Similar effects of visual perception and imagery on simple reaction time

A longstanding issue is whether perception and mental imagery share similar cognitive and neural mechanisms. To cast further light on this problem, we compared the effects of real and mentally generated visual stimuli on simple reaction time (RT). In five experiments, we tested the effects of difference in luminance, contrast, spatial frequency, motion, and orientation. With the intriguing exception of spatial frequency, in all other tasks perception and imagery showed qualitatively similar effects. An increase in luminance, contrast, and visual motion yielded a decrease in RT for both visually presented and imagined stimuli. In contrast, gratings of low spatial frequency were responded to more quickly than those of higher spatial frequency only for visually presented stimuli. Thus, the present study shows that basic dependent variables exert similar effects on visual RT either when retinally presented or when imagined. Of course, this evidence does not necessarily imply analogous mechanisms for perception and imagery, and a note of caution in such respect is suggested by the large difference in RT between the two operations. However, the present results undoubtedly provide support for some overlap between the structural representation of perception and imagery.     

Correcting distorted perception of sleep in insomnia: a novel behavioural experiment?

Patients with primary insomnia overestimate their sleep onset latency (SOL) and underestimate their total sleep time (TST). The present study aimed to test the utility of a novel behavioural experiment designed to correct distorted perception of sleep among patients diagnosed with primary insomnia. Individuals with primary insomnia were asked to wear an actigraph and keep a sleep diary for three nights. On the following day, half were shown the discrepancy between the data recorded on the actigraph and their sleep diary (Shown-Discrepancy Group), the other half were not shown the discrepancy (No-Demonstration Group). Participants were then asked to wear the actigraph and keep a sleep diary for three further nights. Following the behavioural experiment, the Shown-Discrepancy Group estimated their SOL more accurately and reported less anxiety and preoccupation about sleep compared to the No-Demonstration Group. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

A stress management programme for Crohn's disease

The present study was designed to assess the effectiveness of techniques of behavioural assessment and treatment of Crohn's disease (CD). On the assumption that stress events have a pronounced influence on the life of Crohn's patients, we proposed stress management treatment. This is intended to control stress and improve patients' personal and social competence. Forty-five patients with Crohn's disease were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, two experimental groups: stress management and self-directed stress management, and a control group: conventional medical treatment. The subjects underwent eight individual sessions which were specific to each condition. All subjects completed symptom monitoring diaries. The subjects who received training in stress management experienced a significant post-treatment reduction of tiredness (P < 0.1), constipation (P < 0.1), abdominal pain (P < 0.5) and distended abdomen (P < 0.5). The subjects who received training in self-directed stress management experienced a significant reduction in tiredness (P < 0.1) and abdominal pain (P < 0.5). No significant changes were observed in symptomatology in the conventional medical treatment group. Similar results were obtained in the 12 month follow-up.     

Behavioural development in a matching-to-sample task and token use by an infant chimpanzee reared by his mother

We investigated the behavioural and cognitive development of a captive male infant chimpanzee, Ayumu, raised by his mother, Ai. Here we report Ayumu's achievements up to the age of 2 years and 3 months, in the context of complex computer-controlled tasks. From soon after birth, Ayumu had been present during an experiment performed by his mother. The task consisted of two phases, a matching-to-sample task in which she received token rewards, and the insertion of these tokens into a vending machine to obtain food rewards. Ayumu himself received no reward or encouragement from humans for any of the actions he exhibited during the experiment. At the age of 9 months and 3 weeks, Ayumu performed his first matching-to-sample trial. At around 1 year and 3 months, he began to perform them consistently. Also during this period, he frequently stole food rewards from his mother. At 2 years and 3 months, Ayumu succeeded for the first time in inserting a token into the vending machine. Once he had succeeded in using a token, he performed both phases of the task in sequence 20 times consecutively. The infant's behaviour was not shaped by food rewards but by a strong motivation to copy his mother's behaviour. Our observations of Ayumu thus mirror the learning processes shown by wild chimpanzees.     

The effects of language conditioning on various aspects of anxiety

Staats' three-function learning theory provides the basis for investigating the effects of emotionally-relevant self-verbalizations (SV) on the physiological, subjective-affective and behavioural aspects of anxiety. Using aversive electric UCSs and slides of snakes (CS), anxiety was classically conditioned in 88 volunteer Ss. In 20 subsequent language-conditioning trials (without aversive electric UCSs), the same snakes slides were paired with UCS verbalizations having either positive or negative connotative meanings. Half of the Ss were exposed to a living snake prior to language conditioning. The results show a complete extinction of the conditioned anxiety response in groups with positive SV whereas negative SV impeded extinction; the latter effect could only be found in groups without exposure to snakes prior to language conditioning. In general, the affective evaluation of snakes improved in groups with positive SV and deteriorated in groups with negative SV. However, these effects were more pronounced in groups without exposure to snakes. Although the results indicate that Ss in all groups with positive SV exhibited more approach behaviours than Ss with negative SV, this trend was not statistically significant. The possible relevance of the results for a language-conditioning approach to anxiety reduction is briefly discussed.     

Prediction of Entrepreneurial Success: The Development of a Rating Scale for Entrepreneurial Characteristics

Predicting entrepreneurial success is a complex task, which is performed more or less daily by consultants for small business firms. In this study, the development of an entrepreneurial rating scale designed to assist consultants in assessing the behavioural characteristics of starting entrepreneurs is reported. A model was formulated that incorporates two features of the prediction of entrepeneurial success: (a) entrepreneurial characteristics as well as aspects of the future job (present in the entrepreneurial plan) are appraised, (b) advising is part of the prediction issue, e.g. certain aspects of the entrepreneurial plan may be modified. The model is a variant of‘adaptive selection’, and is partly operationalized in the rating scale for entrepreneurial characteristics. Three studies were conducted with regard to the first feature: judgements on the relevance of situational and behavioural characteristics were obtained from several samples of consultants (N= 38, 23 and 48), and a sample of starting entrepreneurs (N= 61) was rated on behavioural characteristics. The findings indicate that consultants have a common opinion about the behavioural requirements for starting entrepreneurs and that some of these requirements covary with situational characteristics (i.e. general business features). Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the possible design of a validation study.     

Family Therapy and Alternative Medicine: Acupuncture as a Case in Point

Collaboration between family therapists and alternative medicine practitioners is recently cultivated ground that may prove to be fertile territory for the application of family therapy skills. Acupuncture and family therapy are two healing practices that differ in cultural tradition, language, and technique, yet they appear to share some underlying assumptions suggestive of a natural alliance in helping people with a variety of biopsychosociospiritual problems. This paper describes the process of interdisciplinary collaboration between an acupuncturist and family therapist via a clinical vignette, identifying different types of referral situations, and suggesting factors of effective collaboration that can synergistically enhance a patient and family's treatment.     

On the definition of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) has a long history as a behavioral treatment. The term has usually been defined in a manner that suggests one form of behavior (usually some appropriate alternative) is reinforced, while another form of behavior (usually problem behavior) is placed on extinction. In this paper, we will suggest that DRA should not require extinction, either procedurally or by definition. Ideally, problem behavior would be placed on extinction when possible; however, when problem behavior is not or cannot be placed on extinction, the procedure used is still DRA. Thus, we propose the following definition: Providing greater reinforcement, along at least one dimension, contingent on the occurrence of one form or type of behavior, while minimizing reinforcement for another form or type of behavior.