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Background: Dementia is a spectrum of neurological diseases characterized by memory impairment and cognitive decline with the pathogenesis and effective management remaining elusive. Several studies have identified a correlation between anemia and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD); however, anemia subtypes and association with ADRD have yet to be studied conclusively. Objective: To study an association between ADRD and anemia of chronic inflammation. Methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of the patients, diagnosed with ADRD at Brookdale Hospital. Pair-wise comparisons between means of controls and cases in terms of iron studies and laboratory results were performed using a Mann–Whitney U test. Pair-wise comparisons between anemia subgroups (moderate and severe) were performed using a Two Sample proportion Z-Test, where for each couple of normally distributed population. Results: There was a total of 4,517 (1,274 ADRD group; 3,243 Control group) patients. There was significant difference in hemoglobin 10.15 versus 11.04 [p-value

PURPOSE: Medical students must be provided the basic science knowledge appropriate and applicable for preparing them for best-practice medicine. To date, there have been no documented studies in the USA that have directly surveyed practicing physicians on their perspectives of their basic science/preclinical medical school education and how it could be modified to help them deliver best patient care. This study was the first to examine this information. METHOD: A survey was administered to the alumni of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Harlem, NY (2011–2018), with questions on examining perspectives on basic science disciplines, the need for a basic science refresher course, and other educational topics. In addition, questions relating to demographics and type of medical practice were also asked. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. RESULTS: (1) Gender (N = 122): 55% male and 44% female; (2) medical specialty (N = 107): 51.40% Primary Care physicians (Family medicine, Internal medicine, Pediatrics), 48.60% Other Specialties; (3) top Disciplines that “should have more”: Physiology (41.1%), Pharmacology (39.3%), and Preventative Medicine/Public Health (39.3%); Top disciplines that “should have less”: Histology Laboratory (38.32%), Embryology (35.51%), Histology (didactic) (28.30%) (N = 107); (4) top topics “most important” to be included in curriculum: Analysis of Journal Articles (70.10%), Clinical Cases (70.1%), and Early Patient Exposure (64.5%) (N = 107); (5) presentation of a clinically relevant Basic Science refresher course had a positive response (84.4%) (N = 107). CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacology, Physiology, Clinical Cases, Journal Article Analysis, and Early Patient exposure were among topics requiring “more” in preclinical education. A clinically relevant basic science course was deemed useful. The perspectives of practicing physicians should be included when designing future medical school curriculums.

This study reports on 131 Hispanic/Latino children exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression symptoms, as participants in the Child and Adolescent Trauma Interventions and Services (CATS) consortium in New York City. Seventy-six participants received individual Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (T-F CBT), while 55 received group TEMAS (Tell-Me-A-Story) Narrative Trauma Therapy (TEMAS-NTT). Follow-up data were collected at 3- and 6-month post-intervention. A two-factor mixed design Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used. Both treatments were comparable in reducing PTSD. While both treatments reduced depression and anxiety symptoms, children receiving the TEMAS-NTT displayed significantly higher depression symptoms reductions, and younger children showed higher anxiety symptoms reductions. Positive intervention outcomes occurred only within the first 3 months of intervention. The results suggest that TEMAS-NTT is a valid and cost-efficient method in reducing PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms.

In this article we examine intuitive dimensions of personal cancer risk likelihood, which theory and empirical evidence indicate may be important elements in the risk perception process. We draw on data from a study of risk perceptions in three social groups, university students, men living in the community, and primary care patients living in urban area. The study took place in 2007-2011, in New York State (Garden City and New York City) and Boston, Massachusetts. This study used items developed from categories identified in prior qualitative research specifying emotions and attitudes activated in cancer risk determination to examine perception of cancer risks. Across three samples - university students (N=568), community men (N=182), and diverse, urban primary care patients (N=127) - we conducted exploratory factor and construct analyses. We found that the most reliable two factors within the five-factor solution were Cognitive Causation, tapping beliefs that risk thoughts may encourage cancer development, and Negative Affect in Risk, assessing negative feelings generated during the risk perception process. For these factors, there were high levels of item endorsement, especially in minority groups, and only modest associations with established cancer risk perception and worry assessments, indicating novel content. These items may prove useful in measuring and comparing intuitive cancer risk perceptions across diverse population subgroups.

