Midi-level measurement of social anxiety in psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples

This paper reports the development and assessment of midi-level behavioral measures of social anxiety in the context of two experiments, one studying an analog student sample, the other a psychiatric sample. Judgments on nine categories of clinically practical midi-level behaviors (e.g. Facial Expression, Orienting, Sense of Timing), based on a review of the literature on human ethology and on pilot research, were compared to global judgments of social anxiety and social skill and to physiological arousal. Intraclass correlations exceeded 0.80 for judgments of the global and midi-level behavioral ratings on both samples. Results of correlational analyses indicated that while there were several significant predictors of global skill and anxiety among the midis, the magnitude of the relationship between midis and globals was stronger for the patient than the student sample. Further analyses based on S's heart rate (HR) reactivity suggested that while global ratings did not significantly predict H R in a high social anxiety situation, one midi-level behavioral rating (self-manipulations) did. The clinical utility of the newly developed measures is discussed with particular attention to their practicality for behavior therapy.     

Effects of simulated stuttering on listener recall

In an investigation of the effects of simulated stuttering on listener recall, a presentation was varied on two factors: degree of stuttering (mild or severe) and information value of stuttered words (low or high). A control presentation featuring non-stuttered speech also was prepared. Five groups of 16 subjects were randomly assigned to, and participated in, one of the five listening conditions. Then they completed a 20-item recall test. A one-way analysis of variance revealed sognificant differences among the five conditions. Two-way analysis of variance disclosed no main effects. However, a significant interaction showed that recall was lowest in the severe stuttering-high information condition. The results are discussed in terms of attention to critical information.     

Henry Freund: 1896–1982

Dr. Henry Freund was one of the foremost authorities on stuttering in Europe, and his contributions on the psychology of the disorder continued after emigrating to this country. He was a neurologist and psychiatrist, as well as a speech pathologist. He died in 1982, and in this posthumous paper he describes his career and personal experiences, while undergoing therapy from the most famous European speech pathologists of his time. He also offers some cogent comments about current therapies and future needs.     

Voice onset time in aphasia: Thai II. Production

The aim of this study was to investigate voice onset time (VOT) production in homorganic word-initial stops in Thai in order to explore the nature of speech production deficits across clinical varieties of aphasia. Thai exhibits a three-category distinction in bilabial (/b,p,ph/) and alveolar (/d,t,t,h/) stops, and a two-category distinction in velar (/k,kh/) stops. Subjects included three Broca asphasics, one transcortical motor asphasic, two global asphasics, one conduction aphasic, one Wernicke aphasic, one nonaphasic dysarthric patient, one right-brain-damaged patient, and five normal controls. Test stimuli consisted of eight monosyllabic real words. The results of VOT measurements indicated that Broca and global asphasics exhibited a more severe production disorder than Wernicke, conduction, or transcortical motor asphasics. The right-brain-damaged patient showed no impairment in VOT production. Comparisons are drawn to earlier studies of VOT production in aphasia in two-category languages. Issues concerning the underlying basis of the production deficit for nonfluent aphasics, fluent aphasics, and nonaphasic dysarthrics as well as the relation between perception and production of VOT are discussed.     

Speech comprehension after unilateral injection of sodium amytal

A unilateral cerebral dominance model predicts that speech comprehension will be disrupted after injection of sodium amytal into one hemisphere but not after the other. This model was supported when an auditory receptive task involving relatively nonredundant stimuli similar to that contained in the Token Test (E. DeRenzi & L. Vignolo, 1962, Brain, 85, 665–687) was administered to 17 epileptic patients undergoing bilateral amytal injections.     

Measurement of adult performance on Piaget's water horizontality task

Three versions of Piaget's water-level-horizontality task (multiple choice, drawing, and apparatus tests) were administered to 121 female and 74 male adult volunteers. Sex differences and container orientation effects were replicated. Men were more accurate than women and horizontal and vertical container orientations evoked more accurate responses than oblique orientation. Reliability estimates ranged from .78 to .97 and correlations among the measures ranged from .78 to .88. The relative merits of alternative water-level testing and scoring methods and the orientation and type of stimuli to be used are discussed.     

