bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Good Work, Productivity and Sustainability in Canadian Forestry
Authors: Janzen Russell , Sandberg L. Anders
Published: March 2007

The study of forest work allows connections to be drawn between good work, productivity and environmental sustainability. The development of good forest work has generally followed the classic path, entailing higher wages, shorter working hours and less strenuous work; but it has also resulted in growing unemployment, labour market segmentation, flexibilization and environmental degradation. Full cost accounting, all-age forest management, valueadded production, community tenures and eco-certification provide a basis for alternative good work and productivity measures. We suggest that forest workers, both in their capacity as workers and residents of forest-industry based communities, constitute potential agents who can embrace and support such alternatives.
The Impact of Interpersonal Patient and Therapist Behavior on Outcome in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
Authors: Keijsers G.P.J. , Schaap C.P.D.R. , Hoogduin C.A.L.
Published: March 2007

Empirical studies are reviewed, the aim being to investigate characteristics of the therapeutic relationship in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) and to identify therapist or patient interpersonal behavior that affects treatment outcome. CBT is characterized by a more active and directive stance on the part of the therapists and higher levels of emotional support than are found in insight-oriented psychotherapies. Therapists express high levels of empathy and unconditional positive regard, similar to those expressed by insight-oriented psychotherapists. Two clusters of interpersonal behavior have been identified that are clearly associated with CBT outcome: (a) the Rogerian therapist variables—empathy, nonpossessive warmth, positive regard, and genuineness; and (b) therapeutic alliance. There is some evidence for the impact on outcome of three additional clusters of patient behavior: (a) the patients’ perception of the therapist as being selfconfident, skillful, and active; (b) the patients’ openness to discuss their problems; and (c) the patients’pretreatment predisposition to change and to accept psychological treatment as a means of achieving this. It is further concluded that relationship factors in general have a consistent but moderate impact on CBT outcome.
Promoting Independent Task Performance by Persons with Severe Developmental Disabilities through a New Computer-Aided System
Authors: Lancioni Giulio E. , O’Reilly Mark F. , Seedhouse Philip , Furniss Frederick , Cunha Bernardo
Published: March 2007

This study involved two experiments. In Experiment 1, a computer-aided system for promoting task performance by 6 persons with severe developmental disabilities was compared with a card system. The computer-aided system was portable and presented pictorial task instructions (one instruction per step) and prompts. In Experiment 2, the same systemwas used, but the number of instruction occasions was reduced. In one condition, the system presented all the instructions used in Experiment 1 but mostly in clusters rather than individually. In another, the system presented part of the Experiment 1 instructions. Three Experiment 1 participants also served in Experiment 2. Experiment 1 results indicated all 6 participants had higher percentages of correct steps with the computer system and preferred it to the card system. Experiment 2 results indicated that the condition in which the instructions were clusteredwas more effective for maintaining correct task performance. Implications of the findings were discussed.
The Development and Validation of the Attitude toward Father Scale
Authors: Copenhaver Michael M. , Eisler Richard M.
Published: March 2007

Numerous measures assess how parental influences may relate to children’s development of psychological difficulties. The majority of such measures focuses specifically on the motherchild relationship or assume both parents contribute equally and similarly to their children’s psychological well-being. Previous research has largely ignored the need to assess the father-child relationship when examining parental influences on behavior problems. The goal of the present study was to develop and validate a self-report questionnaire to assess the father-child relationship. The Attitude Toward Father Scale was developed and validated using three independent samples of college undergraduates. The scale, which includes three subscales, was shown to have good psychometric properties. It was found effective in examining associations between father-child relationship scores and scores on adjustment measures. Findings showed total scale and subscale scores associated with measures of stress, alcoholism, hostility, depression, anxiety, and paranoia. Implications of findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Social Problem-Solving Skills Training for Incarcerated Offenders
Authors: Bourke Michael L. , van Hasselt Vincent B.
Published: March 2007

This article describes a social problem-solving skills intervention for incarcerated adult offenders. The program includes pragmatic, progressive skill building through the use of direct instructions, role-plays with performance feedback, modeling, behavior rehearsal, and positive reinforcement. In addition to these treatment components, the empirically derived approach employs standardized assessment measures to identify deficits and to evaluate treatment outcome. Assessment data are directly used to determine behavior change in such areas as conversational skills, positive and negative assertion, anger management, problem solving, empathy, and stress inoculation. Social skills training is included to modify verbal, nonverbal, and paralinguistic behavioral components. In addition, training elements related to anger reduction and stress management are utilized.
Effects of Social Disruption, Stimulus Interference, and Aversive Conditioning on Auditory Hallucinations
Authors: Turner Samuel M. , Hersen Michel , Bellack Alan S.
Published: March 2007

