Strategies and automaticity: II. Dynamic aspects of strategy adjustment.

Examined the temporal dynamics of strategic adjustment of response criteria by comparing performance in blocked conditions, in which all stimulus-response mappings were either consistent (CM) or varied (VM), to performance in mixed conditions, in which CM and VM items were presented in the same block of trials. The degree of flexibility that Ss exhibit in deploying differential response strategies was examined. Surprisingly, Ss were unable to use a variety of informative pre-cues to rapidly shift between response strategies associated with automatic (CM) and nonautomatic (VM) processing. However, an analysis of sequential dependencies indicated that repetition of stimuli from the same class (CM vs VM) gradually led to shifts in response strategies. These results are interpreted within the framework of an extension of M. Treisman and T. C. Williams's (see record 1984-08523-001) 2-stage criteria adjustment model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treating headaches. A conceptual framework

BACKGROUND: Similar medications are effective in migraine and muscle contraction headache therefore the term recurrent headache is used to cover the spectrum of classic migraine and muscle contraction headache. OBJECTIVE: The concept of a threshold to headache triggers is proposed. Treatment for chronic headaches is directed at raising the threshold or removing triggers. DISCUSSION: The most important factors that lower the threshold to headaches are hormones, mood and sleep disturbance. Therapeutic strategies for raising the threshold and treatment of the acute headache are discussed.     

Culture-specific strategies in counseling: A conceptual framework.

The author addresses the need to develop culture-specific strategies in working with racial-ethnic minorities. Conceptual frameworks providing a rationale for such recommendations have not been well elucidated. A review of the literature revealed 3 major domains from which such justifications can be drawn: (a) culture-bound communications styles, (b) sociopolitical facets of nonverbal communication, and (c) counseling as a subset of communication style or temporary cultures. Implications for counselor practice, training, and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting out of our conceptual ruts: Strategies for expanding conceptual frameworks.

Presents 4 sets of strategies that may be useful for generating new perspectives on familiar research problems. It is suggested that researchers should play with ideas through a process of selecting and applying metaphors, representing ideas graphically, changing the scale, and attending to process. Researchers should also place specific problems in a larger domain, make comparisons outside the problem domain, examine processes in the settings in which they naturally occur, consider the practical implications of research, and probe library resources. It is important for researchers to probe and tinker with assumptions through such techniques as exposing hidden assumptions, making the opposite assumption, and simultaneously trusting and doubting the same assumption. Finally, it is vital that researchers clarify and systematize their conceptual frameworks. They should scrutinize the meanings of key concepts, specify relationships among concepts, and write a concept paper. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Executive functioning: A conceptual framework for alcohol-related aggression.

The causal mechanisms underlying alcohol-related aggression are not well understood. This article presents a conceptual framework designed to guide thinking and generate new research in this area of study. According to the framework, executive functioning is both a mediator and a moderator of intoxicated aggression. Literatures describing associations between alcohol and aggression, executive functioning and aggression, and the acute effects of alcohol on executive functioning are reviewed. On the basis of these findings, it is proposed that (a) executive functioning mediates the alcohol-aggression relation in that acute alcohol intoxication disrupts executive functioning, which then heightens the probability of aggression, and (b) executive functioning moderates the alcohol-aggression relation in that acute alcohol consumption is more likely to facilitate aggressive behavior in persons with low, rather than high, executive functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug policies and harms: a conceptual framework

Existing indicators of drug-related policies and harms - official statistics, treatment data, and so on - are difficult to interpret and to compare across jurisdictions. We propose a conceptual framework including key dimensions of policy and harm. The framework is designed to guide creation of a new dataset in which existing empirical data can be used to assign city-specific scores on policy and harm dimensions. By an interpretive process involving local experts and a coordinating body, we believe that existing data can be evaluated and synthesized to derive these scores. We also propose a cumulative case-study method of querying the dataset to test hypotheses regarding relationships between policies and harms.     

Toward a unified conceptual framework of psychotherapy.