Giuseppe Costantino was born in Nocera Terinese, Italy, on December 25, 1937. Giuseppe's personal understanding of the immigrant experience infused his career. He developed Cuento therapies, hero/heroine therapy for adolescents, and the Tell-Me-a-Story (TEMAS) tests, which addressed the growing needs of multiculturalism. He served as a junior lieutenant/training officer in the Italian Armed forces, obtained his teaching degree (1955). Costantino immigrated to the United States in 1961. He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial psychology from Baruch College, a master's degree in school psychology from City College, and a doctorate in clinical/community psychology from New York University in 1975. Giuseppe began his career as a caseworker. The bulk of his career was spent in Brooklyn, New York, where he was chief psychologist for 7 years, clinical director for 21 years, and director of research, training, and new programs from 2005 until his death. Giuseppe, a psychologist who dedicated his life to working for minority populations, particularly children, died on February 18, 2015.

This meta-analytic review of 11 studies examined the relationship between psychotherapy dropout and therapeutic alliance in adult individual psychotherapy. Results of the meta-analysis demonstrate a moderately strong relationship between psychotherapy dropout and therapeutic alliance (d = .55). Findings indicate that clients with weaker therapeutic alliance are more likely to drop out of psychotherapy. The meta-analysis included a total of 1,301 participants, with an average of 118 participants per study, a standard deviation of 115 participants, and a range from 20 to 451 participants per study. Exploratory analyses were conducted to determine the influence of variables moderating the relationship between alliance and dropout. Client educational history, treatment length, and treatment setting were found to moderate the relationship between alliance and dropout. Studies with a larger percentage of clients who completed high school or higher demonstrated weaker relationships between alliance and dropout. Studies with lengthier treatments demonstrated stronger relationships between alliance and dropout. Inpatient settings demonstrated significantly larger effects than both counseling centers and research clinics. No significant differences were found between client-rated, therapist-rated, and observer/staff-rated alliance. Recommendations for clinicians and researchers are discussed.

This study investigated a new 2-factor construct, termed cultural congruence, which is related to cultural competence in the delivery of mental health services to ethnic minority clients. Cultural congruence was defined as the distance between the cultural competence characteristics of the health care organization and the clients' perception of those elements according to their cultural needs. The measure evidenced both reliability and validity in predicting criterion-related indicators. Older Hispanic/Latino clients (N = 272) receiving mental health services either through integrated primary care or referral to specialized mental health care were assessed for depression and anxiety symptomatology and health status at baseline, 3-, and 6-month follow-up treatment. Results indicated that cultural congruence predicted treatment outcomes (reduction of symptomatology) independent of treatment and evidenced moderator effects with respect to depression, suicidality, anxiety, and physical health criteria. Cultural congruence was more effective under the condition of the enhanced specialty referral model than under the integrated primary care model. Results are discussed in terms of how the new construct of cultural congruence extends knowledge of culturally competent mental health practice among the older Hispanic/Latino population.

Smoking is highly prevalent among lesbian, gay men, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons and contributes to health disparities. Guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we identified beliefs related to attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms, as well as LGBT-specific variables, to explain variance in intention to quit smoking in the next 6 months in LGBT smokers.Individual interviews (n = 19) identified beliefs about quitting smoking and LGBT-salient variables and aided in survey development. Surveys were sent to a random sample from an LGBT community center's mailing list and center attendees, with a 25.4% response rate. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted with the final sample of 101 smokers.No sociodemographic or LGBT-specific variables beyond the TPB constructs were related to intention to quit smoking. A multivariate TPB model explained 33.9% of the variance in quitting intention. More positive attitudes and specific beliefs that cessation would make smokers feel more like their ideal selves and improve health and longevity were related to greater intention to quit (p values.05). Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were marginally significant, with perceived approval of partners and others and beliefs that life goal achievement would make it easier to quit positively related to intention. Depression and stress levels were high.This is among the first studies to examine theoretically grounded variables related to intention to quit smoking in LGBT smokers. We identified specific behavioral, normative, and control beliefs that can serve as intervention targets to reduce smoking in the LGBT community.