The effects of social disruption (talking with another individual), interference from a loud bell, and faradic aversion in suppressing auditory hallucinations were examined in a single case experimental design. Verbal exchange with another individual and contingent bell ringing produced only temporary results. However, faradic aversion appeared to produce more lasting results. The effects of treatment were maintained at 20- and 25-week follow-ups.
Behavior of Withdrawn Autistic Children
Authors: Ragland Elizabeth U. , Kerr Mary Margaret , Strain Phillip S.
Published: March 2007

In this study, positive social initiations by a behaviorally disordered age-peer were evaluated as an intervention for withdrawn, autistic children. During baseline, the peer trainer made few social approaches to target subjects. The peer trainer greatly increased his rate of positive social initiations during the first intervention, decreased social approaches during a second baseline, and increased social approaches again in a second intervention phase. In order to evaluate whether increased social initiations toward a target subject would affect the social behavior of other children in the setting, intervention was begun at different times for each subject. Increases in peer trainer initiations resulted in an immediate acceleration in the frequency of all subjects' positive social behavior. For two of the three subjects, negative social behaviors increased marginally during intervention sessions. Intervention applied to one subject did not produce any "spillover" of treatment effect on the behavior of children not under intervention procedures at that time.
Assessment of Heterosocial Skills in Male College Students
Authors: Perri Michael G. , Richards C. Steven
Published: March 2007

Deficiencies in heterosocial skills constitute significant psychological concerns for many young adults; yet, no adequate assessment procedure has been available for the behavioral measurement of heterosocial difficulties. In the present investigation, an empirical research strategy was employed to develop such an instrument. Construction and evaluation of the instrument was carried out following the five-stage test development strategy suggested by Goldfried and D'Zurilla's (1969) behavioral-analytic assessment model. Samples of potential responses to hetero-social situations were obtained, and five male and five female students were carefully selected to judge the effectiveness of potential responses. Psychometric evaluation of the final set of 22 test items revealed good interrater reliability (r =.85) and excellent criterion-related validity, as evidenced by the instrument's ability to discriminate between groups of heterosocially adequate and inadequate males (p<.OOOI). It was concluded that the scale is a reliable, valid, and useful tool for assessing heterosocial effectiveness.
Controlling Childhood Rumination through Differential Reinforcement of other Behavior
Authors: O'Neil Patrick Mahlen , White Jerry L. , King Calvin R. , Carek Donald J.
Published: March 2007

Rumination is a rare behavior disorder of childhood involving regurgitation of food which is then ejected or reswallowed. The present study investigated the control of rumination through use of a positive reinforcer (a mixture of honey and water) delivered on a differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedule. The subject was a 26-month-old girl who had lost 50% of body weight through rumination. DRO was used as part of a multifaceted treatment program which also included, at different phases, punishment and time out from positive reinforcement. Evaluation of treatment components via a single-subject experimental design with withdrawals indicated the DRO procedure exerted powerful controlling effects over rumination. Transfer of control to social consequences was attempted through use of time out with punishment. The subject's weight increased over her 69-day hospitalization from 7.1 kg. to 11 kg. A 10-month followup revealed continued weight gain and suppression of rumination. Possible limitations to generalizability of findings, particularly previous experience with punishment, are discussed as are advantages of DRO in the management of this behavior problem.
Behavioral Treatment of Psychophysical Disorders
Authors: Blanchard Edward B. , Ahles Tim A.
Published: March 2007

The behavioral treatment of psychophysiological disorders is reviewed with an emphasis on group outcome research and controlled, comparative group outcome studies. These behavioral treatments tend to fall into three categories: (I) biofeed-back training; (2) relaxation training; and (3) other behavioral techniques including assertiveness training and systematic desensitization.

Guided by two inclusion criteria-seriousness as defined in terms of prevalence and mortality and the existence of a large body of research-this review discusses the following disorders: essential hypertensions, migraine headaches, muscle contraction headaches, asthma, ulcers, and colitis.
Behaviorally Specific Report Cards and Self-Determined Reinforcements
Authors: Bornstein Philip H. , Rychtarik Robert G. , McFall Miles E. , Bridgwater Carol Austin , Guthrie Lesley , Anton Basil
Published: March 2007

This study examined the efficacy of a positive correctional treatment strategy in the modification of institutional offenses among four convicted male felons. Intervention (consisting of behaviorally specific report cards, self-determined reinforcers, and experimenter-delivered weekly feedback) was evaluated by means of a multiple baseline design across subjects. Throughout baseline and treatment phases, trained correctional officers recorded the occurrence or nonoccurrence of target behaviors on a daily basis. Results indicated substantial decreases in inmate offenses with the sequential application of the treatment package. These findings were discussed with regard to advantages of the current therapeutic program and recommendations were made for continuing investigations in the area.
Anxiety Reduction, Assertive Training, and Enactment of Consequences
Authors: Marshall Peter G. , Keltner Alfred A. , Marshall William L.
Published: March 2007

