The effects of noncontingent reinforcement on task disengagement following failure of differential reinforcement treatment

Following the failure of applications of differential reinforcement (DR), the effects of reinforcement delivered noncontingently (NCR) on task disengagement and task completion were evaluated within reversal designs for three children with autism spectrum disorder. In Experiment 1, we compared DR and NCR schedules that combined positive and negative reinforcement. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results of Experiment 1 and then evaluated NCR schedules composed solely of negative reinforcement and NCR schedules that combined negative reinforcement with high-or low-preferred stimuli. In Experiment 3, we further analyzed NCR schedules that included different types and qualities of positive reinforcement, but without the inclusion of negative reinforcement. The results showed that NCR schedules using positive reinforcers can be effective as a treatment for task disengagement, but the type and preference of the reinforcer can alter effectiveness. These results are interpreted in terms of the motivating operations associated with task disengagement.     

Changes in religious attitudes and behaviors of Euro-Turk students with theology education

This paper studied a new dimension of international students, who are citizens of another country but came back to Turkey for religious education where their parents or grandparents are citizens. Did a five-year religious education process based on the main sources of Islam lead to a change in these students' religious attitudes and behaviors, and if yes to what extent did these changes occur? A panel survey is conducted on these students in pre-education and post-education periods to answer this question. Without ignoring the effect of the social environment outside of education on religious attitudes, we found that students exhibit a more tolerant, nonstrict attitude toward both their coreligionists and those who have negative attitudes toward their religion. Additionally, in parallel with the deepening of religious knowledge, a questioning and critical perspective was formed with a decrease in superstitions. We found that the attitude change in female students was generally higher than that of male students.     

Gender and Age Patterns in Emotional Expression,Body Image,and Self-Esteem: A Qualitative Analysis

This qualitative study used written narrativesto examine gender and age patterns in body image,emotional expression, and self-esteem for a total of 209boys and girls in the fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades. Seventy-six percent of the sample wasCaucasian, 18% African-American, 5% Asian-American, and.5% Hispanic. A major finding indicates that boysrestrict emotional expression from early adolescence through late adolescence, while girls increaseemotional expression during the same age period. Anothermajor finding suggests that girls in late childhood andadolescence are both more negatively and more positively influenced than boys by body image.Both boys' and girls' feelings about themselves areprimarily influenced in gender-stereotypedways.     

Family of the forest: Fatal enmeshment and other systems issues in the animal world

While the observation of non-human animal behavior has been a major means of developing psychological theories, it has been rarely used by marriage and family therapists to devise or explain systemic ideas. Jane Goodall's multigenerational research on the Flo family of wild chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, as presented in her own and other's writing, and especially in Hugo van Lawick's documentary film,People of the Forest, offers a clear example of how systems concepts' application to animal families may have theoretical, pedagogical, and clinical utility.My thanks to my good friend, Violet Richman, who suggested the subject for this paper.     

Program for advanced studies in integrative psychotherapy: Family,couple, and individual therapy (an interdisciplinary program)

This article describes briefly an advanced program in integrative marital and family therapy and individual psychotherapy established at the Hebrew University of Jersusalem in 1993–94 and its first two years of successful operation.     

Graduate trends for one marriage and family therapy program in an interdisciplinary setting

This research compared trends from 1981 to 1993 in several mental health professional training programs at the University of Houston Clear Lake, surveying graduates from three professional mental health master's programs—clinical psychology, school psychology, and family therapy—with the goal of identifying trends in the status of their professional credentialing and current employment. Four mental health groups have attained licensure since a 1981 survey, resulting in graduates now seeking professional licenses and perform psychotherapy more exclusively than other mental health activities. Interdisciplinary training has become increasingly important due to the introduction of managed care and other insurance regulating entities.     

Perceptions of conjugal relations among Israeli males: Pre-retirement versus early and late retirement phases

Attitudes of Israeli males toward conjugal life in preretirement versus the early and late phases of retirement were studied. Several differences appear between pre-retired and retired males, particularly in the late retirement phase. Compared with the pre-retired, late phase retirees expressed more conservative attitudes toward gender roles, increased emotional commitment toward the wife, greater expected dependence on the wife, a decline in health resources, and a greater power advantage in social aspects of conjugal life. Practical suggestions for family therapists dealing with couples in the later stages of married life include being aware of the differences between the stages of retirement and their effect on marital dynamics, giving particular attention to the effects of the increasingly conservative tendencies of the retired male and his anticipated power advantage in the social aspects of marriage on conjugal dynamics, and capitalizing on the increased emotional commitment of the male partner toward his wife in the later phase of retirement.Research interests include women at work and gender roles in the family.This article is a partial report of the findings presented in a doctoral dissertation written at Bar Ilan University under the supervision of Dr. H. Bareli and Dr. M. Katz.     

Restorying family therapy

This article describes a multi-systemic model of therapy developed by the author over the past decade and summarizes the main products of this project: Explication of key family systems notions, strategic family play therapy, multi-systemic therapy, and culturally-competent family therapy. The model incorporates beyond the family system, culture, wider ecosystems, psychodynamics, and the individual's neuropsychological, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. The model enables the therapist to design flexible multimodal interventions.     

Intergenerational transmission: The individuation process and the capacity for intimacy of adult children of holocaust survivors

This article deals with the intergenerational processes of adult children of Holocaust surviors. By exploring their level of individuation from the parental family and their capacity for intimacy with spouses, the research findings reveal that: Adult children of survivors are emotionally more interconnected to their parents than are their counterparts (using the MIS). Adult children of survivors have a lower intimacy capacity with their spouses in comparison with the control group. These findings are explained from an intergenerational perspective regarding a post-traumatic population.Received PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Current research in the individuation process throughout adulthood, and the post-traumatic effect of Holocaust survivors.