The incidence of bulimia has been increasingly documented in recent years. Treatments have focused on one behavior in the Binge-Purge chain or have combined several treatment components. This study was designed to assess the effect of teaching bulimics alternative responses for dealing with stressful events.

The present study addresses questions regarding the cognitive functioning of recently detoxified male alcoholics during increasing time periods of abstinence. Such questions relate to whether alcoholic males between the ages of 30 and 55 demonstrate a recovery to normal cognitive functioning within a six week abstinence period.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and treatment knowledge of medical student professionals regarding rape victims. In addition to generating normative data for a population which, as a function of their vocation may come in contact with victims, comparisons were made between a sample of those beginning their medical education process and those at the end of training in order to measure change in treatment knowledge and attitudes towards rape victims which occur during medical school. Also investigated were differences which exist in the attitude and treatment knowledge measures for rape victims compared to other emergency room patient populations, and the effect of gender of the physician upon those measures. A final element investigated the physicians' perceptions of a "real" rape as it relates to those measures.

Maslow (1956) suggested that self-actualization in an important determinant of the type of love experienced in heterosexual relationships. Recent work has suggested that the self-actualization of each member of a couple may also be important in determining the level of self-disclosure intimacy which occurs in the couple, and also that self-disclosure itself is an important determinant of interpersonal attraction. The present study employed the technique of path analysis (Wright, 1960) to determine 1) the direct and indirect contribution of each partner's self-actualization to his experience of five love components identified by Critelli, Myers, Ellington, and Bissett (1981), 2) the contribution of each partner's self-actualization to his self-disclosure intimacy, and 3) the contribution of the partner's self-disclosure intimacy to their experience of the five love components.

The purpose of the present study was to objectively verify psychological and behavioral changes in a group of identifiably susceptible patients who were treated for environmental sensitivities in a highly controlled environment. The subjects were 71 Environmental Control Unit (ECU) patient volunteers and 16 nonpatient volunteers for a total of 87. The patients were divided into a short-treatment (fasting 3-4 days) group (n = 35) and a long-treatment (fasting 5-7 days) group (n = 36). A third group, consisting of the 16 nonpatients, formed a nonpatient/no-treatment control group. All subjects were administered tests for assessment of intellectual/cognitive functioning, neurological/cerebral functioning, perceptual-motor skills, mood states, and general psychopathology.

This study investigated the role of reinforcement schedule and instructional set in frontalis EMG training. The experiment consisted of four groups participating in 30 minute sessions on three consecutive days. Group conditions were intermittent feedback (alternating 100 second trials), continuous feedback, motivated control and no-treatment control. Excepting the no-treatment controls, each subject was instructed that extra credit points were available contingent on the number of seconds in criterion. An individual criterion based on each subject's initial baseline microvolt level was utilized.

Descriptions of obesity, cerebral palsy, and scoliosis were rank-ordered (from one to twenty) and rated on a five-point scale by 75 college students. The descriptions were of two types: with the appearance of an individual on five levels of severity of a disorder and with the appearance and level of functioning of an individual on five levels of severity of a disorder. The ranking data indicated males rank-ordered descriptions of obese individuals different from cerebral palsy (p < 0.01) and scoliosis (p < 0.05) . The ratings of the descriptions were analyzed in two studies with 2 x 2 x 2 x 5 ANOVA's. Three-way interactions of the level of severity, complexity of description, and type of disorder rated were discussed in terms of likeability of handicapped individuals .

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of managerial experience on the relationships between assertiveness, trait anxiety, and internality, and on each of these constructs individually. Hypotheses were as follows: a) managers would be more assertive, internal, and less trait anxious than business students; b) males would be more assertive than females when students, not managers; and c) assertiveness and internality would relate positively to each other and negatively to trait anxiety. Subjects consisted of 30 managers and 53 business students. The first and third hypotheses were confirmed, although the assertiveness differences were not significant. Reasons for the observed outcome are discussed as well as implications for these constructs' ability to predict management potential.