The relative effectiveness of assertive training and anxiety reduction in the treatment of unassertiveness and social fear was evaluated. Subjects were inmates at a medium-security federal penitentiary and were selected on the basis of their scores on behavioral and self-report measures of assertion and level of expressed social fear. Contrary to predictions made from the Social Fear Hypothesis, it was found that the effects of treatment were specific and nonoverlapping. Assertive training led to increased assertion but did not decrease social fear, while for inmates in the anxiety reduction group, social fear, but not assertion, was modified. In addition, the value of enactment of consequences during role playing was assessed. This component of assertive training was not found to enhance treatment effects. The problems in conducting assertive training in a penitentiary were discussed.
Factor-Analytically Derived Subscales for the Reinforcement Survey Schedule
Authors: Baron Alan , DeWaard Richard J. , Galizio Mark
Published: March 2007

A total of 1004 male and female college students completed Cautela and Kastenbaum's (1967) Reinforcement Survey Schedule. Factor analysis of item intercorrelations for the entire sample and for males and females taken separately revealed similar factor structures, and sixteen common scales were derived from the more substantial factors. Comparisons of the scale profiles of the male and female students indicated that the scales were ordered in the same way, but that the absolute levels of preference differed. The students and a smaller sample of male industrial workers (n = 62) also were surveyed about their illicit use of drugs. Profiles differed as a function of drug use, although the patterns were dissimilar for the students and the workers. These findings showed the utility of dividing responses to the Reinforcement Survey Schedule into scales, as well as the value of the survey for the study of reinforcers in natural settings. However, it was cautioned that scale scores complement rather than substitute for analyses of responses to individual items, and that revision of the survey is needed to clarify the content of some of the scales.
Behavioral Contracting for Repeated Suicide Attempts
Authors: O'Farrell Timothy J. , Goodenough David S. , Cutter Henry S.G.
Published: March 2007

A behavioral contract was used to decrease the frequency of repeated suicide attempts and to increase adaptive behavior of a chronic schizophrenic patient hospitalized on a locked psychiatric ward. The behavior therapist left the patient's unit a few months after the contract ended. A follow-up at one year after termination of the contract showed no suicide attempts, suicidal ideas only once, and good adjustment on an unlocked psychiatric ward for the previous nine months. Just before completion of this article, 18 months after the contract, the patient committed suicide. A psychological autopsy showed the patient had continued without suicidal behavior for 14 months after the contract ended. When faced with possible discharge from the hospital and a return to the interpersonal conditions the contract had corrected earlier, the patient increased self-injurious and suicidal behavior and finally killed himself. This temporary success, followed by longer-term failure, is presented to illustrate certain clinical and methodological issues in the behavioral treatment of suicidal patients.
Toilet Retraining Psychogeriatric Residents
Authors: Sanavio Ezio
Published: March 2007

The toilet-training package arranged by Azrin and Foxx has been modified and utilized to retrain the incontinent residents of a psychogeriatric ward. Two A-B-A-B single subject experiments are reported. Patient 1 was a 60-year-old enuretic, and Patient 2 a 77-year-old encopretic; they were both totally incontinent for more than two years. Accidents and self-initiated toileting have been continuously recorded during a 21-day period and an 8-week follow-up. In the treatment conditions the subjects were given specified items of the toilet-training program; spontaneous toileting behavior was reinforced on a CRF/VI basis. In the reversal conditions, patients were given the same socializing activities, but reinforcers, social attention, and so on were randomly scheduled. Results suggest that the procedure is effective in retraining deteriorated and aged patients; contingent reinforcement is also a necessary component of the treatment package.
Competitive Sport Environments
Authors: Silva John M.
Published: March 2007

Cognitive intervention techniques have been widely employed in clinical psychology as a method of facilitating behavior change. Recently, sport psychologists have employed cognitive behavior modification strategies in an attempt to improve and optimize athletic performance. The purpose of this article is to outline a comprehensive program of cognitive intervention that hasbeen successfully utilized to modify and enhance athlete performance in actual intercollegiate sport environments. Three single case studies utilizingan A-B design are presented in detail. Descriptions of the intervention technique and comparisons of preprogram performance with during-program performance are presented. In each case the techniques involved problem identification, cognitive restructuring, and use of self-instructional imagery. All athletes participating in the intervention experienced significant performance improvements as evidenced by a comparison of baseline performances with post-intervention performances.2.
Teaching Survival English Skills and Assessment of Collateral Behavior
Authors: Moreno Rene , Hovell Melbourne F.
Published: March 2007

