The development of responsiveness to vicarious reinforcement.

98 children in 2 age-groups between 2 yrs 6 mo and 5 yrs were pretrained and then performed a 2-choice discrimination problem in which a puppet model and the S responded alternately. Ss were exposed to a model who was either rewarded or punished on each trial. There was more imitation on vicarious reward than on vicarious punishment trials. Ss who demonstrated no initial responsiveness to vicarious reinforcement were then assigned to either a natural or reversed S-consequence condition and to 1 of 3 model consequence conditions (reward, punishment, or mixed). The finding of significantly fewer errors in the natural than in the reversed condition supports the mediational interpretation of vicarious reinforcement, not the J. L. Gewirtz (1971) operant interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the social skills of males in a maximum security psychiatric setting.

34 male patients (mean age 26 yrs) in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, selected on the basis of their low ratings on role-play situations, the Communication and Social Contact subscales of the MACC Behavior Adjustment Scale, and the Social Adjustment Rating Scale, were assigned to either social skills training (SST) or client-centered therapy (CCT) and were given either contingent or noncontingent reinforcement for social behavior. Ss in the SST condition received 10 wks of SST; Ss in the CCT condition participated in 2 90-min nondirective group psychotherapy sessions per week for 10 wks. Ss in all conditions showed dramatic improvements on the assessment battery when tested postintervention. Consistent with other studies of SST, Ss in the SST condition showed significant improvements in role-play measures of social skills during treatment, while Ss given CCT did not. However, there was no evidence of transfer of training onto the ward nor evidence that the effects persisted at 1-mo follow-up. Thus, the data question the application of SST in maximum security settings. (French abstract) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal control of behavior: The effects of shouting.

Tested the implication of A. R. Luria's (1961, 1969) theory that children under 5 yrs of age would have more difficulty obeying instructions to inhibit a response the greater the intensity (loudness) of the instruction; this should not be true for children over 5 yrs of age. In the present study, 18 younger children (aged 3 yrs 6 mo to 4 yrs 9 mo) and 18 older children (aged 4 yrs 10 mo to 6 yrs 4 mo) played a game in which they were to follow instructions and either perform or refrain from performing simple acts. Instructions were loud, medium, or soft in intensity. Results for younger Ss were clear and significant in supporting Luria's theory. For older Ss, however, results do not neatly fit Luria's theory: Increased intensity facilitated compliance with instructions to inhibit a response. Data support the contention that an important aspect of language development is the decontextualization of meaning. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suppressive and enhancing effects of footshock on food-reinforced operant responding following septal lesions in rats.

Measured effect of septal lesions on suppression of an intermittently food-reinforced lever press by contingent and noncontingent footshock, using a total of 48 experimentally naive male hooded Lister rats in 2 experiments. Ss with septal damage maintained higher response rates than did intact Ss under both contingent and noncontingent shock. Furthermore, the difference in suppression produced by the contingent and noncontingent conditions was approximately the same for the experimental Ss and controls. In Exp II performance was measured during counter-conditioning in which the correlation between contingent shock and positive reinforcement was varied. Ss with septal lesions responded at higher rates than did controls. When only reinforced responses were punished, this lesion-induced elevation represented an increase above baseline performance without punishment. This finding suggests that the effect of septal damage on appetitive instrumental performance cannot be due solely to a deficit in response inhibition. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of group contingencies for behavioral control: A review.

Two types of group contingencies have been developed to control academic and disruptive behavior in the classroom, in which reinforcement is dependent on (a) a selected individual's or (b) the entire group's performance. Comparisons of group and individual contingencies have generally reported them to be equally effective, with some suggestion that individual Ss characteristics may be of importance. The sociometric status of target S is reportedly affected by group consequences; in 2 experiments, Ss increased in popularity, whereas in 1 report they showed a decline. Other studies have shown an increase in cooperative behavior on an academic task involving group-contingent reward. Absence of or noncontingent reinforcement does not usually produce behavioral control, although a combination of instructions and feedback without extraneous reward has been partially effective. Future research is needed on the interrelation of group contingencies and S characteristics, combinations of group and individual contingencies, and the effects of feedback, instructions, and contingent and noncontingent extraneous reward. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The feeling of knowing experience in educable retarded children.

