Selective impairment of masked priming in dual-task performance

This study investigated the impact of divided attention on masked priming. In a dual-task setting, two tasks had to be carried out in close temporal succession: a tone discrimination task and a masked priming task. The order of the tasks was varied between experiments, and attention was always allocated to the first task—that is, the first task was prioritized. The priming task was the second (nonprioritized) task in Experiment 1 and the first (prioritized) task in Experiment 2. In both experiments, “novel” prime stimuli associated with semantic processing were essentially ineffective. However, there was intact priming by another type of prime stimuli associated with response priming. Experiment 3 showed that all these prime stimuli can reveal significant priming effects during a task-switching paradigm in which both tasks were performed consecutively. We conclude that dual-task specific interference processes (e.g., the simultaneous coordination of multiple stimulus–response rules) selectively impair priming that is assumed to rely on semantic processing.     

Altered states of consciousness are related to higher sexual responsiveness

Altered states of consciousness lead to profound changes in the sense of self, time and space. We assessed how these changes were related to sexual responsiveness during sex. 116 subjects reported (a) intensity of awareness concerning body, space and time, and (b) satisfaction, desire, arousal, and orgasm occurrence. We differentiated vaginal intercourse orgasm from noncoital orgasm. Female vaginal intercourse orgasm was further differentiated as with or without concurrent clitoral masturbation. Overall, sexual responsiveness was related to greater body awareness and lesser time and space awareness. Satisfaction, desire, and arousal were especially associated with less time awareness in women. Female orgasms during vaginal intercourse were related to greater body awareness and lesser time awareness, but noncoital orgasms were unrelated. Our findings provide empirical support for the hypotheses that altered states of consciousness with attentional absorption are strongly related to sexual responsiveness in women, and to a lesser extent in men.     

Design as a Tool for Family Evolutionary Guidance

This article begins by describing the impact of systems science on the field of marriage and family therapy, discussing that systems concepts are broadly disseminated but have become diluted. The author describes the educational program at a marriage and family therapy graduate institute where students utilize social systems design in their research projects as well as their work with clients. The article outlines the specifications of the Idealized Systems Design (ISD) teaching system, its relationship with the larger institution, as well as its purposes and systemic functions. Application of ISD to the field of marriage and family therapy is emphasized, demonstrating its use in helping facilitate individual, family, and community health as a research tool as well as a set of intervention tools for the practicing therapist.     

The role of therapy productiveness on MFT clients’ intentions to persist in therapy

Many clients drop out of therapy before reaching their goals (Bohart &; Wade, 2013 Bohart, A. C., &; Wade, A. M. (2013). The client variables in psychotherapy. In M. Lambert (Ed.) Bergin &; Garfield’s Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change. (p. 219–257). New York: Wiley. [Google Scholar]), though being in therapy produces more change than not being in therapy (Lambert, 1992 Lambert, M. J. (1992). Implications of outcome research for psychotherapy integration. In J. C. Norcross &; M. R. Goldfried (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy integration (pp. 94–129). New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]). To investigate the factors that affect clients’ decisions to persist in therapy, we surveyed a convenience sample of 72 clients of MFTs in individual, couple or family therapy currently in treatment in a community-based therapy center. We tested moderation using regression analysis to determine the extent to which productiveness moderates the relationship between therapeutic alliance and intended persistence. Results showed that productiveness moderated the relationship between therapeutic alliance and intended persistence. Specifically, higher levels of therapy productiveness strengthened the relationship between therapeutic alliance and therapy persistence. Implications for future research and practice are presented and discussed.     

