"The role of the family in the development of psychopathology": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by G. H. Frank (Psychological Bulletin, 1965, Vol 64[3], 191-205). The eighth item in the bibliography should have been attributed to Garmezy, Farina, and Rodnick (1960) rather than Bell, Garmezy, Farina, and Rodnick. The author also stated incorrectly that the parents' responses to the PARI were used as the content of the interaction between parents in the studies reported in Farina (I960), Farina and Dunham (1963), and Garmezy, Farina, and Rodnick (1960); it was, rather, sets of hypothetical situations adapted from a research method used by Jackson (1956). As was indicated in Frank's presentation, the common denominator in these particular research endeavors was that they were predicated on the basic model established by Strodtbeck (1951), that is, eliciting the attitudes of parents by having them respond to written material with their opinions, individually, then in interaction with each other; the error was in recording what constituted the material by which the parental attitudes were elicited.. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1965-15947-001.) Psychologists generally make the assumption that the experiences to which the individual is exposed over a period of time lead to the development of learned patterns of behavior. From this, psychologists have reasoned that the experiences the individual has in his early life at home, with his family, in general, and his mother, in particular, are major determinants in the learning of the constellation of behaviors subsumed under the rubric, personality, and in particular, the development of psychopathology. A review of the research of the past 40 yrs failed to support this assumption. No factors were found in the parent-child interaction of schizophrenics, neurotics, or those with behavior disorders which could be identified as unique to them or which could distinguish one group from the other, or any of the groups from the families of the controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the censure-deficit model and its relation to premorbidity in the performance of schizophrenics.

This investigation incorporated controls suggested by the Rodnick-Garmezy model of schizophrenic behavior with the task most frequently employed in disconfirmatory studies, in order to assess the tenability of the latter. A number of hypotheses derived from Rodnick and Garmezy, concerned with premorbid history of patients (Goods and Poors) and normals, reinforcement conditions (reward, punishment, and nonevaluation) and sex of E (parental surrogates), were tested in a 3×3×2 design with reaction time (RT) as the dependent variable. None of the hypotheses was supported. Instead, punishment led to fastest performance for all groups, and all Ss tended to perform faster for male than for female Es. This research is consistent with the results of the disconfirmatory studies rather than those of Rodnick-Garmezy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task complexity and verbal evaluation on the learning of normals and schizophrenics.

Tested the relative predictive powers of 3 theories of schizophrenia: S. A. Mednick's (see 33:5) drive theory; E. H. Rodnick and N. Garmezy's censure-deficit theory; and R. Atkinson and N. M. Robinson's (see 36:4) censure-sensitivity theory. 30 normals, 30 process schizophrenics, and 30 reactive schizophrenics were each run in a low- and high-complexity verbal discrimination task. 1/2 of each group was praised for correct responses, 1/2 censured for incorrect ones. While normals did not respond differentially to the reinforcers, schizophrenics tended to learn faster when censured than when praised, supporting Atkinson and Robinson. The performance decrement from the low- to the high-complexity task was equivalent for all groups, which is nonsupportive of Mednick's theory. An alternative explanation of the results is offered and a cautious interpretation of the data is urged due to medication differences between normals and schizophrenics. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of good and poor premorbid male schizophrenics as a function of paternal vs. maternal censure.

The hypothesis that interference in schizophrenic performance depends on an interaction between level of premorbid adjustment, paternal vs. maternal source of stimulation, and censuring vs. approval content was tested. 4 tape recordings were played for 80 good and 80 poor premorbid adjustment schizophrenics—father-son censure, father-son approval, mother-son censure, and mother-son approval. Performance was measured by a change from a pre- to post-Digit-Symbol test. The hypothesis was confirmed—good premorbids show interference with paternal censure and poor premorbids with maternal censure. A comparison group of 80 normals did not show this kind of interaction. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Norman Garmezy (1918–2009).

Norman Garmezy, a pioneer in research on risk and resilience, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 21, 2009, at the age of 91. He was a legendary mentor as well as an eminent scientist in clinical psychology. Norm was born on June 18, 1918, in New York City and grew up in the Bronx in a Jewish neighborhood where educational attainment was highly valued. The scientific study of resilience as conceived by Norman Garmezy, his peers, and students has transformed the science and practice of multiple disciplines, from the molecular level to the global ecosystem, infusing a strength-based and recovery-oriented approach into psychology, education, social work, and psychiatry. Current research on resilience ranges from studies of plasticity in brain development to effective planning for resilience in the context of disaster. Norm’s influential ideas and research earned him international acclaim and many honors for lifetime achievements in science. Throughout his career, Norm held many leadership roles. Throughout his life, Norm spoke with great love about his wife of 63 years, Edie Garmezy (who died just months before him in 2009), and their children. In addition to his work and his family, Norm had three abiding passions—theater, movies, and politics. During the last two decades of his life, Norm and those who loved him endured his long decline from Alzheimer’s, which slowly stole his brilliant mind and hilarious sense of humor. Nonetheless, the incredible spirit and humanity of this giant scholar continued to shine through this terrible disease. To the end of his life, Norm’s face would light up with a smile as he greeted the people he loved, and he would often exclaim, “Wonderful!” Norman Garmezy was a remarkable person and scholar who left an extraordinary legacy of love and work to inspire future generations in their efforts to understand and promote the human capacity for competence and resilience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of praise and censure on the performance of schizophrenics.

