Has psychology ever been a science of behavior? A comment on Skinner.

Argues that B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) failed to recognize the role of behaviorism in the failure of psychology to become a science of behavior. The authors state that behaviorism has generated laws concerning the impact of behavior on certain environments instead of laws of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the Youth Corrections System Work? Tracking the Effectiveness of Intervention Efforts With Delinquent Boys in State Custody.

This study adopted a systemic approach to studying intervention efforts with delinquent youth, examining the association between several youth corrections programs and adult criminal outcomes. Two studies were designed to use juvenile and adult court records to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment programs provided to delinquent youth in state custody. The results of Study 1 suggested that court-recorded delinquent charges can be used to estimate delinquency severity. The results of Study 2 presented a discouraging but not entirely unexpected illustration of the effectiveness of intervention efforts among delinquent youth. It was found that time spent in juvenile detention facilities, work programs, and group homes was associated with negative adult criminal outcomes. No links between time spent in youth corrections programs and positive outcomes were identified. Implications for future program evaluation efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Designing screens for people to use easily

The use of interactive computer systems is expanding rapidly. In many applications users can communicate directly with computer-based systems through an interactive dialogue at a display terminal. However, this direct form of communication has created problems. Whereas early users of on-line systems were skilled computer professionals, today's users may have little or no training in computer technology. How then does this group communicate effectively with a computer systems?

The answer is that many users communicate only with considerable difficulty. The result is that the effectiveness of many systems is very much less than expected. The reason for this is simple: these systems are not very good at communicating with their users.

The most common communications bridge between a person and a computer system is a display screen. A well-designed screen format can enhance user productivity, eliminate or reduce user input errors, and promote end user satisfaction. A poorly designed screen has the opposite effect: it will decrease human processing speed, provoke user mistakes, and complicate computer operations.

Screen design requires the same care as designing the overall application. It employs the same techniques as planning and preparing good user documents. Screens, like documents, must be easy to understand and easy to use. To achieve these objectives, screen designers must make good choices regarding three ease-of-use parameters: format; screen content and layout; and style. This paper describes how standards may be established for each of these parameters in a proposed application or system. Futher, an interactive tutorial computer program has been developed (using Bricklin's DEMO program) which may be used to illustrate the application of these standards.     

New approaches for error estimation and adaptivity for 2D potential boundary element methods

This work presents two new error estimation approaches for the BEM applied to 2D potential problems. The first approach involves a local error estimator based on a gradient recovery procedure in which the error function is generated from differences between smoothed and non‐smoothed rates of change of boundary variables in the local tangential direction. The second approach involves the external problem formulation and gives both local and global measures of error, depending on a choice of the external evaluation point. These approaches are post‐processing procedures. Both estimators show consistency with mesh refinement and give similar qualitative results. The error estimator using the gradient recovery approach is more general, as this formulation does not rely on an ‘optimal’ choice of an external parameter. This work presents also the use of a local error estimator in an adaptive mesh refinement procedure. This r‐refinement approach is based on the minimization of the standard deviation of the local error estimate. A non‐linear programming procedure using a feasible‐point method is employed using Lagrange multipliers and a set of active constraints. The optimization procedure produces finer meshes close to a singularity and results that are consistent with the problem physics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extreme experience, psychological insight, and Holocaust perception: Reflections on Bettelheim and Frankl.

This article describes the psychological theories of the Holocaust survivors Bruno Bettelheim and Viktor Frankl. Both Bettelheim and Frankl claimed that their peculiar forms of psychotherapy, in the case of Bettelheim mileau therapy, and Frankl, logotherapy, were based on their survival. However, their radically different forms of psychotherapy, when at least elements of their camp experience was similar, suggests that their psychotherapies were based more upon the worldviews before their interment along with their need to work over the humiliation and profound victimization they experienced in the camps. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-efficacy and work-related performance: The integral role of individual differences.

The present study estimated the unique contribution of self-efficacy to work-related performance controlling for personality (the Big 5 traits), intelligence or general mental ability, and job or task experience. Results, based on a meta-analysis of the relevant literatures, revealed that overall, across all studies and moderator conditions, the contribution of self-efficacy relative to purportedly more distal variables is relatively small. Within moderator categories, there were several cases in which self-efficacy made unique contributions to work-related performance. For example, self-efficacy predicted performance in jobs or tasks of low complexity but not those of medium or high complexity, and self-efficacy predicted performance for task but not job performance. Overall, results suggest that the predictive validity of self-efficacy is attenuated in the presence of individual differences, though this attenuation does depend on the context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking Withdrawal Dynamics: III. Correlates of Withdrawal Heterogeneity.

