Increasing achievement motivation and work productivity in a chronic psychiatric population

The major goal of this study was to determine if social reinforcement for behavior in a simulated work activity would increase achievement motivation, work interest, and simulated work activity production. Forty-five chronic psychiatric patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: work sample with praise, work sample without praise, and a no-treatment control group. A 3 (between) × 2 (within) analysis of variance was run for each dependent measure, that is, achievement imagery, work interests, and simulated work production. The main effect for the interaction between trials and treatment was significant on each dependent measure. Follow-up Duncan Multiple Range Tests indicated that the praise group showed a significant improvement on each dependent measure, pre to post, as well as significantly greater improvement than the no-treatment control group and/or the work sample without praise group. These results are discussed in terms of the procedure used as a method for increasing motivation and in terms of possible generalization of results to other treatment situations.     

Early discrimination among small object collections

Two studies are presented which examine the young child's ability to discriminate between two small object collections on the basis of numerosity and to maintain that discrimination across changes in number-related cues. A transfer procedure and counting tasks were also included. In Study 1, 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds were reinforced for choosing either a two- or three-item array when length-density cues were manipulated across two training phases of 20 trials each. Training was followed by a transfer task in which one- and four-item arrays were displayed. Most 2-year-olds were able to learn the discrimination while at the same time displaying little quantitative ability. Further, their transfer responses were transpositional in nature. In Study 2, 2-year-olds were given a similar discrimination task in which numerosity was contrasted simultaneously with length-density and area-brightness cues. Again, most children learned the discrimination and transferred that learning on the basis of relational cues.     

Effects of naloxone on acquisition and extinction of jump-up avoidance behavior in rats

Two experiments were carried out to assess the effects of the opioid antagonist, naloxone, on the acquisition and extinction of shock avoidance by rats in the jump-up apparatus. In Experiment 1 naloxone pretreatment facilitated acquisition but had no effect on extinction of avoidance behavior. In the second experiment the effect of naloxone on acquisition was replicated and in addition, it was shown that naloxone enhanced freezing when a response prevention or flooding procedure was introduced. Again naloxone failed to alter the course of extinction, nor did it interact with the effects of flooding which, by itself, facilitated extinction. The results suggest that naloxone's effects are limited to increasing the functional intensity of the US, and provide further support for the dissociation between extinction of avoidance behavior and other indices of fear.     

A path analysis model of psychosexuality in young women

Path analysis is employed to delineate the relationships among sexual behavior variables, including orgasm consistency, masturbation frequency, cognitive sexual arousal, and satisfaction with sexual responsivity. The analysis provides insights into the processes by which the variables are related to one another and generates specific hypotheses for future questionnaire and experimental research. The results are used to develop a psychosexual model for women, which holds that a masturbation/orgasm sequence may be a prerequisite for an understanding of cognitive elements leading to arousal and their physiological concomitants. Once this platform has been established, a single-partner-oriented sexual adjustment is possible, but a frequent exchange of partners at this time may prove detrimental to sexual satisfaction. Later on in life, intercourse frequency may diminish, and moderate sexual dissatisfaction may develop. The implications of this model for further research are explored. Replication and extension of this study with additional measures and older populations of women is recommended.     

Voice reaction time of stuttering and nonstuttering children and adults

The voice reaction time (VRT) of 5-yr old, 9-yr old, and adult stutterers and nonstutterers was investigated. Subjects initiated the sound / Λ / in response to fifty-five 1000-Hz tones of 1 sec duration. The tones were presented in five equal sets of 11 tones each with the silent intervals between the tones randomly selected to be 3, 4, 5, or 6 sec. Data analysis was based on responses 2–11 for each set. The VRTs for both the stutterers and the nonstutterers decreased significantly as an inverse function of age, with the largest decrease in reaction time occuring between 5 and 9 yr. The VRTs for the stutterers, however, were significantly slower than those of the nonstutterers at each of the three age levels. The results suggest that observed disruption in the laryngeal behavior for at least some stutterers may not result from the development of stuttering with age, but may contribute to early difficulty in the child's ability to produce fluent speech. Consideration of central factors are discussed.     

