A method for rating counselor social reinforcement and persuasion.

Describes (a) a counselor social reinforcement scale, based on the verbal conditioning model and the assumption that approval is a basic interpersonal reinforcer; and (b) a counselor persuasion scale, based on the the assumption that counselor conviction and client agreement with the couselor are the central aspects of counselor persuasiveness. The scales require the client to respond as if he has been reinforced or persuaded. To assess the immediate effect upon the client, 3-min segments from counseling interviews were divided into client-counselor-client statement units. Using the scales and their supplementary rules, a sample of 900 such units from 35 counselors of a variety of theoretical orientations were reliably rated and rerated by 6 experienced raters. Statistical and substantive characteristics of the scales are given and implications discussed. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of social reinforcement following social and sensory deprivation.

Prior to the presentation of a simple operant task, 72 boys and girls of CA 5-7 were placed in 1 of 3 deprivation conditions: (a) social and sensory, (b) social, (c) nondeprivation. The conditions differed according to the presence or absence of E and the presence or absence of interesting visual stimulation (viewing a colored, abstract film). During the 7 minutes of the experimental task Ss were socially reinforced by supportive comments twice each minute after the 1st, base-line minute. In the analysis of changes in performance following the 1st minute, significant effects were found for (a) deprivation condition (C), (b) sex of S (S), (c) age of S (A), (d) minutes (M) X S X C, and (e) M X C X A. It was concluded that isolation has differential effects on performance as a function of age and sex of S, and that the effects of isolation were related more to the sensory components of the situation than to the social components. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of paradoxical and nonparadoxical self-disclosure on counselor social influence.

Examined the effects of counselor self-disclosure and paradoxical homework directives on Ss' ratings on a 5-item homework directive rating scale and on perceived counselor social influence. It was hypothesized that counselor self-disclosure would reduce potentially negative perceptions of paradoxical directives. 49 female and 40 male undergraduates experiencing problems with test anxiety rated 1 of 4 videotapes of actual counselor–client interaction when a female counselor interviewed a client reporting problems with test anxiety. Results show that paradoxical homework directives were perceived as more tricky, manipulative, and confusing than were nonparadoxical directives but that these perceptions did not affect Ss' perceptions of the counselor's willingness or ability to help or increase feelings of anger toward the counselor. Results also indicate that paradoxical directives were not damaging to perceptions of counselor social influence and the counselor self-disclosure did not affect perceptions of counselor social influence. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling effectiveness as a function of counselor social interest.

Examined the relationship between counselor social interest and 3 dimensions of counseling effectiveness. 99 students and 8 counselors at a university counseling center participated, and data were analyzed using a multivariate trend analysis. Measures included the Early Recollection Questionnaire, the Rating Scale of Social Interest Characteristics, and the Counseling Evaluation Inventory. Results show that the counselor's social interest score was significantly related to the client's scores on satisfaction, self-acceptance, and sociability. Experimental support was obtained for one of the major contributions of Adlerian theory, the concept of social interest. Implications of the findings for successful counseling outcomes are discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational sex role stereotypes and social desirability among counselor trainees.

Reviewers of the literature have concluded that sex bias frequently occurs in career counseling and is operative in both male and female counselors. In order to test whether counselors hold preconceptions about occupations, a study was conducted that incorporated 2 levels of counselor sex with 4 levels of stimulus occupations in a mixed factorial design. The dependent variables were degree and direction of sex role stereotypes and degree of social desirability, as measured by scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. 27 male and 27 female graduate students in counselor training completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory for each of the stimulus occupations. ANOVAs and mean comparisons on scores representing the dependent variables led to the following conclusions: (a) Males do not differ from females in degree of occupational stereotypes. (b) Occupations differ in degree of stereotypes elicited. (c) Males do not differ from females in direction of occupational stereotypes. (d) Occupations differ in direction of stereotypes elicited. (e) Males do not differ from females in degree of occupational social desirability perceived. (f) Occupations do not differ in degree of social desirability perceived by counselors. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preference for delayed reinforcement and social responsibility.

The present investigation combines the methodology of 2 previous works, one by the author involving Ss making a choice between a smaller immediate reinforcement vs. a larger reinforcement promised at a later time, and a Social Responsibility Scale (SRS). The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that willingness to postpone gratification (choose delayed reinforcement) was positively related to social responsibility and negatively to delinquent behavior. Ss were Negro children of Trinidad, from a public school and a reform school. Choice for immediate reward was seen to be related to low scores on the SRS scale and for poorer estimation of time. Results are related to previous work and to a cross-cultural frame of reference. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3HJ01M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of rating scales in psychiatry

Statistical analysis of psychiatric research requires the translation of qualitative data into quantitative form. This can be achieved using rating scales. However, the reliability and the validity, i.e. the validation of these scales, presents significant problems; these shall be outlined in this article.     

Warning and persuasion.

