Comparison of social time-out and activity time-out procedures in suppressing ethanol self-administration in alcoholics

The experiments compared the potencies of three different contingent time-out procedures for suppressing drinking in alcoholics, and also compared two different experimental methodologies for conducting such studies. In a residential research ward setting fourteen volunteer chronic alcoholics were given daily access to 17 alcoholic drinks provided that a minimum of 40 min elapsed between receiving successive drinks. Each drink contained 1 oz 95-proof ethanol in orange juice. During the baseline condition subjects were free to drink with no behavioral restrictions. However during the time-out conditions, specific behavioral restrictions were imposed on the subjects for the 40-min period following receipt of each drink. The results showed that Social time-out suppressed drinking to 71 per cent of baseline conditions, while Activity time-out and the combined Social and Activity time-out suppressed intake to 36 and 24 per cent, respectively. The study also demonstrated that similar experimental results were obtained when subjects were continuously exposed to the experimental conditions for a number of consecutive days. or intermittently exposed to different conditions in a mixed order over successive days.     

The role of “irrelevant” derogation in vicarious aggression catharsis: A field experiment

In order to test hypotheses about the occurence of aggression catharsis, a field experiment was conducted in which passengers in taxi cabs served as subjects. En route to each subject's destination, the taxi driver left the cab with the meter operating for an amount of time which resulted in a small or large overcharge (the first independent variable). When the driver returned, subjects read one of four letters which either praised or derogated the driver (the second independent variable) on a relevant or irrelevant dimension (the third independent variable). Subjects' responses confirmed the principal hypothesis on several different atitudinal and behavioral dependent measures: angered subjects tended to complain less often, more often paid the overcharge, and more often left a tip, when they read the irrelevant derogation letter. The results contribute to the delineation of a set of conditions under which vicarious catharsis can be clearly observed.     

Reactions to receiving expected and unexpected help from a person who violates or does not violate a norm

Different factors may affect reciprocity and attraction to an aid-giver. Sixty white South African high school students participated in a “record contest”. Hints provided by the quizmaster enabled them to win a prize. His help was expected or unexpected and, in providing this help, the quizmaster either did or did not violate a specific norm against doing so. It was predicted that recipients of unexpected help would display more reciprocity than recipients of expected help, but that the aid-giver would be derogated only when he behaved in both an unexpected and counternormative way and that, in general, attraction and reciprocity would be unrelated. These hypotheses were supported. They suggest that reciprocity is normally not mediated by attraction and that neither expectancy violation nor counternormative behavior will be itself produce derogation of an aid-giver. They further suggest recipients of unexpected help probably feel more obliged to repay an aid-giver than do recipients of expected help.     

Teacher rated problems and school ability tests in relation to preschool problems and parents'' health information at school start. A study of first-graders

The reliability of assessments at four and six years of age in identifying teacher rated problems in behaviour, concentration, motor skill and school achievement was investigated in a study of first-graders. Relationships between preschool data and school ability tests, and between parents' information at school start and teacher ratings were also studied. Problems noted in preschool and school were often present in more than one area. Multiple problems at four and six years were strong predictors of later school problems, but preschool assessments of separate areas could not in general predict problems in corresponding areas in school. However, cross situational concentration deficits at the age of six did reliably identify concentration problems in the first grade, at the age of seven.     

How Exceptional Is the West? An Investigation of Worldwide Trends in Societal-Average Levels of Religiosity, 1981–2020

Research shows most Western societies became less religious over recent decades. But we know much less about the rest of the world. Is the non-Western world also becoming less religious, as some varieties of secularization theory would lead us to expect? Using 1981-to-2020 World/European Values Survey data from 103 countries, this study describes, and uses mixed-effects models to rigorously estimate, religious trends in eight world regions and five former Soviet and Eastern Bloc (FSEB) subregions. Results indicate that religious decline occurred in Latin America, Central and Baltic Europe, and (recently) in the Mideast and North Africa. But there is little evidence of such decline elsewhere in Asia, Africa, or the FSEB—despite the broad reach of many modernizing social trends. These findings do not lend support to a strong version of secularization theory but may be consistent with some versions of the idea that modernization can make people less religious.     