Ss were 36 normals, 36 good, and 36 poor premorbid schizophrenics. Poor premorbids were shown to be primarily motivated to avoid censure and good premorbids to be relatively more sensitive to praise. It was demonstrated that when censure was used on a task with only 2 possible responses, poor premorbids performed better than good premorbids. The opposite relationship was demonstrated for the effects of praise, to which the good premorbids were more responsive. On a task with many responses, the praise or censure gave little information as to the correct response. On this task, censure was demonstrated to be relatively more disruptive to the poor premorbids than praise, but the opposite held for the good premorbids. Comparisons with neutral conditions and normal Ss were also made. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gold medal award for life contribution by a psychologist in the public interest: Norman Garmezy.

Presents the citation and biography for Norman Garmezy, recipient of the American Psychological Association's Gold Medal Award for Life Contribution by a Psychologist in the Public Interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social competence as a process-reactive dimension with schizophrenics, alcoholics, and normals.

Investigated the effect of the level of social competence on the performance of a paired discrimination task involving social censure cues for groups of male hospitalized schizophrenics, alcoholics, and normals. Previous studies finding differences between process and reactive schizophrenics had not controlled for the social competence level of the normal controls. 24 Ss from each diagnostic category were divided equally among groups of low, middle, and high social competence levels. Low social competence Ss discriminated maternal censure stimuli more poorly than middle or high socially competent groups. Psychiatric diagnosis had no significant effect on performance. Results do not support the social censure theory of schizophrenia and suggest that there has been confounding between social competence level and diagnosis in previous process-reactive research. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eliot H. Rodnick (1911-1999).

Memorializes Eliot H. Rodnick. His contributions to clinical psychology and research on schizophrenia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of "social censure" and "social approval" on the psychomotor performance of schizophrenics.

A study in the tradition of demonstrating the modifiability of the behavior of schizophrenics through information feedback, e.g., rewards, punishment, or information requality of his performance. Schizophrenics were either told nothing about their performance, i.e., reaction time (control); told they were doing poorly (verbal censure); presented with a tone indicating slowness (neutral censure); or were given approval. The patients profited (reaction times increased) from the informational feedback under both conditions of censure, significantly more than with no or "approval" feedback. Results were compared with previous findings. 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of social and nonsocial censure on stimulus generalization in neurotics and schizophrenics.

36 schizophrenic and 36 neurotic depressive Ss were given a visual-spatial generalization task under either social or nonsocial (impersonal) censure conditions. The following hypotheses derived from previous investigations were tested: (1) schizophrenics would show higher gradients of generalization than neurotic depressives, and (2) generalization gradients would be higher under conditions of social as opposed to nonsocial censure, especially in schizophrenics. The data supported Hypothesis 1 but not Hypothesis 2. There was no evidence for differential responding between these 2 groups with respect to either stimulus generalization or response to censure. It was suggested that hypotheses concerning the schizophrenic's performance in these 2 situations have been biased and oversimplified by use of normal, rather than patient, control groups in previous investigations. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Praise and censure as motivating variables in the motor behavior and learning of schizophrenics.

Hullian assumptions regarding drive level were utilized to predict the performance of acute and chronic schizophrenics on learning tasks of varying complexity. Ss were exposed to 3 conditions of reinforcement: censure, praise, and neutral (neither censure nor praise), and faced with simple and complex learning tasks. Acute schizophrenics responded differently from the chronic Ss to the conditions of reinforcement. The performance of the acute group was facilitated on the 2nd task by the experience of being told they were wrong on the 1st; this was not so with the chronic schizophrenics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological deficit in schizophrenia: I. Affect, reinforcement, concept attainment.

This, the 1st of 2 papers reviewing laboratory studies of psychological deficit in schizophrenia, considers the effects of social censure, affective stimuli, cooperation, urging, and verbal and nonverbal reinforcers on performance on a variety of tasks. Disturbance i concept formation is evaluated in terms of: loss of abstract attitude, communication disturbance, regression, and the consequence of erratic attention. Finally, various theories of schizophrenia deficit are evaluated. Although motivational constructs cannot be wholly dismissed, interference theory is generally more comprehensive and parsimonious. Many specific hypotheses of interference theory still need to be substantiated by experiment, however. (130 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Censure sensitivity in schizophrenia.

