The present study attempted to predict the serious side effects of akathisia and parkinsonism on the basis of individualized measurement of changes in visuomotor functioning. The following were the hypotheses for this investigation. 1. A deterioration of visuomotor ability as measured by a modification of Haase and Janssen' s (1965) Handwriting Test will predict which patients undergoing neuroleptic therapy will experience the extrapyramidal symptoms of akathisia and parkinsonism (symptom group) and which will not (no-symptom group). 2. A deterioration of visuomotor ability as measured by the Bender-Gestalt will predict which patients undergoing neuroleptic therapy will experience the extrapyramidal symptoms of akathisia and parkinsonism (symptom group) and which will not (no-symptom group). It was not possible to predict the symptom group as a whole on the basis of the Handwriting Test scores since a t test of the difference was not significant between group means. However, inspection of these scores showed clear deterioration of performance among the patients who experienced parkinsonian reactions as opposed to those who experienced akathisia or who did not experience extrapyramidal symptoms at all. The symptom group was separated into akathisic and parkinsonian groups and compared to the subjects who did not experience extrapyramidal side effects (no-symptom …

Thirty-seven male prisoners who had been convicted or indicted on a charge of threatening the President or national political figure were compared to state inmates, federal inmates, and normative samples on psychometric and demographic variables. Results indicated that assassin/threateners were significantly more paranoid, schizophrenic, and socially alienated than comparison samples. Their heterosexual adjustment and work record tended to be poorer than comparison inmates. Data suggested that the probability of organic impairment was greater for assassin/threateners than for the normative sample. In addition, political threateners were found to be self-destructive, apolitical, Caucasian, and products of disturbed family backgrounds.

The present study investigated the relationship of 16 Personality Factor (16 PF) Scores to institutional adjustment, educational level, recidivism, and escapism of 665 prisoners in a maximum security prison. Two phases of data analysis were conducted. Multiple two-tailed Students' t tests resulted in significant differences on all 16 PF Factor Scores between prisoners and Cattell adult norm group. Significant differences were also found between prisoners and Cattell prisoner norms. In phase two, four multiple linear regression models were constructed. Significant 16 PF scales, age, and educational differences were found within the prisoner sample. Possible implications of the use of the 16 PF in regression models in paramorphic clinical prediction programs are discussed.

This research was a controlled group outcome study to determine the effectiveness of a multisystem therapeutic intervention for hyperarousal to stress. It was assumed that the hyperarousal syndrome is a generalized and undifferentiated response which involves multisystems of the organism, including physiological-autonomic aspects, cognitive appraisals and imagery, affective components, and an array of overt and covert behavioral responses. If the hyperarousal syndrome persists over a period of time, a psychophysiological disorder may occur in the response system that has been repeatedly stimulated. It was postulated that learning to maintain the arousal state within a normal range of functioning may prevent the occurrence of psychophysiological diseases. Verbal reports of the experimental group indicate a beginning ability to transfer the learned low-arousal response to real-life situations. The results of this study suggest that learning a low-arousal adaptation to stress may have important implications for prevention or attenuation of psychophysiological and psychiatric disorders.

The present study investigated a theory of the etiology and generalization of stuttering behavior. The subjects were 24 male students at a medical center who responded to advertisements requesting participation in a research project on learning and heart rate. The age range of the subjects was 22-28 years, and the mean age was 22.8 years. Three stimulus topic words were used in the present study. Two of these words were semantically equivalent. The independent variables were the three words that the subjects were instructed to discuss: neutral word condition, experimentally induced noxious word condition, and word semantically equivalent to the noxious word condition. The six dependent measures were percentage of part-word repetitions, percentage of interjections, heart-rate beats per minute, electromyographic microvolts per minute, galvanic skin response ohms conductance per minute, and self-report ratings of "state" anxiety. As predicted, heart rate and a self-report "state" anxiety measure achieved significance in a pattern corresponding to part-word repetitions. Two other measures of state anxiety (galvanic skin response and frontalis electromyographic activity) did not reach significance, although the results were in the predicted direction. The theory that "trait" anxiety accounts for susceptibility of fluency failure under emotional stress was not confirmed. The hypothesis offered …

The study examined the relationships between various parental discipline styles and perceived powerlessness in antisocial adolescents. The literature on adolescent antisocial behavior frequently describes states of disaffection, alienation, and powerlessness as characteristic of the delinquent youth. The parent-child relationship is also frequently implicated as the significant precursor of antisocial behavior in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine if perception of control orientations function as cognitive mediators between perceived styles of parental discipline and subsequent behavior in adolescents. It was concluded, on the basis of the data obtained from this study, that antisocial adolescents do not perceive themselves to be more powerless than non-antisocial adolescents. It was recommended that caution should be exercised in applying such a label to those exhibiting antisocial patterns of behavior. It was also concluded that punishment applied in an unpredictable fashion may have detrimental effects on the development of female adolescents.

Systematic desensitization and implosive therapy have surfaced as two of the primary behavioral therapy techniques to decrease phobic responses during the past decade. Although attempts have been made to compare the efficiency and effectiveness of these two techniques, results have been unclear because of the failure of researchers to duplicate the procedures as described by their respective originators. This experiment is designed to explore the joint effects of the therapies and level of therapeutic aspiration. A second objective, and a byproduct of the data produced in achieving the primary objective, was to analyze the goal discrepancy and attainment discrepancy scores accruing throughout the therapy sessions. Several hypotheses were advanced. Further analysis of the three criterion measures by means of ANOVA resulted in significant main sessions effects for each of the three independent analyses. Results suggest that all subjects, regardless of treatment subgroup, did make significant therapeutic gains in their approach scores, fear thermometer scores, and speed of approach scores from the first to the last session. Possible explanations for results were discussed. Furthermore, approach test absolute goal discrepancy, fear thermometer absolute goal discrepancy, approach test absolute attainment discrepancy, and fear thermometer absolute attainment discrepancy scores were calculated for all goal-setting …