Some confounding factors in the study preparatory set in reaction time

In Experiment I. the effects of the range of the distribution of preparatory intervals (Pls) on the effect of PI on RT was demonstrated, and disparate conclusions about the development of preparatory set were thereby accounted for to some degree. In Experiment II. both range of the PIs and their average value were examined in a factorial design for their effects on RT. and it was concluded that, for any average value, greater range will result in greater PI effects; and for any range, greater average values will result in smaller PI effects on RT.     

Heterogeneity of Incentives for Physical Activity and Self-Efficacy in Highly Active and Moderately Active Women Exercisers

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether persons exercising 2 times per week or less versus 3 times per week or more, with intentions to maintain current level of activity form a homogenous group in terms of motivational features. A group of 86 women recruited from local fitness clubs reported on their exercise incentives, self-efficacy, exercise behavior, and exercise intentions. A discriminant function analysis revealed that self-efficacy and incentives for stress reduction and mental health discriminated highly active from moderately active women. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of stage theory and research in exercise adherence.     

Negotiating the Reality of Visual Impairment: Hope, Coping, and Functional Ability

A consecutive sample of 63 adventitiously blinded American military veterans in a interdisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation program participated in this study examining the relation of hope to self-reported functional ability level. Scores from a modified oral administration of the Hope Scale and the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory basic coping styles were used as predictor variables to test regression-based models of mediation and moderation relations to functional ability level. Results support a mediating role for hope in the relation between a proactive sociable style and perceived level of functional ability.     

THE EFFECTS OF MEAL SCHEDULE AND QUANTITY ON PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOR

We present 2 case examples that illustrate the effects of meal schedule and quantity on displays of problematic behavior. In the first example, self-injury displayed by a toddler with severe developmental delays was maintained by parent attention, but only when he was satiated for food. When he was food deprived, self-injury decreased but did not appear to be differentiated across low or high social conditions. In the second example, crying and self-injury displayed by an elementary-aged girl with severe disabilities were correlated: Both behaviors were associated with food quantity, and neither behavior was responsive to social stimuli. These results replicate and extend previous findings demonstrating that meal schedule or food quantity can affect problematic behavior. In the present studies, brief functional analyses of aberrant behavior provided useful information for interpreting distinct patterns of behavior displayed by each child. We discuss these results in terms of the concept of establishing operations.     

AN ALTERNATING TREATMENTS COMPARISON OF TWO INTENSIVE INTERVENTIONS FOR FOOD REFUSAL

We compared two treatment packages involving negative reinforcement contingencies for 3 children with chronic food refusal. One involved physically guiding the child to accept food contingent on noncompliance, whereas the other involved nonremoval of the spoon until the child accepted the presented food. Subsequent to baseline, an alternating treatments comparison was implemented in a multiple baseline design across subjects. After each child had been exposed to at least nine sessions of each treatment condition and percentage of bites accepted had increased to at least 80%, the child's caregivers selected the preferred treatment package. The results indicated that both treatments were effective in establishing food acceptance. However, physical guidance was associated with fewer corollary behaviors, shorter meal durations, and parental preference.     

Leadership emergence in task groups with egalitarian gender-role expectations

Although they differ in their explanations of the antecedents of gender-role expectations, gender role and expectation states theories agree that mixed-sex and initially leaderless task groups will confirm these expectations by selectively reinforcing male task participation and leadership emergence. Based upon this assumption held in common by the two theories, we hypothesized that groups whose members expressed significantly egalitarian gender-role expectations would reinforce male and female task participation and leadership emergence impartially. Analysis of data from 31 mixed-sex groups whose members expressed significantly egalitarian gender-role expectations, and who were racially and ethnically homogeneous, found that males participated more in group discussions and were more likely to be selected as task leaders. Male advantages were explained only partly by token effects and their advantages in task resources. Implications are suggested for theories of male and female role performance in initially leaderless groups.