Effects of increment size and reinforcer volume on progressive ratio performance

The progressive ratio schedule requires the subject to emit an increasing number of responses for each successive reinforcement. Eventually, the response requirement becomes so large that the subject fails to respond for a period of 15 min and thereby terminates the session. This point is arbitrarily defined as the “breaking point” of the subject's performance. The measure is quantified in terms of the number of responses in the final completed (i.e., reinforced) ratio run of the session. Previous work has shown that this measure varies as a function of several motivational variables and may thus be useful as an index of reinforcement strength. The present study is an extension of that work. The subjects were four rats. In the first experiment, the effects of the size of the increment by which each ratio run increased were studied. In two additional experiments, the volume of a liquid reinforcer was varied using both large and small ratio increments. The results indicate that the number of responses in the final completed ratio run increases as a function of the size of the ratio increment. However, the number of reinforcements obtained by the animals per session declines sharply. When large ratio increments are used, the number of responses in the final ratio increases as a function of the volume of the reinforcer, but when small increments are used, progressive satiation results in a decline in performance with the larger volumes of liquid.     

Freud, Oedipus and the Hebrew Bible

The current paper examines the question of why Freud employed Greek rather than Hebrew foundation legends, specifically the story of Oedipus, as a basis for psychoanalysis, Freud's choice of Oedipus emanates from his deterministic view of the universe, paralleling the Greek rather that the Biblical story of creation. In the Biblical account God precedes and creates nature with no sign of an Oedipal conflict. In the Greek account, nature precedes the gods and the Oedipal conflict is inherent. Freud's choice has implications for his view of human psychology.     

Condensed detachment as a rule of inference

Condensed detachment is usually regarded as a notation, and defined by example. In this paper it is regarded as a rule of inference, and rigorously defined with the help of the Unification Theorem of J. A. Robinson. Historically, however, the invention of condensed detachment by C. A. Meredith preceded Robinson's studies of unification. It is argued that Meredith's ideas deserve recognition in the history of unification, and the possibility that Meredith was influenced, through ukasiewicz, by ideas of Tarski going back at least to 1939, and possibly to 1930 or earlier, is discussed. It is proved that a term is derivable by substitution and ordinary detachment from given axioms if and only if it is a substitution instance of a term which is derivable from these axioms by condensed detachment, and it is shown how this theorem enables the ideas of ukasiewicz and Tarski mentioned above to be formalized and extended. Finally, it is shown how condensed detachment may be subsumed within the resolution principle of J. A. Robinson, and several computer studies of particular Hilbert-type propositional calculi using programs based on condensed detachment or on resolution are briefly discussed.     

Hopelessness, Temperament, Anger and Interpersonal Relationships in Holocaust (Shoah) Survivors�� Grandchildren

The psychiatric literature is divided with regard to the long-term psychological effects associated with Holocaust (Shoah) experiences because the findings of clinical and empirical studies often contradict each other. Despite case reports of emotional sequelae related to intergenerational transmission of trauma, recent empirical research has suggested that offspring of survivors of the Shoah did not differ from other children and found no evidence that traumatic experiences of survivors of the Shoah affected their children??s and grandchildren??s adjustment. To shed light on some of the differences between the empirical and clinical observations, the present study set out to compare the grandchildren of survivors of the Shoah and persons of the same age whose families had not been through the Shoah experience. This study compared the two groups on some psychological dimensions relevant to traumatic sequelae: hopelessness, temperament, personality, attitudes, and interpersonal expectations. Subjects were 124 equally divided among the Shoah survivors?? grandchildren and comparison groups; we administered to all subjects TEMPS-A Rome, Beck Hopelessness Scale, State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and 9AP (9 Attachment Profile). We found no differences between two groups in Hopelessness, Dysthimic/Cyclotimic/Anxious, Hyperthimic temperament, and self-perception; instead the Shoah survivors?? grandchildren have a view of the other as rejecting, hostile, submissive, insecure, unreliable, and competitive in the interpersonal relationships. The Shoah survivors?? grandchildren are similar to controls in affective temperament, hopelessness and self-perception, but they are more irritable and angry than controls, and their perception about others is deeply negative. Attribution theory was used to elucidate these findings.     

Jacob's Blessing and the Curse of Oedipus: Sibling Rivalry and its Resolution

The present paper examines the effects of paternal relationship with sons on the sons' relationship with each other. The Biblical stories initially abound with conflict between the sons because they vie for the father's blessing and favor. The Greek stories initially show little sign of sibling rivalry because the sons band together against a threatening father. With time, paternal blessing (as exemplified by Jacob's blessing) overcomes sibling rivalry. The Greek families become more pathological with time, as the diminution of the paternal threat allows on accentuating of sibling conflict (as exemplified by the curse of Oedipus).     

Proposal for Centers for the Study of Biblical Psychotherapy

This paper describes the need for a Biblically based psychotherapy to replace a psychotherapy dominated by Greek mythology. Centers for Biblical Psychotherapy are proposed and sample curriculae are discussed.