Emotional,cognitive, and social functioning in children and early adolescents living in post-armed conflict: Testing mediating mechanisms

This study examined whether, and to which extent, the associations between conflict intensity and children's and early adolescents' functioning problems were mediated through parental harsh discipline in a post-armed conflict setting. Data from 9623 Iraqi mothers and their children who participated in UNICEF MICS showed that the associations between conflict intensity, parental discipline and child functioning were similar for children and early adolescents. Higher conflict intensity was indirectly associated with increased anxiety and depression, greater learning and cognitive difficulties, and greater social and behavioural problems through parental harsh discipline. The proportion mediated effect sizes emphasised the importance of parent-focused interventions in improving child and adolescent functioning outcomes in conflict-affected populations.     

The educational pyramid: A model for community intervention

Urban adolescents represent a group who are at special risk for a variety of psychological and behavioral problems. A life skills program was implemented with middle and high school students, using an educational pyramid approach to maximize the ecological appropriateness of the intervention and to increase the likelihood that the program will be continued with progressively lessened university facilitation. Additionally, the educational pyramid offers the opportunity for all participants—university faculty, graduate students, collaborating professionals in the community, and high school leaders—to be both teachers and learners.     

What are the Marital Problems of Happy Couples? A Multimethod,Two-Sample Investigation

How couples handle marital conflict may depend on what issues they are facing, as some issues may be more difficult to resolve than others. What is unclear, however, is what issues happy couples face and how these issues may be different for couples depending on their developmental stage. To explore this possibility, the current study used both self-reports and observations drawn from two separate samples of happily married couples—one early in middle adulthood (N = 57 couples; average marital duration = 9 years) and one in older adulthood (N = 64 couples; average marital duration = 42 years). Results indicated that all issues were relatively minor, but early middle-aged couples reported more significant problems than did older couples. As to determining the most salient topic for happy couples, it depended on the spouses’ gender, developmental stage, and how salience was assessed (i.e., highest rated issue vs. most discussed issue). Only moderate links were found between what happy couples said was their most serious concern and what they actually tried to resolve during observations of marital problem-solving, but there were differences in how spouses behaved based on the proportion of their time discussing certain topics. Findings suggest that more attention should be devoted to understanding what marital issues happy couples discuss and why, as doing so may reveal how couples maintain their marital happiness.     

A study of student assessment of the lexical and emotional characteristics of cancer-related words

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to clarify students’ knowledge and emotional feelings about words used in the announcement of cancer diagnoses.MethodA total of 465 students registered in a higher education institution rated familiarity, valence and arousal, and responded to questions about the definition and the contextual use of 20 cancer-related target words.ResultsThe words were estimated as being unfamiliar and negative, and were poorly defined by the majority of students. Many of these indicators varied according to whether the students reported having a relative diagnosed with cancer, and to their level of vocabulary.DiscussionThis study provides explanatory leads that should help to shed light on the nature of the difficulties students have in understanding medical messages.     

The longitudinal associations between personal belief in a just world and teacher justice among advantaged and disadvantaged school students

The Just World Hypothesis states that people need to believe in a just world in which they get what they deserve and deserve what they get. This study examines the longitudinal associations between personal belief in a just world (BJW), the belief that events in one's own life are just and teacher justice in different status groups. It is posited that the more individuals believe in a personal just world, the more they feel they are treated justly by others, and this should be particularly true for students with a low-status background. Longitudinal questionnaire data were obtained from students with German and Turkish/Muslim backgrounds over a period of 3–4 months. The pattern of results revealed that personal BJW was important for the Turkish/Muslim students in evaluating teachers as more just over a given period of time, but not for the German students. That is, the buffering effect of personal BJW was crucial for the disadvantaged students.