Human Flavor-Aversion Learning: A Comparison of Traditional Aversions and Cognitive Aversions

Traditional flavor aversions form when an organism consumes a flavor prior to an illness-producing unconditioned stimulus (US). Rozin (1986), however, introduced a second type of taste-aversion learning produced by a disgust-eliciting US. In the present work, Rozin's disgust categorization is extended to include other human situations (negative information, forced consumption) in which taste aversions are mediated by cognitive processes. College students completed a self-report questionnaire that addressed their experiences with taste-aversion learning. The results show that cognitive aversions were stronger and longer-lasting than traditional aversions, they formed to foods of animal origin more than to other substances, and they could be produced without nausea. Finally, individuals who reported having a cognitive aversion had significantly more taste aversions than individuals who reported having a traditional aversion. These results provide additional evidence that taste-aversion learning can occur without the direct mediation of an illness-producing US.     

Making Connections through Talking with Children: from the 'Returns of the Repressed' to 'Dialectics'

This paper traces the author's thinking from a model of systemic practice based on a 'survival' model with its roots in psychoanalysis, to one based on the promotion of greater tolerance of difference within the family. The use of a particular form of conversation with children, as a route to this goal, is illustrated.     

The Inclusion of Fathers In Family Therapy: A Research Based Perspective

This paper summarizes the results of research on the role of fathers in families and family therapy with particular reference to preparation for fatherhood, father involvement in family life as a protective factor, fathers' deviant behaviour as a risk factor, fathers' communication and coping styles, fatherhood and different types of marriages, and the effects of the workplace on fathers' behaviour within the family. Available research suggests that, with respect to problem formation, the behaviour of fathers may serve as either a risk factor or as a protective factor. With respect to problem resolution, fathers may be a powerful therapeutic resource or seriously compromise effectiveness of family therapy. The implications of research for clinical practice are discussed.     

Type a and Risk Taking in Everyday Money Matters

The purpose of the present study is to extend previous research investigating personality factors as determinants of financial risk taking in everyday money matters (e.g., personal investments and household affairs). Type A and Type B subjects were asked to make a series of everyday financial decisions that varied in degree of risk. Type A individuals took greater financial risks than Type B individuals. The results provide additional support for the influence of personality factors in everyday financial risk-taking behavior and demonstrated another area of risk taking associated with the Type A behavior pattern not previously identified.     

Does Evidence Presentation Format Affect Judgment? An Experimental Evaluation of Displays of Data for Judgments

Information relevant to a prediction was presented in one of eight formats: a table of numbers, a brief text, a longer biographical story, and five different types of bar graphs. Experimental participants made judgments of marathon finishing times based on information about the runners' ages, prior performance, training, and motivation. A regression analysis was used to assess the individual judges' relative weighting of the various types of information relevant to their predictions. The different formats for displaying information yielded different levels of accuracy and patterns of information utilization. In accordance with an explanation-based decision model, the text and story displays induced the heaviest reliance on information about the runners' motivation and prior performance and produced the most accurate judgments of marathon finishing times.     

Orienting to Extinguished Signals in Hemispatial Neglect

This study tested for spatial orienting effects, without awareness to signals presented in the neglected hemifield of 2 hemispatial-neglect patients. The experiment adapted a spatial precuing paradigm for measuring the effects of visual attention. Contralesional orienting hastened subsequent target detection at the location of an extinguished precue. These findings validate a claim that orienting can occur independently of overt detection and indicate that location information is registered in the neglected field.     

Impact of Exposure to Community Violence on Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study of Family Social Support as a Protective Factor for Urban Children

In a longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between exposure to community violence and anxiety, and the extent to which family social support moderated this relationship within a predominantly African American sample of 385 children in an urban public school system. Children reported notably lower anxiety levels compared to normative data for African American children. A high percentage reported witnessing a variety of violent acts. Cross-sectional results indicated that among girls exposure to violence was significantly correlated with total, physiological, and concentration anxiety. Among boys violence exposure was not associated with anxiety. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after controlling for gender, exposure to violence at Time 1 did not significantly predict changes in anxiety. A significant interaction was found for gender and exposure to violence on concentration anxiety; girls who reported higher initial violence exposure reported greater increases in subsequent concentration anxiety than boys. Whereas findings from our study did not support a moderating relationship of family social support on children's exposure to violence and anxiety, a strong negative relationship was found between anxiety and family support. Among children with initially low worry anxiety, those with low family social support showed greater increases in subsequent worry anxiety.     

Formal Characteristics of Narratives as Predictors of Maladaptive Parenting

We examined the relationship between several characteristics of parents' narrative productions and two measures of maladaptive parenting. The two maladaptive parenting variables, indiscriminate responding to children's behavior and parent compliance with child disobedience, were derived from in-home observation of parent-child interactions. These were investigated in relationship to several structural aspects of mother Thematic Apperception Test narratives. Results showed that expressions of personal inadequacy and difficulty remaining task-focused during storytelling were related to mothers' failure to remain firm in the face of child disobedience.     

Transient global amnesia

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a memory dysfunction characterized by a sudden onset of dense anterograde amnesia (AA) that gradually resolves across several hours. TGA is typically accompanied by repeated questions (concerning present circumstances) with retrograde amnesia for events preceding the attack, and it usually strikes individuals in their late 50s and early 60s. The etiology of TGA remains unclear, although it probably reflects a temporary disruption of the blood supply to the temporal lobe. The physical and psychological events preceding the attack are diverse, but they often include acute emotional and physical stressors. TGA appears to be benign, with low risk for recurrence or residual complications. While systematic memory research on TGA patients is rare, these individuals present a unique opportunity to study amnestic behaviors in otherwise normal individuals. A guide to conducting future research is provided.