This study examined the relationship between participation in consumer-run services and recovery of social functioning among persons diagnosed as having serious mental illness. It also assessed the role of psychological factors in mediating this relationship.Research questions investigated were whether involvement in consumer-run services is positively associated with recovery when premorbid and demographic factors are controlled for, whether psychological factors are positively associated with recovery irrespective of involvement in consumer-run services, and whether the relationship between involvement in consumer-run services and recovery is mediated by the psychological factors. The factors examined were self-efficacy, hopefulness, and active coping strategies. Sixty participants with a past or present diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder and at least one past psychiatric hospitalization were recruited from a community mental health center and two consumer-run programs. Data were collected on hopefulness, self-efficacy, coping strategies, social functioning, and premorbid and demographic characteristics.Findings indicated that participants involved in consumer-run services had better social functioning than those involved only in traditional mental health services, that psychological variables were significantly associated with social functioning, and that the relationship between involvement in consumer-run services and social functioning was partly mediated by the use of more problem-centered coping strategies. Premorbid and demographic factors did not account for the relationship between psychosocial variables and social functioning, although education was a significant predictor of social functioning.The findings support the view that psychosocial factors may play a role in facilitating good community adjustment for individuals diagnosed as having serious mental illness.

The definition and classification of maltreatment and the assessment of its effects have serious implications for child protection and intervention. The present study seeks to clarify a number of interrelated issues involved in the assessment of the effects of child maltreatment.The study tested, within the context of an ecological model, the relative utility of two sources of information about child abuse, Child Protective Services records and parent interviews, for their ability to account for child functioning. The model is based on an ecological approach that places risk factors along a proximal/distal continuum with respect to the expected impact on the child. Risk for poor child functioning was found to increase as increasingly distal as well as proximal risk factors were included. A sample of 100 physically abused schoolchildren, ages 9–11, and their families was obtained from a pool of consecutive entries onto the New York State Register for Child Abuse. Information about child physical abuse and family functioning was obtained from NYS Child Protective Services records and a structured parent interview. Child functioning was measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991a) and the Teacher Rating Form (Achenbach, 1991b). The findings suggest that for the purpose of evaluating risk factors for poor outcome in physically abused children, with the ultimate aim of improving protection and intervention, it is critical to gather information systematically from multiple sources about the abuse and the family context in which it occurs because both are predictive of child functioning, and different information about both is contributed by the different sources. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Changes in patient- and therapist-rated process items, and patient-rated symptom severity assessed over a maximum of 30 sessions of psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy were compared in an outpatient mental-health clinic. Patients' ratings in psychodynamic psychotherapy on two of the process items were superior to ratings by patients in cognitive-behavioral therapy, and interactions with time were discovered for an interpersonal item. Comparisons between patients who reported their initial symptom severities as most severe and those with less severe symptoms also were made, with results indicating differential effects of treatment according to perceptions of symptom severity. Interactions between length of stay in treatment and number of sessions also were investigated. Findings indicated that patients benefit from psychotherapy over time and support the usefulness of a contextual model for psychotherapy funding.

A survey of training directors in psychiatry was conducted to explore criterion areas in foreign medical graduate selection by comparing the perceived importance of 11 selection criteria between American medical graduates (AMGs) and foreign medical graduates (FMGs). Our study found that training directors use much the same criteria for evaluating FMGs as AMGs. For both groups, great emphasis was placed on personality factors, psychological mindedness, ability to communicate, and performance in the interview. Referrals by faculty received equal importance for both groups. The examination scores were seen as more important for FMGs and the transcripts and the reference letters marginally more important for AMGs. This is interpreted as a reflection of a lack of reliable sources of information about medical education received from abroad and a greater familiarity with, and confidence in, the evaluative methods used in American medical schools. Familiarity with American subcultures was seen as a more important criterion for evaluating FMGs than AMGs. The implications of these findings are discussed, and some suggestions are made regarding selection of FMGs.

