Cognitive influences on the development of learned helplessness.

120 college students participated in an experiment concerning the influence of self-statements following failure on subsequent symptoms of learned helplessness (LH). 40 Ss were given solvable concept-formation problems (nonhelpless condition), and 80 Ss were given unsolvable problems (helpless condition). MANOVA revealed a significant difference between helpless and nonhelpless Ss on cognitive/motivational and affective measures of LH and on self-statements regarding performance. However, when multiple regression and correlational analyses were performed within the group of Ss who failed the problems, no stable relationship was found between self-statements (cognitions) about concept-formation performance and the LH measures. Implications for A. T. Beck's (1967) cognitive model of depression and the reformulated LH model of depression (L. Y. Abramson et al, 1978) are discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boys with peer adjustment problems: Social cognitive processes.

30 4th-grade and 30 6th-grade males with positive (P) or negative (N) peer status were asked to generate alternative solutions to hypothetical problems, evaluate possible solutions, describe self-statements, and rate the likelihood of possible self-statements to investigate the hypothesis that maladjusted Ss (N peer status) would lack specific social cognitive skills. Hypothetical problems were presented in interviews that emphasized situations involving acts of aggression. Interviews were conducted in 2 parts, involving knowledge of interpersonal problem-solving strategies and attributional style assessment. Results indicate that N Ss generated fewer alternative solutions, proposed fewer assertive and mature solutions, generated more intense aggressive solutions, showed less adaptive planning, and evaluated physically aggressive responses more positively and positive responses more negatively than did P Ss. Data support the notion that boys with social adjustment problems are deficient in the cognitive problem-solving skill of generating multiple alternative solutions. Findings suggest that differences in knowledge and/or attitudes concerning normative social behavior may contribute to the more negative behavior patterns observed in socially maladjusted boys. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Field independence, impulsiveness, high school training, and academic achievement.

Studied the interrelationships of field independence, impulsiveness, and type of previous high school education in 15 female and 45 male undergraduates. Relationships between these variables and several measures of academic achievement were also investigated. Ss were given 7 cognitive-perceptual tests and asked to complete a questionnaire measuring emotionality and impulsiveness. Results indicate that paper-and-pencil tests of field independence might partially measure different abilities among math- and art-trained Ss. Math-trained students were relatively field independent and low impulsive. Although field dependence and impulsiveness were unrelated measures, it appeared that highly anxious impulsive Ss were relatively field dependent. A negative correlation between impulsiveness and grades in statistics was found. Results support the view of H. A. Witkin et al that cognitive styles might have relevance in predicting academic evolution. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective state and awareness of sensory and cognitive effects after closed head injury.

Found that emotional dysphoria was significantly and positively correlated with awareness of sensory and cognitive change in 42 Ss with closed head injury (CHI). Compared with their rehabilitation therapists, Ss tended to underestimate the sensory and cognitive effects of their injury, but agreement between Ss and therapists was highest for those sensory and cognitive functions that Ss could accurately define. S awareness of the sensory and cognitive effects of CHI may be formed from an interaction among at least 4 variables: the assessment measure used, the S's preinjury awareness, motivational influences (e.g., denial), and damage to the frontal lobes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood changes, physiological responses, and self-statements during social rejection imagery.

Exp I, partially replicating M. Goldfried and D. Sobocinski's (see record 1975-26824-001) methodology, evaluated the cognitive behavioral assumption that one's images and correct verbalizations mediate emotional and physiological arousal. Ss were 32 female university students who scored at the extremes on the importance of social approval scale from the Irrational Beliefs Test. It was hypothesized that relative to the low-irrational Ss, high-irrational ones would emit more negative and fewer positive tasks- and self-referent self-statements, report greater emotional arousal, and exhibit greater increases in physiological arousal while visualizing social rejection scenes. The major finding was that the groups differed significantly in the frequency of negative self-referent self-statements; virtually no support was obtained for the other hypotheses. Exp II, which used 24 females and which did not employ self-statements or physiological measures but was otherwise similar to Exp I, was a more exact replication of the Goldfried and Sobocinski study. Exp III, with 36 Ss, was a complete replication of the Goldfried and Sobocinski study. The data from the latter 2 studies indicate no differences in the reported moods of high- and low-irrational Ss following visualizations of social rejection scenes. Conceptual and clinical implications are discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive variables associated with personal problem-solving appraisal: Implications for counseling.

