Another look at phonetic symbolism.

Various possible meanings of "phonetic symbolism" are discussed. Phonetic symbolism is distinguised from onomatopoeia. "Elemental" and "structural" phonetic symbolism are defined. Elemental phonetic symbolism is discussed in terms of 7 hierarchically arranged questions which define "subjective" phonetic symbolism (that detected by Os) and "objective" phonetic symbolism (over-representation of particular sounds in words of particular connotations in natural languages). Experimental and empirical evidence relevant to each question are discussed, and it is concluded that both subjective and objective elemental phonetic symbolism are real phenomena, but that the patterns of symbolism are unrelated in historically unrelated languages. The feedback theory of phonetic symbolism (Taylor) is considered in greater detail than heretofore. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental study of internalization fantasies in schizophrenic men.

Explored the types of internalization fantasies involving the constructs (or concepts or fantasies) of mother that are ameliorative in schizophrenia, using 120 18–65 yr old male schizophrenics (nonorganic). Four groups of 30 Ss received a subliminal experimental stimulus designed to activate a different fantasy of internalization as well as a subliminal neutral control message. The experimental messages were "Mommy and I are one," "Mommy and I are the same," "Mommy is inside me," and "Mommy and I are alike"; the control message was "People are walking." Assessments of pathological thinking and behavior were made before and after the presentation of each stimulus. Only the stimulus "Mommy and I are one" was effective in reducing pathology. Findings lend strong support to the contention that fantasies of oneness identification with the "good" mother are ameliorative for schizophrenics. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some perspectives on "the attenuation paradox in test theory."

Clarification is given of the "paradox" posed by Loevinger (see 29: 3299), i.e., "validity" (the product-moment r of test score with the common factor of test items) decreases upon the increase beyond a certain point of item intercorrelations in a test whose items are of equal difficulty. Four points are made: (1) the "region of paradox" is reduced using a curvilinear r rather than the usual product-moment "validity"; (2) the paradox's incidence in aptitude and achievement tests is not as great as is frequently believed; (3) over-all "validity" for a group is inferior to the test's discriminating power for a specified decision problem for a specific examinee; and (4) the conception that "… for optimum results the percentage of correct answers to each item should equal the percentage of examinees to be selected" is correct only if the latter percentage is 50. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Politics of Emotion in Everyday Life: "Appropriate" Emotion and Claims on Identity.

Emotions have a political dimension in that judgments regarding when and how emotion should be felt and shown are interpreted in the interests of regulating the organization and functioning of social groups. This article argues that claims to authenticity and legitimacy of one's self-identity or group identity are at stake in the everyday politics of emotion. A brief discussion of the study of sex differences in the 19th century illustrates how emotion politics can saturate even scientific inquiry. Three ways in which there is a political dimension to socially appropriate emotion in contemporary life are then discussed: (a) Is the emotion the "wrong" emotion for the situation? (b) How are competing standards for emotional experience and expression managed? and (c) What constitutes the boundary between "too much" and "too little" emotion? The author concludes by considering the relevance of emotion politics to research on emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eysenck's treatment of the personality of communists.

The data, presented by Eysenck (see 30: 909), concerned with the notion that communists and fascists are similar in being "tough-minded" and "authoritarian" are critically examined. A detailed treatment of the sampling and measurement techniques employed to obtain the revelant data are presented. The author concludes that: (1) "The samples studied are not representative of the present population, and that generalizations drawn from these samples are therefore unwarranted; (2) the 'tough-mindedness' scale leads to misleading comparisons among members of various political parties because of biases built into the scoring system." In addition, the author concludes that the communists and fascists did differ from one another in many "crucial aspects." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Models of behavior disorder: A formal analysis based on Woods's Taxonomy of Instrumental Conditioning": Erratum to Tryon.

Reports 2 errors in the original article by W. W. Tryon (American Psychologist, 1976, Vol 7 509–518). On page 512 the left-hand measure, line 11 "first row" should read "first column." On page 514, instead of "Signaled Contingent Reward Conditioning," the 2nd heading should read "Signaled Noncontingent Reward Conditioning." (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in PA, Vol 57:4654.) Discusses the issue of formal analysis of operations in psychology. A total of 120 conditioning paradigms are derived from P. J. Woods's (see record 1975-00351-001) "Taxonomy of Instrumental Conditioning," of which 64 are predicted to produce behavior disorder and 32 are predicted to produce no behavior disorder. The remaining 24 are either redundant or "degenerate" paradigms. Eight paradigms producing behavior disorder are selected for review because they represent simple symmetrical formal relationships and have been more widely investigated. Among the phenomena covered are "superstitious" behavior, learned helplessness, experimental neurosis, anaclitic depression as a result of maternal separation, and physiological disturbances such as ulceration… (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the "unknown" in psychotherapy.

Suggests that "darkness" (in contrast to and in alternation with "light") is useful as a metaphor for representing ever-recurring periods in dynamic psychotherapy during which the therapist does not and cannot know what is occurring in the work with his/her patient. Such unfathomable "dark" periods are a fertile matrix from which central meanings in a patient's life will emerge, provided the therapist does not interfere with their unfolding. However, these "dark" periods are anxiety provoking for the therapist and often result in anxiety-instigated, growth-deflecting efforts at prediction and control. Clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate the inevitable rhythm of alternation in therapy between "darkness" and "light," the imponderability of various key therapeutic events, and the therapist's struggles with these issues. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of the reluctant client.

