On the importance of operational definitions: A comment on Hayden.

Hayden's (1987) article concerning the merits of various "hypothesis-testing strategies" is critiqued on the grounds that he has not adequately defended the use of a "Level-4 concept" (Underwood, 1957). More parsimonious explanations for his result are developed and presented at a lower level of abstraction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A parallel sorting algorithm for a novel model of computation

The computational complexity of a parallel algorithm depends critically on the model of computation. We describe a simple and elegant rule-based model of computation in which processors apply rules asynchronously to pairs of objects from a global object space. Application of a rule to a pair of objects results in the creation of a new object if the objects satisfy the guard of the rule. The model can be efficiently implemented as a novel MIMD array processor architecture, the Intersecting Broadcast Machine. For this model of computation, we describe an efficient parallel sorting algorithm based on mergesort. The computational complexity of the sorting algorithm isO(nlog² n), comparable to that for specialized sorting networks and an improvement on theO(n ^1.5) complexity of conventional mesh-connected array processors.     

We have seen the future, but is it us? The vocational aspirations of graduate students in counseling psychology.

In a recent article, Fitzgerald and Osipow documented a trend away from academic settings and vocational psychology and toward private practice and more clinically oriented tasks (such as long-term psychotherapy) among members of Division 17. In this study we extended the exploration of this issue by examining the vocational aspirations of a national sample of graduate students in counseling psychology, using similar methodology. The results document the increasing "professionalization" of counseling psychology, as well as the continued diminution of vocational psychology and career counseling as salient characteristics of the discipline, and are discussed in terms of the pragmatics of the marketplace and possible negative impact on clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of patient pretreatment characteristics to the therapeutic alliance in diverse psychotherapies.

The prediction of the therapeutic alliance from patient pretreatment characteristics was investigated with a sample of elderly depressed outpatients treated in behavioral, cognitive, and brief dynamic psychotherapy (N?=?60). For the sample as a whole, a higher degree of patient defensiveness was related to a lower patient contribution to the alliance as reflected in patient commitment and working capacity. Also, the availability of environmental support was positively associated with greater patient commitment across treatment conditions. The association of patient pretreatment characteristics with alliance was similar across behavioral and cognitive therapy and less similar across brief dynamic and behavioral or cognitive therapy. The nature of the therapeutic alliance in diverse treatment modalities is discussed, and implications for selection criteria and technical strategies for engaging the difficult patient are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of interference and cognitive arousal upon the processing of organized thought.

Reports part of a series dealing with cognitive arousal and reverberation. Prior investigations highlighted the influence of brief posthypnotic manipulations of mental arousal, introduced during the reverberation phase following stimulus presentation of strings of consonants, upon the later salience of those stimuli. 2 male undergraduates' tasks consisted 1st of reading aloud 6 words in scrambled order from 2 familiar 3-word phrases and then reporting whatever words popped into mind during a 12-sec period. Posthypnotic experimental interventions consisted of (1) the auditory hallucination of numbers while reporting words, and (2) the alterations of cognitive arousal in 5 degrees ranging from very high to very low. Both variables produced significant effects upon the meaningful organization of words in 2 Ss' reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer preferences and social interaction among third-grade children in an integrated school district.

Assessed social interaction among Black and White 3rd-grade children in 9 classrooms. The children were in integrated schools since kindergarten. Two methods were employed: a roster-and-rating sociometric technique and a classroom behavioral observation procedure using sequential time sampling. Sociometric data were obtained for 179 White and 48 Black children. Observational data were obtained for 39 White and 39 Black children. Both race and sex were found to be significant determinants of sociometric ratings for play and work. Omega-squared analyses, however, indicated that sex accounted for 43.2% of the variance on play and 35.2% on work, while race accounted for only about 1% of the variance on each measure. The observational data indicate a positive pattern of classroom interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious affiliation and psychopathology in a Mexican-American population.

Studied 54 Protestant and 54 Catholic Mexican-American Ss of similar levels of acculturation, education, and socioeconomic background. Evaluations of psychopathology were derived from the L-R sections of the Cornell Medical Index and behavioral observations. The lower rate of pathological responses by Protestant Ss was attributed to the social support offered by the small, intimate congregations with their strong, paternal leadership and the Protestant doctrines of asceticism and individual responsibility which contribute to impulse control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)