Effect of intensification of annoyance through unrelated residual excitation on substantially delayed hostile behavior

In a field-experimental setting, male and female subjects were provoked or not at a time when residual excitation from prior exposure to communication was of relatively low, intermediate, or high magnitude. Eight days later, subjects were provided with an opportunity to treat their annoyer or nonannoyer in a hostile or beneficial manner. It was found that excitatory residues had no appreciable effect on the behavior of unprovoked subjects. In contrast, excitatory residues prevailing at the time of provocation produced an intensification of delayed hostile behavior. Provoked subjects in the high and intermediate residue conditions retaliated more severely than those in the low residue condition. Retaliation in the high residue condition tended to be more severe than in the intermediate residue condition. No appreciable sex differences were observed. The findings were interpreted as supporting the proposal that the excitatory intensity of acute annoyance critically influences the magnitude of retaliation for considerable periods of time after the dissipation of excitation associated with the initial annoyance.     

Why additive utility models fail as descriptions of choice behavior

This experiment sought to determine whether previously found metric violations of additive expectancy-value models C.F. J. C. Shanteau, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, 103, 680–691; J. G. Lynch and J. L. Cohen, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1978, 36, 1138–1151) were attributable to the inappropriateness of these models or to nonlinearities in the relationship between numerical ratings and underlying psychological impressions. Undergraduate participants performed two tasks employing the same experimental stimuli. In the first task, they rated the subjective values of hypothetical bets, judged separately and in combination. In the second task, they made pairwise comparisons of the same bets in terms of preference. The use of the same experimental stimuli in both tasks allowed a test of alternative models of utility judgment through application of the criterion of scale convergence (M. H. Birnbaum & C. T. Veit, Perception and Psychophysics, 1974, 15, 7–15). Results suggested that the additive expectancy-value model of judgments of the utilities of combinations of outcomes should be replaced by a weighted averaging rule in which the weight given to the value of each outcome in the averaging process is greater when this value is negative and extreme than when it is neutral.     

Listener preferences for stuttered and syllable-timed speech production

The purpose of this study was to determine how “naive” listeners react to syllable-timed speech production. Three stutterers were videotape recorded while speaking in their usual manner and pacing their speech at 100 words per minute (wpm) and 70 wpm. Twenty-three listeners rated the speech samples as to which they preferred to hear. The results indicated generally that listeners preferred paced speech to stuttering.     

The relation between gesture and language in aphasic communication

Effective communication in aphasia depends not only on use of preserved linguistic capacities but also (and perhaps primarily) on the capacity to exploit alternative modalities of communication, such as gesture. To ascertain the capacity of aphasic patients to use gesture in their spontaneous communication, informally structured interviews were conducted with two Wernicke's aphasics and two Broca's aphasics, as well as with four normal controls. The performances of the patient groups were compared on the physical parameters of gesture, the points in the communication where gestures occurred, and several facets of the semantics and pragmatics of gesture. Generally speaking, the gestures of the aphasics closely paralleled their speech output: on most indices, the performance of the Wernicke's aphasics more closely resembled that of the normal controls. Wernicke's aphasics differed from normals in the clarity of their language and gestures: While individual linguistic units were often clear, the relation among units was not. In contrast, the Broca's aphasics equaled or surpassed the normal controls in the clarity of their communications. The results offer little support for the view that aphasic patients spontaneously enhance their communicative efficacy through the use of gesture; these findings can, however, be interpreted as evidence in favor of a “central organizer” which controls critical features of communication, irrespective of the modality of expression.     

Career satisfaction and role harmony in a sample of young women physicians

In a sample of young women physicians, self-ratings of Career Satisfaction and Role Harmony were correlated with a group of situational, achievement, and personality variables. Career Satisfaction was extremely high with about 88% reporting they are satisfied or very satisfied. However, over half experienced at least a moderate amount of strain in integrating professional and sex roles. In addition women who were high on both Career Satisfaction and Role Harmony were compared with the others in the sample and individual differences were apparent: These women were exceptionally confident, intellectually resourceful, and tolerant; they tended to have clear priorities with either family or work coming first. Overall their current level of personality adjustment was superior to the others who, as a group, were very well-functioning women.     

Training child abusers in the use of positive reinforcement practices

A parent training program involving reading assignments, practice assignments, role-playing and contingent reinforcement was implemented for two parents identified as child abusers. Measures selected from the Patterson Coding System served as the dependent variables. Several constructive changes in parent-child interactions were observed, some of which were maintained for as long as five months post-training.     

Training the disturbed enuretic

Twenty-two disturbed enuretic children were treated for their bedwetting with training procedures. Eighteen of 22 (81.8%) reached the initial success criterion in an average of 57.5 days. Ten of the 18 (55.6%) met the retraining criteria of relapse, and 9 of the relapses were successfully retrained, while I stopped wetting spontaneously. As compared to non-relapsed children, relapsed children had a significantly higher number of initial symptoms checked. The results indicate that a training approach is effective for the treatment of enuresis in disturbed children, but the more disturbed have a greater likelihood of relapse.     

Vocal control therapy for stutterers: A trial program

A problem-solving approach to the treatment of stuttering, called vocal control therapy, has been shaped over a 4-year period. The program includes behavioral desensitization techniques as well as retraining vocal, respiratory, and other speech functions for fluency. Data from pre- and posttherapy video tapes of 12 out of 34 cases are given. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.