Mentally retarded individuals outperform college graduates in judging the nonconservation of space and perimeter

Most adults of average and superior intelligence incorrectly assume that in a two dimensional figure two attributes, area, and perimeter, are locked in a fixed relationship such that if one remains unchanged so does the other. Consequently, when they correctly conserve one attribute during shape transformation, they incorrectly conserve the other. Mentally retarded individuals assume no such fixed relationship but depend exclusively on perceptual information. Although this dependence adversely effects their judgment of conservation, it allows them to correctly judge the changed state of the nonconserved attribute.     

Parental defense style and child competence: A match-mismatch hypothesis

This study sought to explore the possible relationship between parental style of psychological defense and children's social competence in 50 families in which one parent had been hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder. Based upon a formal analysis of the logical transformations inherent in various defense mechanisms, three levels of complexity of defenses were identified, along with a counterpart set of cognitive operations necessary for decoding these defense levels. It was hypothesized that children lacking the requisite cognitive skills to grasp the logical complexities of their disturbed parent's primary mode of psychological defense would be less socially adjusted and judged less competent than children who could understand the defensive transformations of their parent. The results suggested that children who, due to their cognitive immaturity, are potentially     

Holland high point social types: Is consistency related to persistence and achievement?

This study concerns Social personality types and assesses the relationship of Holland's secondary construct of consistency to persistence in college and academic achievement. The sample consisted of 211 Social subjects who completed the Self Directed Search (SDS) as college freshmen in 1970. Evidence of persistence/nonpersistence and cumulative grade point averages were determined from college records. Hypotheses concerned the relationship of consistency to (a) termination status (persistence/nonpersistence), and (b) cumulative grade point average, for both persisters and nonpersisters. Results indicate that the relationship between consistency and termination status was significant, with high- and medium-consistency subjects persisting in college at a higher rate than low-consistency subjects. The relationship between consistency and CGPA was also significant. Results indicate that for both persisters and nonpersisters in college, subjects with higher levels of consistency achieve higher CGPAs than do subjects with lower levels of consistency. Implications of these findings for academic retention and counseling, as well as for future research, are indicated.     

Visual and verbal modes of information processing and their relation to the effectiveness of cognitively-based anxiety-reduction techniques

This study examined the interaction between preferred modes of information processing (visual and verbal) and two cognitively-based anxiety-reduction techniques. One technique was based on the use of images as a coping strategy while the other employed a self-instructional approach. Thirty-six subjects reporting high levels of dental fear were assigned to one of three groups (two types of treatment and a no-treatment control). One-half of the subjects in each group had been identified as preferring the visual mode of information processing while for the other half the verbal mode was preferred. After treatment, subjects viewed an anxiety-inducing videotape depicting a visit to the dentist. Results indicated that, while both treatments were significantly effective in reducing self-reports of discomfort while viewing the videotape, there was no significant interaction between the type of treatment and preferred cognitive mode. The results were interpreted as indicating that treatment may override individual cognitive styles. Furthermore, the data suggested that the normal individual has the ability to adapt to divergent and non-preferred forms of information processing.     

Tower of Hanoi performance of retarded young adults and nonretarded children as a function of solution length and goal state

Three experiments were conducted with the Tower of Hanoi task to assess problem solving ability in 6-, 7-, 8-, and 10-year-old nonretarded children and mentally retarded young adults of varying maturational ages. In Experiment 1 we gradually reduced the number of moves required for solution until subjects could solve the 3-disk tower-ending problem. Although all groups experienced difficulty with the standard 7-move problem, all but the trainable retarded group readily solved the 6-move problem. The trainable group did not reach a comparable level of success until the 4-move problem. On the 7-move problem the retarded groups performed at the level of nonretarded groups that were maturationally $\text{1}\text{1}\text{2}$ to 3 years younger. An analysis of first moves indicated that subject groups differed in the strategies they used to solve the problems. In Experiment 2, practice effects were ruled out as a source of the superior performance on the 6- than on the 7-move problem. In Experiment 3, 7- and 10-year-old nonretarded children and mentally retarded young adults did not differ on 5-move problems in which configuration of the goal states was varied. A comparison of all 5-move problems judged to have the same depth of search requirements indicated that the tower-ending problems were significantly easier to solve than the partial-tower-ending problems, which in turn were easier than the flat-ending problems. A limited depth of search capacity sets boundaries on the use of sophisticated strategies and, to a large extent, accounts for the retarded groups' maturational lag.     

Reliability of alcohol abusers' self-reports of drinking behavior.

The test-retest reliability of alcohol abusers' self-reports of their daily drinking and daily drinking, alcohol-related incarcerations and their drinking problem history were highly reliable (r = +0.79 to +0.98). Limits on the generalizability of these finclings are discussed. ing dispositions for the 360-day period preceding admission to treatment. Results indicated that. over a 6-week test-retest interval, outpatient male alcohol abusers' self-reports of their daily drinking, alcohol-related incarcerations and their drinking problem history were highly reliable (r = +0.79 to +0.98). Limits on the generalizability of these finclings are discussed.