On the technique of analysis of the superego--an introduction

As a result of Freud's ambiguity (and that of later analysts) regarding the nature of the superego and how to treat it in clinical practice, it has taken many years and many theoreticians to move from Freud's predilection to use it for purposes of "suggestion" in overcoming resistance, toward the concept of the superego as part of the ego's hierarchically mobilized defensive activities in the analytical process. Although much ambiguity persists, an attempt is made here to reduce it so that analytical technique may move forward to allow the superego to be analyzed as an unconscious conflict solution.     

Naturalistic psychophysics: thresholds of ducklings (Anas platyrynchos) and chicks (Gallus gallus) to tones that resemble mallard calls

Neonatal ducklings and chickens were tested for responsiveness to a pulsing pure tone that was as similar as possible to the mallard maternal alarm call. It is known that ducklings momentarily cease vocalizing when they hear the alarm call and that chicks do the same when they hear pure tones. The duration of peep suppression can thus be used as a measure of whether subjects of either species heard the stimulus. Chicks might not be as sensitive as ducklings to a mallard alarm call because the signal is less significant to them. An adaptive or staircase procedure was used to estimate absolute thresholds, and group psychometric functions were reconstructed for each species from the trial-by-trial data. Ducklings had lower thresholds than chickens as well as steeper psychometric functions to this stimulus. The results suggest that more sensitive and consistent behavioral responses can be elicited by naturalistic sounds than by more arbitrary acoustic stimuli.     

IN VIVO VERSUS SIMULATION TRAINING: AN INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF RANGE AND TYPE OF TRAINING EXEMPLARS

We analyzed the role of the range of variation in training exemplars as a contextual variable influencing the effects of in vivo versus simulation training in producing generalized responding. Four mentally retarded adults received single case instruction, followed by general case instruction, on washing machine and dryer use; one task was taught using actual appliances (in vivo) and the other using simulation. In vivo and simulation training were counterbalanced across the two tasks for the 2 subject pairs, using a within-subjects Latin square design. With both paradigms, more errors were made after single case than after general case instruction during probe sessions with untrained washing machines and dryers. These results suggest that generalization errors were affected by the range of training exemplars and not by the use of simulated versus natural training stimuli. Although both general case simulation and general case in vivo training facilitated generalized performance of laundry skills, an analysis of training time and costs indicated that the former approach was more efficient. The study illustrates a methodology for studying complex interactions and guiding decisions on the optimal use of instructional alternatives.     

Effect of visuomotor rehearsal with videotaped modeling on racquetball performance of beginning players

This investigation was designed to assess the effect of visuomotor behavior rehearsal (VMBR) with videotaped modeling on racquetball performance of beginning players. 24 male students in beginning racquetball class were randomly assigned to either VMBR with videotape modeling or relaxation and imagery (no modeling) condition for a 2-wk. training period. All subjects were pre- and posttested on forehand and backhand racquetball skill tests. Analysis indicated an effect for forehand shooting, with those given visuomotor behavior rehearsal with videotaped model exhibiting better performance than the relaxation and imagery group, but no effect for backhand shooting.     

Bulimia nervosa: group behavior therapy with exposure plus response prevention

Exposure plus response prevention has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. However, when done individually, it is labor intensive and cost-ineffective. In the present study exposure plus response prevention was used in the context of a 6-wk., 12-session behavioral group. In addition to the exposure plus response-prevention component, other techniques included self-monitoring, cognitive restructuring, eating-habit stabilization and problem-solving. Eight bulimic women, vomiting a minimum of five times per week for at least a year, participated in the group. At the end of treatment significant reductions in bingeing and vomiting behaviors were reported by all but one subject, substantiated by significantly lower depression scores (Beck Depression Inventory) and binge-eating scores (Binge Eating Scale). At 6 mo. and 1 yr. posttreatment, 6 of 8 subjects reported averaging less than one binge-purge episode per week, one subject continued unchanged, and one subject had relapsed. A group of wait-list control subjects reported essentially no change in binge-purge frequency over the treatment period. Exposure plus response prevention conducted in a behavioral group context appears to be a cost-effective alternative to individual treatment.     

The Belief in Equality Inventory and Leadership Behavior: A Construct Validation

The belief-in-equality construct is defined as the belief that general ability and potential are widely distributed throughout the human population, rather than being limited to an elite minority. Data from a 21-item belief-in-equality inventory and from two construct-validation tasks were gathered using a liberal-arts undergraduate sample of 201 students. Of the two validation tasks, one indicated strong construct validity ( p < .015), however, the second one produced correctly patterned but insignificant results. The results showed that leaders with a high belief in equality put more funds into training their subordinates and had a tendency to delegate more authority to them than leaders with a weak belief in equality.     

The Superwoman ideal and other risk factors for eating disturbances in adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between disordered eating, the Superwoman ideal, competitiveness, and achievement motivation. The EAT-26, Personality Research Form (Achievement scale), and Self-Roles Inventory were administered to 69 10–12th-grade girls (69.6% White, 11.6% Hispanic, 5.8% Black, 5.8% Asian, 7.2% no information on ethnicity). EAT-26 scores were not significantly associated with attending an academically competitive high school, having a high achievement motivation, or considering a number of roles as important to one's sense of self (adherence to the Superwoman ideal). EAT-26 scores were significantly higher among the girls attending the average high school. It is important to conduct further investigations of the Superwoman ideal since it has been posited as a risk factor for eating disorders, but has been the focus of only a few empirical studies.     

Partitions,probabilistic causal laws,and Simpson's paradox

I wish to thank Elisabeth Lloyd, Samuel Mitchell, Greg Ray, Piers Rollins and two anonymous readers for their insightful criticisms and comments.     

Configural conditioning in the CER: Loss of element strength after repeated reinforced compound CS trials

Different groups of rats received different numbers of compound CS (light/noise) conditioning trials in the CER procedure. The amount of suppression evident to the single elements of the compound decreased as a function of the number of previous compound trials. This loss of CR strength was interpreted as a configuring effect. Further experimental comparisons indicated that the configuring effect could not be readily explained in terms of a generalization decrement or a stimulus novelty hypothesis.     

Forgetting to remember: the functional relationship of decay and interference

Functional decay theory proposes that decay and interference, historically viewed as competing accounts of forgetting, are instead functionally related. The theory posits that (a) when an attribute must be updated frequently in memory, its current value decays to prevent interference with later values, and (b) the decay rate adapts to the rate of memory updates. Behavioral predictions of the theory were tested in a task-switching paradigm in which memory for the current task had to be updated every few seconds, hundreds of times. Reaction times and error rates both increased gradually between updates, reflecting decay of memory for the current task. This performance decline was slower when updates were less frequent, reflecting a decrease in the decay rate following a decrease in the update rate. A candidate mechanism for controlled decay is proposed, the data are reconciled with practice effects, and implications for models of executive control are discussed.