Examined differences between self-perceived effective and ineffective problem solvers on cognitive content variables (e.g., self-concept, irrational beliefs, and dysfunctional thoughts) as well as cognitive process variables (e.g., need for cognition, and coping processes). 500 college students were given the Problem Solving Inventory during a mass testing program at the beginning of the semester. Subsequently, 52 Ss were selected for additional participation, and each completed 5 instruments: Irrational Beliefs Test, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, Need for Cognition Scale, Thought Stopping Survey Schedule, and Ways of Coping Scale. Results indicate statistically significant main effects by problem-solving appraisal for all of the dependent variables. Ss who perceived themselves as effective problem solvers had more of a tendency to enjoy cognitive activities, higher self-concepts and lower self-criticism scores, lower frequencies of dysfunctional thoughts, fewer irrational beliefs, and coping styles that were less blameful and more problem focus than those Ss who perceived themselves as ineffective problem solvers. Results are related to W. Mischel's (1981) self-regulatory and encoding schema, cognitive-behavioral research, distinctions among cognitive processes, problem-solving training, counseling, and problem-solving models. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Articulated thoughts and endorsement procedures for cognitive assessment in the prediction of smoking relapse.

Hypothesized advantages of the articulated thoughts during simulated situations (ATSS [G. C. Davison et al; see PA, Vol 70:1572]) paradigm for assessment of cognitions were tested in a prospective study of smoking relapse. Cognitions in high-risk situations were assessed shortly after smoking cessation among 100 Ss. Consistent with G. A. Marlatt's (1985) model, Ss who abstained continuously for 3 mo. had shown higher self-efficacy, more use of cognitive coping tactics, and more negative expectations for the effects of smoking. Cognitions did not predict 12-mo abstinence nor recovery from an initial lapse. ATSS appeared effective in priming stress-related cognitions but did not exceed questionnaire measures in predictive validity. Exploratory analysis suggested that the methods could be combined to yield more useful data. The "metatrait" concept is discussed as a framework for research on combining cognitive assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manipulation of self-esteem as a determinant of mood of elated and depressed women.

Tested the theory that self-esteem is a determinant of elation-depression. Changes in self-esteem were induced by having Ss read positive or negative self-evaluative statements. 140 female college students were selected on the basis of extreme scores of characteristic elation and depression and on the basis of suggestibility and were assigned to 1 of 5 treatment or control groups. The induction of positive vs negative cognitions produced significant differences in elation-depression on multiple measures. Characteristically elated and depressed Ss were able to take on opposite mood states. This study suggests that a determinant of depression is evaluative self-statements, supports the utility of cognitive therapy for depressives, and demonstrates a potentially useful technique for inducing more appropriate self-evaluations. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial muscle patterning and lateralization during elation and depression imagery.

26 18–30 yr old female Ss read a standard set of self-referent statements and imagined scenes with elated, depressed, and neutral content. The dependent measures were subjective mood ratings (Self-Rating Depression Scale) and left and right zygomatic- and corrugator-muscle activity. The self-statements elicited feelings of elation and depression in approximately 70% of Ss. Among these Ss, elation was accompanied by immediate increases in zygomatic activity, especially on the right side of the face in pure right-handed Ss. Depression was accompanied by bilateral increases in corrugator activity that grew over time. In the remaining 30% of Ss who reported experiencing little or no subjective differences between the elation and depression self-statements, similar though smaller facial patterns of zygomatic and corrugator activity were found that reliably differentiated the affective conditions. Data support the hypothesis that facial EMG patterning is a sensitive psychophysiological indicator of mood. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quitting smoking: Strategies used and variables associated with success in a stop-smoking contest.

154 participants (mean age 34 yrs) in a communitywide stop-smoking contest were assessed via telephone interviews on entry into the contest (before the quitting date) and within a week of the conclusion of the month-long contest. Ss initially provided information on demographic characteristics, smoking history, smoking patterns, degree of nicotine addiction, perceived stress, and level of general social support, which were used to prospectively predict success at quitting. The follow-up interview collected short-term retrospective reports of cognitive, behavioral, and general smoking modification strategies used and amount of social support received specific to stopping smoking. Ss reported using a variety of cognitive strategies but relatively few behavioral techniques during their attempts to quit. Although discriminant function analyses to differentiate quitters and nonabstinent Ss were statistically significant, few individual variables were strongly associated with smoking status. The only variable to prospectively predict success was degree of perceived stress. Successful abstainers used self-reward strategies and positive self-statements more often than did less successful Ss. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a task analysis of assertive behavior