Distortions in interpersonal perceptions among patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) were explored to investigate the validity of object relations theories. Depressed patients with BPD were compared to patients with major depressive disorder (MD) without BPD. Subjects were 77 male and female inpatients (BPD = 55, MD = 22). The mean ages were 30.5 for BPD subjects and 36.3 for MD subjects. Perceptions of patients, relatives, and interviewers were compared on the following measures: Structural Analysis of Social Behavior, Perceived Criticism Scale, and Camberwell Family Interview. Findings are consistent with object relations theory. BPD patients saw themselves as hostile, labile, and unstable. MD patients avoid acknowledging and responding to relatives criticality. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The procedures for interpreting individual test scores are often given incorrectly in many of the applied texts pertaining to tests and measurements. The issues in choosing the correct standard error of estimate for a particular score interpretation problem are discussed in detail using the basic concepts of Classical Test Theory. Examples are provided to illustrate how a test user can take into account the reliability of a test when making recommendations for students based on a single test score and interpreting different scores resulting from retesting with a standardized test. The issues in computing these measures by hand are also discussed. The intended audience for this paper is the test user and student who have only a basic knowledge of psychometric theory and statistics.

The present study examined the psychometric relationship between two new rating scales, the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992) and the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990), for a sample (N = 53) of minority kindergarten children using both parent and teacher ratings. The similarities and differences between these instruments were investigated through correlational and content analyses. In general, the results provide preliminary convergent validity evidence for the BASC and SSRS. In regard to the Social Skills subscale of the BASC, convergent validity evidence was demonstrated for the parent form of this instrument, but not the teacher form, when the SSRS Social Skills scale was used as the criterion. In addition, the correlations between the various scales of the BASC and SSRS were in the expected direction. That is, the correlation between the BASC Adaptive Skills Composite and the SSRS Social Skills scale was moderate in the teacher group (r = .44) and high in the parent group (r = .54). Similarly, correlations between the BASC Hyperactivity, Aggression, and Externalizing scales and the SSRS Problem Behaviors scale ranged from .50 to .60 and .50 to .56 in the teacher and parent groups, respectively. Implications regarding the practical utility of the BASC and SSRS for assessing social skills functioning, in particular, were presented. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Theoretical notions of narcissistic personality disorder have failed to reach a consensus on the nature of the disorder. Factor analytic studies on narcissism as a personality trait have failed to yield one factor but have repeatedly produced factors with both negative and positive emotional qualities. Such results raise questions concerning the validity of narcissism as a trait and as a personality disorder. This study completed a cluster analysis of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory II (MCMI-II) subscales for psychotherapy clients who scored above 85 on the Narcissistic Personality Scale of the MCMI-II. The best fit was a three cluster solution. A discriminant function analysis correctly identified 97% of the clients in the correct cluster. These clusters were named the “true narcissist,” the “compensating narcissist,” and the “detached Narcissist.” The three groups also differed on other scales at intake including the General Health Questionnaire, the General Psychological Well Being Scale, the ...

POWPAL is a simple, interactive computer program that computes effect sizes and power estimates from summary statistics. Additionally, the program provides estimates of future sample sizes needed for various combinations of power, significance levels, and effect sizes.

The standard deviation is the most commonly reported measure of variability for a group of measurements. It is used as a descriptive statistic to indicate the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity present in a given group of measurements and as an estimate of a population parameter. It is also used as a component of formulas for other statistics such as the standard error of estimate and the standard error of measurement. This article discusses issues in teaching students about computing the standard deviation in both of these contexts. The standard deviation does not identify the same quantity in all of these situations.