Required 50 educable retarded children to predict their recognition accuracy when recall failed. Ss were divided into 3 ability levels: (a) old Ss (mean CA 13.25 yrs, mean MA 10.5 yrs), (b) medium Ss (mean CA 11.25 yrs, mean MA 8.75 yrs), and (c) young Ss (mean CA 9 yrs 5 mo, mean MA 6 yrs 9 mo). Results indicate that old and medium Ss could reliably predict their recognition accuracy, suggesting sensitivity to their own feeling of knowing experience, but that the young Ss showed no evidence of this sensitivity. Even though the young Ss had difficulty predicting their recognition accuracy in advance they were able to estimate the success or failure of their responses after they had occurred. Results are discussed in terms of the complexity of the metamemory judgment required, and the advisability of evaluating metamemorial knowledge across several situations is emphasized. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal efficacy, external locus of control, and perceived contingency of parental reinforcement among depressed, paranoid, and normal subjects.

Hypothesized that different combinations of personal efficacy and outcome expectancies (i.e., locus of control) would characterize the thought structures of normal Ss and of psychiatric patients suffering from distinctly different disorders. 26 normal (mean age 30.1 yrs), 15 depressed, and 22 paranoid Ss (mean age of patients 34.5 yrs) completed scales that measured beliefs in personal efficacy, beliefs that outcomes are controlled either by chance or by powerful others, and perceived contingency of parental reinforcement. Findings show that normals judged themselves to be more efficacious than did psychiatric Ss, depressives expected outcomes to be controlled by chance, and paranoids expected outcomes to be under the control of powerful others. Among the normals, outcome expectancies were strongly associated with personal efficacy, but among the patients, these beliefs were unrelated. Depressives and paranoids equally reported more noncontingent parental reinforcement than did normals. Perceived contingency of parental reinforcement was predictive of outcome expectancies but not of personal efficacy. Data suggest that low personal efficacy may be a distinguishing characteristic of all psychiatric patients, whereas outcome expectancies may determine the specific nature of the psychiatric disorder. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and verbal abilities in children's crossmodal recognition: A dual coding approach.

Conducted 2 experiments to study the relative importance of visuospatial (VSAs) and verbal referential abilities (VRAs) to 184 English-speaking children's (aged 4 yrs 11 mo to 8 yrs) crossmodal performance under imagery, naming, and control instructions. Using the Minnesota Paper Form(s) Board Test Revised, imagery instructions induced Ss to implement a visual imagery strategy that depended primarily on VSA, whereas naming instructions promoted use of a naming strategy that depended relatively more on VRA. No instructions resulted in use of a verbal/naming strategy similar to that used by naming Ss. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall of pleasant and unpleasant words in depressed subjects.

In Exp I, 20 clinically depressed inpatients (mean age 39.9 yrs), 20 nondepressed inpatients (mean age 42.65 yrs), and 20 nonpatients (mean age 44 yrs) were shown a word list containing pleasant and unpleasant words. One-half of Ss in each group were given free-recall instructions, the other half were asked to rate each word on a pleasantness scale prior to recall. Results show that only depressed Ss given free-recall instructions recalled more unpleasant words than pleasant words. In Exp II, 30 clinically depressed inpatients (mean age 39.33 yrs) were shown a word list consisting of either (1) pleasant and unpleasant words, (2) unpleasant words, or (3) pleasant words. Results show that only Ss receiving the mixed list recalled more unpleasant than pleasant words. Findings support the hypothesis that depressed Ss selectively process unpleasant words and that this processing is at the expense of attention to pleasant words. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing relational and item-specific information: Effects of aging and division of attention.

