Do self-control treatments last? An evaluation of behavioral problem solving and faded counselor contact as treatment maintenance strategies.

Notes that in many cases, the effects of counseling do not last. Clients often abandon treatment procedures, and their initial progress deteriorates. This experiment evaluated 2 strategies for enhancing treatment maintenance: behavioral problem solving and faded counselor contact. 69 volunteer college students who were seriously concerned about academic underachievement participated in the study. Ss were randomly assigned to a no-treatment control group, a study skills advice group, or 1 of 4 self-control-plus-study-skills-advice groups. The design also included a no-contact control group of 11 nonvolunteers. Treatment was delivered via a combination of group methods and reading assignments. The major outcome measures were course exam scores and semester GPAs, with follow-ups conducted 6 wks, 12 wks, and 1 yr posttreatment. The results indicate that training in problem solving was an effective treatment maintenance strategy, while a brief fading procedure was not. Results also show rapid posttreatment deterioration on the part of the no-maintenance strategy groups. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the performance of college freshmen with attributional techniques.

Reports 2 replications of the authors' (see record 1982-26799-001) study in which college freshmen were given information suggesting that the causes of low grades are unstable. Compared with a control group, these Ss did better on both short-term and long-term performance measures. The long-term results, however, tended to be weak or open to alternative explanations. In the 1st replication, 39 2nd-semester freshmen with low GPAs who worried about their academic performance were assigned to control or treatment conditions. Ss in the treatment conditions received information that grades are low in the freshman year; some Ss were also told that grades improve thereafter. In the 2nd replication, 41 1st-semester freshmen who worried about their low GPAs received grade information, completed questionnaires, and completed some items from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Considered together, these 3 studies found that attributional interventions improved the performance of Ss on both short-term and long-term measures. Presenting Ss with information indicating that the causes of low grades in the 1st yr are temporary led to (a) improvement on sample items from the GRE and (b) increases in actual grades in the semester after the studies were conducted. Results were stronger for males than for females. This may have been due to the fact that females were more likely to find out on their own that the causes of poor grades are unstable. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persistance at a liberal arts college: A replicated, five-year longitudinal study.

Analyzed data on 1,171 freshmen entering Macalester College in 1964 and 1965 to observe factors related to persistance at the college. Voluntary withdrawals (Ss who left the college in good academic standing) did not differ from the persisters (graduates of Macalester) on precollege ability and achievement measures (including the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Omnibus Personality Inventory, and the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values). College GPAs for the withdrawal Ss, however, revealed that these Ss did not achieve as well as the persisters. The male failures (Ss having less than a C average at time of dropping from the College) had lower achievement in high school than the withdrawals, while the female failures did less well than the withdrawals on the precollege ability tests. No generalizable differences were apparent among the groups on personality and values inventories, home proximity to the college, or participation in an experimental advising program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and computer effectiveness in helping students select courses.

Compared the effectiveness of a computer-based counseling system with a counselor-based system in helping students explore and select high school courses. Ss were 96 students in Grades 9-11. No significant differences were found in grades received and number of courses changed between the students using counselor-assisted and computer-assisted course selection procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the uniformity myth: A comparison of academically successful and unsuccessful test-anxious college students.

72 college students were administered a battery of tests including the Test Anxiety Scale, Worry-Emotionality Scale, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Academic Self-Evaluation Questionnaire. Two levels of test anxiety were crossed with 2 levels of academic performance in a factorial design. High-anxious Ss differed from low-anxious Ss on traditional cognitive and somatic indicators of test anxiety, but not on any measure of study or test-taking skills. Ss with high grades, regardless of their anxiety level, scored higher on measures of academic skills than Ss in both "low" performing groups. A measure assessing ability to control negative internal dialog revealed significant differences only between performance groups, implicating cognitive control as a factor influencing academic performance. Expectations that Ss had about the amount of material they needed to know to be prepared for examinations were related to test anxiety, especially among successful but anxious Ss. Implications are noted for designing interventions specifically tailored to the needs of 2 types of test-anxious students: those who perform well in school and those who are less successful. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between expectancies for a helping relationship and tendency to seek help from a campus help provider.

236 undergraduate volunteers were randomly assigned to 1 of 7 experimental groups or a control group to complete a tendency-to-seek-help questionnaire. In addition, Ss in the experimental groups completed an expectancies-about-counseling questionnaire, designed to measure their expectancies about a helping interview with 7 campus help providers: advisor, career counselor, clinical psychologist, college counselor, counseling psychologist, peer counselor, and psychiatrist. Analysis of the data revealed (a) differences in the expectancies Ss held for the 7 campus help providers, (b) differences in the Ss' tendency to seek help from the 7 campus help providers for personal and career problems, and (c) relationships between the Ss' expectancies for a help provider and their tendency to turn to that help provider for assistance with a personal or career concern. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of study counseling and desensitization in alleviating test anxiety in college students.