This article examines the relationship between psychotherapy funding policies and concepts of mental health. Three levels of mental health - necessity, improvement, and potentiality - are proposed. Necessity represents basic adaptation, the current dominant level illustrated by brief psychotherapy funded through managed mental health care. Improvement is the phase beyond necessity aimed at prevention and heightened quality of life, and potentiality is the ideal. The latter two now receive limited funding and emphasis.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer mortality among women. Screening can prevent the development of CRC or diagnose early disease when it can effectively be cured, however existing screening methods are underutilized. In this study, we examined the utility of an updated Health Belief Model to explain CRC screening adherence. The present study included 280 older women seeking routine mammography at a large, urban breast diagnostic facility. Overall, 50% of women were adherent to CRC screening guidelines. Multiple regression indicated that self-efficacy, physician recommendation, perceived benefits of and perceived barriers to screening accounted for 40% of variance in CRC screening adherence. However, there was no evidence for two mediational models with perceived benefits and perceived barriers as the primary mechanisms driving adherence to CRC screening. These findings may inform both future theoretical investigations as well as clinical interventions designed to increase CRC screening behavior.

MCA.EXE is a program that performs multiple correspondence analysis of categorical data on MS/DOS and PC/DOS computers. Using the formulas provided by Carroll and Green, the program also generates matrices for further INDSCAL analysis.

BACKGROUND Patients often are rotated from other opioids to methadone when side effects occur before satisfactory analgesia is achieved. Various strategies have been proposed to estimate safe and effective starting doses of methadone when rotating from morphine and hydromorphone; however, there are no guidelines for estimating safe and effective starting doses of methadone when rotating from fentanyl. METHODS The authors prospectively observed 18 consecutive patients experiencing chronic pain from cancer who underwent opioid rotation from intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with fentanyl to intravenous PCA with methadone. Patients were switched from fentanyl to methadone because of uncontrolled pain associated with sedation or confusion. A conversion ratio of 25 μg/hour of fentanyl to 0.1 mg/hour of methadone was used to calculate the initial dose of methadone in all patients. RESULTS Mean pain scores decreased from 8.1 to 4.8 on Day 1 after the switch and to 3.22 on Day 4 after the switch. Mean sedation scores were 1.5 before the switch and 0.44 and 0.16 on Days 1 and 4, respectively. Among the 6 patients who experienced confusion while on fentanyl before the switch, 5 improved within 2 days of the switch. None of the patients experienced toxicity from methadone. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of this preliminary study, the authors suggest that when switching from intravenous fentanyl to methadone a conversion ratio of 25 μg/hour of fentanyl to 0.1 mg/hour of methadone may be safe and effective. Cancer 2001;92:1919–25. © 2001 American Cancer Society.

A principal components analysis was conducted on a data set that consisted of ratings of therapeutic orientations reported by directors of clinical psychology training programs in 96 clinical psychology programs in the U.S. Two principal components emerged, which contrasted (1) behavioral vs. psychoanalytic approaches and (2) humanistic vs. conditioning approaches. A plotting of factor scores revealed relatively clear separation among programs primarily identified with either behavioral or psychoanalytic/humanistic approaches. The majority of training programs, however, clustered around the midpoint on both underlying factor dimensions, an indication of the adoption of multiple approaches in training.

(1987). A Timely Solution. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 5-8.

Students in geology and earth science courses were not anxious about taking these courses as measured by the State-Triat Anxiety Inventory. Students in each course were split into two grade groups. It was shown that students whose grades were in the higher group had low anxiety, which continued to be reduced during the course. Students in the lower grade group had high anxiety, which increased during the course. There was no difference between anxiety scores of males and females. In general, students who planned to elect additional courses had lower state anxiety and higher grades than students who did not plan to elect additional courses in geology and earth science.

This study investigated the effects of training critical TV viewing skills on the subsequent attitudes and behaviors of emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential treatment. In order to test these effects, 48 institutionalized adolescents ranging from 12–18 in age, served as subjects. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Pre- and posttests utilized three measures of television knowledge and attitudes. Eighteen variables comprising three dependent measures were analyzed utilizing a 2 × 2 split-plots design. Training in the technical aspects of viewing proved successful in reducing susceptibility to the negative effects of the medium and provided skills that were effective in dealing with generalized aggressive behavor.

This study examined the relationship between elements of the Learning Style Inventory and various scales of the WISC—R for reading disabled students. Previous research generally suggests that reading disabled students have preferences that tap the visual-spatial domain and have higher WISC—R Performance Scale and subtest scores than Verbal Scale and subtest scores. Subjects with IQs of 90 or better on either the Verbal or Performance Scales of the WISC—R and a consistency score of 75 or better on the inventory were selected. Contrary to what might be expected, data generally showed a nonmeaningful pattern of correlations between scales of the Learning Style Inventory and WISC—R Performance-type functioning. However, as an important part of the validation of the inventory, lack of association between the two can be interpreted as support for its construct validity.