An ABAB reversal design was used to test the effects of contingent access to a language laboratory on the academic achievement and off-task behavior of a 16-year-old Spanish-speaking high school student. Contingencies were introduced following baseline, removed, and reintroduced only for correctly answering a series of life survival questions in English (e.g., What should one do in case of fire?). No contingencies were placed on collateral off-task responses. Coincident with initiation of contingent privileges, correct English answers changed from less than 40% to more than 85%. Performance decreased toward baseline levels during the reversal condition and again increased when training was reinstituted. Further, there was a negatively correlated change in each of five separate untreated off-task responses corresponding to changes in correct English answers. Among these, aggression and disruptive noise responses were decreased to zero with an increase in academic achievement. Thus, reinforcement contingencies for academic achievement were shown as effective for simultaneously teaching life-survival English skills and decreasing socially inappropriate behavior for a Spanish-speaking immigrant.
Hallucinatory-Delusional Verbalizations
Authors: Alford Geary S. , Fleece Louis , Rothblum Esther
Published: March 2007

Hallucinatory-delusional verbalizations in a 40-year-old schizophrentic female were temporarily reduced by social interference and by self-control instructions. When instructed to self-control or not as she elected, the patient continued to emit a high frequency of hallucinatory-delusional verbalizations. During these phases of treatment no change in target behaviors was observed in the patient's behavior on the ward. Following two verbal therapy sessions in which attempts were made to change the hypothetical intrinsic valence of the hallucinatory-delusional behavior from positive to negative, a marked deceleration of these target behaviors occurred.
A Travel Training Program
Authors: Padgett William L. , Garcia Hector D. , Pernice Michael B.
Published: March 2007

Recent research has developed travel training programs for teaching retarded persons to walk a designated path. However, the problem remains of how to handle individuals who exhibit wandering behavior that impedes training. A token program was devised to reduce off-path wandering by a 25-year-old, severly retarded female, who had a 6-year history of wandering around institutional grounds. The treatment included reinforcement for staying on the path, and response cost for wandering. The experimental design combined a reversal and a multiple baseline across trips. Wandering was reduced to zero after 2 days of treatment on three separate occasions, and remained at or near zero after 2 days of treatment of three separate occasions, and remained at or near zero throughout treatment, and at six monthly follow-ups. Clinical significances was established using a social validation questionnaire.
Transfer of Behavioral Change Across Phobias in Multiply Phobic Clients
Authors: Williams S. Lloyd , Kleifield Erin
Published: March 2007

Six subjects with multiple phobias were given performance-based treatment for each of their phobias in succession until marked behavioral improvement occurred in each. To test for generalization of behavioral change within and across phobias, behavioral tests of the treated and yet untreated phobias were administered before and after each treatment phase in settings different from those used for treatment. Results showed that although the behavioral gains generalized quite well within the phobic domain treated, there was little generalized improvement across phobias. These findings suggest that multiply phobic conditions such as agoraphobia may be better conceptualized as collections of partially independent phobic reactions than as unitary conditions with global underlying causes.
Overcorrection of Oral Reading Errors
Authors: Singh Nirbhay N.
Published: March 2007

Overcorrection procedures have been found to be effective in increasing the reading proficiency of mentally retarded children. Evidence for the efficacy of overcorrection as a remediation procedure has been derived from studies using an individualized 1: 1, teacher-student, training format. In this study, an alternating-treatments design was used to measure the differential impact of an overcorrection procedure on the oral reading of four moderately mentally retarded children under individual-and group-training formats and a no-remediation control condition. During overcorrection, the teacher supplied the correct word when the child made an error and the child was then required to say the correct word five times before rereading the sentence in which it had occurred. Children made fewer oral reading errors under the two training formats when compared with the no-remediation control condition, but all children performed equally well under individual-and group-training formats. However, the generalization probe data suggest that the group-training format may increase the children's word recognition skills through incidental learning.
Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive Deficits in Brain-Damaged Individuals
Authors: Gouvier William Drew
Published: March 2007

Rehabilitation professionals are recognizing the need for greater emphasis on treating cognitive as well as physical deficits in brain-damaged individuals. This review discusses recent advances in the development of treatments for patients with cognitive deficits secondary to brain damage. The review will focus upon treatments developed for problems with attention and vigilance, memory, language and reading abilities, visuoperceptual functioning, and driving skills. An overview of the treatment process presents the role of assessment and case conceptualization, patient and family education, application of rehabilitation interventions, and approaches to promoting recovery generalization and maintenance of relearned abilities.
Conversational Skills of Inpatient Conduct-Disordered Youths
Authors: Hansen David J. , St. Lawrence Janet S. , Christoff Karen A.
Published: March 2007