64 young adults (aged 18–21 yrs) and 32 older Ss (aged 65–83 yrs) encoded items from categorizable lists under incidental learning conditions. Two orienting tasks were used: a category sorting task and a pleasantness rating task. The number of items/category was varied (between 2 and 14) within each list. In addition, 24 young adults performed the orienting tasks while simultaneously engaged in an attention-demanding secondary task (divided-attention condition). Recall declined with both age and division of attention, while recall clustering was greatest for the older Ss and least for the young divided-attention Ss. The effects of category size and orienting task on recall did not vary across groups. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective imitation of complex sentences in a preschool setting.

Determined the conditions under which selective imitation of relative clauses could be produced in preschool. 72 preschoolers took part in a 2 (modeling, imitation training) by 2 (instructions, no instructions) by 2 (reinforcement, no reinforcement) by 3 (baseline, Probe 1, Probe 2) factorial design. Imitation training was more effective than modeling alone, and instructions and reinforcement were effective in an additive manner. Relative clause usage increased significantly after imitation training but not after modeling or no treatment. Results are discussed in terms of the efficiency of various teacher techniques in increasing language usage. Implications for the role of imitation in language development are also discussed. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The comparative effects of two counseling approaches on the intensity of depression among rural women of low socioeconomic status.

Investigated the effectiveness of 2 counseling procedures (a behavioral procedure and a noncontingent positive reinforcement approach) in treating 24 21-56 yr old moderately depressed women from the lower class and lower working class who lived in rural centers of (a) less than 4,500 and (b) more than 4,500 but less than 10,000. A significant difference between treatment conditions was evidenced only by the Grinker Interview Checklist. Multiple discriminant analysis established that lower-class Ss made significant improvement, as did those Ss living on more than $400/mo. Ss counseled with the behavioral model exhibited less "no-show" behavior. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of reinforced smiling on affective responses in an interview.

48 female undergraduates participated in an interview study under 1 of 4 conditions; Ss were reinforced for smiling during the interview with a "biofeedback" light, given noncontingent biofeedback, given noncontingent biofeedback and instructed to smile whenever a signal light was illuminated, or asked to simulate affective responses after hearing the same instructions given to participants in the smile-instructed group. Smile-reinforced Ss smiled significantly more than control and smile-instructed Ss and reported significantly more positive feelings with buttonpresses and on a rating form. Results are interpreted as supporting facial feedback theories of emotion. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brief Symptom Inventory norms for spinal cord injury.

Investigated the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) upon a person's response to the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) by analyzing differences across item-response distributions from 225 Ss with SCI (aged 17–68 yrs) vs a nonpatient normative sample of 719 Ss. The study also developed more appropriate BSI normative data for persons with SCI. Because Ss' time since injury varied at time of BSI administration, normative scores were provided within 3 groupings: at discharge from the hospital; 0–24 mo post-discharge; and beyond 24 mo. Results show that SCI Ss had higher BSI scores when compared with Ss in the normative sample. These differences were particularly significant across 8 BSI items that reflected actual SCI physical and psychosocial symptoms. SCI Ss reported more distress during the period immediately following discharge to 24 mo. Overall, BSI scores tended to be lower at discharge and after 24 mo post-discharge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What state hospital psychiatric patients want more of and less of in treatment.

Compared the treatment preferences of 104 male and 101 female psychiatric patients, analyzing their response data according to sex, age, educational level, and length of hospitalization subgroups. Results show that male Ss, Ss under 40 yrs of age, those with more than 8 yrs of education, and those hospitalized less than 6 mo from 1-2 yrs desired increased activity across all modalities. Females, Ss over 50, and those hospitalized 7-12 mo were status-quo oriented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of effects of small lesions in posterodorsal septum on spontaneous and rerun correction (contingently reinforced) alternation in rats.

