysiological semantic incongruity effects

An event-related potential termed the N4 has been widely studied due to its sensitivity to semantic incongruity. A recent report (Nobre & McCarthy, 1994) indicates there is also an N3 component that is sensitive to semantic incongruity. To differentiate these two components, an existing data set with 65 electrode sites, 78 subjects, and 120 sentences was examined. Instead of the usual procedure of averaging over the stimuli within distinct categories for each subject, a new approach--averaging over subjects--was employed. In this item average approach, 120 averages (one per sentence) were produced. Correlational analyses indicate that the N3 is equally sensitive to cloze probability and sentential constraint. The N4, by contrast, is more sensitive to sentential constraint and less to cloze probability; it is also correlated with familiarity. We interpret these results as evidence that the N3 is more responsive to semantic fit whereas the N4 is more responsive to semantic expectancy.     

Family Therapy in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare: Current Practices and Future Possibilities

This paper highlights the role of the family in the treatment of youth who attend Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH) programs. It discusses the history of OBH, provides a critical overview of the research on the impact of OBH programs on family functioning, and discusses the importance of increased intentional integration of family therapy into OBH settings. To show this integration, this study presents a case study that highlights the role of the family, as well as the home family therapist throughout the phase of OBH treatment. Areas for future esearch are provided as well as suggestions for the increased utilization of adventure activities with families.     

Implicit Measures of Attitudes and Political Voting Behavior

Implicit measures have contributed to the prediction of behavior in numerous domains including the political realm. Some theoretical arguments suggest that implicit measures are unlikely to substantially improve the prediction of political voting behavior. Other arguments are more optimistic, especially regarding the prediction of undecided voters' behavior. Here, we review the evidence regarding the extent to which implicit measures improve the prediction of political voting behavior beyond explicit self‐report measures. Results reveal that implicit measures are often statistically significant predictors. However, the inclusion of an implicit measure leads to modest or even no improvement of the overall accuracy of the original prediction. We conclude that implicit measures are likely to be practically relevant for predicting voting behavior only if researchers can identify new approaches. Related findings in political psychology may pave the way as they demonstrate that implicit measures can contribute unique knowledge not accounted for in other ways.     

Precision and power grip priming by observed grasping

The coupling of hand grasping stimuli and the subsequent grasp execution was explored in normal participants. Participants were asked to respond with their right- or left-hand to the accuracy of an observed (dynamic) grasp while they were holding precision or power grasp response devices in their hands (e.g., precision device/right-hand; power device/left-hand). The observed hand was making either accurate or inaccurate precision or power grasps and participants signalled the accuracy of the observed grip by making one or other response depending on instructions. Responses were made faster when they matched the observed grip type. The two grasp types differed in their sensitivity to the end-state (i.e., accuracy) of the observed grip. The end-state influenced the power grasp congruency effect more than the precision grasp effect when the observed hand was performing the grasp without any goal object (Experiments 1 and 2). However, the end-state also influenced the precision grip congruency effect (Experiment 3) when the action was object-directed. The data are interpreted as behavioural evidence of the automatic imitation coding of the observed actions. The study suggests that, in goal-oriented imitation coding, the context of an action (e.g., being object-directed) is more important factor in coding precision grips than power grips.     

A Balancing Act—Telehealth Cancer Genetics and Practitioners’ Experiences of a Triadic Consultation

Telehealth is increasingly used for outreach service in cancer genetic counseling; however what occurs during the consultation and the roles practitioners adopt is largely unknown. Fifteen practitioners participated in semi-structured interviews that explored their roles within telehealth, compared to face-to-face consultations, and the relationship between practitioners during telehealth. As they were not physically present with the patient, most participants felt that telehealth altered the genetic clinician’s role to one of a ‘visiting specialist’. Genetic counselors described undertaking multiple roles during the telehealth process. Two models of interaction were observed. The medical model reduced the interaction to a dyadic consultation by having the genetic counselor off-screen and included minimal clinician meetings and supervision. The triadic co-facilitation model incorporated a high level of information exchange, counselor autonomy and included the counselor onscreen. The co-facilitation model offers a useful framework for telehealth genetic counselling, offering complementary roles between practitioners and efficient service delivery.     

The effect of blinks and saccadic eye movements on visual reaction times

Vision is suppressed during blinks and saccadic eye movements. We hypothesized that visual reaction times (RTs) in a vigilance test would be significantly increased when a blink or a saccade happened to coincide with the stimulus onset. Thirty healthy volunteers each performed a visual RT test for 15 min while their eye and eyelid movements were monitored by a system of infrared reflectance oculography. RTs increased significantly, many by more than 200 msec, when a blink occurred between 75 msec before and up to 150 msec after the stimulus onset. A similar result was observed with saccades that started 75 to 150 msec after the stimulus. Vision or attention was evidently inhibited before each blink and for longer than the saccades lasted. We suggest that visual suppression is involved in this process, which could explain some of the normal variability in RTs over periods of seconds that has not been adequately explained before.