"Special Section: Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis": Commentary.

Comments on the special section "Contemporary structural psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis" in Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol 12 [1]. Spezzano states that the authors, individually and as a group, failed to do the research necessary to make their critiques useful examples of comparative psychoanalysis. Instead, their research consisted of classical theory and already-existing classical critiques of relational theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Richard Chatham Atkinson: Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards for 1977.

Richard Chatham Atkinson was presented a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award for combining classical methods of mathematics with emerging techniques of computer science, the best traditions of experimental psychology with new concepts of information processing, in the advancement of psychological theory and its applications. His long-term collaboration with Patrick Suppes yielded among its fruits the first extensive application of learning theory to multiperson interactions. With Richard M. Shiffrin, Atkinson developed the model that has set the pace for research on human short-term memory; with James Juola and others he developed an almost equally influential family of models for recognition and search processes. And on a quite different tack, Atkinson anticipated current demands for "relevance" with his pioneering contributions to computer-assisted instruction and optimization of learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Call for papers and proposals for special issues: Expanding the scope of research and theory published in School Psychology Quarterly.

In my editorial statement in the last issue I indicated that "School Psychology Quarterly should be comprehensive in its coverage of our field [and]...it is my perception that the Quarterly needs to improve significantly in this regard" (Gutkin, 1998, p. 4). Extending the breadth of research and theory that appears in our journal is, in fact, one of my most central goals as your new Editor. While extraordinary and superb scholarly work has often been published in the Quarterly, and I have every desire to continue supporting these historically prevalent and crucial lines of scientific inquiry, it is my clear sense that focusing only on "more of the same" will not be sufficient to meet the future needs of either our readership or their clients. A broader array of perspectives and research questions are needed. Thus, I am issuing a "Call for Papers and Proposals for Special Issues" to begin the process of expanding the scope of scholarly work published in the Quarterly. My express purpose is to stimulate an ever-growing range of high quality research and theoretical work being submitted to the Quarterly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioning to complex stimuli.

A research program is described dealing with behavior in a classical GSR conditioning situation. The empirical program is related "to the broader perspective of psychology in general." The research "affords a slim—but I hope stable—bridge between S-R learning theory and whatever is meant by perceptual theory." A rationale of assumptions is developed and on the basis of analysis predictions are formulated. "The present results are eminently consonant with an S-S interpretation of behavior… though I have attempted to make it consonant with S-R contiguity theory by employing the notion of internalized stimuli generated by responses to the conditioned stimulus." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of domain-specific practice, handedness, and starting age in chess.

The respective roles of the environment and innate talent have been a recurrent question for research into expertise. The authors investigated markers of talent, environment, and critical period for the acquisition of expert performance in chess. Argentinian chess players (N = 104), ranging from weak amateurs to grandmasters, completed a questionnaire measuring variables including individual and group practice, starting age, and handedness. The study reaffirms the importance of practice for reaching high levels of performance, but it also indicates a large variability: The slower player needed 8 times as much practice to reach master level than the faster player. Additional results show a correlation between skill and starting age and indicate that players are more likely to be mixed-handed than individuals in the general population; however, there was no correlation between handedness and skill within the sample of chess players. Together, these results suggest that practice is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acquisition of expertise, that some additional factors may differentiate chessplayers and nonchessplayers, and that starting age of practice is important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of proof construction in middle childhood

In attempting to solve a problem in the fewest possible moves, one must determine moves that are individually necessary and jointly sufficient. This amounts to constructing a demonstration or proof of the solution. The development of proof construction was explored through two problems-a hidden figure task and a variant of the game "Mastermind" (J. Piaget (1987). Possibility and necessity: Vol. 2. The role of necessity in cognitive development. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press). In Experiment 1, children 11 to 12 years of age distinguished necessary from nonnecessary moves and recognized when sufficient evidence had been established to determine a solution to a greater extent than children 7 to 8 years of age. In a second experiment, the original hidden-figure task was modified with the aim of reducing its information-processing demands. The performance of 8- to 9-year-olds on the modified problems was comparable to, and in certain respects surpassed, the performance of the oldest children on the original problem in Experiment 1. Seven-year-olds did not perform well on the modified problems even with training. Results are discussed in terms of theory and research on children's understanding of necessity and sufficiency.     

Odor and taste aversions conditioned in anesthetized rats.

