Outcome predictors in the behavioral treatment of stuttering

The MMPI and subscales of the Stuttering Severity scale were utilized to predict motivation and success in the behavioral treatment of 32 stutterers. Subjects spent a mean of 10 individual sessions in criterion-oriented learning of fluent speech based on speech-muscle relaxation aided by EMG visual biofeedback. Judged motivation and judged success were strongly related to each other and significantly related to MMPI K and Es scores and negatively to F and Sc. Actual success was negatively related to Sc and Pd, completely unrelated to Es, and (if anything) negatively related to K. Results are consistent with previous studies, and show that global judgements of progress were only minimally related to a measure of actual progress.     

Development of cerebral dominance: dichotic listening asymmetry in normal and learning-disabled children

The magnitude of the dichotic right-ear advantage was assessed in 48 normal and 48 learning-disabled children representing an age range of approximately 5 years. All subjects were matched according to age, sex, and handedness. An analysis of results indicated a significant right-ear advantage in both the normal and learning-disabled children, but revealed no developmental trends for either group. Differences observed in the performance of the learning-disabled and normal children may reflect variability in selective attention rather than differences in the degree of cerebral lateralization. These results suggest a need for a reconceptualization of the causative factors affecting children with learning disorders and lend support to the notion that cerebral lateralization is not a developmental phenomenon.     

Dual effects of response blocking following avoidance learning

It was shown that either enhanced or decreased avoidance responding by rats could be produced by the same response blocking procedure occurring after avoidance training. The particular result produced depended on (1) the duration of the blocking trial and (2) when during the retention interval the blocking trial occurred. Results were interpreted in terms of a memory reactivation explanation and implications for the therapeutic uses of extinction were discussed.     

Proof-Theoretic Modal PA-Completeness III: The Syntactic Proof

This paper is the final part of the syntactic demonstration of the Arithmetical Completeness of the modal system G; in the preceding parts [9] and [10] the tools for the proof were defined, in particular the notion of syntactic countermodel. Our strategy is: PA-completeness of G as a search for interpretations which force the distance between G and a GL-LIN-theorem to zero. If the GL-LIN-theorem S is not a G-theorem, we construct a formula H expressing the non G-provability of S, so that ⊢_GL-LIN ∼ H and so that a canonical proof T of ∼ H in GL-LIN is a syntactic countermodel for S with respect to G, which has the height θ(T) equal to the distance d(S, G) of S from G. Then we define the interpretation ξ of S which represents the proof-tree T in PA. By induction on θ(T), we prove that ⊢_PA S^ξ and d(S, G) > 0 imply the inconsistency of PA. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Jewish Adolescents Following a Brief Exposure to Concentration Camps

We investigated the psychological impact of an organized visit to Polish concentration camps on Jewish-American adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents who participated in a B'nai B'rith memorial visit to concentration camps in Poland completed measures of general psychological adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four time-points: pretest, posttest, 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Measures included the SCL-90-R, the Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) for PTSD. On the SCL-90-R, changes in somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety were observed over time, with peak symptom scores at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Scores on the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the IES Intrusion subscale also increased at 6-months. Predictors of PTSD symptoms on the Mississippi Scale included previous psychiatric treatment and SCL-90-R symptoms of paranoia, depression, and psychosis. Elevated psychotic symptoms on the SCL-90-R predicted PTSD symptoms on the IES. Jewish adolescents with preexisting symptoms of generalized distress or psychoticism appeared at increased risk for PTSD symptoms following exposure to Holocaust stimuli. This study contributes a prospective, multi-measure assessment of trauma reactions in adolescents.     

Variable-interval schedules of timeout from avoidance

Rats were trained on concurrent schedules in which pressing one lever postponed shock and pressing the other occasionally produced a 2-min timeout during which the shock-postponement schedule was suspended and its correlated stimuli were removed. Throughout, the shock-postponement schedule maintained proficient levels of avoidance. Nevertheless, in Experiment 1 responding on the timeout lever was established rapidly, was maintained at stable levels on variable-interval schedules, was extinguished by withholding timeout, was reestablished when timeout was reintroduced, and was brought under discriminative control with a multiple variable-interval extinction schedule of timeout. These results are in contrast with Verhave's (1962) conclusion that timeout is an ineffective reinforcer when presented to rats on intermittent schedules. In Experiment 2 the consequence of responding on the timeout lever was altered so that the shock-postponement schedule remained in effect even though the stimulus conditions associated with timeout were produced for 2 min. Responding extinguished, indicating that suspension of the shock-postponement schedule, not stimulus change, was the source of reinforcement. By establishing the reinforcing efficacy of timeout with standard variable-interval schedules, these experiments illustrate a procedure for studying negative reinforcement in the same way as positive reinforcement.     

论西周时期的道德教化及其历史影响

"以德配天"的天人论思想以及"明德慎罚"的主张,是西周时期实施道德教化的理论前提和宗旨。从内容上看,这一时期的道德教化主要包括政德教化、王室教化和民众教化,其教化内容、方式与体制也各具特色,这对我国儒家德教思想、传统治国方略和蒙养教育等优良传统的形成和家训演进都产生了广泛而深远的影响。     

Need for Cognitive Closure and Conservative Political Beliefs: Differential Mediation by Personal Worldviews

The paper investigates the relationships between motivated social cognition (need for cognitive closure), personal worldviews (traditional, modern, or postmodern), and conservative political beliefs. The relationships were analyzed in a sample of 189 Polish adults. High need for closure was associated with support for both traditional and modern worldviews. Although different in content (i.e., endorsing different values and assumptions about the methods and limits of cognition), the worldviews share similar formal characteristics: Both assume the absolute nature of values and the existence of definite truths. However, acceptance of the traditional worldview was related to political conservatism (i.e., support for nationalist and isolationist opinions and a stronger role for traditional, religious values in public life), whereas acceptance of the modern worldview was associated with a rejection of conservative political beliefs. Moreover, personal worldviews mediated the relationship between need for closure and political beliefs: Support for social conservatism was mediated by acceptance of the traditional worldview, whereas acceptance of the modern worldview predicted rejection of conservative values.     

Development of differences in response latencies to right and left visual fields

Robust lateralization developed in right-handed adults who were asked to judge letter pairs as "same" or "different" during 4608 trials. By the end of the first two blocks (768 trials) "same" responses were favored when presented in the RVF (transmitted directly to the left hemisphere) and "different" responses were favored when presented in the LVF (transmitted direction to the right hemisphere). This gradually reversed over sessions with "same" responses becoming faster for letters presented in the LVF, and "different" responses becoming faster for stimuli presented in the RVF. The laterality acquired under these conditions was cumulative and reproducible, appeared in all 16 subjects, and was preserved between sessions a week apart. The data suggest that laterality is a flexible and reversible characteristic of the human brain even when stimulus and task remain constant.     

Interpersonal problem solving in preschool children: A comparison of assessment procedures using two-dimensional versus three-dimensional stimuli

Two procedures for assessing the social problem-solving strategies of young children were compared: a traditional measure using pictorial stimuli and an alternative measure in which problems were presented using three-dimensional props. Subjects were 48 preschool children ages 3, 4 and 5. Using a counterbalanced, repeated measures design, the two tasks were presented to the children on consecutive days. Children also received the PPVT, and teacher ratings of behavioral adjustment were completed. Children gave more responses and suggested a greater variety of problem-solving strategies when tested with props than when tested with pictures. Response differences to the two testing procedures were greatest for children who were rated by their teachers as impulsive. Results are discussed in terms of the representational competence of the preschool child. Implications of the findings for intervention strategies also are discussed.