Taste aversions to food flavors and vaginal secretion in golden hamsters.

Although rodents readily associate virtually any distinctive flavor with gastrointestinal illness when the flavor and illness have been paired, experience with a flavor can provide information that interferes with later attempts to produce aversions to the familiar taste. The vaginal secretion of female hamsters carries sexual information for males, which does not depend on previous experience; it was studied, in the present 3 experiments, whether that built-in information might interfere with associations between flavor of the excretion and illness. Surprisingly, the Ss, 32 male Syrian hamsters, showed dramatic changes in behavior toward the vaginal secretion when its presentation was followed by lithium chloride poisoning. Results suggest that mammalian responses to sex pheromones are far more easily modified by experience than has been supposed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal and verbal content behaviors in the prediction of interviewer effectiveness.

Assessed the ecological validity of previous research (e.g., M. B. LaCrosse, 1975; J. R. Graves and J. D. Robinson, 1976) that has suggested that an interviewer's nonverbal behaviors predominate over verbal content in the prediction of interviewer effectiveness ratings. In contrast to earlier investigations, the current study assessed naturally occurring rather than manipulated interviewer behavior and used "client" ratings of effectiveness rather than observer ratings. Data were collected from analog interviews conducted by 40 counseling students with 80 undergraduates. Results indicate that nonverbal interviewer behaviors do not clearly predominate over verbal content behaviors in the prediction of effectiveness ratings. It is suggested that earlier findings of nonverbal superiority are not generalizable to more ecologically valid interview settings. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalization of dissonance reduction: Decreasing prejudice through induced compliance.

Three studies involving a total of 318 White college students demonstrated that induced compliance can change socially significant attitudes and that the change generalizes to broader beliefs. Ss wrote an essay endorsing a pro-Black policy that was costly to Whites. In Exps 1 and 2, attitudes and general beliefs about Blacks became more favorable in both high- and low-choice conditions, provided publicity of the essay was high. Overall, choice and publicity had additive effects on attitude change. Some high-choice Ss wrote only semipositive (semicompliant) essays and did not change their essay attitudes. Yet their beliefs about Blacks still became more favorable. In Exp 3, racial ambivalence, but not prior attitude, predicted essay compliance. Ambivalent Ss were more likely to comply than were less ambivalent Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paraprofessional skill: Maintenance of empathic sensitivity after training.

Investigated changes in empathic sensitivity in paraprofessionals as a result of training and examined the maintenance of changes 6–24 mo after training. Also explored was the relationship of verbal intelligence to changes. 47 students in an associate degree mental health/human service program participated. Each S completed a 10-wk training course in 1 of 4 groups. Each was given the Recognition Assessment—Empathy (RA—E) on completion of the course and 6–24 mo later. Ss in 2 groups were also pretested on the RA—E. Empathetic sensitivity did increase after the course, confirming previous research, and changes were not only maintained but increased over time to a level comparable with a normative group of experienced clinicians. Course drop-out and selection effects were judged to be minimal. No significant relationship emerged between verbal intelligence and empathic sensitivity either before or after training. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of household smoking bans among Chinese Americans.

No population-based data are available on the degree to which Chinese Americans have adopted smoke-free household policies and whether these policies are effective in reducing environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The present study examines the prevalence of smoke-free home rules among Chinese Americans living in New York City, describes predictors of adopting full smoking bans in the home, and explores the association between household smoking restrictions and ETS exposure at home. In-person interviews using a comprehensive household-based survey were conducted with 2,537 adults aged 18-74 years. Interviews were conducted in Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Chinese dialects. A total of 66% of respondents reported that smoking was not allowed inside the home, 22% reported a partial ban on smoking in the home, and 12% reported no smoking ban. Among current smokers, 38% reported a full household smoking ban. Current smoking status was the strongest predictor of less restrictive household smoking policies. Knowledge of the dangers of ETS, support of smoke-free air legislation, years in the United States, gender, income, and marital status also were associated with household smoking bans. Those living with a total household smoking ban were significantly less likely to report 30-day exposure to ETS than were those living in homes with a partial ban or no ban (7% vs. 68% and 73%, respectively). In homes of smokers and nonsmokers alike, exposure to ETS remains high. Smoke-free home rules and interventions among smokers and nonsmokers to raise awareness of the dangers of ETS have the potential to significantly reduce exposure to household ETS among this immigrant population.     

Motivated augmentation and reduction of the overattribution bias.

Three experiments investigated whether the need to have (or avoid) cognitive closure affects observers' tendency to display attributional bias. Results of each experiment indicate that the overattribution bias was magnified under high need for cognitive closure and attenuated under high need to avoid closure. In Exps 1 and 3, the relevant motivational state was manipulated situationally, whereas in Exp 2 an individual-differences measure of the closure motivation was used. These divergent operationalizations yielded convergent results. Furthermore, when in Exp 3 the task consisted of attributions to the situation, high need for closure augmented, and high need to avoid closure reduced, situational rather than dispositional overattributions. The results imply general motivational boundary conditions for inferential biases across judgmental contents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing alcoholics with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory: A review.

Reviewed 27 empirical studies that used the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) to assess alcoholics. A modal MCMI profile reflecting passive–aggressive and antisocial traits combined with anxiety, depression, and alcohol and drug abuse was documented in the literature. Cluster analysis revealed distinct MCMI-based alcoholic subtypes apart from the alcoholic prototype style. The Alcohol Dependence scale was stable over short intervals and had positive predictive power in identifying primary alcoholism. MCMI scale differences appear when comparing alcoholic population subtypes. A compulsive personality style was found to be associated with higher social functioning and episodic drinking, whereas the Thought Disorder scale has been associated with more debilitating forms of drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive profiles of difficult-to-remediate and readily remediated poor readers: Early intervention as a vehicle for distinguishing between cognitive and experiential deficits as basic causes of specific reading disability.

Reading impaired first graders were given daily tutoring as a "first cut" diagnostic to aid in distinguishing between reading difficulties caused by basic cognitive deficits and those caused by experiential deficits. Reading achievement in most of these children was found to be within or above the average range after one semester of remediation. Children who were difficult to remediate performed below both children who were readily remediated and normal readers on kindergarten and first-grade tests evaluating phonological skills, but not on tests evaluating visual, semantic and syntactic skills. The results are consistent with convergent findings from previous research suggesting that reading problems in some poor readers may be caused primarily by phonological deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meanwhile, back at personality ranch: The augmenters and reducers ride again.

Assessed the kinesthetic aftereffect by following the procedure of A. Petrie (1967) and using a wide-inducing block. Several other plausible indexes of the augmenter/reducer personality dimension, which refers to the tendency to increase or reduce incoming stimulation, were also assessed via questionnaires and behavioral tasks. Ss were 53 undergraduates. Induction measures derived from the Petrie procedure had excellent reliability. Substantial evidence of reliability and construct validity was obtained for 4 of the personality indexes. In 3 of those cases, the Petrie induction measure correlated significantly in the predicted direction with the personality index. On balance, results indicate that the Petrie procedure does provide a reliable and valid indicator of augmenting/reducing for basic research purposes. In its present form, however, the procedure is too cumbersome to have much potential in applied settings. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)