Cognitive flexibility-rigidity, repetition effects, and memory

This experiment examined the role of cognitive flexibility-rigidity in memory. On the basis of several personality tests, subjects were classified as flexible, intermediate, or rigid, using a postexperimental blocking procedure. All subjects were given a perceptual grouping task, which masks the meaningful structure of the material. Subjects have the option of discovering the more meaningful structure consisting of word pairs, or alternatively, processing less meaningful chunks of letters. Results were that flexible subjects recalled substantially more items than intermediate and rigid subjects, in that order. In addition, subjects given different (varied) groupings of the letter chunks recalled substantially more than subjects given repeated presentations of the same grouping structure. Transfer tests indicated that subjects acquired different coding strategies under varied and constant input. Repetitious input led subjects to adopt inefficient strategies in processing the material to be remembered, whereas varied input led subjects to adopt efficient encoding strategies.     

A case of subcortical dementia due to sarcoidosis of the hypothalamus and fornices

A patient with sarcoidosis involving predominantly the hypothalamus and fornices was evaluated for dementia. He showed a relative sparing of fund of knowledge and orientation. Memory skills, particularly short-term memory, were severely impaired. Behavioral changes included apathy and a lack of spontaneity. Insight was relatively preserved. The pattern of his deficits showed some similarities to the pattern reported in patients with Huntington's disease and was different from that described in Alzheimer's disease. The dementia caused by subcortical pathology may differ in important respects from that caused by diffuse cortical dysfunction.     

Intrusions and perseverations

Twenty-two subjects with presumed senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT), twenty-two with dementia other than SDAT, twenty with aphasia, and seventeen healthy controls over 50 years of age were examined for intrusions and perseverations. Perseverations were defined as the immediate inappropriate repetition of a prior response whereas intrusions were defined as the inappropriate repetition of prior responses after intervening stimuli. Intrusions and perseverations occurred in demented and aphasic subjects, but were rare in controls. Intrusions occurred most often in SDAT or Wernicke aphasia, but also in dementia other than SDAT. Intrusions were not correlated with dementia severity. Intrusions are a useful sign of dementia, but they cannot be considered pathognomonic of SDAT. They appear to arise when subjects are unable to access correct responses from long-term memory and instead substitute erroneous responses selected from short-term memory. Perseverations were most common in the Wernicke aphasics and subjects with dementia due to communicating hydrocephalus. Although frontal lobe dysfunction is prominent in communicating hydrocephalus, it is absent in cases of Wernicke aphasia. Thus, we have confirmed prior suggestions that perseveration can occur in the absence of frontal lobe injury. Failure to self-monitor speech as well as an inability to change mental set probably plays an important role in the genesis of perseverations. There was no statistically significant correlation between dementia severity and number of perseverations. Low correlations were found between intrusions and perseverations suggesting that these seemingly similar behaviors are distinct and are probably produced by separate neuropsychological mechanisms.     

Recognition memory in mentally retarded persons

The continuous recognition memory of retarded and normal subjects was assessed. The stimuli were magazine pictures, arranged so that lags of up to 250 pictures occured. The overall performance of the retarded subjects was poorer, in terms of hit rate or d′. However, the differences were present at 0 lag and the slopes of the forgetting curves were similar in both groups. It was concluded that differences between these subjects were due to a perception related process and not to memory.     

Dispute Irrational Beliefs and Teach Rational Beliefs: An Interview with Albert Ellis