Conceptualized assertiveness problems in terms of a task analysis of the topography of competent responding. 47 male and 54 female undergraduates who ranged from extremely nonassertive to highly assertive (according to their scores on the Conflict Resolution Inventory) responded to 3 sets of situations requiring refusal of an unreasonable request. Content knowledge of an assertive response, delivery of the response under 2 conditions, heart rate, self-perceived tension, and the incidence of positive and negative self-statements were assessed. Differences on these variables between low-assertive (LA), moderate-assertive (MA), and high-assertive (HA) groups were analyzed to determine the nature of the response deficit in nonassertive Ss. LA Ss differed from MA and HA Ss on role-playing assessments requiring them to deliver an assertive response, but they did not differ from MA and HA Ss on their knowledge of a competent response or on hypothetical delivery situations. No significant differences in heart rate were observed between LA, MA, and HA Ss; however, higher self-perceived tension was found in LA compared to MA and HA Ss. A greater number of negative and fewer positive self-statements were reported by LA compared to MA and HA Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitions, test anxiety, and test performance: A closer look.

Used a thought-listing procedure to investigate the cognitions of 207 undergraduates who varied in test anxiety (high, moderate, low), as measured by the Test Anxiety Scale, and past achievement levels (high, low). Ss were assessed at different points (beginning, middle, end) during a final exam. The dependent variables included 7 categories of thoughts, semantic differential scales to assess the meaning of tests, and exam grade. Results generally replicate previous research findings with the exception that thought-list generated cognitions did not vary as a function of test anxiety level per se. It is concluded that (1) there is no significant relationship between test anxiety and performance on an in-course exam, (2) there is no significant relationship between frequency of cognitions and exam performance, and (3) different cognitive assessment methods may yield different pictures of cognitive phenomena. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating alcoholism treatment programs: An integrated approach.

Examines the interrelationships among 5 major sets of variables (social background, intake symptoms, program type, treatment experiences, and perceptions of the environment) that are related to posttreatment functioning of alcoholic patients (alcohol consumption, rating of drinking problem, physical impairment, and occupational functioning). The sample consisted of 429 patients selected from 5 different treatment programs. All Ss completed the Community-Oriented Program Evironment Scale about 2 wks after admission to measure their perceptions of the program environment. The relative importance of each set of variables as predictors of outcome was estimated by constructing block variables, using path analyses, and partitioning the explained variance. Results show that (a) the combined explanatory power of the program-related variables is considerably more than would be expected from previous research; (b) the importance of patient background relative to intake symptoms varies with the outcome criterion being used; (c) both the treatment experiences and the patient's perceptions of the treatment environment are strong predictors of outcome; and (d) a substantial proportion of the explained variance is shared between patient-related and program-related variables, suggesting important patient-program selection and congruence effects. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression-related cognitions: Antecedent or consequence?

Measured depression-related cognitions and self-esteem in 998 adults who were followed for 1 yr. Ss completed a battery of tests including the Subjective Probability Questionnaire, Personal Beliefs Inventory, and Multidimensional Multiattributional Causality Scale. 63 Ss were depressed at the time of assessment, 85 became depressed during the follow-up period, and 115 had a history of depression but were not depressed at the initial assessment. Results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that depression-related cognitions arise concomitantly with an episode of depression. The currently depressed Ss differed from nondepressed Ss as expected; however, Ss who were to become depressed during the course of the study did not differ from controls on the cognitive measures. In addition, depressive cognitions did not seem to be permanent residuals of an episode. Although the depression-related cognitions did not predict future depression, they did predict improvement; depressed Ss with more negative cognitions were significantly less likely to improve during the follow-up period. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of normality in families: Four samples.

Explored the extent to which normative values on family assessment measures reflected perceptions of what constituted a "normal" family. Ss from 4 samples in the US and Canada were identified. 20 Canadian Ss, 65% of whom were female with a child 6 yrs and under; 172 undergraduates, approximately 60% of whom were female; 24 grandmothers (aged 51–79 yrs); and 21 therapists (aged 27–61 yrs). Ss completed the Family Environment Scale and 2 self-report measures based on family systems models. Results point out differences among Ss' ratings of normal families, perceptions of their own families, and instrument norms. Group differences highlighted the need to incorporate family developmental concerns in all family assessment, therapy, and research and raised questions about differences in perceptions between family members and therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of individual differences in mail-coding skills and their variation with ability level.

