Consciousness as a regulatory field: A theory of psychotherapy.

The proposed theory places emphasis "on central factors with utilization of the biological concept of regulation… . Psychotherapy is defined as a set of techniques, all of which should have as their common purpose the progressive re-establishment in the individual of a more adequate degree of self-regulation." An organized approach is attempted which gives "a more appropriate place to the unsuccessfully rejected concept of consciousness." Phenomena related to psychotherapy, including free association, insight, "uncovering" and interpretation, and group relationship factors are considered. "It is assumed that the current style of being eclectic in psychotherapy demands that certain basic concepts be systematically identified so that the recognized common factors in psychotherapy shall have an organized meaning. The regulatory theory of consciousness and the derived concepts of stress-defense dynamics are offered as a step in this direction." 17 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases: a biological evolutionary drama

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN 3) is treated surgically. Follow-up of these patients is important to ensure successful treatment. The present study was undertaken to determine whether human papillomavirus (HPV) testing can be used to discriminate patients who will have recurrences from those who will not. It is composed of 26 patients who presented with recurrences of CIN and 22 patients who remained disease-free after treatment. DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded cone biopsies of incident CIN 3, their corresponding follow-up Pap smears taken 3 months postoperatively, and their secondary cone biopsies of the recurrent lesions. The extracted DNA were then analyzed by PCR for the presence of HPV. The posttreatment cervical smears in the recurrent group had a (25/26) 96% HPV prevalence, while HPV DNA was not detectable in any of the 22 patients in the control group. The HPV types in both the initial and recurrent lesions correlated very well. This suggest that most recurrences are likely to be due to persisting lesions or subclinical HPV infections that had not been completely removed. Cytology alone was not sufficiently sensitive to discriminate the patients at risk for recurrences. It appears that HPV testing can be useful to monitor the therapeutic result.     

Hull's theory of learning as a philosophical system: I. An outline of the theory.

Presents a general account of the development of C. L. Hull's theory of learning. It is argued that the mature and apparently scientific theory to be found in Principles of Behavior (1943) represents the culmination of more than a decade of philosophical speculation. Nevertheless, it is also argued that the underlying structure of the mature theory remains a philosophical one derived from 2 principles—associationism and negative hedonism (the definition of pleasure as the absence of pain). (French abstract) (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision theory analysis of social power.

Discusses the use of decision theory as a framework for clarifying and organizing various conceptualizations of social power. The theory of decision making used suggests that an actor's decision regarding the performance of some behavior is a function of (a) the actor's utility or evaluation of the consequences of the behavior and (b) the actor's subjective probabilities or expectations that the behavior will lead to these consequences. The decisions and behavior of actors in exerting and responding to social power are analyzed in this manner. A number of conceptual issues are discussed, and several theories of social power are examined in terms of concepts and distinctions derived from the decision theory analysis of social power. (71 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do violations of the axioms of expected utility theory threaten decision analysis?

Based on our own material containing 78 patients after heart transplantation the analysis of the most common laryngological diseases in postoperative period was performed. The attention was paid on the character, location of the diseases and the time of appearance after operation. The effort to find the correlation between kind and dose immunosuppression and frequency of infections was made. The necessity of careful and permanent laryngological control of patients after heart transplantation was emphasized due to the serious complications avoidance.     

Decision theory approach to the problem of polygraph interrogation.

To counter the prevailing unsystematic approach to the use of polygraph data, a generalized decision theory approach applicable to a variety of polygraph uses is discussed. Examples of applications of decision theoretic tools to the polygraph interrogation problem are then presented, and typical misuses of the polygraph as a basis for decisions are described. A computed example based on accumulated experimental validity data for 399 Ss was constructed to show how decision analyses should be used in polygraph interrogation. These analyses supplied first approximations for the limits within which a polygraph interrogation system might be used as a sole decision tool. Recommendations for polygraph users are also discussed. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-determination theory as a fundamental theory of close relationships.

Though relatively young, the field of relationships science has an impressive body of research devoted to understanding a range of relational processes including attachment, communality, intimacy, and interdependence. However, relatively little research has examined the motivational underpinnings of these processes. Self-determination theory (SDT) offers a broad perspective on the mechanisms through which relational processes are related to personal well-being and relational functioning and the circumstances under which seemingly positive relational processes particularly result in benefits to relationships and the individuals of which they are comprised. The purpose of this review is to summarise the existing research applying SDT to relational processes and to suggest future avenues for research that will extend both relationships science and SDT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biology as technology: A social constructionist framework for an evolutionary psychology.

