RELAXATION TREATMENT OF PSEUDOINSOMNIA AND IDIOPATHIC INSOMNIA: AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC EVALUATION

Twenty-nine insomniacs underwent four consecutive sleep laboratory evaluations before and after receiving tension-release relaxation training, no-tension-release relaxation training, or no-treatment. On the basis of the discrepancy between subjective and EEG-defined measures of latency to sleep onset, subjects were classified as pseudoinsomniacs or idiopathic insomniacs. As predicted, tension-release relaxation was significantly more effective than the other two conditions on subjective sleep measures, regardless of insomnia subtype and on objective sleep measures only for idiopathic insomniacs. Subjective improvement was maintained at 12-month followup. Numerous differences between the two subtypes emerged on pretherapy and during-therapy measures distinct from the latency measures, but changes on those variables were unrelated to outcome improvement.     

Self-esteem,race, and job satisfaction

The present study investigated relationships between self-esteem (SE) and job satisfaction among black and white employees. The sample consisted of 523 (45% black) employees of a large, urban school system. There was a positive relationship between SE and job satisfaction for members of both racial groups. In addition, the correlation between need satisfaction and job satisfaction was stronger for high SE persons than for low SE persons. The relationships between two social reference variables (the perceived satisfaction of other employees and improved standard of living) and job satisfaction were, as predicted, stronger for low SE whites than for high SE whites. Among blacks, however, the social reference variables were strongly related to job satisfaction regardless of level of SE.     

A jackknife test of homogeneity of variance with paired replicates data

A nonparametric test of dispersion with paired replicates data is described which involves jackknifing logarithmic transformations of the ratio of variance estimates for the pre- and post-treatment populations. Results from a Monte Carlo simulation show that the test performs well underH _o and has good power properties. Examples are given of applying the procedure on psychiatric data.A referee called our attention to valuable references which related to our work, and he suggested the inclusion of competing jackknife procedures into our studies.     

Avoiding and seeking self-focused attention

Male and female undergraduates read aloud statements about women which were either attitudinally consistent, discrepant, or neutral relative to their attitudes toward women. Following this, they were given the opportunity to choose to wait in front of a mirror or a nonreflecting wall. Subjects engaging in attitudinally discrepant behavior avoided self-focusing stimuli; those engaging in attitudinally consistent behavior sought contact with self-focusing stimuli. Intermediate tendencies to seek or avoid self-focused stimuli were demonstrated by subjects reading attitudinally neutral material. The theory of objective self-awareness was extended by demonstrating that self-focusing stimuli are not just avoided in response to negative discrepancies, but are sought out in response to attitude-behavior consistencies.     

Lower bounds for the reliability of the total score on a test composed of non-homogeneous items: II: A search procedure to locate the greatest lower bound

Finding the greatest lower bound for the reliability of the total score on a test comprisingn non-homogenous items with dispersion matrix Σ _x is equivalent to maximizing the trace of a diagonal matrix Σ _E with elements θ _I , subject to Σ _E and Σ _T =Σ _x − Σ _E being non-negative definite. The casesn=2 andn=3 are solved explicity. A computer search in the space of the θ _i is developed for the general case. When Guttman's λ₄ (maximum split-half coefficient alpha) is not the g.l.b., the maximizing set of θ _i makes the rank of Σ _T less thann − 1. Numerical examples of various bounds are given. Present affiliation of the first author: St. Hild's College of Education, Durham City, England.     

Context specificity of operant discriminative performance in pigeons: II. Necessary and sufficient conditions

Six experiments were performed to explore the necessary and sufficient conditions for producing context specificity of discriminative operant performance in pigeons. In Experiment 1, pigeons learned a successive discrimination (red S+/blue S−) in two chambers that had a particular odor present and between which they were frequently switched. The birds subsequently learned the reversal (blue S+/ red S−) in one of these chambers with a different odor present. When switched to the alternative chamber, although the odor and the reinforcement contingency were still appropriate to the reversal, performance appropriate to the original discrimination recurred in subjects for which the houselights were on during training and testing but not for those for which the houselights were off. This indicated the importance of visual contextual cues in producing context specificity. Experiment 2 showed that the frequent switching between boxes in initial training was of no consequence, presumably because the apparatus cues were highly salient to the subjects. Experiment 3 showed significantly less context specificity when odor cues were omitted. Experiment 4 showed that simply using a different reinforced stimulus in each phase of training was ineffective in producing context specificity. Experiment 5 showed that the generalization test procedure used in Experiment 4 was sensitive to context specificity when discrimination-reversal training was used with different odors in the two training phases. Experiment 6 replicated the results of Experiment 4, but then showed that when different odors accompanied the two training phases, context specificity was obtained with the single-stimulus paradigm. Thus in both single-stimulus and discrimination-reversal paradigms, redundant odor cues potentiated learning about apparatus cues.     

听力正常人与聋人短时记忆的比较研究

以视觉系列呈现,自由回忆的方法比较了听力正常人与聋人对分别被强化的厂类相似性汉语字表的短时记忆获得量。从总的平均获得量来看,两组结果没有显著差异,而从每一编码维量在短时记忆的加工过程中的作用来看,两组被试都显示出了形、义两维编码维量的作用最强,而音码的作用相对比较弱。两组被试也都显示出了明显的系列位置效应,但聋人组的次级记忆容量明显地低于听力正常组,而初级记忆容量两组没有显著差异。并对可能的机制进行了讨论。     

频率差异假设和长时记忆的视优效应

本文包括长时记忆视优效应的三项实验。实验一使用汉语为学习材料,北京人与广东人为被试;实验二使用英语为学习材料、美国人与中国人为被试;实验三使用日语为学习材料、日本人为被试。三项实验都有视觉、听觉两种呈现方式。三项实验的结果都有利于证明频率差异假设,即如果在书面言语中经验某字词的频率高于在口语中经验该字词的频率,则该字词的视觉呈现优于听觉呈现。