The conversational skills of 24 inpatient conduct-disordered youths and 32 "normal" youths from the community were assessed and compared. A panel of 12 peer judges provided global ratings of subjects' conversational skill. Moderate to high amounts of the variance in the peer ratings were accounted for by conversational-skill component behaviors, especially for the inpatient conduct disordered youths. Compared to the nonpatient youths, the inpatient youths were significantly deficient in their use of a variety of conversational-skill component behaviors and received significantly lower peer ratings of conversational skill. Implications of the findings for social-skills training and research are discussed.
A Context Analysis of Contingent Teacher Attention
Authors: Martens Brian K.
Published: March 2007

The present two-experiment study compared the relationship between on-task student behavior and three measures of contingent teacher attention: total amount, contingent amount, and proportion of the total amount contingent on the target behavior. Toward this goal, a real-time observational system was developed for assessing multiple categories of teacher attention contingent upon a variety of student behavior categories. Using this system, observational data were collected in a self-contained classroom for a mentally retarded adolescent (Experiment 1) and in a remedial summer school classroom for a regular first-grade student (Experiment 2). Results from the two experiments showed the proportional measure of contingent teacher attention to account for nearly five times more variance in time on-task than contingent amount. These findings are discussed in terms of the importance of concurrently available teacher attention in the functional analysis of classroom behavior.
Acceptability of Alternative Punishments
Authors: Blampied Neville M. , Kahan Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

In this study 201 randomly selected adult residents of Christchurch, New Zealand, were presented with one of four case descriptions, depicting either a boy or a girl having the behavior problem of serious noncompliance occurring either at school or at home. They then read descriptions of each of five alternative punishment techniques: time-out, response cost, overcorrection, social reprimands, and physical punishment (in counterbalanced order) and completed the Treatment Evaluation Inventory following each of the descriptions. The rankings of the procedures from most to least acceptable were response cost, social reprimands, time-out, overcorrection, and physical punishment. The least acceptable punishments were more acceptable when administered at home than at school, and this was especially true for girls. Otherwise, there were no differences in acceptability attributable to gender of the case. Differences between respondents in gender, age, education level, and family status were not associated with significant differences in punishment acceptability.
Enhancing the Ability of Adults with Mental Retardation to Recognize Facial Expressions of Emotion
Authors: Mcalpine Christopher , Singh Nirbhay N. , Ellis Cynthia R. , Kendall Kathy A. , Hampton Christianne
Published: March 2007

The ability to recognize accurately and respond appropriately to facial expressions of emotion is essential for interpersonal interaction. Individuals with mental retardation typically are deficient in these skills. The ability of 7 adults, 1 with severe and 6 with moderate mental retardation, to recognize facial expressions of emotion correctly was assessed. Then, they were taught this skill using a combination of a discrimination training procedure for differentiating facial movements, directed rehearsal, and Eknman and Friesen's "flashing photograph" technique. Their average increase in accuracy over baseline was at least 30% during the course of the training and over 50% during the last 5 days of the training phase. Further, these individuals were able to generalize their skills from posed photographs to videotaped role plays and were able to maintain their enhanced skiUs during the 8 to 9 months following the termination of training. This is the first study to show that individuals with mental retardation can be taught skills that enhance their ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion.
Personality Theory, Abnormal Psychology, and Psychological Measurement
Authors: Staats Arthur W.
Published: March 2007

Behaviorism, because it has not had a theory of personality, has been separated from the rest of psychology, unable in large part to draw from or contribute to it. Traditional psychology has not had a theory of personality that says what personality is, how it comes about, or how it functions. An antagonism has resulted that weakens rather than complements each tradition. Psychological behaviorism presents a new type of theory of personality. Derived from experimentation, it is constructed from basic theories of emotion, language, and sensory-motor behavior. It says personality is composed of leamed basic behavioral repertoires (BBRs) that affect behavior. Personality measurement instruments are analyzed in terms of the BBRs, beginning the behaviorization of this field and calling for much additional research. These multilevel developments are then basic in psychological behaviorism's theory of abnormal behavior and of clinical treatment. The approach opens many new avenues of empirical and theoretical work.
The Effects of Social Skills Instruction and Parental Involvement on the Aggressive Behaviors of African American Males
Authors: Middleton Myra B. , Cartledge Gwendolyn
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of social skills instruction on identified acts of aggression. Five elementary-aged African American male students attending general education classes in an urban public school setting were taught social skills using modeling, role playing, corrective feedback, and differential reinforcement of alternative or incompatible behaviors. Parent training and parent notes were used for the maintenance and transfer of newly learned social skills. A multiple baseline design across students, combined with a withdrawal feature, was employed to assess the effectiveness of the social skills instruction. Data were collected in the classroom and cafeteria to assess generalization of the training to naturalistic settings. Results indicate the social skills instructional package to be functionally related to a decrease in aggressive behaviors with four of the five students and maintained by parental involvement.
Behavioral Expressions of Intolerance of Uncertainty in Worry
Authors: Ladouceur Robert , Talbot Frederic , Dugas Michel J.
Published: March 2007

