Toward an integration of psychologic, social, and biologic factors in depression: Effects on outcome and course of cognitive therapy.

The present study attempted to integrate key variables from 3 major domains of theory in depression (cognition, stress, and psychobiology) that are typically studied separately in analyses of course and response to cognitive therapy. Dysfunctional attitudes, negative life events, or sleep electroencephalogram were assessed in 53 outpatients before treatment with cognitive therapy. High levels of dysfunctional attitudes were found to be associated with poorer response to treatment but not for those patients who had experienced a severe negative life event. Examination of the length of time required to achieve remission revealed an effect for rapid eye movement (REM) latency as well as the interaction between REM latency and life events. These results are discussed in terms of the promise of integrative research in the study of depression and its treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Participative goal-setting: Social, motivational, and cognitive factors.

Examined 3 explanations of why participation in goal setting may lead to increased performance—the social factor of group discussion, the motivational factor of involvement in goal setting, and the cognitive factor of information. A 2?×?2?×?2 experimental design (low and high levels of group discussion, involvement, and information) was used to study 96 predominantly male white collar employees (aged 23–58 yrs) who worked on a simulated personnel selection task. Results indicate that the social and motivational factors of participation increased performance quantity, incidental learning, goal acceptance, group commitment, and satisfaction. The motivational and cognitive factors significantly contributed to performance quality but the cognitive factor did not significantly affect performance quantity and work attitudes. It is suggested that a combination of the 3 factors leads to the highest level of performance. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and existential therapies: Toward an integration.

Cognitive and existential therapies are typically viewed as so diverse in their assumptions as to be largely incompatible, representing opposite ends of the psychotherapeutic spectrum. The purpose of this article is to show how a merging of these therapies may contribute to a greater range of options for therapists. The authors attempt to show the surprisingly wide number of connections between these two schools. Comparisons and suggestions are made in the areas of the therapeutic relationship, interpersonal and environmental factors, sociotropy and autonomy, and meaning-making. Existential therapy is especially helpful in understanding the formation and identification of ontological core schemas, and an extensive list of these is provided. A case example involving a 32-yr-old female client with depression is provided that illustrates the integration of these two approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional processes in stereotype formation: A common model for category accentuation and illusory correlation.

Stereotype formation may be based on the exaggeration of real group differences (category accentuation) or the misperception of group differences that do not exist (illusory correlation). This research sought to account for both phenomena with J. K. Kruschke's (1996, 2001, 2003) attention theory of category learning. According to the model, the features of majority groups are learned earlier than the features of minority groups. In turn, the features that become associated with a minority are those that most distinguish it from the majority. This second process is driven by an attention-shifting mechanism that directs attention toward group-attribute pairings that facilitate differentiation of the two groups and may lead to the formation of stronger minority stereotypes. Five experiments supported this model as a common account for category accentuation and distinctiveness-based illusory correlation. Implications for the natures of stereotype formation, illusory correlation, and impression formation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation and mediated association: A finding.

In a study of illusory correlation with 42 college students testing the associative-connection explanation, associative hierarchies to colors were employed in a color-word matrix. Rather than a decrement in illusory correlation with decreasing associative correctiveness, a moderate increase in the effect was found. The subtle association may potentiate illusory correlation. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dependency conflicts in high-achieving women: Toward an integration.

Explores the dependency conflicts experienced by women who are in professional training in medicine and other biological sciences. As they become involved in psychotherapy, these high-achieving women find themselves caught in a struggle between their wish to be self-sufficient and to be help givers and their wish to have their needs for affection and nurturance met. Despite their excellent academic performance, they feel inadequate, lonely, and unable to succeed in establishing intimate relationships. Psychotherapy focuses on resolving the dependency conflicts through (1) increased awareness and acceptance of dependency needs, (2) gradual relinquishment of those wishes that are unattainable, and (3) development of an identity in which closeness, support, and emotional expression are better integrated with the needs for striving and self-sufficiency that have dominated the woman's life since childhood. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two meanings of "defense": Toward an integration of cognitive psychology and psychoanalytic theory.

Uses concepts from cognitive psychology to illuminate a distinction proposed by R. S. Wallerstein (1967, 1983) between defense mechanisms vs defense contents and behaviors, which differ in important ways with consequences for such theoretical issues as the pathogenicity of defense, the role of defense in supportive psychotherapy, and the sense in which defenses are unconscious. Although defense contents and behaviors can be unconscious in Freud's dynamic sense, an understanding of the unconscious status of defense mechanisms requires an extension of the concept of the unconscious to include what J. Sandler and W. G. Joffe (1969) called the nonexperiential. Although C. Brenner argued against Wallerstein's distinction in the panel on defenses in the psychoanalytic process (J. Krent, 1970; see also Brenner, 1976 and 1981), this article shows how their differences can be resolved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and self-disclosure: Toward a motivational model.