Selected 36 male and 39 female test-anxious undergraduates. 50 Ss were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 therapists for (a) desensitization alone, (b) study counseling alone, (c) a combination of study counseling and desensitization, and (d) a placebo procedure. 25 Ss were assigned to 2 control groups. The experimental design was a repeated-measures paradigm involving pre- and posttreatment assessment of self-report, physiological, and academic performance variables. Data were collected during an interview and immediately before midterm and final examinations. Results indicate that a combination of desensitization and study counseling was more effective in reducing physiologically measured anxiety and improving academic and examination performance than either technique alone. Desensitization and study counseling were not reliably different from each other, nor reliably more effective than the placebo procedure in improving academic performance. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two self-control procedures in the reduction of targeted and nontargeted anxieties.

Compared the effects of relaxation as self-control and a self-control variant of systematic desensitization (SD) in reducing targeted (test anxiety) and nontargeted anxieties with those of wait-list and no-treatment expectancy controls; 12 male and 57 female undergraduates were Ss. Immediately following counseling and at follow-up, groups given relaxation as self-control and SD both reported significantly less debilitating test anxiety and significantly more facilitating test anxiety than controls. In a stressful analog testing condition, self-control groups reported significantly less worry, emotionality, and state test anxiety than controls. While no performance differences were found in the analog situation, relaxation as self-control and modified SD Ss had significantly higher psychology grades than the no-treatment expectancy group. Grades of the wait-list group were not significantly different from those of other groups. The relaxation as self-control group showed reduction and maintenance on both measures of nontargeted anxiety relative to the controls. The modified SD group showed posttreatment reduction on both nontargeted anxiety measures but maintenance on only one. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior of high, moderate, and low test anxious students during an actual test situation.

A 3 by 2 by 3 Test Anxiety Level by Level of Past Academic Performance by Point of Assessment factorial design was employed to examine effects on 8 dependent variables: positive thoughts; negative thoughts; evaluation, potency, and activity semantic differentials; history test grade; bodily sensations; and Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale score. Results with 231 college students indicate that low test anxious Ss differed significantly from high test anxious Ss on all 8 dependent variables. Level of test anxiety had a significant effect on each dependent variable. In addition, Ss with high GPAs received significantly higher test grades and reported more bodily sensations indicative of arousal than Ss with low GPAs. Ss assessed toward the end of the test (last 10 min) reported significantly more negative thoughts and bodily sensations than Ss assessed after reading the history test questions for the first time (beginning) or at the middle of the test. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of clinical counseling on college achievement.

To investigate the effects of clinical counseling on the academic achievement of college students, each of 132 counseled students was compared to a "hypothetical twin" which represented the average of 5 noncounseled students closely matched to the counseled students on each of 5 control dimensions: age, sex, high school average, number of college credits, and cumulative index. No significant differences in achievement were found between counseled students and their controls. However, when counseled students were grouped according to the counselor they had seen, significant differences emerged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of subliminal stimulation of symbiotic fantasies on college student self-disclosure in group counseling.

36 female college students in 3 main groups of 12, with 6 experimental and 6 control Ss in each group, participated in 3 group-counseling sessions. Before each session the experimentals received the subliminal message, "Mommy and I are one," and the controls the neutral message, "People are walking." In the counseling session that followed, Ss in 1 main group (both experimentals and controls) were exposed to 8 counselor self-disclosures (CSDs); another group received 4 CSDs, and the 3rd received zero CSDs. The main hypothesis of the study, that the experimental "Mommy" message would produce more S self-disclosures (SSDs) than the neutral message, was supported, but 2 subsidiary hypotheses were not: (a) that a moderate number (4) of CSDs would elicit more SSDs than either zero or 8 CSDs; and (b) that SSDs would increase over time (between 1st and 3rd group-counseling sessions). These results with the "Mommy" stimulus, together with previous findings, indicate that the subliminal stimulation of symbiotic fantasies can enhance the effectiveness of therapeutic procedures of various kinds. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental prevention of underachievement among intelligent impulsive college students.

64 impulsive freshmen with Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of 1000 or more were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) paid counseling Ss were paid each time they attended a weekly counseling session; (b) paid math Ss were paid for passing a weekly math quiz; (c) paid control Ss were paid weekly with no contingent effort required; and (d) unpaid control there were no experimental interventions. 64 nonimpulsive freshmen served as controls in each of the 4 conditions. Results were that paying Ss to attend counseling sessions significantly improved their final grades. Paying Ss to study mathematics was only effective among the brighter impulsive students. It is concluded that both treatment conditions forced impulsive Ss to pay attention to their school progress on a continuing basis. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A controlled evaluation of behavior modification with conduct problem children.