Intolerance of uncertainty has been related to increased worry in recent conceptual models of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The present study examines the relationship between a measure of intolerance of uncertainty, the Intolerance of Uncertainty scale (IU), and behaviors associated with GAD, such as slowness of execution and amount of evidence required before decision making. A total of 49 individuals participated in the study. Three experimental tasks varying in level of ambiguity and difficulty were used. The analyses show a positive correlation between scores on the IU and number of cues required before responding in a moderately ambiguous inference task. However, scores on the IU were not significantly related to responses in an unambiguous task (regardless of the level of difficulty) or in a highly ambiguous task. The results suggest that high worriers have a lower threshold of tolerance of uncertainty for intermediate levels of ambiguity. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of GAD.
A Comparison of the Efficacy of Stimulus Control for Medicated and Nonmedicated Insomniacs
Authors: Riedel Brant W. , Lichstein Kenneth L. , Peterson Britt Ann , Epperson Michael T. , Means Melanie K. , Aguillard R. N.
Published: March 2007

A sample of 21 medicated and 20 nonmedicated insomniacs participated in a sleep medication withdrawal program that provided education about sleep medication and a, gradual medication withdrawal schedule. Ten medicated participants received stimulus control treatment and the withdrawal program, and 11 medicated participants served as a control grouip that received only the withdrawal program. Half of the nonmedicated participants received stimulus control, and the remaining nommedicated participants served as a wait-list control condition. Medicated participants significantly reduced sleep medication use without significant deterioration on sleep, anxiety, or depression measures from baseline to 8-week follow-up. Stimulus control participants, unlike control group participants, showed significant improvement at follow-up for total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and sleep quality. Stimulus control participants also reported less daytime sleepiness than control participants after treatment. Nonmedicated participants exhibited a more positive response to stimulus control than medicated participants.
Dispositional Forgivingness: Development and Construct Validity of the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness (TNTF)
Authors: Berry Jack W. , Worthington Everett L. , Parrott Les , O’Connor Lynn E. , Wade Nathaniel G.
Published: March 2007

Forgivingness is the disposition to forgive interpersonal transgressions over time and across situations. There is currently no acceptable measure of forgivingness for use in testing theoretical propositions. The authors describe a five-item scenario-based scale, the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness (TNTF). In five studies examining 518 university students from three disparate universities, the authors assess the item and full-scale functioning of the TNTF and its concurrent and 8- week predictive validity relative to trait anger, rumination, neuroticism, agreeableness, and hostility. Test-retest reliability and stability of item locations were both good. Norms are presented by gender, ethnicity, and religious activity. The TNTF is a brief measure of forgivingness that is not theory dependent and is therefore useful in basic and intervention research from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
Optimism and Attentional Bias for Negative and Positive Stimuli
Authors: Segerstrom Suzanne C.
Published: March 2007

Optimism, or positive outcome expectancy, correlates with better psychological and physiological adjustment, in part because of conscious behavior such as coping. However, procedural, automatic, and unconscious processes also may affect adjustment. The emotional Stroop task was used to assess the relationships between optimism and unconscious attentional bias for positively valenced, negatively valenced, neutral current concern, and neutral control stimuli. Undergraduate students (n = 48) completed personality measures at the beginning of the semester and completed the Stroop task under separate cover. Optimism was associated with a greater attentional bias for positive stimuli relative to negative stimuli. Optimism also was associated with slower skin conductance response rates during negative stimuli. Unconscious attentional biases may contribute to the better adjustment associated with optimism.
On the Many Impacts of Inadmissible Testimony: Selective Compliance, Need for Cognition, and the Overcorrection Bias
Authors: Sommers Samuel R. , Kassin Saul M.
Published: March 2007