The increase in theoretical redundancy and the fact that all theories of psychotherapy possess weaknesses as well as strengths suggest that the time may be ripe for the emergence of a unified theory of psychotherapy. Three questions are addressed that are prerequisite to the development of a unified conceptual framework in psychotherapy: (1) What is the current state of the field of psychotherapy integration? (2) How do we move toward a unified theory of psychotherapy? and (3) What must a unified psychotherapy theory include? Unification is merely the next step in the evolution of psychotherapy theory, which is expected to oscillate between stages of unification and differentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resistance in existential-strategic marital therapy: A four-stage conceptual framework.

Discusses how the integration of the strategic and existential approaches to family therapy can provide a maximum positive use of resistance. A 4-stage intervention model is outlined that uses strategic techniques within an existential framework. The stages include (1) recognizing the halo effect and cynical disbelief in clients, (2) allying oneself emotionally with an individual client or client system, (3) respecting the importance of despair, and (4) recognizing the moment in therapy when the decision is made to change. The case of a multiproblem couple illustrates the concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of deficient reporting on meta-analysis: A conceptual framework and reanalysis.

Presents a framework for studying the influence of reporting quality on meta-analytic results in which 3 sources of reporting deficiency are identified: quality (adequacy) of publicizing, quality of macrolevel reporting, and quality of the review process in a different way. To assess the influence of reporting quality empirically, 25 reports were sampled from the psychotherapy meta-analysis reported by M. L. Smith et al (1980) and recorded by the present authors. Two sources of information pertinent to reporting quality were established: interrater reliabilities and confidence judgments. Reanalyses incorporating reliability corrections and confidence judgments suggested that deficient reporting injects considerable noise into meta-analytic data and can lead to spurious conclusions. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonsexual posttherapy relationships: A conceptual framework to assess ethical risks.

Psychologists sometimes enter into nonsexual posttherapy relationships with former clients. These relationships may occur for a host of reasons, and psychologists have different views regarding the ethicality of these relationships. The American Psychological Association ethics code provides little specific guidance. This article proposes a collaborative and practical model to assess the ethical risks of nonsexual posttherapy relationships that is grounded in normative ethical principles and is drawn from literature about the therapeutic process and social role theory. The role of virtue ethics is discussed as a basis for developing character traits that help psychologists make difficult ethical decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An integrative conceptual framework of disability: New directions for research.

Advances in research on disability and rehabilitation are essential to creating equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, and full participation for persons with disabilities. Historically, such initiatives have focused on separate and specific areas, including neuroscience, molecular biology and genetics, gerontology, engineering and physical sciences, and social and behavioral sciences. Research on persons with disabilities should examine the broader context and trends of society that affect the total environment of persons with disabilities. This article examines the various disability paradigms across time, assessing the relative contribution of the socioecological perspective in guiding research designed to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. The authors recommend new research directions that include a focus on life span issues, biomedicine, biotechnology, the efficacy and effectiveness of current interventions, an emphasis on consumer-driven investigations within a socioecological perspective of disability, and the implications for research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework for the clinical test situation.

The need to account for the adaptive behavior of the patient in the clinical test situation is discussed with respect to the relative rather than absolute nature of test responses. Adaptation-level (AL) theory is proposed as a framework of reference for adaptive behavior of the patient in the clinical situation, as well as for clinical judgment and prediction. The theory of AL possesses the relativity and operational validity required for dealing with complex clinical phenomena. Implications of the AL model for clinical theory, experimentation, and practice are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modifying instructional activities to promote desirable behavior: A conceptual and practical framework.

Summarizes a framework for conceptualizing and implementing a model to improve student behavior through individualized, assessment-based modifications of curricular activities. A summary of research documenting the influence of curricular variables is included, with particular focus on recent research on the assessment and utilization of student preferences. A practical model of functional assessment and curricular revision is presented, with examples to illustrate the process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An integrative conceptual and organizational framework for treating suicidal behavior.