Five parameters of postcessation smoking withdrawal variability derived from clinical data (T. M. Piasecki, D. E. Jorenby, S. S. Smith, M. C. Fiore, & T. B. Baker, 2003a, 2003b) were predicted from baseline measures and pharmacotherapy assignment. Smokers who were more dependent, older, and high in negative affect reported more severe withdrawal. Women, heavier smokers, and those with a history of depression reported more variable symptoms. Smokers treated with nicotine patch, bupropion, or both reported less severe withdrawal than did those given placebo, but medication did not affect the slope of symptoms over time, day-to-day variability of symptoms, or the size of acute changes in symptoms associated with lapses to smoking. Prior research has shown that these symptom facets predict later relapse: thus, current pharmacotherapies may aid cessation by diminishing withdrawal severity, but they do not affect all clinically important aspects of withdrawal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alternative modeling strategies on outcomes of interpersonal-skills training.

The effects of 2 alternative modeling strategies (using multiple scenarios and combining negative and positive model displays) on outcomes of a behavior modeling training program were explored. Trainees (N?=?72) participated in a program on assertive communication structured to allow for a controlled experimental design that crossed scenario variability (1 vs multiple scenarios) with model display variability (positive model displays vs positive and negative model displays). Outcomes assessed included trainee reactions, learning, and retention and behavioral measures of reproduction and generalization. The effects of multiple scenarios were negligible, but the positive and negative combination of model displays had a significant positive effect on trainee generalization and a significant negative effect on reproduction. Implications for future modeling research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-traumatic stress disorder and smoking: a systematic review.

We conducted a systematic review of what is known about the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and smoking to guide research on underlying mechanisms and to facilitate the development of evidence-based tobacco treatments for this population of smokers. We searched Medline, PsychINFO, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and identified 45 studies for review that presented primary data on PTSD and smoking. Smoking rates were high among clinical samples with PTSD (40%-86%) as well as nonclinical populations with PTSD (34%-61%). Most studies showed a positive relationship between PTSD and smoking and nicotine dependence, with odds ratios ranging between 2.04 and 4.52. Findings also suggest that PTSD, rather than trauma exposure itself, is more influential for increasing risk of smoking. A small but growing literature has examined psychological factors related to smoking initiation and maintenance and the overlapping neurobiology of PTSD and nicotine dependence. Observational studies indicate that smokers with PTSD have lower quit rates than do smokers without PTSD. Yet a few tobacco cessation treatment trials in smokers with PTSD have achieved quit rates comparable with controlled trials of smokers without mental disorders. In conclusion, the evidence points to a causal relationship between PTSD and smoking that may be bidirectional. Specific PTSD symptoms may contribute to smoking and disrupt cessation attempts. Intervention studies that test behavioral and pharmacological interventions designed specifically for use in patients with PTSD are needed to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population.     

Preceramic organoboron–silicon polymers

Several boron-containing organosilicon polymers were synthesized from a sodium-coupling reaction of silicon and boron halides with and without alkyl halide in hydrocarbon solvents. The B–Si preceramic polymers were characterized using techniques such as IR, UV, and NMR spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography, elemental analysis, molecular weight measurement, and thermal analyses (TGA, DSC, DTA, and TMA). The chemical structures of the preceramic polymers were postulated based on the analytical results. Black ceramic materials were obtained from the precursor polymers upon thermal degradation at temperatures above 1000°C in an inert atmosphere. The precursor polymers had a ceramic yield of up to 70%. Thermogravimetric analysis of the ceramic material in air at a flow rate of 100 mL/min showed it was stable up to 1000°C with little weight gain or loss. Several methods were used to characterize the ceramic materials: XRD, solid NMR, high-temperature DTA, elemental analysis, and acid digestion. The analyses indicated that the ceramic materials comprised a mixture of silicon carbide (SiC), silicon borides (SiB₄, SiB₆), and amorphous Si–B–C ceramics, with small amounts of silica and free silicon.