Neuroticism,life stress and concern about eating,body weight and apperance in a non-clinical population

Studies with clinical populations have shown a high level of neuroticism amongst those with an eating disorder. It is unclear however whether the elevated neuroticism is a function of the disorder, or if it is an aetiological factor in the disorder's development. The present survey of a non-clinical female population revealed that those high in neuroticism gave higher—but not abnormally high—scores on a measure of concern about eating. The high-N group also reported a significantly greater number of undesirable life events; a greater familiarity with ‘diet literature’; increased dieting; but no difference in body weight from those in the middle and lower ranges on the N scale. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that neuroticism is an aetiological factor in disordered eating, at least with secondary if not primary disorders. It is propesed that neuroticism is one mediating psychological factor in a triadic relationship between personal environment contingencies, socio-cultural pressures for thinness and psychological variables. Suggestions are made for future investigation of the role of neuroticism in eating disturbance, with note of potential therapeutic application of such knowledge.     

Modification of Type A behavior through aerobic exercise

This psychophysiological evaluation of an aerobic exercise program examined specifically whether aerobic training modified Pattern A for those individuals at behavioral risk for developing coronary heart disease, i.e., young Type A individuals. At pretest and posttest of this secondary prevention study, Type A and Type B subjects were assessed in three conditions: aerobic exercise program, nonaerobic activity (Aikido, a martial art) control, and notreatment control. After 10 weeks, Type A but not Type B subjects exhibited lower Pattern A behavior in the aerobic program than in control conditions. Average workout pulse rates and differentially reliable increases in aerobic capacity indicated that aerobic training was indeed aerobic, whereas aikido activity was not. Even though selected nonaerobic factors, such as locus of control and group participation, did not mediate the Pattern A decrease for Type A's when comparing aikido and aerobic conditions, changes in aerobic capacity may have been the mediator. Generalizability of the results and implications for theoretical development and clinical intervention are discussed.     

The typicality of therapeutic ‘surprises’

One reason why exposure to a feared stimulus does not result in a reduction in anxiety involves patients' cognitions as to the typicality of the encounter. This possibility was tested by relating the discrepancy between the discomfort dental patients expect to feel and their actual experience to their views of the typicality of the appointment and any change in dental anxiety reported 3 months later. As predicted, a large discrepancy between expected and experienced pain was associated with a change in anxiety only when the patients were confident that the discrepancy was a typical one. Implications for the design of therapeutic programmes are discussed.     

Selective mechanisms in visual perception

The notion of perceptual tuning is investigated by presenting alternatives either before, after, or both before and after a tachistoscopic stimulus. Study 1 (N = 12) showed that identification accuracy is best with alternatives both before and after the stimulus, poorest with alternatives after the stimulus, and intermediate with alternatives only before the stimulus. Study 2 (N = 3) indicated that performance with alternatives both before and after the stimulus varies according to where S is permitted to fixate prior to each exposure. The possibility of a central tuning mechanism was not strongly supported.     

The electronic teaching theater: Interactive hypermedia and mental models of the classroom

The introduction of hypermedia into the classroom presents both an opportunity to expand the power of teaching through electronic facilitation of the media and a challenge to redesign the classroom and instructional environment to exploit the enhanced features of hypermedia. This paper briefly surveys the current state of computers in the classroom and then argues that a more integrated approach is required. To this end, the concept of an electronic teaching theater is proposed which takes advantage of hypermedia and collaborative work environments. The aim of the electronic teaching theater is not to totally redesign the classroom and instructional interaction, but rather to facilitate it using well understood metaphors to lay out the dynamics of classroom interaction on the electronic media and to use the results from research in human/computer interaction to design the interface. To facilitate the application of hypermedia, a model of instructional interaction among the students, the instructors, the course material, and the products of instruction is presented. A number of component models pertaining to course preparation, lectures, note taking, and other instructional activities are then discussed that should prove useful in designing the electronic classroom. The origin of these models is the mental representation of the interaction as perceived by the teacher and the student. The idea is to start with such models as a base metaphor, to instantiate the metaphors in the electronic classroom, and then to explore innovations in the technology that go beyond the strict application of the metaphor. This work was supported in part by a grant from AT&T to the University of Maryland during the author’s visit to the Medical Research Council—Applied Psychological Unit, Cambridge, England. Appreciation is expressed to Patricia Wright and Richard M. Young for their helpful comments on this paper.     

A follow up study of a behavioral program for young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior

This paper describes a pilot follow-up study of a behavioral program for 20 young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior. Eighteen participants made good overall improvement during the treatment period, and this was partially maintained at follow-up. Eight had continued to improve, eight had deteriorated slightly and four had deteriorated markedly. Adaptive skills were generally maintained. The reemergence of challenging behaviors explained the difference between the Good and Poor Outcome groups. Those participants in the Good Outcome group were younger on admission, scored lower on adaptive skills and higher on challenging behaviors. In addition they had remained on the treatment programme for 12–18 months and had been discharged from the Unit for longer. The overall level of independent living had increased from preadmission and the majority of participants were living in less restrictive placements. These results confirm and extend the findings of previous research. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for more detailed longitudinal follow-up studies in this area.     

A comparison of instruction formats for administering a computerized behavioral test

Shaping and fading techniques were employed to replace written instructions used in computerized behavioral tests. Apple Macintosh computers and HyperCard with Pascal extensions were chosen as the development environment to implement the new techniques. Initial Findings demonstrate the effectiveness and relative efficiency of shaping techniques to teach correct performance on the Symbol-Digit Test.