Concurrent validity of Holland's theory for college-degreed black women

This study, using the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and the Self Directed Search (SDS), explored the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed college-degreed black women. The VPI and SDS were administered to 93 black women workers in occupational environments consistent with Holland's six vocational environments. The results revealed that four scales of the VPI and five scales of the SDS successfully differentiated the occupational groups consistent with Holland's theoretical notions. In general, the findings lend some support to the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed college-degreed black women.     

Personality characteristics,parent behaviors,and sex of subject in relation to cheating

College students were given the opportunity to falsify self-reported scores on a task to gain course credit. Personality and perceived parent behavior data were obtained in a counterbalanced design. Male cheaters were significantly higher in Aggression, Exhibition, Social Recognition, and Harmavoidance but lower in Autonomy (PRF scales) and ACT scores. Female transgressors were reliably lower in harmavoidance and higher in Impulsivity than noncheaters. Among males, no parent scales differentiated transgressors and resisters. Among females, parent scales reflecting reports of lower father warmth and fewer maternal equalitarian interactions but higher Hostile Control significantly differentiated cheaters from noncheaters. These findings were discussed, particularly in terms of the sex differences which suggest that males and females may cheat for different reasons.     

How shall we study individual differences in cognitive abilities?—Methodological and theoretical perspectives

Selected studies in recent research literature are examined with regard to (a) their methodological adequacy in establishing dimensions of individual differences in information-processing abilities, and (b) the theoretical problems involved in inferring psychological processes from individual difference dimensions. Many methodological inadequacies are noted, including use of small Ns, questionable procedures in establishing variables (e.g., use of raw difference scores), improper or inadequate use of factor analysis and other multivariate statistical techniques, and poor presentation of results. On the whole, little progress has been made thus far in identifying psychological processes through research in individual differences, even though this research approach is viable and potentially useful. Serious theoretical difficulties arise in attempting to infer the nature and operation of psychological processes merely from the identification of individual difference trait dimensions. Promising research, however, is represented by studies in which an effort is made to analyze tasks into their components, to vary task characteristics, and/or to consider the strategies that individuals can employ in performing the tasks.     

Speech disturbances in presenile dementia related to local cerebral blood flow abnormalities in the dominant hemisphere

Ten female patients, age 50–70 years, suffering from presenile dementia and showing signs of defective speech function were analyzed. All patients underwent measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) by the xenon clearance technique using a 32-detector piece of equipment, and all showed a marked reduction of the hemisphere mean blood flow level. In addition, regional decreases of blood flow of the gray matter was demonstrated. Patients with a marked reduction in the temporo-parieto-occipital regions showed signs of receptive aphasia including alexia and agraphia. Patients with a marked frontal reduction showed signs of expressive aphasia of various types including stereotyped language, voluble speech, echolalia, and mutism in later stages. The results give further support to our previous conclusion that subsymptoms of presenile dementia, apparently also speech disturbances, can be related to local degenerative changes in the brain, which in their turn are accompanied by local reductions of the blood flow of the gray matter. There is pathoanatomical evidence to support this conclusion.     

Impairment of auditory perception and language comprehension in dysphasia

Men with chronic focal brain wounds were examined for their ability to discriminate complex tones, synthesized steady-state vowels, and synthesized consonant—vowel syllables. Subjects with left hemisphere damage, but not right hemisphere damage, were impaired in their ability to respond correctly to rapidly changing acoustic stimuli, regardless of whether stimuli were verbal or nonverbal. The degree of impairment in auditory processing correlated highly with the degree of language comprehension impairment. The pattern of impairment of the group with left hemisphere damage on these perceptual tests was similar to that found in children with developmental language disorders.