The self-disclosures of socially anxious and nonanxious Ss were compared within the framework of R. M. Arkin's (1981) motivational theory of social anxiety. Ss (N?=?84 women) were paired with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or a low level of intimacy (i.e., the classic reciprocity paradigm). Consistent with Arkin's theory, anxious Ss were concerned with self-protection during the task and disclosed at a moderate level of intimacy regardless of their partner's behavior. In addition, anxious Ss did not reciprocate their partners' disclosures as well as did nonanxious Ss. The self-protective behaviors of the anxious Ss were associated with less liking and more discomfort on the part of their partners. This suggests that the adoption of self-protective strategies may elicit negative interpersonal reactions that maintain self-defeating interpersonal patterns in socially anxious people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation and associative strength of words.

Investigated a possible explanation for W. R. Hartsough's (see record 1975-24554-001) findings of a reverse relationship between strength of association and degree of illusory correlation. Results with 155 undergraduates show illusory correlation between a word and the color to which it is an associate. Unlike Hartsough, however, the present authors found no greater illusory correlation for mediated associates than for primary associates. (French summary) (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The clinician as an aberrant actuary: Illusory correlation and the incomplete sentences blank.

20 graduate students in clinical psychology, 20 graduate students in nonclinical areas of psychology, and 20 undergraduates observed 5 completed sentences paired equally frequently with each of 5 statements purporting to describe the major problem of the patient who had completed the paired sentence. All groups reported illusory correlations with paralleled relationships generated by a group of experienced clinical psychologists. The groups differed with regard to the degree of confidence which they displayed in their erroneous choices. The undergraduate group indicated that they were "sure" and "guessing" more often than the other groups. Reasons for the differential use of confidence categories by the 3 groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation: A further exploration of Chapman's paradigm.

Even though the phenomenon of illusory correlation first researched by L. Chapman (see record 1967-08174-001) has been demonstrated in a variety of studies, little has been done to show that this bias cannot be reduced or eliminated by training. The present study addresses this issue with 4 groups of 15 undergraduates each. The 1st group replicated a study by L. Chapman and J. Chapman (see record 1969-13004-001) with an equal association of all valid Wheeler signs and invalid signs and statements of the patients' purported problem. Group 2 had valid signs presented 100% of the time and invalid signs presented 50% of the time. Group 3 Ss had special pretraining against illusory correlation, with 50% presentation of valid signs, and Group 4 also had the special pretraining, with 100% presentationof the valid Wheeler signs. It was predicted that Groups 3 and 4 would show the least amount of illusory correlation. This hypothesis was not confirmed. However, the Chapman finding that Ss predominantly associated the concept of anality with preconceived problems of homosexuality was partly replicated. Ss also appeared to create their own illusory correlate. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation in the perception of group attitudes.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 49(5) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2008-10980-001). In the article, several important corrections and additions were not made in the course of the production process. The corrected entries are included in the erratum.] 126 undergraduates with pro- or anti-attitudes toward nuclear power and 15 local members of a campaign for nuclear disarmament viewed opinion statements supposedly made by residents of 2 towns. One town was larger and statements from it occurred frequently, the other was small and statements from it were infrequent. Statements expressed either pro- or anti-attitudes to the building of a nuclear power station, in which one position was in a majority over the other. Despite the fact that the proportion of pro- and anti-statements was the same for both towns, it was predicted that the most statistically infrequent category, minority position/small town, would appear most distinctive and receive greatest encoding, leading Ss to overrepresent this category. It was also hypothesized that attitude-congruent positions would appear more salient than others because of their self-relevance, resulting in enhanced illusory correlation for minority-congruent attitude holders (distinctiveness plus salience). Futhermore, it was predicted that salience and therefore illusory correlation would increase as a function of attitude extremity for these Ss. All 3 predictions were supported, replicating the findings of D. L. Hamilton and R. K. Gifford (1976) that distinctiveness, operationalized as statistical infrequency, mediated an illusory correlation effect. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating cognitive and motivational factors in depression: initial tests of a goal-orientation approach

Attempts to predict depression from a strictly cognitive perspective have met with limited success. A goal-orientation model is proposed that integrates motivational and cognitive factors in attempting to explain and predict depression. The model proposes that people differ in their goal orientation, with some people being more validation seeking (VS) and others being more growth seeking (GS). The model predicts that compared with GS persons, VS persons will show greater anxiety in anticipation of a stressful event and greater self-esteem loss, task disengagement, and depression after a negative event. A goal-orientation measure was developed (Study 1), and the predictive validity of the model was tested (Studies 2-5). Findings suggest that the explanatory and predictive power of the cognitive theories can be enhanced, and the arsenal of the cognitive therapist enlarged, by integrating motivational and cognitive approaches to depression.     