The intelligent infant: Theoretical implications

In the present essay, the fact that preferences for visual novelty during infancy are related to later performance on intelligence tests was interpreted to mean that intelligence is continuous from infancy. It was suggested that the bases of both continuity and the general factor in intelligence reside in the same small set of basic cognitive processes. It was also noted that intelligent behavior on the part of the infant raises a question about the relative importance of automatic and effortful processes in intelligence. The development of a valid test of infant intelligence was seen as an aid to clarifying the role of hereditary and environmental influences on intelligence and in furthering our understanding of mental retardation. In brief, the manner in which infants distribute their attention to novel and previously exposed stimuli reveals the origins of cognition. The origins of cognition are the origins of intelligence.     

Message therapy: Language approach to stuttering therapy with children

Message therapy is a clinical procedure designed to be used as a carry-over technique with school-age stutterers or as a sole technique with the preschooler. The focus of therapy is on a unit of communication rather than on the moment or place of stuttering. One of the basic assumptions of the procedure is that the child is beginning to monitor how he/she is speaking rather than what is being communicated (i.e., the “message”)—each task requiring a different cognitive process. The emphasis of the therapy is to redirect the child's attention to “what he/she is saying.” The clinical procedures are discussed as they relate to the specific population.     

A unifying model for the structure of intellectual abilities

Models of the structure of cognitive abilities suggested by Spearman, Thurstone, Guilford, Vernon and Cattell-Horn are reviewed. It is noted that some of the models include a general intellectual factor (g) while others do not. It is also noted that some models are nonhierarchical, while in others more narrow abilities are subsumed under broader abilities in a hierarchical pattern. An empirical study in which a test battery of 16 tests was administered to some 1000 subjects in the 6th grade is reported. Using the LISREL technique to test different models, good support is obtained for oblique primary factors in the Thurstone tradition as well as for the second-order factors fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and general visualization hypothesized by Cattell and Horn. It is also found, however, that the second-order factor of fluid intelligence i is identical with a third-order g-factor. On the basis of these results a three-level model (the HILI-model) is suggested, with the g-factor at the top, two broad factors reflecting the ability to deal with verbal and figural information, respectively, at the second-order level, and the primary factors in the Thurstone and Guilford tradition at the lowest level. It is argued that most previously suggested models are special cases of the HILI-model.     

Altering information to gain action control: Functional aspects of human information processing in decision making

In recent approaches to social judgment, information distortion has been discussed primarily as a violation of individual rationality, due to unintentionally occurring biases. In contrast to this view, it is argued that frequently individuals make purposive use of selective changes in information processing in order to avoid indecisiveness. In this sense, selective changes in information processing may be considered a functional requirement of a volitional process which protects the current intention (or tentative decision) from being replaced by competing behavioral tendencies. On the basis of J. Kuhl's theory of action control (1981, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 155–170; 1982, in W. Hacker, W. Volpert, & M. von Cranach, Eds., Cognitive and Motivational Aspects of Action, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1984, in B. A. Maher, Progress in Experimental Personality Research, Vol. 13, New York: Academic Press) it was predicted that subjects having a high score on the action-control scale (i.e., action-oriented subjects) should show a stronger tendency to increase the attractiveness rating of a tentatively preferred decision during the process of decision making than subjects scoring low on that scale (i.e., state-oriented subjects). To test this assumption, students searching for an apartment were offered 16 apartments along with a list containing information about the alternatives. The subjects had to rate the attractiveness of each apartment twice before they were asked to indicate which apartments they would like to rent. The results confirmed the predictions. It was found that action-oriented subjects increased the divergence of their attractiveness ratings from the first to the second point of evaluation, whereas state-oriented subjects did not.