In this interview, Ellis acknowledges that irrational beliefs have a higher biological basis than rational beliefs and that they are not at opposite ends of the same continuum. Ellis agrees that irrational beliefs are more involved in mental health problems while rational beliefs contribute to the psychology of success. The strength of conviction in both rational and irrational beliefs including self-acceptance and self-downing is explored. Ellis equates the conviction with which rational beliefs need to be held to influence emotions and behaviors with “faith.” He acknowledges the importance of faith built on facts rather than religiosity. Ellis agrees that ridding strongly motivated individuals of self-depreciation may lead to a decrease in their high frustration tolerance and, ultimately, their drive for and achievement of success. Ellis supports adding an “F” to the ABCDE model—forcefully agreeing with and applying new rational beliefs. Ellis discusses the need to develop a literature on therapeutic techniques and methods for helping people to apply rational beliefs more strongly to different areas of their lives. Ellis highlights the perils of self-efficacy positive psychology interventions if people’s innate tendency towards self-depreciation is ignored. The interviewer concludes the interview expressing the view that if we listen to Ellis, “we” need to re-think the ways we teach people of all ages to think rationally knowing that the rational re-statement of previously disputed irrational beliefs is only one of many different teaching methods. This interview was conducted in January, 2005, at the Albert Ellis Institute. At the time of the interview, Dr. Ellis was in good health. In this interview held over two separate sessions, a series of questions prepared by the interviewer were presented to Albert Ellis that were designed to stimulate discussion on differences between rational and irrational beliefs and on the issue of whether once irrational beliefs have been disputed, more time and REBT methods need to be devoted to helping clients strengthen their conviction in and application of rational beliefs.     

Altered patterns of word associations in dementia and aphasia

The word associations of 38 demented, 17 aphasic, and 22 normal subjects were studied. Both normal and brain-injured subjects appear to make judgments about the grammatical class of the word stimulus. Certain stimulus words (especially nouns and adjectives) elicit paradigmatic responses whereas other words (especially verbs and adverbs) elicit syntagmatic responses. The mechanism producing syntagmatic responses seems relatively resistant to deterioration in dementia or aphasia. However, in dementia the mechanism that generates paradigmatic responses becomes progressively less efficient (possibly due to a loss of semantic markers) and consequently more random (idiosyncratic) responses emerge. Perseverative responses, inhibited in normal subjects, are more prevalent in dementia. Anomic aphasics show a pattern of word associations similar to that of subjects with mild dementia. Broca's aphasics, while making fewer paradigmatic associations than normals, retain enough self-monitoring mechanisms so that few idiosyncratic and perseverative responses are made while more null responses occur. Wernicke's aphasics show a marked shift away from a paradigmatic word association strategy, possibly due to an inability to access semantic markers or a true loss of these markers. Metalinguistic deficits (i.e., a failure to adopt an appropriate strategy) may also contribute to this shift away from paradigmatic associations. Furthermore, a disruption of self-monitoring mechanisms in Wernicke's aphasia leads to an increase in perseverative and idiosyncratic responses.     

Albert Ellis: Unsung hero of positive psychology

The contributions of Albert Ellis to the understanding of human happiness including his suggestions for living a happier life have not been represented in the field of positive psychology. This article presents Ellis’ theoretical constructs associated with his conception of happiness (dual nature of human psyche, self-actualization, purpose and goals of life and short- and long-term happiness). Eleven of Ellis’ rational principles of living (e.g. self-interest, self-direction, self-acceptance, commitment to absorbing activities, hedonism) are presented. When consistently applied in practice, they may help people to experience frequent positive affect, less frequent and intense negative emotions and high life satisfaction. It will show how Ellis’ ABC-DE scientific method can be used with individuals to lessen unhappiness. Suggestions are provided for research into associations between rationality and happiness as well as the impact of different rationality-based interventions on happiness.     

RATIONAL-EMOTIVE DISPUTING AND THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL: PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS OF THE ELLIS EMOTIONAL EFFICIENCY INVENTORY

This study investigates the relationship between three types of disputes used in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and the five personality domains of the Five Factor Model of Personality. A sample of 194 subjects was assessed for the use of three categories of REBT disputes using the Ellis Emotional Efficiency Inventory (EEEI), and for the Big Five personality dimensions using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Disputing against “awfulizing” was found to correlate inversely with Neuroticism. Disputing against “self-downing” was found to correlate positively with both Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Disputing against “low frustration tolerance” was found to correlate positively with Agreeableness and Openness. Implications for REBT practice and research are discussed.