A general model for the analysis of multilevel data

A general model is developed for the analysis of multivariate multilevel data structures. Special cases of the model include repeated measures designs, multiple matrix samples, multilevel latent variable models, multiple time series, and variance and covariance component models.We would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Ruth Silver. We also wish to thank the referees for helping to clarify the paper. This work was partly carried out with research funds provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (U.K.).     

Conditioned and unconditioned caloric compensation: Evidence for self-regulation of food intake in young children

The purpose of these two experiments was to determine (a) whether young children can be responsive to caloric density cues in regulating their food intake, (b) whether such cues can be associatively conditioned to organoleptic cues in foods, and (c) to obtain evidence regarding which of the many cues available are involved as conditioned stimuli. In Experiment 1 participants were eighteen 3- to 5-year-old children, who were seen for a series of pairs of conditioning trials, followed by extinction test trials. Each trial consisted of a two-part snack: approximately 100 ml of a pudding preload (chocolate or vanilla; high or low caloric density) followed after a delay by ad-lib consumption of snack foods (cookies and crackers). In extinction trials, flavors previously paired with high- or low-caloric density preloads during conditioning were presented in isocaloric intermediate density preloads. Results indicated that 14 of 18 children showed unconditioned caloric compensation on the first pair of conditioning trials; 16 of 18 children showed compensation following the second pair of trials, and 12 of these 16 subjects continued to show this consumption pattern during extinction. Consumption was significantly greater following the low calorie paired flavor than following the high calorie paired flavor during extinction. Experiment 2 (N = 10) replicated these findings, and uncorrelating preload and snack food flavors indicated that flavor cues in the preloads can serve as conditioned stimuli. Children showed both initial responsiveness to caloric density and evidence for associative conditioning of food cues to the physiological consequences of eating. These results provide initial evidence for a mechanism allowing the child to learn to anticipate the caloric consequences of familiar foods and regulate food intake accordingly.     

A measure of agreement for use with the Holland classification system

A measure of agreement for partially ordered data is suggested that makes use of the k categories with the highest ranks, the ranks of the remaining categories being disregarded. The proposed measure is applied to the Self-Directed Search in order to evaluate its agreement with occupational preference. Other forms of agreement in the Holland classification system can also be assessed by the proposed measure. Examples are congruence and husband-wife and counselor-client agreement.     

The importance of assessing treatment integrity: An example in the anxiety disorders

One purpose of this investigation was to examine the importance of assessing treatment integrity in a study evaluating a treatment for specific anxiety disorders. Three subjects, two social phobics and one simple phobic, received self-instruction training (Phase I) followed by exposure and self-instruction training (Phase II) in a multiple baseline across subjects design. All subjects were assessed during a pretreatment baseline and throughout treatment using measures of treatment integrity and measures of change in phobic severity. Improvement took place at different times for different subjects. Measures of treatment integrity, which consisted of monitoring of self-statements as well as practice outside the session, indicated that treatment was not always received as intended and that improvement was correlated with practice. The usefulness of measures of treatment integrity in both clinical and research settings is highlighted.     

Evaluating children's mental health service systems: An analysis of critical behaviors and events

A lack of studies which evaluate system change by tracking client outcomes is noted in the children's mental health area. This deficit may be a result of the inability of researchers to define outcomes and to draw conclusions about which measures reflect the efficacy of services and service delivery systems. This paper reviews five social validation surveys which examined children's mental health outcome measures. Based on the results of the five surveys, a model of critical behaviors and events is presented. This model will assist evaluators and researchers in understanding which critical events and behaviors should be measured to assess the impact of community-based mental health services for children.     

Factor analysis of the social performance survey schedule

There are several studies suggesting that the Social Performance Survey Schedule (SPSS) is a reliable and valid measure of social skill. However, the factorial structure of the SPSS has never been examined. In the present study, SPSSs taken by 652 college students were factor analyzed by the method of principal components and the resulting factors were rotated according to the varimax criterion. Separate factor analyses were conducted for men and women. Seven factors, which accounted for a little over a third of the total variance, were retained for each sex. A large general factor labeled Prosocial Competence emerged for both sexes. Beyond this, the factorial solutions for the two sexes tended to diverge, with males showing a large negative factor (Social Offensiveness) and three smaller negative factors and females showing five relatively small negative factors. Suggestions were made concerning additional factor analytic studies of the SPSS and the ways in which derived factors might be used in research and clinical work.This research was supported by funds from the Rutgers University Research Council. Thanks are due to Leona Aiken for her statistical consultation.     

Reduction of sadistic sexual arousal by olfactory aversion: a case study

A sexual sadist was treated by an olfactory aversion procedure for eight weeks. Pre-treatment assessment of sexual arousal showed high levels of response to sadistic stimuli as well as high arousal to non-sadistic heterosexual stimuli. In treatment the inhalation of the gas of an odoriferous chemical agent, valeric acid, was paired with slide presentations of sadistic materials while penile erection was monitored. The aversive stimulus immediately and permanently suppressed the response for the duration of treatment. In separate measurement sessions, with valeric acid absent, deviant response remained suppressed and nondeviant response was unaffected. Post-treatment reassessment revealed very low levels of response to sadistic stimuli. Follow-up sessions showed that the deviant response was absent eight months following the conclusion of treatment.     

Treatment of bisexual pedophilia by a biofeedback-assisted self-control procedure

A bisexual pedophile was treated for 88 days using a biofeedback procedure which displayed his erection response to sexually deviant stimuli on a closed-circuit television monitor. Told to develop a strategy of self-control using the biofeedback, his response to young boys and girls was treated sequentially in a multiple baseline design. His concurrent response to boys, girls and adult males was evaluated in separate generalization sessions. The treatment was successful in suppressing deviant response while maintaining nondeviant response in strength. Debriefing of the client following treatment revealed that he had used a self-developed technique of covert sensitization to suppress deviant response and had used the biofeedback to confirm and validate this self-control strategy.