A preventive,psychoeducational approach to increase perceived social support

Investigated the effects of a 13-week preventive, psychoeducational intervention program to improve perceived social support. Fifty-one, low-perceived support, community residents were randomly assigned to an intervention or wait-list control condition. Intervention subjects received training in social skills and cognitive reframing regarding the self and social relations. The intervention led to increased perceived social support from family, but not from friends. As hypothesized by social cognition models, increases in perceived support appeared to be mediated by changes in self-esteem and frequency of self-reinforcement. Further, such changes in cognition about the self were larger than the changes observed for perceived support, suggesting that it may be easier to change cognition about the self than perceptions of support.     

Cultural attitudes: in contexts of argumentation and explanation

Traditionally, attitudes are supposed to predict behavior. However, due to their poor performance, we are sometimes advised to abandon the notion. The present study attempts to preserve the concept but takes attitudes to be evaluative goals accomplished through interactional, especially argumentative and explanatory activities. The paper uses reasoned-discourse analysis and demonstrates the attainment of positive attitudes towards the Dutch by expatriate Chinese intellectuals in the Netherlands by attending to a variety of argumentative and explanatory strategies in their interview talk. Results suggest that there is good empirical reason to believe that attitudes are accomplishments of communicating actors' rhetorical contextualizations.     

Socialization for the democratic personality in modern society

A comprehensive analysis of socialization requires a complex model that both explicates and synthesizes the various subprocesses involved in this phenomenon. Traditional concerns with socialization that have focused almost exclusively on its objective functions, that is, on those which serve society and its institutions, need to be complemented by an equal emphasis on subjective functions in terms of the sociological and psychological development of the individual. Chiefly relevant in this latter respect is the production of basic human needs and the consequences that result from their inadequate gratification in unauthentic and/or unresponsive societies. One such outcome that is particularly crucial to both personal and societal function is that of alienation, which can be assessed specifically in terms of its significance for civic participation. Our model recognizes the limits of both human systems and social systems; and, in terms of the principles of authenticity and responsivity, it articulates the linkage among these systems constituting the essence of socialization. Our model also provides an implicit clarification of the nature and meaning of citizenship in a democracy, which by definition should be a responsive society, and delineates the required sociopsychological images for maximizing the role of political participation.     

Differential effects of cognitive behavior modification on seriously emotionally disturbed adolescents exhibiting internalizing or externalizing problems

This study examined the differential effects of a school-based cognitive behavior modification intervention on (a) the interpersonal/social skills and (b) the social competence and school adjustment of two groups of middle school students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed. One groups of students exhibited internalizing emotional problems and the other group exhibited externalizing emotional problems. The objective of the study was to investigate whether the effectiveness of a school-based cognitive behavior modification intervention was significantly related to the type of emotional disturbance a student exhibits (i.e. internalizing or externalizing emotional disturbance). The sample consisted of an experimental and a control group of middle school students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed. The intervention was implemented in 23 biweekly 42-minute sessions. The results indicated that teacher ratings of student social competence and school adjustment were sensitive to treatment effects, although students' social skills self-ratings were not significantly affected by the treatment. A differential treatment effect was established in that externalizing students were significantly more responsive than internalizing students.     

整体汉字字形识别过程探索

本研究用微观发生范式探索了整体汉字和人工字的字形识别过程 ,主要获得以下结果 :1真字和人工字的正确提取率随呈现时间增长而提高 ,字形刺激的特征提取是一个有序的发展过程 ,字形识别加工受字特性 (真字与人工字 )和笔划数因素影响。2在以“十”为骨架和以“囗”为包围结构的字刺激中经常首先提取“十”或“囗”,而且首特征“十”或“囗”的提取不受字形熟悉性影响 ;笔划数变量仅对含“十”特征的字刺激的首特征提取产生影响。3在以上两类汉字中 ,“十”或“囗”作为首特征提取促进了字形识别加工过程。     

Social reinforcement of operant behavior in rats: a methodological note.

An apparatus was developed to study social reinforcement in the rat. Four Long-Evans female rats were trained to press a lever via shaping, with the reinforcer being access to a castrated male rat. Responding under a fixed-ratio schedule and in extinction was also observed. Social access was found to be an effective reinforcer. When social reinforcement was compared with food reinforcement under similar conditions of deprivation and reinforcer duration, no significant differences were observed.     

Varying the temporal placement of a drinking opportunity in a fixed-interval schedule.

Three rats, lever pressing for food delivered on a fixed-interval 128-s schedule, were presented with a 16-s opportunity to drink from a retractable water source. The temporal placement of the water probe within the reinforcement cycle was varied sequentially, in steps of 16 s. Although the lever-pressing pattern was modulated by the intercalated water probe, water consumption during the probe itself was a decreasing function of time from the following reinforcer. These results were interpreted as evidence against the notion that schedule-induced drinking is a "ubiquitous" phenomenon and are congruent with results from other "intruded stimulus" experiments.     

Social epistemology and reflexivity: Two versions of how to be really useful

This essay argues that the really useful character of reflexivity is that it enables a radical critique of representation and its conventional material and rhetorical practices. It is uniquely able to produce paradox and thus disrupt discourses by undermining authorial privilege. Because Fuller's social epistemology is insensitive to its own reflexive implications, and limits itself to normative questions about knowledge policy, it is too limited — and limiting — to provide a context that can nurture reflexivity.     

Cooperative learning revisited

The endeavor to teach academic skills known as cooperative learningis of interest to behavioral educators due to its record of effectiveness, its use of behavioral procedures, and its relatively widespread adoption by regular educators. All forms of cooperative learning emphasize operations that encourage students to work together to achieve commonly held goals rather than competing with or ignoring the efforts of others. Despite the apparent soundness of the approach, the present commentary raises several issues. First, it states that some cooperative learning proponents fail to describe the behavioral processes underlying the approach. Second, it is pointed out that it is unclear whether cooperative learning is an independent or dependent variable. Given that cooperative learning applies group contingencies to academic behavior, the question is raised as to whether group contingencies do, in fact, produce desirable social interactions, and whether group contingencies are appropriate for academic behaviors. A concern is also raised as to whether the spontaneous peer tutoring generated by cooperative learning compares favorably with planned peer tutoring. Finally, it is claimed that the minor variations from academic group contingencies that cooperative learning proponents have introduced do not require identifying a new process.     

The effect of token reinforcement on McCarthy Scale performance for white preschoolers of low and high social position

In Study 1, the effect of making tokens contingent on correct performance of low social position preschoolers on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilitieswas examined. Preschoolers in a token reinforcement group scored significantly higher (mean=8 IQ points) than subjects in a control group. In Study 2, the effect of tokens on McCarthyresults was examined as a function of social position in a 2×2 design. The high social position control group scored significantly above the low social position control. The low social position token reinforcement group, however, performed as well as both the high social position control and token reinforcement groups. Use of systematic reinforcement contingencies to reduce test error is discussed.