A mock juror study tested three hypotheses: (a) Jurors comply selectively with instructions to disregard inadmissible testimony, (b) this effect is greater among jurors who are high rather than low in the need for cognition (NC), and (c) high-NC decision makers sometimes overcorrect against the perceived biasing agent of inadmissible testimony. Participants read a trial summary in which the admissibility of an incriminating wiretap and the basis for this ruling were manipulated. Consistent with the prediction that jurors would be motivated to reach a “just” verdict, participants disregarded an inadmissible wiretap when it was deemed unreliable but not when it violated due process. This pattern of selective compliance was found only among high-NC jurors. High-NC participants also exhibited signs of bias overcorrection, estimating the probability of the defendant’s guilt to be lower in the inadmissible-unreliable condition than in the no-wiretap control. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
On the Social Nature of Personality: Effects of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Feedback about Collective Resource Use on Cooperation in a Resource Dilemma
Authors: Koole Sander L. , Jager Wander , van den Berg Agnes E. , Vlek Charles A. J. , Hofstee Willem K. B.
Published: March 2007

The present research investigated how individual differences in Extraversion and Agreeableness affect cooperation in an experimental resource dilemma. Manipulated feedback indicated either that the common resource was being used at a sustainable rate or that it was being rapidly depleted. As predicted, Extraversion was generally negatively related to cooperation, whereas Agreeableness was generally positively related to cooperation. Whereas individuals high in Extraversion and individuals low in Agreeableness were unresponsive to feedback regarding collective resource use, individuals low in Extraversion and individuals high in Agreeableness exercised more self-restraint when the common resource was severely threatened. Exploratory analyses revealed neither interactive effects of Extraversion and Agreeableness nor effects of individual differences in Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect. Together, these results highlight the importance of individual differences in Extraversion and Agreeableness in social dilemma settings.
The Health Benefits of Writing about Life Goals
Authors: King Laura A.
Published: March 2007

In a variation on Pennebaker’s writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergraduates wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for 4 consecutive days. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their most traumatic life event, their best possible future self, both of these topics, or a nonemotional control topic. Mood was measured before and after writing and health center data for illness were obtained with participant consent. Three weeks later, measures of subjective well-being were obtained. Writing about life goals was significantly less upsetting than writing about trauma and was associated with a significant increase in subjective well-being. Five months after writing, a significant interaction emerged such that writing about trauma, one’s best possible self, or both were associated with decreased illness compared with controls. Results indicate that writing about self-regulatory topics can be associated with the same health benefits as writing about trauma.
Gender Differences and Gender-Related Constructs in Dating Aggression
Authors: Jenkins Stephen S. , Aubé Jennifer
Published: March 2007

This study examined frequency and severity of physical, symbolic, and psychological aggression between college men and women in 85 heterosexual dating relationships and the extent to which gender role constructs predicted reports of aggression. Although there were no differences on self-reports of perpetration, men reported higher victimization levels than women and higher physical and psychological victimization levels than perpetration levels, whereas women reported higher symbolic perpetration levels than victimization levels. As a result, averaging reports from both partners suggested that women in existing college dating relationships are more aggressive than men. For both genders, stereotypically negative masculine (i.e., instrumental) characteristics were the best predictors of aggressive acts. Perpetrators’ positive masculinity and femininity predicted self-reports of decreased aggression that were not confirmed by their partners. Whereas men’s traditional attitudes about the male role predicted greater male aggression, women’s less traditional attitudes predicted increased severity of female physical aggression.
The Development of Deception Detection Skill: A Longitudinal Study of Same-Sex Friends
Authors: Anderson D. Eric , DePaulo Bella M. , Ansfield Matthew E.
Published: March 2007

One member of each of 52 pairs of friends told true and fabricated stories to a partner (the judge) who guessed whether each story was true. This procedure was followed when the friends had known each other for 1 month and again 5 months later. Across all of the pairs, accuracy at detecting deception did not improve over time. However, judges from the emotionally closer pairs did become more accurate at 6 months than they had been at 1 month. The judges from the less-close pairs instead became less inclined to regard the stories as truthful, especially when they actually were truthful. Results of a second study ruled out the alternative interpretation that the closer friends told stories that were more obviously truthful or deceptive at 6 months than they had at 1 month. On indirect measures of deception detection, all of the groups of judges could distinguish the truths from the lies.
Expectancy Confirmation in Appraisals of Marital Interactions
Authors: McNulty James K. , Karney Benjamin R.
Published: March 2007

How do spouses evaluate their interactions with each other? Although spouses’ appraisals of their interactions with their partners influence relationship outcomes, it is not clear how such appraisals are formed. The current study examined the role of expectancy confirmation processes in evaluations of relationship interactions. A sample of 82 newlywed couples engaged in two videotaped problem-solving interactions and reported their marital satisfaction, expectations prior to each interaction, and appraisals after each interaction. Structural equation modeling revealed that (a) spouses’ prior expectations directly affected appraisals of their interactions and completely mediated the indirect effects of marital satisfaction and (b) behavior did not mediate the association between expectations and appraisals but instead influenced appraisals independently. Results suggest that partners’ behaviors may be a pathway through which initially positive beliefs about close relationships can deteriorate, despite expectancy confirmation processes that operate to maintain them.
Influence of a Salient Schema on Thought-induced Cognitive Change
Authors: Clary E. Gil , Tesser Abraham , Downing Leslie L.
Published: March 2007