为我国心理科学的发展、繁荣和走向世界而奋斗

该文系作者在中国心理学会第稚届全国心理学学术大会上作的工作报告,总结了中国心理学会第六届理事会１９９３－１９９７年的工作,内容包括四个部分：１．积极开展心理学各分支学科的学术活动,促进我国心理科学巽;２．加强心理科学宣传,办好学术和科刊物,出版《中国心理科学》;３．加强与国际交往,我国心理科学开始走向世界;４．坚持民主办会原则,健全学会的组织机构,提高工作效率。     

生殖系基因治疗的技术和伦理问题

生殖系基因治疗是通过对生殖系细胞的基因修饰,给该细胞发育而来的整个有机体及其后代带来永久性的遗传纠正。本文着重对生殖系治疗的现有技术条件,存在技术问题及各种观点作一归纳,主要试图反映生殖系基因治疗的科学背景及当代人的思考,希望有助于人们的思考。     

The relationship between expressed social fears and assertiveness and its treatment implications

Behavior therapists have speculated about the relationship between social fears or social anxieties and lack of assertive behavior. Wolpe (1958) perhaps most clearly suggested such a relationship. “If he [the patient] has been ineffectual in such situations—unable, for instance, to return a faulty garment—I explain how unadaptive fears are at the bottom of this ineffectualness. … p. 116.” Wolpe further assumed that engaging in assertive behavior reciprocally inhibited fear in these same social situations and that assertive responses can be programmed for use in overcoming these fears.In later writings (Wolpe. 1969; Wolpe and Lazarus, 1966) Wolpe seems to have broadened his position concerning the cause of non-assertive behavior. Specifically, he now allows that an individual also may be non-assertive, “… not because of anxiety but because they have never had the opportunity of acquiring the necessary habits. p. 40” (Wolpe and Lazarus, 1966). For these individuals direct efforts in assertive training such as behavior rehearsal, operant conditioning or direct instruction are in order. For these individuals whose lack of assertiveness is due to a ‘phobic reaction’ or strong extrinsic fears, systematic desensitization is recommended in addition to assertive training.Despite this apparent change in position, the intuitively appealing notion that the more socially fearful an individual is the more non-assertive he is likely to be has not received the empirical attention it deserves. Rathus (1973) seems to have provided some indirect evidence pertaining to the relationship between social fears and assertiveness. In the context of evaluating the efficacy of an assertive training method he administered both the 100-item Temple Fear Survey Inventory (TFSI) (Braun and Reynolds, 1969) and the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) (Rathus, 1973) to groups of female students receiving either assertive training, a placebo treatment or no treatment. He found that at post-test the assertive training group scored significantly higher than either the placebo or no treatment groups on the RAS and that there were no significant differences in post-test Full Scale TSFI Scores. Fear of Social Criticism Factor Scores or Fear of Social Incompetence Factor Scores although in each case the mean changes toward less fear were greater for the group receiving assertive training. This finding gives little support to the reciprocal relationship between social fears and assertiveness. What is needed is a direct determination of the degree to which social fears and assertiveness are related in a sizeable sample of subjects.     

Effect of shifts in body weight on rats' straight alley performance as a function of reward magnitude

The performance of rats trained in a straight alley for 55 trials under 75% body weight and then shifted to 90% body weight was compared to that of rats trained only under 90% body weight. When training was with a small reward the speed of the shifted group decreased to the level of the 90% small reward control groups, but when training was with a large reward the speed of the shifted group dropped below the level of the 90% large reward control group. Thus, the effects on performance of shifting deprivation level following extended training depend on the reward magnitude employed.     

Self-versus drug-produced relaxation and the effects of instructional set in standardized systematic desensitization

Snake fearful college students underwent Standardized Systematic Desensitization (SSD) treatment in which they received instructions designed to induce cognitions of either self- or drug-produced relaxation. Half of the subjects in each of these conditions were also given high expectancy therapy instructions and low expectancy therapy instructions respectively. All four SSD groups showed significantly greater improvement than a no-treatment control group on both the behavior avoidance test (BAT) and the self-report measure of fear. No differences between self- and drug-attributions of relaxation were found on any measure. Subjects' high expectancy ratings were significantly correlated with improvement on self-report measures but not related to BAT performance.