Previous research with college students had supported that light and heavy smokers differentially imitate smoking models. Light smokers' smoking rates seemed to vary with the rates presented by a model, while heavy smokers' rates tended to remain relatively consistent. This study examined the effects of a smoking and nonsmoking physician model on 54 older, more chronic, in-patient smokers and extended the scope of research in this area by attempting to evaluate whether immediate modeling influences generalize behaviorally and/or attitudinally. A second part of the experiment investigated the effects of the smoking patients' exposure to a nonsmoking physician model who advised quitting, a smoking physician model who advised quitting, and a smoking physician model who did not comment on smoking relative to patient behavior and attitudes.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychophysiological effects of exercise on measures of cardiovascular fitness, depression, self-esteem, and anxiety. The 1.5 mile run (Cooper, 1972) was used to determine changes in cardiovascular fitness. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale was used to measure varying levels of depression. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to measure self-esteem. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to measure state anxiety. An Electromyographic Assay and Digital Skin Temperature were performed on the Experimental and Corrective Therapy Groups in order to measure physiological concomitants of anxiety. A Body Composition Assay was performed in order to measure changes in body composition.

The present research investigated the relationship between separation-individuation issues and the motoric activity of running in adult female development. Literature on sex roles and sociocultural factors was presented. Previous research on physical activity and mental health was reviewed. Psychodynamic formulations provided the framework for exploring and understanding a woman's involvement in running. Measuring instruments tapped concepts related to independence and separateness.

A comparison of contingent word and phonics drilling exercises on oral reading errors was made and the effects of a work skipping contingency on reading comprehension were examined. Five learning disabled elementary school children served as subjects. Reading comprehension increased from 30 to 50% over baseline, while subjects progressed an average of two years through a reading series. Subjects responded differentially to the two drills on oral reading errors, but the combined effects of the drills produced a 50% average reduction in errors. Pre- and post-tests of reading achievement showed increases in reading grade levels ranging from .8 to 1.5 years during the 10 week, 30 session study. Results supported the efficacy of a behavioral approach to reading remediation.

The comparability of PPVT and PPVT-R scores among retarded adults were examined. The sample consisted of 96 clients, who had been previously diagnosed as mildly, moderately, or severely retarded. The PPVT (Form A) and PPVT-R (Form L) were administered to all participants in counter balanced order. Significant correlations were found between the two tests for the total sample as well as for females and males. Additionally, the PPVT-R was found to be capable of discriminating differing levels or retardation. However, with the exception of the severely retarded group, mean PPVT-R Standard Score Equivalent (SSE) scores tended to be approximately 20 points lower than PPVT IQ scores. Some clinical implications of these results were discussed.

Literature in semiotics lacks consideration of the elements in symbols that communicate specific concepts. Prohibition was the concept chosen for study. Potential prohibitors were represented by line configurations superimposed on background symbols. Seven prohibitors coupled with symbol backgrounds to form 49 experimental symbols were studied through a symbol inventory. Prohibitors constituted the independent variable, while dependent variables were verbal responses by 105 college students to the experimental symbols. Two hypotheses were tested: a) Prohibitors differ in effectiveness in communicating prohibition and b) Prohibitors differ in frequency of distortion of symbol meaning. Chi square analyses and comparisons of proportions showed diagonal lines most frequently elicited prohibition responses. A chi square analysis displayed no significant relationship between prohibitors in distortion of symbol meaning.

This study investigated the emotionally disruptive effects of double binding communication, as compared with overtly punitive, and warm, accepting interactions. Forty-two college undergraduates scoring above the mean on the Neuroticism Subscale of Eysenck's Personality Questionaire were each directed to play the part of a small child in a spontaneous role-played family interaction. A pre-post mood test (Multiple Adjective Affect Check List), sensitive to changes in depression, hostility, and anxiety was administered. It was found that subjects in the double-bind and punitive conditions evidenced significant mood disturbance while subjects in the control group did not (all ps < .05). Implications for Double Bind Theory were discussed.