The role of cognitive schemas in thought-induced attitude change was explored. Subjects role-playing personnel managers rated potential applicants for a salesman (bookkeeper) position and then were either distracted or given opportunity to think about a moderately favorable applicant for that position. As predicted, thought led to more favorable ratings of both salesman and bookkeeper applicants, and written descriptions of "salesman" applicants became more consistent with a salesman schema following thought.
Direct Experience and Attitude-Behavior Consistency: An Information Processing Analysis
Authors: Fazio Russell H. , Zanna Mark P. , Cooper Joel
Published: March 2007

Attitudes formed through direct behavioral experience with an attitude object have been found to better predict later behavior than attitudes formed through indirect experience. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that an information processing difference exists between direct and indirect experience. Subjects watched a videotape of an individual working examples of a variety of puzzles under instructions to empathize with that person or not. Taking the perspective of the person having the direct experience led Empathy subjects to behave more consistently with their own reported attitudes toward those puzzles than Control subjects. The results suggest that direct experience affects the attitude formation process by altering the way in which the available information is processed.
Failure to Help When in a Hurry: Callousness or Conflict?
Authors: Batson C. Daniel , Cochran Pamela J. , Biederman Marshall F. , Blosser James L. , Ryan Maurice J. , Vogt Bruce
Published: March 2007

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that being in a hurry does not reduce helping, it forces the potential helper to decide whom to help. It was predicted that if others were dependent on a hurrying individual to get somewhere quickly he would not stop; if others were not dependent, he would. Male undergraduates were informed that their data either were or were not vital for successful completion of a research project. They were then sent to another building to participate in the project. Half were told that they were late and must hurry; half were told they had ample time. On route, all encountered a male confederate slumped on the stairs, coughing and groaning. Results indicated that, as predicted, the importance of their data to the experimenter had a significant effect on whether subjects in a hurry would offer aid to the victim.
Looking at Behavior
Authors: Deaux Kay
Published: March 2007

It is argued that social psychologists have paid insufficient attention to means and frequencies and thus have failed to establish the necessary data base for valid theories of social behavior. The link between this type of data and issues of history, relevance and theory is discussed.
Locus of Control and Cue Explication
Authors: Gregory W. Larry , Nelson David V.
Published: March 2007

Decision time at a complex task was assessed for internal and external subjects who were previously given an instructional set which offered a reward for successful performance or made no mention of a reward. The results revealed that externals performed as well as internals under reward instructions, but did significantly worse than internals when a reward was not mentioned. These results were interpreted as support for Lefcourt's(1967) suggestion that cue explication is critical for externals but not internals. Implications for further research are discussed.
The Effect of Reprimanding Transgressions on Subsequent Helping Behavior: Two Field Experiments
Authors: Katzev Richard , Edelsack Leon , Steinmetz George , Walker Teresa , Wright Robin
Published: March 2007

The relationship between reprimanding individuals for naturally occurring transgressions and their later helping behavior was investigated in two experiments. Admonishing individuals for touching art objects in violation of museum rules or feeding "unauthorized" food to animals in a zoo, increased the likelihood that they would subsequently help a confederate pick up dropped items. Individuals were also more helpful after a severe, rather than a mild reprimand.
Schematic Bases of Social Problem-Solving
Authors: Taylor Shelley E. , Crocker Jennifer , D'Agostino Joseph
Published: March 2007

Subjects were given lists of attributes of people and told to find the attribute common to the people. For some conditions subjects received cues designating the people as members of particular groups. These cues either did or did not provide a basis for the correct solution to the task. Decision time was found to be a function of whether or not the cue provided was meaningfully associated with attributes in the lists. The results are interpreted as evidence of theory-driven or schema-based problem-solving.
On the Possibility of the Existence and Measurement of Negative Inputs in Social Exchange
Authors: Huppertz John W.
Published: March 2007

Negative inputs cause problems for the equity formula proposed by Adams (1965). Walster, Berscheid, and Walster (1973) have suggested revising the model to accomodate negative inputs. But the nature of negative inputs has not been explicitly defined, and no strategy for measuring negative inputs currently exists. The possibility of negative inputs is discussed here by considering two examples from other theoretical discussions. It is argued that this construct is not needed to understand social exchange relationships in which a person exhibits behaviors that are considered to be contributions to the exchange but are assigned a negative value.