Substance use as an employee response to the work environment

A conceptual framework for the examination of alcohol and drug use as employee responses to work environments is proposed. Three sets of substance use antecedents are discussed. These are distancing forces, attractions, and constraints. Examples of these antecedents within the organizational setting are provided, and the dynamic interrelationships among them explored. Conditions for the use of different types of substances are also identified.     

Defensive burying of aversive fluids in rats: The possible role of odor

Defensive burying of flavored fluids paired with lithium chloride injections was examined. Rats showed little inclination to bury conditioned saccharin or salt solutions (Experiments 1 and 2). However, they buried tabasco sauce or dilute milk solutions readily (Experiment 3). It was hypothesized that the amount of olfactory stimulation provided by a solution may determine whether a rat engages in burying. This hypothesis received support in a final experiment which demonstrated that rats readily buried an arbitrarily selected odorous solution which was previously paired with lithium chloride. Thus the present experiments begin the process of identifying the circumstances under which burying does and does not occur.     

Defensive burying of aversive fluids in rats: The effects of peripheral anosmia

Three experiments were conducted in order to determine the role of olfactory stimulation in defensive burying of aversive fluids in rats. The results revealed that zinc sulfate-induced anosmia eliminated burying of fluids paired with lithium chloride as well as an inherently aversive solution. This occurred despite the fact that the rats avoided consuming them. These data indicate that defensive burying of aversive fluids is governed by olfactory stimuli and confirms an earlier report, which indicted that burying does not occur in response to aversive gustatory stimuli.     

Effects of preexisting and manipulated self-efficacy on weight loss in a self-control program

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of self-efficacy on weight loss utilizing self-control techniques. Subjects high and low in preexisting self-efficacy were randomly assigned to high or low manipulated self-efficacy groups in a 2 × 2 (preexisting self-efficacy × manipulated self-efficacy) factorial design. Preexisting self-efficacy was assessed using procedures employed byBandura and Adams (1977, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1, 287–308). Selfefficacy was manipulated by having subjects attribute successful task performance to a previously unrecognized capacity for self-control. Subjects met in groups once a week for a total of 8 weeks and received a comprehensive weight control program within the context of self-control. Results indicated significant manipulated and preexisting × trials interactions with both the high manipulated and preexisting self-efficacy groups losing more weight over the 8 weeks than the low preexisting and manipulated groups. In addition, locus of control was predictive of weight loss, with internals tending to lose more weight than externals. Results are discussed in terms of Bandura's (1977, Psychological Review, 84, 191–215) theory of self-efficacy.     

Empirical derivation of SVIB-Holland scales: A brief report

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank responses of 93 students were used to construct six empirical scales similar to the scales of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory. Scores on the empirical scales were correlated with actual VPI scores. The resulting correlations were compared to coefficients obtained from correlating the intuitive scales designed by Campbell with actual VPI scores. It was concluded that (1) meaningful estimates of VPI profiles can be obtained by scoring selected items from the SVIB and (2) further work with the empirical scales is needed prior to settling on a SVIB scoring procedure for estimating VPI profiles.     

Predicting compliance behavior from moral judgment scales

Two experiments with college males examined the relationship between moral judgment and compliance in a modified Asch paradigm. In Experiment 1 moral judgment was assessed with the written form of Kohlberg's dilemmas. Stage of moral judgment interacted with type of compliance, with Stage 4 subjects showing a compromise response between their own perceptions and the responses of others. In Experiment 2 moral judgment was assessed with Rest's Defining Issues Test. Compliance was found to be negatively related to level of moral judgment. The relationship found between moral judgment and compliance in the two experiments was interpreted in terms of a trend away from external standards and toward internal standards with higher levels of moral judgment.     

Learning from negative outcomes in stuttering therapy: I. Getting off on the wrong foot

Considering the long history of research into stuttering, it is surprising that so little time has been devoted to the study of factors that contribute to the success of therapy. Even less attention has been devoted to uncovering forces that promote poor treatment outcomes. In this article and the companion piece that follows it, an attempt has been made to delineate what may prove to be predictors of unsuccessful therapy. In this first of the two articles, the focus in on the identification of patient, extraclinical, and clinician variables that could act to negate progress during the establishment phase of treatment.     

The predictive validity of Holland's construct of consistency

Holland's construct of consistency was studied for its predictive validity of certain measures of vocational stability. A new measure of consistency used was the difference between two plotted vocational choices on the American College Testing Program's Map of College Majors which 1248 subjects expressed while in high school. This consistency index was found to have no relationship with the similarity of the same subjects' beginning and ending college majors, also measured as a distance on the Map of College Majors. Additionally, no relationship was found to exist between the consistency index and number of college major changes, the number of course withdrawals, academic performance, and scholastic aptitude.