Factor and cluster analyses are distinctly different multivariate procedures with different goals. However, when used in a complementary fashion, each set of methods can be used to enhance the interpretation of results found in the other set of methods. Simple examples illustrating the joint use of the methods are provided.

One hundred ten investigations of police corruption which had been conducted by the New York City Police Department were selected for a correlational study to identify factors likely to be predictive of obtaining results. The factors included: a quantitative measure of information available prior to investigation, judgments of investigative adequacy, the use of surveillances and the amount of time spent on surveillances. The results of the study suggest that information available prior to investigation is predictive of the likelihood of obtaining results and that investigations requiring surveillances are less likely to be closed with results than those in which surveillances are not required. It is suggested that thesefindings can be useful in determining which complaints should be investigated and which should not.

Students were given clearly defined, characteristics for the identification of minerals and rocks. This system requires visual identification of decisive characteristics, not rote memorization. In addition, this classification system differs from the usual method of first grouping rocks into the igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic categories. In this study the initial grouping of rocks was crystalline or noncrystalline. Two groups of students (preservice elementary teachers & students in geology courses) were tested on their ability to identify, the characteristics listed in Figure 1. The preservice teachers were anxious about teaching students to identify minerals and rocks. This initial high anxiety was reduced by completion of the task of identification. Students in geology classes were given the same task as the preservice teachers. However, the students in geology courses were not anxious about identifying minerals and rocks. Further analysis of the geology students showed that students whose grades on the lab exam were above the mean had low initial anxiety and the level of anxiety was reduced after the exam. Geology students with grades below the mean had high initial anxiety and the anxiety level was elevated after the exam. This indicates an inverse relationship between anxiety and performance in these students, and supports the work of researchers in the field of psychology.

The present study was an extension of previous research on the perceived harmfulness of commonly used illicit and licit drugs. A large number of college students were asked to report on their experience with a number of drugs. These students were also asked to rate each drug on the degree to which they perceived that drug to be harmful or harmless. From their pattern of use, subjects were classified as being members of one of the following five groups: principled non-users, non-users, light users, moderate users and heavy users of marijuana. One-way analysis of variance was performed on the harmfulness ratings for each of the 12 drugs across groups. Results indicated that the groups differed significantly on their rating of the harmfulness of several drugs. Typically, these differences can be attributed to the contrast between the principled non-users of marijuana group and the other user groups. Cluster analysis was performed on the matrix of intercorrelations among the harmfulness ratings of the drugs by the combined non-users groups, the combined users groups and the total sample. The results of the cluster analysis indicated that for all subjects combined there were five major clusters, and for all non-users there were four major clusters as there were for all users. The drugs that comprise each cluster of drugs for each group and the mean harmfulness rating of the drugs within each cluster are reported. It was found that the users groups clustered LSD with cocaine, marijuana and hashish while the non-users clustered LSD with heroin. It was also found that within this sample, there were sex differences on the usage of marijuana, hashish, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and aspirin. There were also sex differences on the harmfulness ratings of marijuana, hashish, cocaine, LSD and alcohol. The results of this study were compared with the results of previous research on the relationship between drug usage and the perceived harmfulness of drugs. Implications for future research are discussed.

The BMD12V MANOVA program does not compute the appropriate between-subjects tests in mixed effects designs. Although James (1979) recently suggested a technique for obtaining between-subjects tests, his formulas are shown to be incorrect. Suggestions are given for obtaining the appropriate statistics.

Summary This study investigated the relationship between nonverbal rigidity, as measured by the Breskin Rigidity Test (BRT), and performance on three standard reversible figures: the Necker Cube, the Rubin Vase, and the Mach Book. No significant relationships between the BRT and frequency of reported reversals for any of the three figures were found. These results were taken to indicate that the BRT does not measure “perceptual rigidity,” but may measure what has been called obsessive-compulsive rigidity.

