The effects of ethanol intoxication on phobic anxiety

Behavioral conceptions of alcohol abuse often include the hypothesis that drinking behavior is a negatively reinforced operant, with ethanol intoxication viewed as alleviating aversive environmental and internal states. This hypothesis has not been confirmed or refuted by previous studies which employed mild stressors and limited assessment methodology. In the present experiment, 22 patients with severe phobias approached their phobic animal under two consecutive conditions—first while sober and second after drinking either a placebo or an intoxicating dose of ethanol. The severe anxiety induced was assessed behaviorally, physiologically and by the patient's self-report of fear. The intoxicated patients did not experience decreased anxiety, tachycardia or avoidance, compared to the placebo group. These results have clinical implications and suggest the need to reconsider tension-reduction theories of alcohol abuse.     

The utility of verbal and behavioral assessments of value.

Subjects lived in a laboratory apartment for up to 30 days, engaging in ordinary activities such as reading, sewing, and artwork. The amount of time devoted to each activity was recorded and compared with periodic verbal ratings of the amount of time devoted to the activities. The verbal and observational assessments of the time distribution were very similar, but there were some discrepancies. Based on self-reports and on observation of time actually devoted to the activities, contingencies were arranged in which time devoted to one activity produced time available for a second activity. When the contingency relation was based on behavioral assessment, predictions of time redistribution were more accurate than when the relations were based on verbal assessment. The close correspondence between observed distributions of time and verbally assessed distributions was probably due to the well-specified situation and rigorous assessment methods. Contrary to some cognitive-behavioral accounts, the contingency results suggest that verbal assessment is not necessarily preferable to observation when the two make discrepant predictions. It is suggested that verbal reports might be used more often in behavior analysis in place of lengthy or difficult observations, and attention is drawn to a personality model that parallels important components of behavior analysis.     

Implicit attentional orienting in a target detection task with central cues

Studies using Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm have demonstrated that participants can allocate their attention to specific target locations based on the predictiveness of preceding cues. Four experiments were conducted to investigate attentional orienting processes operating in a high probability condition (cues 75% predictive) as compared to a low probability condition (cues 50% predictive) using various types of centrally-presented cues. Spatially-informative cues (arrows and circles with gaps) resulted in cueing effects (CEs) for both probability conditions, with significantly larger CEs in the high probability conditions than the low probability conditions. Participants in the high probability conditions reported little or no awareness of cue–target probabilities after task completion. Our results provide support for an implicit learning account of the proportion valid effect under experimental conditions involving spatially-informative central cues and relatively short stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs).     

The choice of constraints in correspondence analysis

A discussion of alternative constraint systems has been lacking in the literature on correspondence analysis and related techniques. This paper reiterates earlier results that an explicit choice of constraints has to be made which can have important effects on the resulting scores. The paper also presents new results on dealing with missing data and probabilistic category assignment.I am most grateful to the following for their helpful comments. Arto Demirjian, Michael Greenacre, Michael Healy, Shizuhiko Nishisato, Roderick Mcdonald, and several anonymous referees.     

关于两项样例学习心理实验研究报告的分析与评论

对两项关于样例学习心理实验研究的报告进行了逻辑分析,指出了Ross的研究设计的合理性以及莫雷等的 “表面概貌对原理运用的影响的实验研究”中的逻辑欠缺,进而给出了莫雷等的结论“样例与作业问题表面概貌的相似性,不仅会影响原理的通达,而且也会影响原理的运用” 尚不足信的断言,所以只能继续维持Ross的“表面概貌是否相似不影响原理的运用”的结论。最后明确了莫雷等实验研究应该采取的正确设计思路和方法。     

Are the Religiously Observant Discriminated Against in the Rental Housing Market? Experimental Evidence from Israel

In this article, I test for discrimination against the religiously observant in the Israeli rental housing market. I perform a correspondence study where half of the requests have a religious signal (“basad” written at the top of the request), while the other half do not. Because the requests are identical otherwise, differences in call‐back rates represent the causal effect of writing “basad” at the top of the request. I find that requests with a religious signal receive 12 percent fewer positive responses than requests with no such signal, with this differential being greater with female landlords and in cities with more left‐leaning voters, higher mean incomes, and higher education levels.     

Statewide Implementation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis Through a Learning Collaborative Model

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic intervention (EBPI) for adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders that remains under-implemented in the United States (U.S.). There has been little empirical attention on implementation and dissemination strategies for this EBPI. The Learning Collaborative (LC) model is a method of implementing evidence-based practices across agencies and geographic regions that may facilitate CBTp implementation and dissemination in the US.We applied the LC model in an attempt to enhance the accessibility of CBTp in community mental health settings statewide. Providers (N = 56) from 12 agencies voluntarily participated in an in-person, CBTp workshop followed by 6 months of biweekly phone-based consultation sessions (Phase 1). Twenty-one providers opted to participate in an additional 6-month CBTp LC immediately following completion of the initial CBTp LC (Phase 2). Adoption, penetration, provider-perceived skill development, fidelity, as well as provider-perceived implementation barriers were re-assessed during and 6 months after completion of Phase 2.One year after the completion of the Phase 2 LC, 21% of the original trainee group across 3 of the 12 participating agencies continued to offer CBTp to clients. CBTp trainees were treating between one and two clients each. Self-assessed CBTp skills improved modestly over the Phase 2 consultation period. On average, both clinicians and supervisors reached an acceptable fidelity score on the sessions reviewed. Participating providers identified multiple barriers to CBTp implementation, including features of the training and consultation, the agency, the intervention itself, and psychosocial and clinical challenges associated with the client population.Few CBTp implementation studies have applied a framework to CBTp implementation. The authors adapted the LC model in an attempt to promote adoption of CBTp in community mental health clinics across a large, populous state with poor access to mental health services. Identified challenges and recommendations should be considered in future implementation efforts.     

The Salto Vitale Method in Philosophy

Did G. E. Moore prove the existence of things outside us? Philosophers have objected to his proof, but not for good reasons. Since when, for instance, has absolute certainty been the mark of philosophy? But Moore's proof was superfluous, as its conclusion had already been proved previously. (If immanent critique were the only acceptable way to refute a philosophy rationally, “Nothing exists” would be immune from refutation—which is preposterous.)