The Aronson Cognitive Residual Evaluation Scale (ACRES), designed to assess residual cognitive functioning with potential loss due to age or CNS disorder, was examined with a male subject group. The five ACRES subtests were administered to 45 elderly males. Results were compared with a previously reported subject group of 48 elderly females. Measures of the subjects' levels of independent functioning and their performances on selected Wechsler Memory Scale Revised (WMS-R) subtests were related to ACRES scores. Intercorrelations among ACRES subtests suggest that more than one cognitive factor is assessed. WMS-R subtests showed moderately significant correlations with ACRES for verbal tasks and for nonverbal tasks. Findings were discussed within a framework of lateralization of CNS functions.

The influence of cognitive organization, dysfunctional attitudes, and depressive "subtype" on the perceptions of negative life events is explored. BDI scores are used to delineate symptomatic and non-symptomatic groups. Construct content (sociotropic versus autonomous, as first defined by Beck) is used to identify predominant schema-type. Subjects completed a Problematic Situations Questionnaire with Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale. Results indicate that depressed individuals display more dysfunctional attitudes and negative affect in all types of negative situations; further the endorsement of dysfunctional attitudes is significantly more likely to occur in the context of schema-congruent situations. Findings are discussed a) in terms of the utility of personal constructs in the assessment of schema-type and b) in accordance with a person-event interactional model of depression.

The possibility that a positive correlation between nightmare frequency and hypnotic susceptibility reported by Belicki and Belicki (1986) was an artifact of administering a sleep questionnaire in the context of a hypnosis experiment was tested in the present study. Measures of vividness and absorption were also administered. Forty subjects, twenty of whom were told that the measures were related to hypnotic responding, completed the questionnaires immediately prior to hypnosis. Twenty other subjects, who completed the questionnaires in contexts unrelated to hypnosis, were later hypnotized. The hypothesis that context of administration of the questionnaires influenced the relationship between the measures and hypnotic susceptibility was not supported. Replication using a larger sample was recommended.