Evaluated a behavioral intervention program for conduct problem children with both behavioral and academic difficulties in elementary school. 16 Ss were each assigned to either a treatment or a "no-contact" control group. A standardized 20-hr treatment program involving the child, parents, and the teacher was provided by clinical psychologists. Both observational recordings and teacher ratings of social and academic behavior demonstrated that significantly greater behavioral improvement had occurred for treated than for control children. However, at a 9-mo follow-up, the control group had improved sufficiently that these differences were no longer significant. Although no differences existed between treated and untreated children in achievement test performance (California Achievement Test) or grades at termination, follow-up revealed that the treated Ss had significantly better achievement scores and grades 9 mo after termination. Ratings of therapists by teachers and parents were uniformly positive, and there were no dropouts during the 3-4 mo course of treatment. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the academic performance of college freshmen: Attribution therapy revisited.

40 freshmen were given information indicating that on the average, college students improve their grades from the freshman to the upperclass years, and they were shown videotaped interviews of upperclassmen who reported that their GPAs had improved since their freshman year. Ss who received the information, compared to those who did not, (a) were significantly less apt to leave college by the end of the sophomore year, (b) had a significantly greater increase in GPA 1 yr after the study, and (c) performed significantly better on sample items from the Graduate Record Exam. The self-report evidence for the cognitive processes mediating these behavioral changes was weak. A more positive mood was reported only by Ss who performed a reasons analysis (i.e., who were asked to list reasons why their grades might improve). This divergent pattern of behavioral and self-report results is discussed in terms of the hypothesis that the determinants of behavioral results differ from the determinants of self-report results in self-attribution studies. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of three methods of reducing test anxiety: Systematic desensitization, implosive therapy, and study counseling.

Administered the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test to 39 undergraduates. Finger sweat prints were also included as anxiety measures. Ss were assigned to 4 groups: systematic desensitization, implosive therapy, study counseling, and a no-treatment control group. Groups met for 4 1-hr sessions for 2 wks. Results suggest that systematic desensitization is more effective in reducing debilitating anxiety than either implosive therapy or study counseling and that implosive therapy is more effective than study counseling, which was not significantly different than no treatment. No significant differences between treatments were found on the physiological measure of anxiety, GPAs (compared before and after treatment), or facilitating anxiety. Findings support previous studies comparing desensitization and study counseling. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desire for control and academic performance.

Examined the relationship of desire for control (DFC) and academic performance. 65 undergraduates completed the Desirability of Control Scale. The Ss were asked to estimate their grade point average (GPA) for the current quarter and entire academic year, to estimate the number of hours they studied per week, and how important grades were to them. Two years later, the academic records of 54 Ss who gave permission were examined. High DFC Ss had higher grades than low DFC Ss. 84.6% of the students in the sample who achieved a GPA of 3.0 or better during the 2-yr period were high DFC students. High DFC Ss indicated they placed greater importance on grades and studied more per week than did low DFC Ss. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational indecision in college graduates.

Compared 127 vocationally undecided college graduates matched by sex, age, and college major with graduates who had selected an occupation on a questionnaire survey of graduating seniors. Undecided Ss had a significantly lower GPA than decided Ss, more often intended noncareer activities following graduation, less often were going to graduate school, and were far less satisfied with their university experience. Increases in indecisiveness in high school and college might be countered either through vocational counseling geared more to graduates' academic achievement or through facilitating a nonvocational orientation toward college. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-directed study skill programs for students on probation.

Paid 19 college students on probation $5.00/hr to participate in a project designed to improve grades. All Ss were taught (a) how to monitor their own study behavior; (b) the survey, question, read, recite, and review study strategy; and (c) the recommended amount of study time for different course loads. In addition, half of these Ss were given 3 hrs of instruction in principles of self-control and were shown how to set up self-administered behavior-modification programs to improve study habits. Self-control Ss succeeded in almost doubling both total study time and estimated effective study time. Overall GPAs also increased for self-control Ss. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of "counselors" and other help-givers: What's in a label?

Investigated the perceptions held by 240 undergraduates about counseling psychologists, college counselors, high school counselors, advisors, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists. Ss completed a questionnaire containing 100 adjectives which they assigned to the various professions on the basis of how well each described the role. Greater differences were found within the counseling specialties than between counseling psychologists and either clinical psychologists or psychiatrists. Contrary to previous research, none of the counseling groups were viewed as "nice guys" in relation to psychiatrists or clinical psychologists. Implications for both research and public relations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)