CO-WORKER SOCIAL SUPPORT IN A WORKSITE SMOKING CONTROL PROGRAM

We evaluated the effects of adding a social support component to a worksite controlled smoking treatment program. Twenty-four participants were randomly assigned to either a controlled smoking or a controlled smoking plus partner support condition. Within a multiple baseline across behaviors design, smokers in both conditions made efforts to achieve sequential 50% reductions in: (a) nicotine content of brand smoked, (b) number of cigarettes smoked per day, and (c) percentage of each cigarette smoked. Self-monitoring records, laboratory analyses of spent cigarette butts, and carbon monoxide determinations indicated that both conditions were effective in producing significant reductions in each of the three target behaviors and in carbon monoxide levels. All participants who quit smoking during the program maintained their abstinence at a 6-month follow-up, and those who did not quit were smoking less at follow-up than they had at pretest on all dependent variables. However, few differences were observed between controlled smoking and controlled smoking plus partner support conditions either during treatment or at the 6-month follow-up. Results are discussed with regard to previous worksite studies, future directions for research on social support, and variables that may have mediated treatment outcome.     

Reducing intergroup anxiety: Applying an imagined contact intervention with counselors-in-training

This study assessed the impacts of an (elaborated) imagined contact intervention (eICI) with graduate-level counseling students (N = 38) in a multicultural counseling course. Participant levels of intergroup anxiety were assessed, comparing those who completed an eICI versus those who did not. Intergroup anxiety decreased for both groups over time, albeit with a greater immediate reduction for those who received the ICI. Qualitative commentary suggests specific student learning from the activity.     

Response rate, latency, and resistance to change

Pigeons were trained on a multiple variable-interval/variable-interval schedule with pacing contingencies that generated high response rates in one component and low response rates in the other. Timeout periods separated the schedule components. During resistance-to-change tests, response-independent food was presented during the timeout periods, and the duration of that food presentation was varied among test sessions. Response rates in the schedule components decreased and latencies to the first response increased as a function of the duration of food presentations during the timeout. Both dependent measures changed about the same amount relative to their own baseline levels. The conclusions are that baseline response rates controlled by pacing contingencies are equally resistant to change, given equal reinforcement densities, and latency is a sensitive measure of resistance to change.     

Maintaining responding during stimulus generalization testing in extinction

Resistance to extinction and generalization gradients were studied following training with a long-adjusting-interval schedule. One large reinforcer occurred at the end of each daily training session. Sessions varied in length from 20 sec to 42.66 min, but were usually the latter. Repeated generalization tests were subsequently conducted for these subjects and subjects trained with a more conventional short-random-interval schedule. The long-adjusting-interval schedule produced generalization gradients that were not qualitatively different from those produced by the conventional procedure. However, the advantages of the long-adjusting-interval schedule are: (1) greater resistance to extinction both within and across generalization tests and (2) more stable gradient slopes within and across tests.     

Investigation of Ethnic Self‐Labeling in the Latina Population: Implications for Counselors and Counselor Educators

Using a qualitative approach, the author explored the process of ethnic label selection, change, and the meaning assigned to ethnic labels. Ten women of Mexican descent participated in semistructured, in‐depth interviews. Phenomenological analysis of the data revealed several themes, including the importance of family, ancestral traditions, and cultural traits; label as identity; and labels as complex and dynamic. Factors that influenced label choice, meaning, and change; implications for counselors and counselor educators; and limitations and suggestions for future research were addressed.