"This paper proposes to consider some theoretical and practical considerations concerning persons who do not enter psychotherapy willingly." A tentative behavioral continuum at the onset of treatment is proposed. This proceeds from "active hostility" at one extreme to "negativism" to "passive resistance" to "neutrality" to "admission of a problem" to "recognition of personal problem and desire for help in working it out." Pretherapy designates any work with reluctant clients with the object of raising them up the continuum to full therapy-client status. Ethical considerations, the role of anxiety, and treatment possibilities are discussed. Brief vignettes of reluctant clients are provided. "They are human beings who are not getting nearly enough peace and happiness out of life—and they are making others miserable in the process. They need help; but many are not getting it. Graduate schools do not offer courses on the treatment of the reluctant client, probably because little study has gone into the problem." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental analyses of "hypnotic" behavior: A review of recent empirical findings.

Experiments are reviewed that were designed to delineate the instrumental variables in eliciting objective and subjective responses to test suggestions of body immobility, analgesia, hallucination, deafness, selective amnesia, and so on, that is, in eliciting behaviors of the type traditionally termed "hypnotic." The question at the forefront of discussion is: In producing "hypnotic-like" behavior, what are the relative effects of (a) S's personality characteristics, and of instructional-situational variables, such as (b) defining the situation to S as "hypnosis" or "control," (c) administering task-motivational instructions, (d) administering suggestions of relaxation, drowsiness, and sleep, and (e) suggesting to S that he can now easily respond to test suggestions? (4 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When psychology looks like a "soft" science, it's for good reasonp.

The natural (or physical) sciences are sometimes called "hard" sciences in contrast to the social sciences (and sometimes the life sciences also), which are thought to represent "soft" sciences. L. V. Hedges (see record 1987-26934-001) made an important effort to determine the empirical cumulativeness of various scientific research programs, with an eye toward assessing if this criterion is related to a discipline's "hardness" or "softness." This article discusses another criterion, a research program's predictive accuracy, that might also be considered along with a program's empirical cumulativeness. Finally, recent improvements in the predictive accuracy of multifaceted psychological theories are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Judeo-Christian rejoinder to Bramel and Friend's Marxist critique of the capitalist "Hawthorne effect": Comment.

Comments on Bramel and Friend's (August 1981) critique of the classic "Hawthorne effect" studies from a Marxist point of view. Bramel and Friend attempt to answer the question, What keeps the myth going? (i.e., What keeps the myth of the "Hawthorne effect" alive in at least some textbooks?). Their answer, in which they follow Ehrenreich and Ehrenreich (1977), is that psychologists, as members of the "professional managerial class," are allied with management against labor to assure "the reproduction of capitalist culture" by propagating the myth of the laboring class as composed of persons who are "relatively ignorant, narrow, and unintelligent" (p. 877). They conclude, "why should [psychologists] bother to go back to examine the basic research documents if the authoritative interpretations appear so consonant with their cognitive world and material (economic, power) interests?" (p. 877). I would like to provide a Judeo-Christian answer to their Marxist question: Textbook authors in psychology are all too often guilty of one of the seven deadly sins--sloth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three theoretical interpretations of order effects in persuasive communications.

The "set," "reinforcement," and "sensory variation" hypotheses are reviewed in terms of their ability to predict the results of order effects in the persuasive situation where opposed arguments on the same topic are utilized. The set hypothesis is most successful when the communicative materials presented are unfamiliar to the S. The sensory variation hypothesis is most successful when the topics of the cummunications are concerned with familiar social issues. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathophysiology and treatment of cardioembolic stroke

To elucidate the pathophysiologic mechanism of cardioembolic stroke in elderly people and to devise therapeutic strategies for it, was analyzed 120 consecutive patients (77 men and 43 women aged 65 +/- 13 years) with acute cardioembolic stroke who were admitted within 7 days of the stroke onset. We compared underlying heart diseases. NIH stroke scale on admission, lesion size on computed tomography (CT), the relation between anticoagulant therapy and recurrence, complications during admission. ADL at discharge, recurrence, and death during the follow up period in three groups: patients aged less than 65 years (the young group), those aged from 65 to 74 years (the "non-old" group), and those aged more than 75 years (the "old old" group). In the "old old" group, non valvular atrial fibrillation (75.8%) was the most common underlying heart disease and so was rheumatic heart disease (33.3%) in the "non-old" group. NIH stroke scale score (median, 11) and the proportion of patients with a large lesion (> 3 cm) of CT were higher in the "old old" group than in the other two groups. Immediate anticoagulation (A/C) within 14 days of onset was performed in more than 70% of the "non-old" and the "young old" groups but in only 57.6% of the "old old" group. Stroke recurred more often in 34 patients who did not receive immediate A/C than in the 86 who did (11.8% v.s. 2.3%. Chi square test, p = 0.053). Hemorrhage during immediate A/C and other complications (infection and pulmonary embolism) were seen in 2 and 14 patients, respectively, in both the "young old" groups, but not in the "non-old" group. Good outcomes (able to walk with or without cane) were more common in the "non-old" group (78.9%) than the other groups (57.1%, Chi square test, p < (0.01). A/C after the acute stage was done in more than 80% of those in the "non-old" and the "young old" groups, but in less than 30% of those in the "old old" group (Chi square test, p = 0.0514). Survival without recurrence during the observation period (605 +/- 550 days) was significantly lower in the "old old" group than in the other two groups (log-rank test, p = 0.0091). Cardioembolic stroke in the elderly may be characterized as follows: (1) non valvular atrial fibrillation is the most common, (2) severe neurologic deficits on admission and large lesions on CT are noted, (3) complications (infection and pulmonary embolism) often occur, (4) A/C in both acute and chronic stages are done infrequently. Therefore, the indication and intensity of A/C for primary and secondary prevention and prevention of complications are important in management of cardioembolic stroke in the elderly.     