Personality and cognitive predictors of mail coding were investigated in 2 samples, 1 of high coding ability (N?=?56) and 1 of mixed ability (N?=?158). Two approaches to predicting correlates of skill within groups of differing ability were compared: P. L. Ackerman's (1988) ability theory and D. A. Norman and T. Shallice's (1985) account of levels of action control. The predictors of mail-coding skill varied with ability: Personality variables were more predictive among higher ability Ss, and cognitive measures were more predictive among lower ability Ss. Implications of the findings for theories of individual differences in skill are discussed. There were 2 main practical conclusions. First, the measures used were more predictive than a standard psychometric selection test. Second, correlates of skill may be different among unselected job applicants and among the subset of applicants hired for subsequent operational training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive rehabilitation of memory functioning in amnesiac alcoholics.

Compared a multicomponent program of intensive memory skill practice for amnesiac alcoholics with a control program in which patients received only nonspecific cognitive activation to assess the extent to which improvement would generalize to memory tasks dissimilar to those used during training and to determine how long treatment gains would be maintained. 12 amnesiac patients (mean age 57.1 yrs) were randomly assigned to either the experimental memory training or the control program. DSM-III diagnoses showed that Ss included 7 with alcohol amnesiac disorder, 2 with dementia associated with alcoholism, 2 with alcohol dependence, and 1 with amnestic syndrome. Five of the experimental Ss and all of the controls completed their respective therapy programs and progress monitor assessment; 4 of the experimental Ss and 5 of the controls completed the entire outcome assessment. Results indicate that the control group showed improvement on most measures, and both groups improved significantly on several of the outcome measures that assessed generalization of memory skills. It is concluded that memory training designed to achieve specific learning goals is likely to be more effective with chronic amnesiacs than is a program of general memory skill rehearsal. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in cognitive abilities and brain organization: I. Sex and handedness differences in ability.

Analyzed data on cognitive abilities from 3 samples of normal Ss: (1) 195 undergraduates, (2) 215 18–30 yr old newly married couples, and (3) 122 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins (aged 12–38 yrs). Findings reveal a common Sex by Handedness by Reasoning-Ability interaction: For Ss with above-median reasoning ability, spatial scores of left-handed males were reduced but those of left-handed females were raised, relative to their right-handed counterparts; the opposite pattern was found for Ss with below-median reasoning ability. The dependence of handedness effects on reasoning ability level appears to explain some of the inconsistent findings in the literature. Verbal fluency, perceptual speed, and visual memory also showed sex and handedness effects, which often interacted with level of reasoning ability or other cognitive variables. Results strongly suggest that sex and handedness differences in cognitive ability are partly neurological in origin. Variations in the effects of handedness across levels of reasoning ability (or other abilities) may indicate that different trade-offs among structural, and thus cognitive, characteristics will be found in different subsamples: There may be many kinds of normal brain organization. (French abstract) (98 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role typing and ego identity in Israeli, Oriental, and Western adolescents.

1,129 Oriental and Western Israeli students from religious and secular high schools participated in a study to investigate (a) the relation between sex-role typing and ego identity, (b) the distribution of sex-role typing within different cultural groups, and (c) the relative contribution of masculinity (M), femininity (F), religiousness, sex, and ethnic origin to prediction of ego identity variables. Ss completed the Bar-Ilan Sex Role Inventory and the Adolescent Ego Identity Scale, which measures 3 factors: commitment and purposefulness, solidity and continuity, and social recognition. More androgynous, less sex-typed, and less undifferentiated Ss were found among Orientals than among Westerners. Sex-role type was significantly related to each of the ego identity variables, indicating that androgynous Ss were highest followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated Ss. Boys were higher than girls on Solidity and Continuity, but lower on Social Recognition. Westerners were higher than Orientals on Commitment and Purposefulness and on Total Ego Identity. Religious Ss were higher than secular Ss on Commitment and Purposefulness. Regression analyses revealed high prediction of ego identity variables with greater prediction power for M than for F in both ethnic groups. Ego identity was predicted by M among boys, whereas both M and F predicted ego identity with greater prediction power for M than for F. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive function in asymptomatic HIV-1 infection: The effects of age, education, ethnicity, and depression.

Examined whether individuals with asymptomatic HIV-1 infection exhibit subtle cognitive deficits relative to healthy seronegative control Ss. 122 symptomatic seropositive homosexual and bisexual White men were compared with 59 seronegative homosexual or bisexual men (all Ss aged 20–71 yrs) on a battery of neuropsychological tests. Age, education, ethnicity, and depression were controlled as potential confounding variables. Seropositive Ss performed below seronegative controls on measures of verbal fluency, recall of logical discourse material (younger seropositive Ss only), and arithmetic. No group differences were found on visuospatial measures, abstract reasoning, attention, or set shifting. Ethnicity (Hispanic vs non-Hispanic) and education effects were observed only on select language measures. Depression did not adversely affect performance scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)