For many years, educators and psychologists have attempted to define the strength of the relationship between self-concept and school performance., A productive approach may be to investigate academic self-efficacy. In the present study, data were collected for students at an alternative high school on the Measure of Academic Self-Efficacy (MASE), Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IAR), number of weeks spent in the program, and various descriptive and behavioral measures. Correlations were computed to attempt to demonstrate that participation in an alternative program analogous to participant modeling is associated with increases in academic self-efficacy and internal attributions for educational events, and that these gains are associated with improved academic outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of counselor profanity on subjects' perceptions of counselor credibility and client satisfaction.

Attempts to measure self concept in the elderly have been characterized by a variety of differing definitions of self concept, and differing methodological procedures. Previous investigations have used instruments which are stereotypic and not ecologically valid for elderly, test formats which make excessive demands on some elderly persons' cognitive and sensory-motor abilities, and administration procedures which penalize the less psychologically sophisticated older person, factors precluding adequate assessment of self concept in the elderly. In order to address the limitations of previous research, the present investigation developed and tested the Ecological Q-sort, a self concept instrument designed especially for use with the elderly. Items for the Ecological Q-sort were life situations which were ecologically representative and meaningful for older persons as self-defined by them. Two forms of the Ecological Q-sort were developed: the pictorial form consisting of pictorial representations of situations plus one sentence descriptions of situations; another form consisted of only one sentence written descriptions of situations.

Employed and non-employed stepmothers were compared on four psychological dimensions: stress, adjustment, needs, and values. Employed stepmothers were hypothesized to experience greater stress, lower adjustment, different needs, and different values. Racial and race by employment status differences along these four dimensions were also addressed.

Vaginal photoplethysmography was utilized in combination with standardized sleep-recording procedures to investigate changes in vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) during both waking and sleeping conditions in low- and high-arousability females (n = 10 per group), as classified by the Sexual Arousability Inventory. Based upon previous research, it was predicted that both groups would exhibit similar mean levels of VPA during waking exposure to erotic stimuli and during various stages of sleep. Despite hypothesized physiological similarities between groups, the low-arousability group was expected to subjectively report less arousal during the waking erotic conditions.

Stress has long been reported to play a prominent role in the onset and course of diabetes mellitus. The present study first reviews the literature addressing the impact of stress on this disease, the physiological mechanisms and pathways the stress response might utilize, and psychotherapeutic tacts taken to date to ameliorate this response. A stress management package was then assembled, comprised of relaxation training, hypnosis, stress inoculation training, and imagery induction.

This study compared the differential influence of reframing, self-control, and neutral counselor interventions on high and low trait-anxious subjects' self -descriptions as measured by the Adjective Check List. Reframing was predicted to be superior to self-control and neutral interventions in eliciting more favorable self-descriptions. An interaction was also predicted between counselor intervention and trait anxiety such that, in the reframing condition, low trait-anxious subjects would describe themselves more positively than high trait-anxious subjects.

Cue-controlled relaxation is looked at to determine whether a component is efficacious as the entire procedure. Subjects were 40 male and 40 female undergraduates. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: cue-controlled relaxation, progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises with a paired. cue word, on a presentation of the cue word without being paired. It was hypothesized that cue-controlled relaxation would be superior to a component of cue-controlled relaxation. It was determined that cue-controlled relaxation is not more efficacious than a particular component. Data suggests the majority of anxiety reduction takes place when the treatment focuses on the same modality from which the subject receives the most information about their anxiety. Implications and suggestions for further research are presented.

The incidence of bulimia seems to be increasing dramatically as actors, models, dancers, and college populations are seeking help for this eating disorder. In this study, the Adjective Checklist was administered to 21 bulimic women and 17 normal women to compare personality characteristics on the following scales: abasement, affiliation, autonomy, achievement, aggression, personal adjustment, succorance, and self-control. Results showed bulimic women scored higher on abasement and succorance. A multiple regression was performed which elucidated the scales responsible for the greatest amount of variance. These were aggression, autonomy, and self-control. Further studies of personality measures may aid in describing this population more fully.