The current article provides an integrative conceptual and organizational framework for addressing suicidal behavior in clinical practice with 3 identifiable goals. The first goal is to provide a clinically accessible summary of treatment and assessment tasks (i.e., the content of therapy and assessment) consistent with existing standards of care and supported by empirical findings but not dependent on psychotherapeutic orientation. The 2nd goal is to summarize and discuss the uniformity and clinical implications of relevant process variables, as well as the complicating role of time and chronicity in assessment and treatment. The 3rd goal is to emphasize the varied roles, tasks, demands, and limitations of psychotherapy with suicidal patients. In general, the current article provides a flexible, yet comprehensive and thorough, template for treatment planning, risk assessment, patient management, and ongoing monitoring that is applicable regardless of the psychotherapeutic model employed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual framework and methodological criteria for family therapy process research.

This article presents a conceptual framework for family therapy process research that integrates a new process perspective with family systems theory. Consistent with a systemic epistemology, the framework focuses on the circular interaction, over time, between and within the therapist and family systems and their subsystems. Attacking the process–outcome distinction, the framework targets key variables and patterns in change processes that occur within and outside of sessions. The empirical implications of each framework component are explored. The article concludes with three methodological criteria for developing and evaluating certain research instruments to be used in process studies within the new conceptual framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inevitability and automaticity: A response to Fisk.

Responds to the comments of A. D. Fisk (see record 1986-16289-001) on the present authors' (see record 1985-27168-001) work on automatic processing of fundamental information. The present authors use the term automaticity as a process by which some attributes of an attended to stimulus are encoded into memory. It is suggested that Fisk's view of automaticity is derived from the study of automatic search mechanisms, particularly as they slowly develop in multiple frame visual search tasks; therefore, several methodological problems that Fisk addresses do not fit the concerns of the present authors or are irrelevant to them. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation in the elderly: A theoretical framework and some promising findings.

Suggests a theoretical framework that has been found useful in research on young adults as a promising direction for research on the psychology of motivation in the elderly. This framework by E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan (1985) posits the existence of 4 types of motivation (intrinsic, self-determined extrinsic, nonself-determined extrinsic, and amotivation) that are assumed to have a number of consequences for adaptation and well-being. Findings are presented from an ongoing research program that has found that the 4 types of motivation can be reliably measured and are related to other important aspects of the lives of elderly people. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk, responsibility, and structure: A conceptual framework for initiating group counseling and psychotherapy.

Presents a developmental framework for initiating group counseling and psychotherapy. On the basis of existing evidence, client risk, responsibility, and group structure are postulated as basic ingredients affecting early group development. The primary thesis is that client exposure to levels of personal risk and responsibility most conducive to group development can be regulated by group structure. The theoretical and practical implications of these observations are discussed. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality disorders: model for conceptual approach and classification. Part I: General model

In this article we present data suggesting that one core deficit in personality represents a common dimension extending across most categories of personality disorders (PDs), whereas clinically discrete syndromes classified as PDs in DSM IIIR are categorical maladaptive types related orthogonally to the common borderline dimension. In a sample of 121 subjects with PDs and 67 controls, persons with PDs and without PDs manifested similar profiles on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) scales for various behavior styles. Conversely, the two groups consistently differed with respect to the MCMI borderline scale: in contrast to non-PD persons, those with PDs were strikingly more borderline and typically scored above 75 points (the latter has been established as the cut off for the diagnosis of Borderline PD). Likewise, persons with PDs scored significantly higher on the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines than the control group. These results suggest that: i) most symptoms usually considered typical of the borderline personality characterize other PDs as well; ii) borderline features seem to be characteristic of persons with PDs and can be used to distinguish PDs vs. non-PDs. Therefore, symptoms widely regarded as typical of the borderline personality characterize other PDs as well. This shared dimension may explain the overlap in categorical diagnoses of individual PDs. Moreover, this shared dimension may be efficiently used as the classificatory principle for PDs. In Part II of this article, we present a model that classifies deviant behaviors in a systematic way, i.e., combines three levels of functioning (normal, neurotic, and borderline) with a limited number of categories of (mal) adaptive behavior types.