Conditioned flavor aversions (CFA) are acquired by anesthetized rats but effects of various anesthetics on acquisition of aversions for separate odor and taste components are unknown. In Experiment 1, rats drank tomato juice and then were tranquilized with "Innovar-Vet" or "Rompun" before receiving injections of lithium chloride. Neither drug interfered with acquisition of aversions. Innovar-Vet alone produced no aversions; Rompun alone produced mild aversions but did not enhance aversions when combined with lithium. In Experiments 2 and 3, rats received a compound odor/taste cue as they drank and then were anesthetized with pentobarbital before lithium injections. Anesthesia alone produced negligible aversions but facilitated taste-lithium aversions. During odor tests, odor aversions were weaker than taste aversions. These data extend previous work and suggest that CFA does not result from ordinary classical conditioning. A tripartite notation that unites CFA and classical conditioning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dogmatism, learning, and resistance to change: A review and a new paradigm.

Reviews research and theory on the effects of cognitive structure on belief acquisition and change. The basic principle that closed-minded persons are less able than open-minded persons to learn new beliefs and to change old beliefs is verified. 5 variables are found to intervene between belief acquisition or change and open- and closed-mindedness: the authority source of the new beliefs, the syndrome relevance of their mode of communication, the belief congruence and novelty of the new beliefs, and their centrality to the individual. (45 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparedness and phobia: Effects of stimulus content on human visceral conditioning.

Conducted 6 experiments to test M. Seligman's (see PA, Vols 45:1675 and 48:1326) preparedness theory of phobia in human classical conditioning of skin conductance and heart rate responses with approximately 12 undergraduates. Conditioned stimuli (CSs) were photographs of plants, human artifacts, and phobia-relevant animals. Both aversive tactile and auditory unconditioned stimuli (UCSs) were assessed. Combined present results indicate that, consistent with results obtained by A. Ohman and colleagues in research conducted between 1975 and 1985 to test Seligman's theory, electrodermal extinction was slower to phobia-relevant stimuli than to other stimuli (and in the present study, was shown to depend on a tactile UCS); however, unlike the findings of Ohman and colleagues, when Ss were told that shocks would be discontinued, phobic CSs extinguished as readily as unprepared CSs. New evidence was obtained for a preparedness effect during acquisition trials: Only Ss receiving phobia-relevant stimuli developed an acceleratory cardiac conditioned response (CR). This acquisition effect was more reliable across experiments than the electrodermal extinction findings and showed less influence of CS—UCS "belongingness." Findings suggest that the preparedness effect is complexly determined and provide evidence that phobic stimuli occasion a unique pattern of conditioned visceral response. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new vision of personality...and of personality theory: Reply.

Replies to comments by Maddi (see record 2006-05893-007) on "A Tale of Two Visions: Can a New View of Personality Help Integrate Psychology?" (see record 2005-05480-001). In the original article, the current author proposed a new fieldwide framework for the discipline of personality psychology; in essence, it is a new outline to organize contemporary theory and research in the field. Maddi raised two interrelated objections to that proposed framework. First, he believes that there is a better way to organize the discipline of personality psychology than the one the current author proposed. His method involves comparing and analyzing the grand theories of personality and using the results of his analyses to guide research in the discipline. Maddi's (1968) meta-theory usefully organizes the statements of the grand theories of the early-to-mid-20th century, but the current author is not sure it is sufficient to organize the field. Second, he was concerned that the current author wants to de-emphasize the grand theories of the field. Maddi (2006) believes that disagreements among the grand theories are a fruitful source of research ideas. Although that may be true, there is more to personality psychology than the grand theories alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Broad and cutting-edge training in applied psychology: A clinical science perspective.

In discussing a clinical science perspective on the Commission on Accreditation's breadth requirements, we believe that rather than focusing on the acquisition of passive knowledge in areas that are beyond applied specialties, training should enhance students' inclination and ability to translate knowledge into clinical applications and research. Moreover, though breadth is important, so too is depth, both in terms of quantity of knowledge within a particular domain and in terms of the ability to think deeply about the material. We believe that flexible, customized training is superior to a one size fits all approach. To achieve and assess competence, ordinary survey courses and exams are not necessary, nor are they sufficient. We end by summarizing our recommendations and discussing their implications for the American Psychological Association's Commission on Accreditation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Something wicked this way comes: Trauma, dissociation, and conflict: The space where psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and neuroscience overlap.

Even in routine analytic work, for what is dissociated to become symbolized and available to conflict resolution, a patient must experience sufficient interpersonal safety to free working memory while activation of unprocessed dissociated experience is taking place. The author proposes that this necessary synthesis of affective security and relational risk depends on what a given patient and analyst do in an unanticipated way that is safe but not too safe--an enactment of the relational failures of a patient's past while allowing "safe surprises" in the here-and-now to occur. Remarkable convergence is found between cognitive research (W. Bucci, 2003), neuroscience research (J. E. LeDoux, 2002), and an interpersonal/relational psychoanalytic approach that works at the interface of dissociation and conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the acquisition of mnemonic skill: Application of skilled memory theory.