Compared characteristics of T-maze alternation behavior by giving 11 hooded rats 7 sessions under conditions of "rerun correction" (contingent reinforcement for alternation) and another 11 Ss the same number of sessions with noncontingent reinforcements (i.e., entering either goal arm of the –T maze was reinforced). Both groups alternated significantly above chance, and the difference in medians between groups was small but significant. However, Ss given rerun correction training quickly came against the "ceiling" of 100% alternation, and individual differences were small. Scores of Ss run under conditions of "spontaneous" alternation were more variable, both within and between Ss. In a 2nd part of the study, 6 Ss in each group received small electrolytic lesions in posterodorsal septum. There were 5 operated-control Ss from each group. After 2-wk recovery all Ss were again given 7 sessions in the –T maze. Under rerun correction procedure, controls retained near-perfect alternation scores. Most Ss with lesions dropped to chance levels but recovered to control level over the sessions. Ss tested under spontaneous alternation conditions behaved quite differently. Controls continued to alternate significantly, but Ss with lesions alternated significantly less and did not recover. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemispheric changes in information processing during development.

Hemispheric processing of visually presented words and pictures was examined in 3 groups of Ss with mean ages of 8 yrs 8 mo, 12 yrs 3 mo, and 27 yrs 9 mo (154 Ss). Pictorial or symbolic stimuli were presented singly to either the right or left visual hemifield. Ss had to decide whether the 1st stimulus in a pair matched the 2nd stimulus. The major results were that (a) age groups differed in the strength of lateral differences, and (b) for all age groups, the right hemisphere was significantly faster in processing unmatched stimuli. Results suggest that lateral specialization of the left hemisphere is not complete until adolescence and that over the age range tested, the left hemisphere becomes progressively more specialized for the processing of matched data. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of directed attention on cerebral asymmetries in normal and learning-disabled children.

Using a dichotic listening task employing both undirected and directed attention conditions, cerebral asymmetries were examined in matched populations of 32 normal and 32 learning-disabled (LD) children (ages 7 yrs 6 mo–13 yrs 2 mo). The analysis of recall performance indicated that development was not a significant factor in either group; both the normal and LD Ss showed a right-ear effect, although the LD Ss performed at a degraded level and were unable to demonstrate a right-ear advantage (REA) when attention was directed to the left ear, unlike normal Ss, who produced the REA despite the directed attention conditions. Results suggest that LD children probably do not suffer from developmental delays but rather from a defect in callosal functioning that interferes with their ability to process verbal information simultaneously. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decisional analysis of the effects of limbic lesions on learning in monkeys.

Examined the hypothesis that behavior during discrimination learning and reversal is under control of 2 competing variables: the patterned cues to be discriminated and the noncontingent schedule of reinforcement. An experiment was conducted with 8 adolescent rhesus monkeys using a modified decision theoretic procedure. Results show that the 2 variables were operative and that noncontingent reinforcement produced a strong position bias against discriminating. This bias was quantitatively more easily overcome by normal Ss than by Ss with hippocampal-amygdala lesions though the strategy and tactics used were the same for both groups. It is concluded that the hippocampus and amygdala influence attention through mechanisms that regulate motivational bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Children's Depression Inventory: A systematic evaluation of psychometric properties.

Determined the psychometric properties of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) by administering it to 294 schoolchildren (aged 7 yrs to 13 yrs 4 mo) and to 269 psychiatric inpatients (aged 7 yrs 1 mo to 16 yrs 4 mo). Results show good internal consistency in both groups, but test–retest data were variable across populations and test–retest intervals. Validity analysis showed that the CDI distinguished Ss with general emotional distress from normal schoolchildren. However, differences between CDI scores of depressed (DSM-III) and nondepressed Ss were not significant. There was a good correspondence between the CDI and self-report measures of self-concept. It is suggested that the CDI measures a multidimensional construct that overlaps with other childhood disorders (particularly anxiety). Although the CDI may be the best researched instrument available to measure depression from the child's viewpoint, more work is needed before it can be interpreted with confidence in clinical and research settings. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)