Hypotheses derived from the Rodnick-Garmezy theory of schizophrenic censure sensitivity were tested in a 3 Groups (Normals and Poor and Good Premorbid Schizophrenics) × 2 Sex (Man and Woman Parental Surrogate) factorial design. Predictions were tested both at predispositional (recollections of parental child-rearing attitudes and practices) and behavioral levels (susceptibility to social influence). The results at both levels failed to support the predictions of general schizophrenic hypersensitivity and differential schizophrenic sensitivity to sex according to the adequacy of premorbid adjustment. The general clinical theory of hyposensitivity was considered as an alternative but was also found to be inadequate. Reported parental dominance was unrelated to susceptibility to influence. Acquiescence response tendency was found to be highly related to reports of parental attitudes and to extent of social influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative feedback and aspiration statements of schizophrenics and normals.

Elicited aspiration statements from 30 male schizophrenics and 30 normal adult males in 3 treatment conditions: response-contingent praise, response-contingent censure, and no evaluation. Task "performance scores" were predetermined by E and were identical for all Ss. 2 dependent measures were examined: frequency of increased aspiration statements and magnitude of aspiration changes compared with prior "performance." Response-contingent censure resulted in greater frequency of increased aspiration statements for both diagnostic groups. However, censure differentially effected the magnitude of performance-aspiration differences, with schizophrenics showing greater magnitude of response. Results support previous findings on attitudes of schizophrenics and normals toward success and failure and are congruent with theories of schizophrenic behavior emphasizing development of withdrawal patterns to avoid punishment. It is also indicated that schizophrenics' sensitivity to the aversive may be used constructively. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Form discrimination performance of schizophrenics as a function of social censure, premorbid adjustment, chronicity, and diagnosis.

Tested the social censure hypothesis by presenting neutral and censure stimuli to 160 male 20-60 yr. old schizophrenic-paranoid inpatients in 10 experimental subgroups. Results support previous disconfirmatory studies which found that stimulus content is a minor factor in the explanation of the schizophrenic performance deficit. The similarity in performance of schizophrenics and other comparable hospitalized groups is discussed in relation to the possible confounding processes elicited by the form discrimination task. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of parental childrearing and subsequent vulnerability to cognitive distu bance.

Research with normals and schizophrenics has indicated the importance of maternal childrearing control and nurturance. The 1st experiment tested whether patterns of maternal control and nurturance would relate to the son's subsequent cognitive performance under conditions involving social censure. Ss were 63 college males. Ss rating their mothers as highly controlling-low nurturant (rejecting pattern) were poorer in conceptual performance than Ss whose mothers were rated as low controlling-highly nurturant (accepting pattern). The same results were obtained when 74 males were divided into paternal childrearing pattern groups and their conceptual performance compared. It was proposed that social censure elicits responses which interfere with effective cognitive performance in Ss whose rejecting childrearing histories have mediated low self-esteem. (1 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

American Psychological Foundation Awards for 1989: Gold Medal Awards for Life Achievement in Psychological Science; Life Achievement in the Applications of Psychology; Life Contribution by a Psychologist in the Public Interest; and Distinguished Teaching in Psychology Award.

On August 12, 1989, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA) in New Orleans, Louisiana, the American Psychological Foundation (APF) announced the recipients of the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychological Science, Donald Benjamin Lindsley; Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Applications of Psychology, PauI Everett Meehl; Gold Medal Award for Life Contribution by a Psychologist in the Public Interest, Norman Garmezy; and the Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology, Charles L. Brewer. The citations and biographies of the recipients are presented here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skin conductance basal level and reactivity in schizophrenia as a function of chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication.

Examined the skin conductance basal level and GSR of 384 male schizophrenics divided into subgroups according to chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication. 10 male psychiatric aides served as normal controls. Results indicate that basal level differences between schizophrenic subgroups or between schizophrenics and normals were mainly due to long-term institutionalization. The novelty of the experimental situation, as contrasted with the usual minimal stimulation domicile of the chronic patient, resulted in extensive responsivity not exhibited by the acute schizophrenic, other hospitalized patients, or normals. An interaction of premorbid adjustment and diagnosis within the chronicity subgroups was also found. The GSR differences between schizophrenic subgroups were primarily due to begin on or off medication, and this was mainly evident in the premorbid adjustment grouping. The results of an examination of social censure stimulus effects were not supportive of a social censure hypothesis. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Western Psychological Association.

The Honorable John A. Burns, Governor of the State of Hawaii, opened the Forty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Western Psychological Association with a welcoming address on June 14, 1965. The meeting, which was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, continued through June 19, 1965, and was jointly sponsored by the University of Hawaii. There were 561 convention registrants. Ronald C. Johnson was the Convention Manager, assisted by Warner Wilson, Leonard Diamond, Christopher Davis, Jerry Cochran, Harold Dent, Kelly Naylor, Agnes Niyekawa, DWane Collins, Stanley Standal, Robert Blanchard, Colin Herrick, Robert Cole, and Abe Arkoff. The program, which included 151 papers and 17 symposia, was developed under the direction of Richard C. Atkinson of Stanford University. Program Committee Chairmen were Frank Beach, Lee Cronbach, Allen Edwards, Harold Kelley, Howard Kendler, Donald Lindsley, Leo Postman, Eliot Rodnick, and Alberta Siegel. The program is presented here. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)