Skilled memory theory (W. G. Chase & K. A. Ericsson, 1981, 1982) can provide a useful theoretical framework for describing the details of performance during the acquisition of mnemonic skill, one that can point to the critical conditions necessary for the successful acquisition of mnemonic skills (in particular) and cognitive skills (in general). To provide support for this suggestion, the authors describe the results of an extended investigation of the uninstructed development of mnemonic skill in a group of normal adults. This study demonstrated that high levels of serial recall performance can be reliably developed in a group of individuals in a relatively short period of time (1 semester). In addition, the process of acquisition and the critical conditions for optimal training outcomes can be well described by the principles of skilled memory theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychiatric rating scales, "Platonic true scores," and scientific method.

D. F. Klein and T. A. Cleary (see 41:10) did not demonstrate, as they claim, that the "assumptions of classical test theory are . . . untenable for a theory based on Platonic true scores." They showed that when one uses a dichotomous rating scale to measure an assumed dichotomous "true" dimension, then the assumptions of classical test theory will not be met. They overgeneralized their philosophical position. Their essentialistic view is nonheuristic and leads to an emphasis on reducing error in poorly devised rating scales, rather than to a proper attention to the construction of better rating scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mind-matter-relation: Out of metaphysics and into the laboratory.

The new area of science is recognized after the gathering, by scientific methods, of a coherent body of empirical findings. The proposition that this paper argues is that still another of these transitions is ready for recognition; that still another classical question has recently been whittled away from philosophy. That classical issue is the mind-matter relationship. There is now a clean scientific method for research on it. Use of the method has yielded a substantial amount of data, sufficiently consistent to be considered replicable, and coherent with physical and psychological theory. The findings demonstrate a direct relationship, without the intervention of the known effectors, between changes in mental events and changes in the physical world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The end of ideology in behavior modification.

Contends that behavior modification should be considered a technology which developed as an ideological response to medical and clinical models, rather than a science based on new theory. Distinctions are made between theory, paradigm, and analogy, and it is argued that behavior modification represents the latter 2 conceptual schemes. Desensitization and implosion therapy are considered analogies because they require the use of language, unlike the classical conditioning studies from which they were derived. Shaping and aversion techniques are considered paradigms because their effects can be accurately predicted and measured without relying on cognitive processes as the critical stimuli. Biofeedback research is discussed as an example of technology promoting scientific discovery. It is concluded that instead of searching for new principles or refuting old ones, behavior therapists should use technology to turn analogy and paradigm into theory. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classical conditioning after cerebellar lesions in humans.

Explored classical conditioning in human Ss who had lesions in their cerebellar circuitry. Seven patients with damage to cerebellar structures and matched control Ss underwent simple delay tone–airpuff conditioning. Eyelid CR acquisition was severely disrupted in the patient group, whereas autonomic CRs and slow cortical potentials developing between the CS and the unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) were unaffected. Results are consistent with animal studies and earlier case reports indicating that intact cerebellar structures are necessary for the acquisition of classically conditioned motor responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effect of ketamine on the reference and working memory versions of the Morris water maze task.

The assumption that blockade of long-term potentiation by N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists interferes with spatial memory was supported by experiments showing that 15 mg/kg ketamine impairs acquisition of navigation to a hidden platform but not to a visible platform. Higher doses were required to impair retrieval of overtrained place navigation. In a working memory version of the task, retrieval latencies were shorter than acquisition latencies with 4- to 15-min but not with 30- and 60-min delays. Latent learning was only effective with the 4-min delay. Ketamine prolonged the initial search of the hidden platform at 3 mg/kg and impaired latent learning but not active acquisition at 1.5–20 mg/kg. Comparison of behavioral and synaptic effects of ketamine suggests that long-term potentiation is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, for acquisition of place navigation, because search strategy and latent place learning are impaired by ketamine doses not interfering with this synaptic phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recent views of conceptual structure.

Reviews theories of concept structure proposed since the mid-1970s, when the discovery of typicality effects led to the rejection of the view that instances of a concept share necessary and sufficient attributes. To replace that classical view, psychologists proposed the family resemblance and exemplar views (and hybrids of the 2), which argue that instances of a concept share a certain level of overall similarity, rather than necessary and sufficient attributes. These similarity-based views account for much of the typicality data but fail to provide an adequate explanation of the coherence of conceptual categories and of various context effects. Recently proposed explanation-based accounts address these issues but raise further questions about the distinction between concept-specific information and general knowledge and about the relationship between conceptual knowledge and various forms of inference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)