Reviewed studies dealing with the effects on audience opinions of (1) advance information about the topics and the direction of argument of forthcoming communications (warning), and (2) instructions that describe the experiment as a study of opinion change (persuasion context). Conclusions include: (1) warning and persuasion context are not separate manipulations; (2) their effects on postcommunication opinion change are not clear; and (3) warning and persuasion context probably cause precommunication opinion change. It is suggested that neither warning nor persuasion context, by themselves, are crucial variables in postcommunication opinion change. In some instances persuasion may begin prior to actual exposure to persuasive communications. (32 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of counselor gender and counselor sex role orientation on perceived counselor characteristics.

Assessed the influence of counselor (C) gender (male or female), C sex role orientation (traditional or egalitarian), S's sex role orientation (masculine, feminine, or androgynous), and client problem type (sex role related or not sex role related) on female Ss' judgments of their comfort with disclosing to Cs and their perceptions of the C's attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness. Results show that (a) S's ratings of comfort in disclosing was greater with female rather than male and with egalitarian rather than traditional Cs; (b) female egalitarian Cs were perceived as most expert, whereas female traditional Cs were perceived as least expert, and (c) male traditional Cs were perceived as least trustworthy. The presence of C gender and C sex role effects and the absence of effects as a function of problem type and Ss' sex role orientation are discussed. Suggestions are made concerning the need for more consistent definition of sex role orientation and designation of problem type. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of counselor self-referent responses and counselor status.

Conducted a study with a 2?×?3 factorial design, the factors being status of counselor (paraprofessional vs professional) and counselor response type (high-intimacy self-disclosing, low-intimacy self-disclosing, and self-involving). Perceptions of and responses to the counselor by 180 female undergraduates were assessed. High self-disclosing and self-involving counselors were rated as more expert and trustworthy than the low self-disclosing counselor. Paraprofessionals were rated as more attractive and trustworthy than professionals. Ss' responses to high self-disclosing and self-involving counselors contained more client self-referents than responses to the low self-disclosing counselors. Responses to the low self-disclosing counselor were more likely to be phrased in the past and future and contained more counselor-focused statements than responses to the high self-disclosing or self-involving counselor. Responses to the high self-disclosing counselor contained more affective words and fewer counselor references than responses to the self-involving or low self-disclosing counselors. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client verbal and nonverbal reinforcement of counselor behavior: Its impact on interviewing behavior and postinterview evaluation.

Examined the effect of client reinforcement on counselor behavior within the interview as well as on selected attitudinal judgments of the counselor about the client. 30 counselor-trainees interviewed a standard client for 1 20-min interview. Following a 10-min baseline period, the client reinforced the counselor's reflection of feeling (RF) statements with either a verbal response, a verbal plus nonverbal response, or a noncontingent verbal plus nonverbal response. Counselors then completed a postinterview questionnaire measuring attraction to and clinical impression of the client. Results show that (a) counselors in verbal and verbal plus nonverbal conditions showed significant increases in RF statements, while noncontingent controls showed no significant gains; and (b) differences in counselor attraction and clinical impression of the client were minimal. Implications are discussed in terms of skill acquisition in counselor training. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived counselor social influence and counseling outcomes: Validity of the Counselor Rating Form.

Examined the predictive validity of the Counselor Rating Form (CRF) and tested S. R. Strong's model of the impact of counselor social influence on counseling outcomes. 36 15–32 yr old clients from a rural midwestern outpatient drug treatment program were asked to rate counselors after their initial interview and then after their final counseling session using the CRF. Precounseling and postcounseling scores were generated for each client using the method of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). Scores from pre- and postcounseling CRF and GAS were used to study the relationship between initial client perceptions and postcounseling outcomes. The major hypothesis that a positive relationship would occur between final perceptions and outcomes was supported. Regression analyses produced a prediction equation using CRF variables that accounted for 35% of outcome variance. Results suggest the research and clinical utility of the CRF and the validity of the social influence model on which its dimensions are based. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multicultural counseling competencies: Verbal content, counselor attributions, and social desirability.

This study investigated the validity of 2 instruments designed to measure the multicultural counseling competencies (MCC). Fifty-five counselors participated in a counseling simulation involving a videotaped portrayal of a female Mexican American client at a predominantly White university. Counselors made attributions about the causes of the client's problem and completed a self-report MCC scale and a social desirability scale. Independent judges evaluated counselors' verbal responses for multicultural content and observed MCC. Results indicate that (a) there was little relation between self- and other-rated MCC, in which only self-reported MCC knowledge was a predictor of observed MCC; (b) self-reported MCC was positively associated with social desirability; and (c) observed MCC was positively associated with sociocultural etiology attributions, external locus of the cause attributions, and multicultural verbal content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructional and isolation effect on susceptibility to social reinforcement.

Investigated the relationship of anxiety-inducing (hai) or anxiety-reducing (lai) instructions with social isolation and social reinforcer effectiveness. 80 3rd grade ss, under hai and lai conditions, underwent 0- or 3-min isolation periods. Following instructional and isolational procedures, ss received social reinforcement for correct responses on a probability matching task. Results show that the hai isolated group was significantly more susceptible to social reinforcement than the other 3 groups. Findings are consistent with an anxiety interpretation of the social isolation effect. (french summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)