Showing papers in "The British journal of social and clinical psychology in 1967"

Development of a Rating Scale for Primary Depressive Illness

Abstract: This is an account of further work on a rating scale for depressive states, including a detailed discussion on the general problems of comparing successive samples from a ‘population’, the meaning of factor scores, and the other results obtained. The intercorrelation matrix of the items of the scale has been factor-analysed by the method of principal components, which were then given a Varimax rotation. Weights are given for calculating factor scores, both for rotated as well as unrotated factors. The data for 152 men and 120 women having been kept separate, it is possible to compare the two sets of results. The method of using the rating scale is described in detail in relation to the individual items.

Linguistic Rules and the Perception and Recall of Speech by Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract: The effect of linguistic rules on the perception of speech was studied in normals, non-schizophrenic hospital patients and chronic schizophrenics. Ss heard recorded sentences and word strings in which syntactic and semantic rules were systematically varied. In an immediate recall task it was found that, though the schizophrenic group performed at a significantly lower level than the control groups in terms of the number of words correctly recalled, syntactic and semantic rules aided correct perception, retention, and recall of speech by the schizophrenic group as for the control groups. It was concluded that variability in linguistic behaviour in schizophrenic patients may be due to variability in the use of the rules of language rather than to lack of knowledge of these rules.

Stereotyped reactions to regional accents.

Abstract: The voices of four speakers, reading the same passage, were presented to two groups of subjects—one group from the north of England, the other from the south. Both groups rated the speakers on various personality traits. Unknown to the Ss, there were only two speakers, each of whom recorded the passage twice, once with a London accent and once with a Yorkshire accent. It was thought that if there were any differences in the assessments of the Yorkshire and London speakers, these would be based on the Ss' attitudes towards the particular group as identified by its accent. The results showed that both groups of Ss tended to hold the same stereotyped attitude towards each accent group but did not regard either of them particularly more favourably than the other. These results were compared with previous findings concerning the attitudes of majority and minority groups towards one another.

Self‐reported Delinquency among Schoolboys, and their Attitudes to the Police

Abstract: An individually administered test battery was given to 94 boys in their 15th year at Grammar, Secondary Modern and Approved Schools. This involved a card-sorting technique in which the boys indicated their (i) job preferences, (ii) leisure interests, (iii) attitude to the police, and (iv) admission of delinquent acts committed by boys known to them, by their friends and by themselves. The present report gives details of the attitude scale and the admission of offences in relation to the three categories of boys, separately. The relationship of the attitudes and group membership to admission of offences was as expected from a review of similar studies in self-reported delinquency.

Self-concepts before and after survival training.

Abstract: A group of adolescent boys enrolled in an Outward Bound School summer camp served as subjects. The stated purpose of the camp is to build physical stamina and to push each individual to his physical limit. Self-concept measures and a semantic differential were administered before training began and again, one month later, at the conclusion of the experience. The hypothesis of this study stated in effect that changes in feelings about self-worth and competence would take place as a function of a rather vigorous experience. For the most part, the hypothesis has been upheld. Overall changes in the self-concept did take place in the appropriate direction and discrepancies between the self and the ideal-self were reduced. Changes were general rather than specific and were related to the initial level of self-evaluation.

Traditional versus Western attitudes in West Africa: the construction, validation, and application of a measuring device.

Abstract: The construction, validation, and application of a device constructed in terms of indigenous Sierra Leone culture to measure Traditional versus Western attitudes and value change, is described. The theoretical framework is outlined in some detail, together with the application of the device in controlling for exposure to Western influences, in two different research studies.

A British ethnocentrism scale.

Abstract: Several contemporary disadvantages of the original E-scales are pointed out, and an up-to-date scale is presented. This is standardized on a broadly representative sample and has been constructed by orthodox statistical procedures. The final scale comprises twenty-four items, half of which are positively- and half of which are negatively-worded. Evidence is presented that the scale is a reliable one, and a factor analysis of responses from the standardization group is presented and interpreted. Validation data are reported and it is shown that scale scores are significantly related to age, socio-economic status, political affiliation, and F-scale responses.

The Effects of Dependency and Social Reinforcement upon Visual Behaviour during an interview

Abstract: : Thirty-four male college students categorized as to dominance or dependency in their control orientations toward others were given great or small amounts of social reinforcement for eye contact when speaking to an interviewer. Results showed Ss eye contact with E when speaking to him to be a function of the interaction of social reinforcement and dependency orientation. Dependent Ss looked significantly more at E when given low as compared to high amounts of verbal social reinforcement, and also looked significantly more at E than non-dependent Ss given low amounts of such reinforcement. Non-dependent Ss given high amounts of social reinforcement tended to look more at E than less reinforced non-dependents. The latter difference was not statistically significant. It is suggested that the results support a feedback rather than a reward model to explain the effect of social reinforcement on eye-contact in discussion. Limits on the generality of the results were suggested. The results were also discussed in terms of Argyle and Dean's equilibrium theory of the emission of affiliative behavior. Implications of the procedures and results for certain kinds of personnel selection were considered. (Author)

The Educational Opinions of Teachers in Training

Abstract: The Manchester scales of opinions about education were administered to groups of students attending courses in a Scottish university and college of education, with the purpose of examining educational opinions in relation to different forms of professional training and higher education. Results from this study and an earlier one made with student teachers in England are compared, and related to discussion of the differential effects of courses in both institutions on educational opinions, and of the relationships between scores on the three scales, and aspects of students' religious and political attitudes and behaviour.