Analysis of the self: A cognitive relabeling technique.

Describes a technique for altering self-labeling processes as the method is used in group therapy. Group members are encouraged to identify negative adjectives that they use to describe themselves. Using the assumption that polarities exist in everyone, the group members are then encouraged to identify positive adjectives that exist to counterbalance these negative adjectives. Having accomplished this, many members become aware of their rigid, global approach to self-labeling. One-dimensional extreme views such as "passivity is bad" and "activity is good" become more apparent. Construction of a lost-quality list is then attempted. Members are helped in finding new, more flexible accepting labels such as "receptivity" that formerly were suppressed or assigned to the good–bad polarized categories as "activity-passivity." Variations on this technique that can be integrated into other therapeutic approaches are discussed. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reinforcement today.

The discovery of facts and practices concerning reinforcement in the past 25 years "have increased our power to predict and control behavior and in so doing have left no doubt of their reality and importance." In the acquisition of a bowling response in pigeons 3 points are relevant: (a) The temporal relationships between behavior and reinforcement are very important. (b) Behavior was set up through successive approximations. (c) Behavior gradual "shapes up" by "reinforcing crude approximations of the final topography instead of waiting for the complete response." The maintenance of behavior through various schedules of reinforcement is discussed. "The world in which man lives may be regarded as an extraordinarily complex set of positive and negative reinforcing contingencies… . In any social situation we must discover who is reinforcing whom with what and to what effect." The modern study of reinforcement is: (a) difficult and relatively expensive; (b) usually single-organism research, in which a statistical program is "unnecessary" and "wrong"; (c) not theoretical. "The new principles and methods of analysis which are emerging from the study of reinforcement may prove to be among the most productive social instruments of the twentieth century." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child witnesses in the Canadian criminal courts: Recognizing their capacities and needs.

Until the late 1980s, the Canadian legal system viewed children as inherently unreliable and made little effort to accommodate them. Legislation enacted in 1988 (S.C. 1987 c. 24) permits children to testify without being sworn if they have the "ability to communicate" on "promising to tell the truth." A child may testify from behind a screen or via closed circuit television if this is "necessary to get a full and candid account of the acts complained of" and videotapes of an investigative interview may be played in court if the child "adopts" the contents when testifying. Judges have also changed the common law rules that affect criminal prosecutions when children are witnesses; for example, a child's out-of-court statements may be admitted if this is "necessary" and the statements are "reliable." Judges are more willing to find children to be "reliable witnesses" despite minor inconsistencies in their evidence. Although there continue to be cases of judicial insensitivity and the court process is sometimes very distressing for children, the Canadian legal system is displaying greater recognition of the needs and capacities of child witnesses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The incompleteness of social-psychological theory: Examples from small group, cognitive consistency, and attribution research.

Examined interaction in 28 groups in natural settings using the nonparticipant observation method. Results indicate interpersonal blindness in relationships which hindered problem solving on important issues. A "typical world" (Pattern A) was hypothesized in which individuals expressed minimal emotion, openness, and risk taking, in contrast to an "atypical interpsersonal world" (Pattern B) in which "feelings are expressed and risks are taken; in which helping others to own, to be open, and to experiment occurs; and in which the norms of conformity and antagonism become less potent while the norms of individuality and trust become more potent." The values behind Pattern A, their origin and method of change, are discussed. The incompleteness of cognitive balance, attribution, and social evaluation theories in regard to Pattern B is emphasized. It is concluded that "in the social psychology of interpersonal relations the infrequent, deviant behavior may be the competent or 'healthy' behavior." (49 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.

Discusses the decision to eliminate the term "neurosis" from the DSM-III. The history of the term is traced; weaknesses of DSM-II pertaining to neurosis are presented; theoretical and political processes in the deletion procedure are described; and an overview is given of the current resolution as presented in DSM-III. Instead of neurosis, "neurotic disorder" and "neurotic process" were distinguished to reduce potential theoretical bias. The process may or may not be seen by the clinician as causal in the disorder, but those of all theoretical persuasions should be able to agree on what the disorder is. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)