533 elementary and junior high school children were requested to write down a number between 0 and 9 and the name of a color. The number 7 and the color blue were by far the most frequently written ( p < .001 in both cases). These results were consistent with those obtained in an earlier study (Simon, 1971) with college students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible personality differences between caffeine users and non users. Caffeine users (n=74) and caffeine non users (n=31) were compared on (a) psychological needs, as measured by the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, (b) self description and (c) academic achievement in high school and college because these measures have shown to discriminate between users an non users of tobacco. The results indicate that the caffeine users and non users in this study did not differ on the personality measures used.

Subjects (n = 108) who volunteered to participate in a study in which they expected to smoke marijuana were asked, as part of a screening procedure, to rate the harmfulness of a number of illicit drugs including marijuana. Subjects were separated into three groups according to their reported history of use of marijuana. The three groups were: naive users (at least 1 but no more than 25 incidences of use in a lifetime), light users (1 to 3 incidences of use per week), and heavy users (at least 5 incidences of use per week). Groups did not differ in terms of their perceived harmfulness of any of the drugs. Cluster analyses of the results for each group and for the total group indicated three distinct clusters: the drugs perceived to be the most harmful were heroin, morphine, and LSD; drugs perceived to be less harmful were cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates, and nicotine; and the drugs perceived to be the least harmful were caffeine and marijuana, with marijuana being judged the least harmful of all the drugs.

The nonverbal autistic child exhibits a persistent and characteristic feature known as gaze aversion. Since gaze interaction between the autistic child and the clinician [or adult] is a requisite experience in therapeutic learning, procedures that modify gaze behavior in autistic children serve an important clinical function. The present research was designed to investigate three kinds of adult-child interaction that differentially affected changes in gaze behavior. The interaction procedure in which the experimenter imitated the autistic child's object and action performances resulted in the greatest change in the frequency and the duration of gaze behavior. An analysis of these methodologies reveals information concerning contextual and therapeutic variables that affected the gaze behavior in six autistic children.

Smokers and nonsmokers are compared in terms of (1) psychological needs, (2) self-descriptions, (3) self-esteem, (4) academic achievement in high school and college, and (5) marijuana use. On the EPPS smokers scored significantly higher on the needs for Autonomy (p less than .01), Change (p less than .02) and Heterosexuality (p less than .05), while nonsmokers scored higher on the needs for Achievement (p less than .05), Deference (p less than .001), and Order (p less than .001). Smokers rated themselves as being more sociable (p less than .05), while nonsmokers rated themselves as being more careful (p less than .05) and reliable (p less than .05). While the two groups did not differ on a measure of self-esteem, smokers were found to have lower grades in high school (p less than .05) and college (p less than .01) and to be more likely (p less than .0001) to use marijuana. These findings are compared to the results of previous studies and the need for future research is discussed.

Summary There has been much controversy in the literature as to whether marijuana is detrimental to the psychological functioning of the user. In light of this issue, 14 male and female users, nonusers, and quitters of high school and college age were studied in a pre-posttest design to determine if chronic use affects the variables of aggression, frustration, alienation, and social- and self-adjustment. The quitters group discontinued use for two months after a two-week baseline period. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences among groups on any of the measures. Relating these findings to the literature suggests that differences which have been previously indicated may be due to the use of naive vs. experienced marijuana users as Ss.

Smokers (n = 41) and nonsmokers (n = 54) were asked to complete parallel questionnaires. Each questionnaire contained 27 questions which described a task-oriented meeting varying in duration and importance or interest value. Three durations (15, 30, and 60 minutes) were crossed with three levels of interest value to produce nine item types. The questionnaires for smokers indicated that for all the meetings smoking was strictly prohibited, while those for the nonsmoker indicated that smoking was allowed and was going on. For each question, subjects were asked to rate the degree of distraction they perceived themselves as experiencing. Nonsmokers perceived themselves as being more distracted by an anticipated reverse smoking rule than did smokers; as length of meeting increased, perceived distraction increased, and as importance of the meeting increased, perceived distraction decreased.