Sources of difficulty in deductive reasoning: The THOG task

The THOG task presents four designs constructed from two shapes and two colours. Subjects are told that the experimenter has written down one of the shapes and one of the colours and are provided the rule that if, and only if, any design has either the shape or the colour, but not both, written down, then it is a THOG. Finally, they are given an exemplar and are asked to classify the remaining designs. Successful solution requires construction of hypotheses, reasoning under each hypothesis, and comparison of the results under each to reach a final conclusion. Few subjects are able to provide adequate responses on the standard version of the task. We present the results of four experiments, with 160 undergraduates each presented with one of eight versions of the task. Experiments 1 and 2 indicate that (1) some subjects think that the properties that are written down are identical to those of the exemplar, although these are not the same subjects who exhibit the modal error pattern, (2) many subjects correctly understand the disjunction of the rule but fail to consider the hypotheses, and (3) poor initial encoding of the problem is not easily corrected. Experiment 3 investigates the sufficiency of the claim of Griggs and Newstead (1982) that appropriate problem solution follows from explicit presentation of all problem information (including use of positive labels for properties that are not written down), and Experiment 4 investigates the necessity of the claim. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 show that presenting positive category labels does increase the frequency of correct solution; however, positive category labels are not necessary for such improvement. Separation of the labels of the THOG rule from those of the exemplar, or informing subjects that only one other design is a THOG, also increases the frequency of successful solution. The results suggest that many people have some fairly sophisticated reasoning skills. but application of these skills is easily discouraged when the features of the task lead to poor initial encoding.     

Research and publication trends in experimental social psychology: 1971–1980—a thematic analysis of the journal of experimental social psychology,the european journal of social psychology,and the zeifschrift für soziaipsychologie

The present study was designed to map out the area of research in experimental social psychology during the past decade. First of all, we found a broad range of topics that can be grouped info 21 general content domains. Theories in Social Psychology, Group Processes and Social Interaction, Social Judgement, Personality Variables and Specific Social Behaviour as well as Attitudes were the jive most widely researched fields of study. During the ten-year period 1971–1980 Attribution Theory showed a significant increase in the number of articles published. Cooperation and Conflict as well as Risky-Ship are lines of research which have nearly been abandoned. Finally, in rigorous experimental social psychology the analysis of Social Problems is evidently underrepresented. But a survey of the literature on Social Problems in the Psychological Abstracts from 1971 to 1980 revealed that social psychologists are currently serving both theoretical and practical ends.     

Visual inspection of data revisited: Do the eyes still have it?

In behavior analysis, visual inspection of graphic information is the standard by which data are evaluated. Efforts to supplement visual inspection using inferential statistical procedures to assess intervention effects (e.g., analysis of variance or time-series analysis) have met with opposition. However, when serial dependence is present in the data, the use of visual inspection by itself may prove to be problematic. Previously published reports demonstrate that autocorrelated data influence trained observers' ability to identify level treatment effects and trends that occur in the intervention phase of experiments. In this report, four recent studies are presented in which autoregressive equations were used to produce point-to-point functions to simulate experimental data. In each study, various parameters were manipulated to assess trained observers' responses to changes in point-to-point functions from the baseline condition to intervention. Level shifts over baseline behavior (treatment effect), as well as no change from baseline (no treatment effect or trend), were most readily identified by observers, but trends were rarely recognized. Furthermore, other factors previously thought to augment and improve observers' responses had no impact. Results are discussed in terms of the use of visual inspection and the training of behavior analysts.     

What is the End Point of Psychotherapy Integration? A Commentary

This commentary on six papers about assimilative integration considers the place assimilative integration, as defined by Messer, ought to have in the discussion on psychotherapy integration. After briefly summarizing the contribution of each paper, with particular attention to whether the paper takes a position on the end point of psychotherapy integration, the author compares the relative benefits of assimilative integration to those of a unified grand theory. He argues that assimilative integration, as an end point, is preferable to a unified grand theory because it has a more generative influence on both theory evolution and clinical practice.     

Langfristige Folgen sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderj?hriger

Beyond its immediate effects, experiences of sexual abuse in childhood have long been analyzed with regard to possible long-term consequences. Based mainly on reviews and meta-analyses, this paper provides an overview on the state of research. Long-term effects of child sexual abuse have been researched with regard to numerous somatic, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and social characteristics. Research also touches upon questions of interindividual variability of long-term effects and factors influencing type, severity, stability and development of sexual abuse in childhood effects. The paper addresses typical research problems related to establishing connections between symptoms found in victim populations and victim experiences made years or decades ago.