Contextual factors in neophobia and its habituation: The role of absolute and relative novelty

In four experiments we investigated the role of contextual cues in the habituation of neophobia in rats. Experiment 1 showed that the consumption of a novel flavour increased across a series of presentations in one context (A) but fell when the flavour was subsequently presented in a second, novel, context (B). In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects again received exposure to a flavour in context A, but also were familiarized with the test context, B. These subjects consumed the flavour with equal readiness, whether it was presented in Context A or in Context B at test. Experiment 4 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and also showed that the consumption of a novel flavour was not influenced by whether it was presented in a novel or a familiar context. Several mechanisms by which the novelty or familiarity of the context might interact with the novelty or familiarity of the flavour were discussed.     

A puzzling misinterpretation of the Asch ‘conformity’ study

In this article, we examine the interpretations by social psychologists of Asch's widely cited study of independence and conformity. Though it has become known as the ‘Asch Conformity Study’, Asch equally, if not more, intended and interpreted it as demonstrating the powers of independence. The evidence for this analysis consists of 99 accounts in social psychology textbooks published between 1953, following the appearance of his study, and 1984. We asked whether these accounts were accurate, or whether, as we suspected, they minimized the role of independence and exaggerated that of conformity. We found that authors have often distorted Asch's findings, and that this trend has increased substantially with time: they have increasingly accentuated the role of conformity and underestimated that of independence. We suggest several reasons for this distortion. For one, there has been insufficient care in reading the findings and drawing conclusions. Second, authors have generally limited themselves to reports of quantitative results. Although these were strong and beyond question, authors have usually neglected the intimately connected qualitative findings, which would have discouraged the misinterpretations. Third, the study of Asch was an integral part of his perspective on social psychology, which authors again ignored, thus encouraging a limited and out-of-context view of his study. We conclude with a thematic presentation of Asch's general theoretical framework, showing how it bears on independence and conformity.     

Derived manding in children with autism: synthesizing Skinner's verbal behavior with relational frame theory

Mand functions for two stimuli (A1 and A2) were trained for 3 children with autism and were then incorporated into two related conditional discriminations (A1-B1/A2 -B2 and B1-C1/B2-C2). Tests were conducted to probe for a derived transfer of mand response functions from A1 and A2 to C1 and C2, respectively. When 1 participant failed to demonstrate derived transfer of mand response functions, transfer training using exemplars was conducted. When participants had demonstrated derived transfer of mand functions, the X1 and X2 tokens that were employed as reinforcers for mand responses were incorporated into two conditional discriminations (X1-Y1/X2-Y2 and Y1-Z1/Y2-Z2). Tests were conducted for derived transfer of reinforcing functions. Finally, tests were conducted to determine if the participants would demonstrate derived manding for the derived reinforcers (present C1 and C2 to mand for Z1 and Z2, respectively). Derived transfer of functions was observed when the sequence of training and testing was reversed (i.e., training and testing reinforcing functions before mand response functions) and when only minimal instructions were provided.     

Derived stimulus relations, semantic priming, and event-related potentials: testing a behavioral theory of semantic networks

Derived equivalence relations, it has been argued, provide a behavioral model of semantic or symbolic meaning in natural language, and thus equivalence relations should possess properties that are typically associated with semantic relations. The present study sought to test this basic postulate using semantic priming. Across three experiments, participants were trained and tested in two 4-member equivalence relations using word-like nonsense words. Participants also were exposed to a single- or two-word lexical decision task, and both direct (Experiment 1) and mediated (Experiments 2 and 3) priming effects for reaction times and event-related potentials were observed within but not across equivalence relations. The findings support the argument that derived equivalence relations provides a useful preliminary model of semantic relations.     

Outgrowing representationalism: Semantic remarks on Tracy Llanera's Richard Rorty: Outgrowing modern nihilism

This article provides a semantic reading of Tracy Llanera's brilliant book Richard Rorty: Outgrowing Modern Nihilism. Llanera is reframing the debate of how to react to the malaise of modern nihilism by proposing a change of metaphor: instead of trying to “overcome” nihilism, we should try to “outgrow” nihilism. This article invites Llanera to shed more light on her project with respect to the semantic categories of realism and representationalism, and with respect to the growing field of conceptual engineering. Can Llanera's project be fruitfully understood as engineering the concepts of “transcendence” and “redemption”? How much of the project hangs on the idea that language does not represent but is rather a tool that helps us fulfill our varying needs? How neat is the entanglement of semantic and existential meaning?     