Illusory correlation and the maintenance of stereotypic beliefs.

Investigated the role of cognitive processes in the maintenance of social stereotypes in 3 experiments with 73 male and 77 female high school and undergraduate students and adults. Ss read sets of sentences in which the members of different occupational groups were described by pairs of trait adjectives. In 2 experiments, the trait adjectives were either consistent (CT) with stereotypic beliefs about one of the occupational groups or unrelated to the group's stereotype; in the 3rd study, traits were either inconsistent (ICT) with or unrelated to a group's stereotype. Different correlational relationships between the traits and occupational groups were built into the sets of sentences, but, in each case, the CT or ICT traits described the members of each occupational group as often as matched traits unrelated to the groups' stereotypes. Ss estimated how frequently each of the trait adjectives had described members of each of the occupational groups. Each study revealed systematic biases in the Ss' judgments so that the perceived correlation between traits and occupations was more congruent with existing stereotypic beliefs than the actual correlation. Findings indicate a cognitive bias in the processing of new information about social groups that is mediated by existing stereotypes and that provides a basis for explaining the persistence of stereotypes in the absence of confirming evidence. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward an integration of independent practice and clinical research.

For some time there has been tremendous debate about the viability of integrating clinical and scientific endeavors in the practice of clinical psychology. It is argued that clinically relevant research strategies are crucial to the process of treatment evaluation and therapist accountability and therefore are of great importance to clinicians. Furthermore, the clinical expertise of the independent practice sector is acknowledged as a valuable resource that will likely be more fully appreciated with greater practitioner involvement in various research-related activities. To this end, a number of ways in which independent practitioners may incorporate research activities in their clinical efforts are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traits and motives: Toward an integration of two traditions in personality research.

After reviewing classic and current conceptions of trait (as measured by questionnaires) and motive (as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] or other imaginative verbal behavior), the authors suggest that these 2 concepts reflect 2 fundamentally different elements of personality—conceptually distinct and empirically unrelated. The authors propose that traits and motives interact in the prediction of behavior: Traits channel the behavioral expression of motives throughout the life course. The authors illustrate this interactive hypothesis in 2 longitudinal studies, focusing on the broad trait of extraversion and the 2 social motives of affiliation and power. In interaction with extraversion, both motives show predicted and replicated relations to independently measured life outcomes in the domains of relationships and careers. Extraversion facilitates unconflicted motive expression, whereas introversion deflects social motives away from their characteristic goals and creates difficulties in goal attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation as an obstacle to the use of valid psychodiagnostic signs.

Practicing psychodiagnosticians (N = 32), when surveyed, failed to report observing Wheeler-Rorschach Signs 7 and 8 as accompanying male homosexuality although research evidence indicates that these are valid. They instead reported observing Wheeler Signs 4, 5, 16, 19, and 20, which research literature indicates are invalid. These signs were found to have much stronger rated, verbal associative connections to male homosexuality than the unpopular valid signs. 693 undergraduates (divided among 13 conditions) viewed 30 Rorschach cards on each of which was arbitrarily designated a patient's response and his 2 symptoms. The Ss "rediscovered" the same invalid Rorschach content signs of homosexuality as the clinicians reported, although these relationships were absent in the experimental materials. They did so regardless of the degree to which the clinically valid signs were valid in the contrived task materials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward an ecological theory of social perception.

Applies the ecological approach to perception, drawing on the recent theories of J. Gibson (1979) and R. Shaw, M. Turvey and W. Mace (1982) to the social domain. The general advantages of this approach are enumerated, its applicability to social perception is documented, and its specific implications for research on emotion perception, impression formation, and causal attribution are discussed. The implications of the ecological approach for the understanding of errors in social perception are also considered. Finally, the major tenets of the ecological approach are contrasted with current cognitive approaches, and a plea is made for greater attention to the role of perception in social knowing. (100 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender schema, gender constancy, and gender-role knowledge: The roles of cognitive factors in preschoolers' gender-role stereotype attributions.

Investigated the influence of several cognitive components of children's gender-role development on their attributions of gender-role stereotypes to a particular sex. A total of 83 children (44 boys and 39 girls) completed a 2-part interview that assessed degree of gender schematization, gender-role knowledge, flexibility, and stage of gender constancy. Children also completed tasks assessing attributions of gender-role stereotypes to male and female figures. Results indicated that children's gender schematization and other cognitive gender schema factors were significantly associated with children's accuracy in attributing gender-role stereotypes to both males and females. In contrast, stage of gender constancy per se was not significantly correlated with any of children's gender-role stereotype attributions. The patterns of results offer further evidence of the importance of gender schemata in early gender-role development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)