Stimulus equivalence: testing Sidman's (2000) theory

Sidman's (2000) theory regarding the origin of equivalence relations predicts that a reinforcing stimulus common to distinct equivalence classes must drop out of the equivalence relations. This prediction was tested in the present study by arranging class-specific reinforcers, R1 and R2, following correct responding on the prerequisite conditional discriminations (Ax-Bx, Cx-Bx) for two stimulus classes, A1B1C1 and A2B2C2. A class-common reinforcer, R3, was presented following correct responding on the prerequisite conditional discriminations for a further two stimulus classes, A3B3C3 and A4B4C4. Sidman's theory predicts reinforcer inclusion within Classes 1 and 2 only, given this training arrangement. Experiment 1 tested for the emergence of four equivalence classes and of stimulus-reinforcer and reinforcer-stimulus relations in each class. Four of the 6 subjects demonstrated the reinforcer-based relations in all four equivalence classes, rather than in only those classes with a class-specific reinforcer, as Sidman's theory predicts. One of the remaining 2 subjects showed the reinforcer-based relations in three of the four classes. Experiment 2 extended these findings to document the emergence of interclass matching relations based on the common reinforcer R3, in 5 of 6 subjects, such that a Class 3 sample occasioned the selection of a Class 4 sample when the Class 3 comparison was absent, and similarly, a Class 4 sample occasioned the selection of a Class 3 comparison when the Class 4 comparison was absent. These interclass relations emerged despite the simultaneous maintenance of Class 3 and 4 baseline conditional discriminations, so that the Class 3 and 4 stimuli and reinforcer simultaneously were, and were not, part of a single larger equivalence class. These data are irreconcilable with Sidman's theory, and question the utility of the application of the equivalence relation in describing derived stimulus relations.     

Reduced goal specificity is associated with reduced memory specificity in depressed adults

Models of autobiographical memory suggest a close association between memories, future imagination and setting specific personal goals. However this association has yet to be tested with depressed individuals. The aim of this study was to examine whether the specificity of remembering past and imagining future personal events is associated with the specificity of approach and avoidance goals in depressed individuals. Two samples comprising adults who met criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD; N=30) and adults who had no prior history or current depression (N=30) completed autobiographical memory and future event tests, and a personal goal task. In the depressed sample, the specificity with which participants remembered the past was significantly associated with the specificity with which they generated future goals. The depressed sample also elicited fewer specific approach and avoidance goals compared to the non-depressed sample. These findings suggest that an overgeneral memory deficit extends to impairments in goal specificity.     

Alcohol‐Related Consequences Among Intercollegiate Student Athletes: The Role of Drinking Motives

This study examined drinking motives as predictors of alcohol‐related consequences among student athletes and nonathletes. Results indicated that the highest level of alcohol‐related consequences was reported by student athletes with high levels of both coping and conformity motives.     

Great expectations for Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods

In Big Gods (2013), Ara Norenzayan argues that the rise of large-scale societies was made possible by an extension of small-scale religious prosociality, presided over (and enforced) by Big moralizing watchful Gods. While religious prosociality is, of course, a redundant characterization of any small-scale religious group, it is doubtful that its extension can account for the historical emergence of large-scale societies, nor can cooperation be explained as an effect of surveillance. Rather, the archaeological and historical record indicates that such large-scale expansions of human societies are better explained by economic factors, political power, and/or military force. Difficulties with Norenzayan's theory are explored and several alternative theories to his ‘neglect of history’ are suggested.     

Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Arrest Rates Across Recent Studies

Efforts by women's rights activists, concomitant with results of research studies and court cases, have prompted legal reforms in public policy that include recently implemented mandatory arrest and prosecution laws. A review of the recent research since the advent of these laws suggests that arrests of women have increased by 25–35%, while the most liberal estimate is that only 1–7% of all IPV arrests are of actual female primary batterers, suggesting that victim arrests are on the rise. Various factors contribute to officers arresting not only primary batterers but victims as well, creating confusion and resentment over mandatory arrest policies. The negative implications of this arrest pattern are far-reaching because errant arrests hold negative consequences for victims, including legal, financial, employment, and familial repercussions.     

Sexual Contact Between Psychologists and Patients

Summary

This article discusses sexualized dual relationships between psychologists and patients, including both sexual contacts while treatment is in progress and after its termination. The reported prevalences of sexual contact between psychologists and patients and between psychologists and former patients are discussed as well as practitioners attitudes towards these two types of relationships. The profiles of both psychologists and patients likely to be involved are outlined as are the clinical and professional consequences of these behaviours. Finally, the APA Ethics Code (2002) is examined to determine whether its inclusions in these areas are adequate and to shed more light on clinicians' continued roles and responsibilities even after treatments have concluded.     

Finding The Positives in Psychology: What Are We Doing?

The purpose of this article is to delineate some of the consequential aspects of the intrinsic duality that is created in the pursuit of knowledge around positive psychological and asset-based constructs. I will reflect on what we have learned during studies in educational psychology that focused on assets and strengths, by drawing on highlights from particularized studies. I will then specifically problematize the use of the asset-based approach in educational psychology, by pointing out key challenges encountered at the coalface of knowledge creation in the asset-based approach and Positive Psychology. The article concludes with suggestions for pathways of inquiry, with specific reference to the questions we might be asking. Sensitivity to the discourses we construct in our psychological endeavours, and multi-layered, complex understandings is preferenced.     

Age-related positivity effects and autobiographical memory detail: Evidence from a past/future source memory task

This study investigated whether the age-related positivity effect strengthens specific event details in autobiographical memory. Participants retrieved past events or imagined future events in response to neutral or emotional cue words. Older adults rated each kind of event more positively than younger adults, demonstrating an age-related positivity effect. We next administered a source memory test. Participants were given the same cue words and tried to retrieve the previously generated event and its source (past or future). Accuracy on this source test should depend on the recollection of specific details about the earlier generated events, providing a more objective measure of those details than subjective ratings. We found that source accuracy was greater for positive than negative future events in both age groups, suggesting that positive future events were more detailed. In contrast, valence did not affect source accuracy for past events in either age group, suggesting that positive and negative past events were equally detailed. Although ageing can bias people to focus on positive aspects of experience, this bias does not appear to strengthen the availability of details for positive relative to negative past events.     

Remembering the past and imagining the future: Differences in event specificity of spontaneously generated thought

A growing interest has emerged in the role that autobiographical memory retrieval plays in simulation of future events. Cognitive explorations in this domain have generally relied on cue word paradigms with instructions to develop specific (relating to one particular day) memories or future events. However, the usefulness of this paradigm has been questioned with respect to its ability to assess habitual patterns of retrieval within autobiographical memory. The current study investigated similarities and differences in how participants spontaneously remember the past and imagine the future when the specificity constraints inherent in the cue word task are removed. A total of 93 undergraduate students completed two sentence-completion tasks, probing for past and future events. A number of differences emerged between past and future thought; in particular, they were less specific when simulating future events compared with past events. This reduction in specificity was the result of participants producing more future thoughts relating to extended lifetime periods and semantic associates. The findings are discussed in relation to the underlying cognitive processes involved in autobiographical memory retrieval and future event simulation.