A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF PRIOR CLASSROOM CONDITIONS ON PERFORMANCE UNDER ANALOGUE ANALYSIS CONDITIONS

We systematically manipulated two prior classroom conditions to explore their effects on performance under analogue assessments for a 7-year-old girl with severe intellectual disabilities who exhibited aggressive behavior. Results demonstrated consistently higher levels of aggression during demand analogue conditions when they were preceded by one of the classroom conditions.     

Islamist depictions of Christianity in the twentieth century: The pluralism debate and the depiction of the other

Muslim perception of Christianity has been coloured by references to Jesus and Christianity in the Qur'an and by the great range of historical encounters between members of the two traditions over fourteen centuries. In response to colonialism and Christian missionary activity in Muslim countries, Muslim modernists depicted Christianity as a religion of the sword and cast Islam as a superior system noted for its moderate and pluralistic vision. By the second half of the twentieth century, the challenge of Marxism and Zionism gave credence to the Islamist ideology of the Islamic imperative to eliminate all other systems. Muslim society was depicted as the victim of secular, Christian and Jewish fanaticism that sought to eradicate Islam. During the eighties, a new discourse on the role of religious minorities has developed which sees pluralism as a foundational principle of Islamic society sanctioned by God since it was his will to create difference. The purpose is to promote not discord, but the perception of a sign of God's mercy.     

S-R compatibility effects due to context-dependent spatial stimulus coding

Responses are faster with spatial S-R correspondence than with noncorrespondence (spatial compatibility effect), even if stimulus location is irrelevant (Simon effect). In two experiments, we sought to determine whether stimuli located above and below a fixation point are coded as left and right (and thus affect the selection of left and right responses) if the visual context suggests such a coding. So, stimuli appeared on the left or right eye of a face’s image that was tilted by 90° to one side or the other (Experiment 1) or varied between upright and 45° or 90° tilting (Experiment 2). Whether stimulus location was relevant (Experiment 1) or not (Experiment 2), responses were faster with correspondence of (face-based) stimulus location and (egocentrically defined) response location, even if stimulus and response locations varied on physically orthogonal dimensions. This suggests that object-based spatial stimulus codes are formed automatically and thus influence the speed of response selection.     

Symposium: A discussion of the videotapes of a difficult group

Three conference participants (Drs. Yvonne Agazarian, Louis Ormont and Saul Tuttman), each an experienced group therapist employing distinctly different styles and theoretical frames, react to a videotape of a Difficult Group and offer their respective critique and suggestions. The material was originally presented before an audience at the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Association Annual Conference (1985) in New York City. The audience first saw the videotape at the conference and then observed the interaction among panelists. This material was submitted for publication because: 1) issues of contrasting technique and theory are heightened by a concrete comparison of different clinicians' reactions to the same material; 2) the serious task of coping with a group of difficult patients is of concern to all group therapists who are faced with such challenges; 3) the circumstances, in which patients who feel needy and neglected chronically put pressure on the therapists, occur with frequency; at the same time, 4) the therapists are also under stress in that their supervisors and evaluators are scrutinizing their work. All of this makes for a fascinating and difficult dynamic situation. Finally, 5) examining this group material resulted in a lively exchange which was stimulating and interesting to both audience and participants.Yvonne Agazarian, Ed.D., is in private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.     

Group-as-a-whole systems theory and practice

Group-as-a-whole systems theory is presented and applied to the practice of group psychotherapy. The individual and the group are conceptualized as two isomorphic systems in a hierarchy of living systems. The basic component of the group-as-a-whole is its subgroups, which exist independent of individuals whose subgroup memberships may change while subgroups remain stable. Subgroups come together around similarities and separate on differences, and contain differences for the group-as-a-whole to integrate in relationship to primary and secondary goals. The primary goals of system survival and maturation take precedence over the secondary goals, which relate to the environment. Goal achievement and individual change is explained as a function of group dynamics. In a therapy group, the dynamics of each phase of group-as-a-whole development serve as a major therapeutic force. Within each member, salient developmental issues are aroused, which resonate with the issues that the group is in the process of mastering. The task of the group-as-a-whole therapist is to facilitate the developmental process at both the group and the individual level. Therapeutic interventions are designed to facilitate the discrimination and integration of information at the boundaries between systems and subsystems: within the individual member system (intrapersonal) and between individual member systems (interpersonal), within the group-as-a-whole system, within subgroups, between subgroups, and between all systems in the relevant hierarchy and their environments.