The analogy between biology and engineering in evolutionary psychology is argued to be insightful but limited. A broader analogy is therefore proposed called "biology as technology." Biological evolution, that is, is best understood as the design and production of technical systems rather than engineered mechanisms. On that basis, a social constructionist theory of technology is used to found a revised analogy. This theory distinguishes primary instrumentalization processes of functionalization from secondary instrumentalization processes that realize technical systems in surrounding contexts. Using this framework, the revised analogy bridges between adaptationist accounts in standard evolutionary psychology and interactionist accounts critical of standard evolutionary psychology. Implications of this revised analogy for the evolution of mindedness and sociality are identified and discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision field theory: A dynamic-cognitive approach to decision making in an uncertain environment.

Decision field theory provides for a mathematical foundation leading to a dynamic, stochastic theory of decision behavior in an uncertain environment. This theory is used to explain (1) violations of stochastic dominance, (2) violations of strong stochastic transitivity, (3) violations of independence between alternatives, (4) serial position effects on preference, (5) speed–accuracy trade-off effects in decision making, (6) the inverse relation between choice probability and decision time, (7) changes in the direction of preference under time pressure, (8) slower decision times for avoidance as compared with approach conflicts, and (9) preference reversals between choice and selling price measures of preference. The proposed theory is compared with 4 other theories of decision making under uncertainty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A theory of intelligence as processing: Implications for society.

Defining intelligence as processing allows one to predict intelligence from infancy, discover causes of mental retardation, test the intelligence of people with disabilities, develop culture-fair tests of intelligence, and demonstrate that groups that differ in IQ do not necessarily differ in intelligence. An early estimate of intellectual disability allows a child to qualify quickly for remedial programs. Economic and emotional benefits would ensue from discovering and eliminating the causes of a small percentage of cases of mental retardation. The measurement of intelligence as processing reveals intellectual strengths that may otherwise be masked by physical or emotional disability or by cultural circumstances. Cultures may differ in the types of knowledge their members have but not in how well they process. Cultures may account for racial differences in IQ. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision processes in discrimination: Fundamental misrepresentations of signal detection theory.

A new approach to studying decision making in discrimination tasks is described that does not depend on the technical assumptions of signal detection theory (e.g., normality of the encoding distributions). In 3 different experiments, results of these new distribution-free tests converge on a single, surprising conclusion: response biases had substantial effects on the encoding distributions but no effect on the decision rule, which was uniformly unbiased in equal and unequal base rate conditions and in symmetric and asymmetric payoff conditions. This seemingly paradoxical result is fundamentally inconsistent with the entire family of signal detection theory models, raising some important questions about the significance of many published results in the human performance literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision quality as a measure of visual display effectiveness.

A new gaming technique was employed in an attempt to evaluate more accurately the effectiveness of visual displays. 18 male university students acted as traffic managers for a hypothetical trucking concern. Trucking information was presented in map-plus-overlay displays, and Ss manipulated trucks, drivers, and loads within the framework of the economic rules governing the trucking operation. A computer program was written which determined the profit in dollars of each S's performance. 3 independent variables—use of color, fact density, and compression (ratio of symbols to facts)—were used in this repeated measures design. Analysis of variance indicated that profit was a positive function of increasing fact density (p     

Evolutionary trends and evolutionary origins: Relevance to theory in comparative psychology.

W. Hodos and C. B. Campbell (see PA, Vol 43:12612) contended that there was no theory in comparative psychology because psychologists did not base their work on true evolutionary (phyletic) lineages or origins. The present author argues that theory in comparative psychology is based appropriately on the phyletically transcendant concept of "anagenesis:" the progressive evolution of adaptive behavior, learning ability, or intelligence. Although anagenetic trends (grades, levels) do transcend known cladistic (phyletic) lineages, it is widely held in evolutionary biology, as well as in comparative psychology, that the documentation of such trends is a valuable and necessary part of evolutionary study, especially with respect to behavior. In this context a theoretical rationale is offered for discerning the anagenetic status of various contemporary species for comparative psychological purposes. It is proposed that by determining the extent of ontogenetic plasticity and behavioral versatility in the face of experimentally altered ecological circumstances, the anagenetic grades of various species can be estimated and thus compared. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Machiavellianism: A synthesis of the evolutionary and psychological literatures.

Manipulative strategies of social conduct (Machiavellianism) have been studied by both psychologists and evolutionary biologists. The authors use the psychological literature as a database to test evolutionary hypotheses about the adaptive advantages of manipulative social behavior. Machiavellianism does not correlate with general intelligence and does not consistently lead to real-world success. It is best regarded as 1 of several social strategies, broadly similar to the "defect" strategy of evolutionary game theory, which is successful in some situations but not in others. In general, human evolutionary psychology and evolutionary game theory provide useful frameworks for thinking about behavioral strategies, such as Machiavellianism, and identify a large number of specific hypotheses that have not yet been tested by personality and social psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy as a problem in learning theory.

This reprinted article originally appeared in Psychological Bulletin, 46, 366–302. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1950-01904-001.) A learning theory interpretation of psychotherapy is offered "to effect a rapprochement between psychotherapy and general psychology, and to organize some of the phenomena of clinical practice within the framework of systematic behavior theory." 66-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)