Search performance without eye movements

Visual search performance (with sets chosen to elicit both serial and parallel search patterns) under two conditions that precluded saccades was compared to the typical situation in which visual inspection of the array is possible. In one condition, the display duration was so brief that any saccades that were executed would be too late to bring the targeted portion of the array into the fovea. In the other, the display remained present until the subject's response, but eye position was monitored and trials with shifts in fixation were excluded from analysis. The latter condition produced search latencies that were nearly identical to those with free inspection. Brief exposure, in contrast, did not produce the pattern typical of serial search, presumably because of strategies induced to deal with the rapid decay of the visual array. It is concluded that saccadic eye movements play little role in the patterns of performance used to infer serial and parallel search, and that brief exposure is not a satisfactory technique for exploring the role of saccadic eye movements in visual search.     

Awareness of the response after feedback training for changes in heart rate and sudomotor laterality

What is the relation between the ability to control visceral responding on a biofeedback task and the ability to report behaviors actually contributing to this performance? Subjects received biofeedback training for unidentified visceral responses and then gave written reports about what they had done to control the feedback displays. Independent judges were given these reports and, on the basis of knowledge about activities known to contribute to visceral activity, were asked to determine the visceral responses for which the subjects had been trained. The reports of subjects who succeeded at bidirectional control of heart rate (Experiment 1) or sudomotor laterality (Experiment 2) showed awareness of behaviors related to feedback as assessed by this procedure, whereas the reports of subjects who failed at bidirectional control did not. Subsequent experiments indicated that these results did not depend on a learning strategy that might have been specific to the initial studies. These findings call into question the view that people are unaware of what they have done to produce the response after training on biofeedback tasks. Earlier studies reporting lack of awareness in biofeedback are discussed in light of factors that affect the measurement of biofeedback learning and response awareness.     

Nontraditional careers for women: A prototypical example

A nationwide survey of a stratified sample of 461 Army ROTC college cadets and 470 of their non-ROTC schoolmates was conducted in order to investigate sex and racial differences in military-related perceptions and attitudes. This article focuses on survey findings dealing with sex differences in respondents' military socialization, knowledge of ROTC and the Army, attitudes toward ROTC and the Army, and behavioral intentions with respect to a military career. Female cadets had (1) fewer military socializing influences, (2) less accurate knowledge about ROTC and the Army, (3) more favorable attitudes toward ROTC and the Army, and (4) less favorable intentions regarding military service than male cadets. Findings 2, 3, and 4 were also obtained in the noncadet schoolmate group; however, in this group, there were no significant sex differences in military socializing influences. A model based on these findings is developed as a starting point for attempts to account for the higher attrition rates of women in the military.     

Virtual Reality One-Session Treatment of Child-Specific Phobia of Dogs: A Controlled,Multiple Baseline Case Series

Specific phobia (SP) typically onsets in childhood and frequently predicts other mental health disorders later in life. Fortunately, childhood SP can be effectively treated with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), including the exposure-based one-session treatment (OST) approach. Despite empirical support for CBT and OST, clinicians, for various reasons, frequently fail to implement exposure-based therapy in routine clinical practice, including perceived difficulties in implementing exposure. Virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy may overcome some of these challenges and provides an alternative modality of therapy. This preliminary study examined the efficacy of VR OST for 8 children with a SP of dogs (aged 8–12 years) (M = age 10.25; SD = 2.11) using a multiple-baseline controlled case series. Following a stable baseline period of either 2, 3, or 4 weeks, it was expected that specific phobia severity would significantly decline after VR OST and remain improved over the 3-week maintenance phase. Assessments were conducted posttreatment and at 1-month follow up (study end-point). It was found that phobia symptoms remained relatively stable across the baselines, with significant reductions from pretreatment to posttreatment and to follow-up on clinician severity ratings (pre- to post- g = 1.12; pre- to follow-up g = 2.40), target symptom ratings (g = 1.14; 1.29), and behavioral avoidance (g = -1.27; -1.96). The treatment was also associated with clinically significant outcomes, whereby at one-month follow up, 75% of children were considered “recovered” and 88% completed the BAT (interacted with their feared stimuli). This study provides support for the effectiveness of VR OST.     

The family Re-Union initiative: a springboard for family-centered community building,locally and nationally

Family Re-Union is an ongoing conference series and family policy initiative launched in 1992 by Al and Tipper Gore. It has been the springboard for a new wave of family-centered community building efforts, including the development of an educational program to prepare a new generation of community builders. We summarize the history of this family-centered community building movement and discuss how it builds upon and differs from earlier approaches to community development. We describe Family Re-Union and some of the ongoing work it has fueled. And we suggest ways family professionals can take part in this work.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is represented in response locations

Previous work (Willingham, 1999) has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not primarily perceptual; that is, what is learned is not a sequence of stimuli. Still other work has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not specific to particular muscle groups or effectors. In the present work, we tested whether implicit motor sequence learning would be represented as a sequence of response locations. In Experiment 1, learning showed very poor transfer when the response locations were changed, even though the stimulus positions were unchanged. In Experiment 2, participants switched their hand positions at transfer, so that one group of participants pushed the same sequence of keys but used a different sequence of finger movements to do so, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but used the same sequence of finger movements used at training. Knowledge of the sequence was shown at transfer only if the sequence of response locations was maintained, not the sequence of finger movements.     

Structure of the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory Self-Restraint scale and its relation to problem behaviors in adolescence

The authors examined the structure of the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI) Self-Restraint scale in derivation (n = 1,286) and cross-validation (n = 1,154) samples of mostly African American 6th graders in 3 urban schools. Four models were compared: (a) a 1-factor model; (b) a hierarchical model in which factors representing Impulse Control, Suppression of Aggression, Responsibility, and Consideration of Others were subsumed by a higher order factor; (c) a model that represented these 4 factors as correlated but distinct constructs; and (d) a model that excluded Consideration of Others from the higher order factor. Consistent support was found for the last model based on confirmatory factor analyses and latent-variable analyses examining the relations among self-restraint scales, drug use, delinquency, and aggression. These findings have implications for using the WAI, particularly in studies of adolescent problem behaviors.