The Psycho‐dynamic Diagnosis and Treatment of Vocational Problems

Abstract: The procedure of providing reality-testing opportunities for a client seeking vocational guidance is frequently obstructed by irrationalities in the client's thinking. This demands a psychotherapeutic orientation on the part of the counsellor. Firstly a theoretical model is described for a psychodynamic diagnostic exploration in respect of such irrationalities. Secondly a model for a therapeutic process within the limits of the vocational guidance situation is developed. Some clients offer the possibility of direct therapeutic work focused on the phantasy content of the unconscious systems which are obstructing a rational resolution of the problem. The function of psychological testing is discussed as a medium for two-way communication between the client and the counsellor, and this process is demonstrated in two case examples.

A psychological study of the effects of surgery on eighty-six elderly patients.

Abstract: Eighty-six surgical patients of 70 years and over were studied by means of psychologist's daily ratings on progress and personality traits during their hospital stay. In addition fifty-one patients among them and two control groups were assessed by means of a battery of tests before and after surgery. The results were studied to determine whether there was evidence of deterioration among the surgical patients, and to elucidate the cause of this. The evidence indicates that after surgery there is, in many elderly people, some degree of transient postoperative mental disturbance, mainly affecting memory and intellectual abilities which require organization of thought. The evidence suggests that the cause of these changes lies in the effects of the anaesthetic upon the cerebral cortex, which is in some cases aggravated by the presence of complications or fever, and the drugs given to combat them. In addition a few patients appear to have an abreactive experience similar to the effects of LSD.25, mescaline or similar drugs.

Changes in Opinions About Education During the First Year of Teaching

Abstract: Teachers, whose opinions about education as expressed on scales of naturalism, radicalism and tender-mindedness had been recorded at various stages during their training, again completed the three scales after teaching for one year. The article reports on the general finding of decreases in mean scores on the scales, and examines changes in opinions in relation to categories of teachers and to aspects of the schools in which they had served.

A critical study of the literature concerning rigidity.

Abstract: The literature concerning the concept ‘rigidity’ is reviewed. Three main stages in its development are explored: rigidity as a neurologically determined peculiarity of individual perception, leading to perseveration and premature closure: rigidity as a mechanism of defence against ego-involving stimuli; the present view of rigidity as a manifestation of basic personality variables, observable in the cognitive and social fields, as well as in perception. Some possible lines for future research are discussed.

Some psychological changes associated with improvement in depression.

Abstract: Twenty-four mixed psychotic and neurotic depressive in-patients were seen when first admitted, and again after six weeks when they had improved. Symptom-Sign Inventory Measures changed significantly, and General Punitiveness and Intropunitiveness both dropped. The Hysteroid-Obsessoid Questionnaire showed no change. A preliminary attempt to predict the likely degree of improvement of a patient is reported.

Cognitive and Emotional Determinants of the Occurrence of Imitative Behaviour

Abstract: Eighty subjects participated in an investigation of cognitive and emotional determinants of imitative behaviour. Subjects' eye movements were recorded as they looked at a series of slides that included sexually significant stimuli both before and after witnessing the eye movements of a model as he looked at a similar series of slides. A 2 times 2 × 2 factorial design was employed with half the subjects being exposed to a model who avoided sexually significant stimuli and the remainder being exposed to a model who looked at these stimuli. Before exposure to the model half the subjects under each type-of-model condition were given the impression that their previous behaviour had been nonconforming; the rest of the subjects were given the impression that their behaviour had been conforming. The third independent variable was the level of a physical stimulus (white noise) capable of producing physiological arousal. Subjects' heart records were recorded throughout the experimental session. The results indicate that the nonconformity-conformity manipulation was an important determinant of the occurrence of imitative behaviour but that physiological arousal per se was relatively unimportant. A generalization test showed that the influence of the type of model persisted in a new situation, but that other manipulations had no generalization effects. It is suggested that the importance of perceptual-cognitive factors has not been sufficiently emphasized in most previous discussions of determinants of imitative behaviour.

A Questionnaire Measure of Neuroticism using a Shortened Scale Derived from the Cornell Medical Index

Abstract: Pilot work was conducted involving a review of the Cornell Medical Index (C.M.I.) as an instrument diagnostic of psychiatric and physical ill-health, and making a selection from it on the basis of data obtained from two previous studies. An essential feature of this selection was to avoid items which referred directly to neurotically disturbed behaviour. The items provisionally selected were administered as a questionnaire for mothers, first to a new pilot sample, and then to an experimental group about whom personal data had been established by interview and the occasional checking of records. The results were analysed by the method of principal components, and a new scale established. Scores of the mothers on this scale were validated against what was known of their psychiatric and physical health. The results suggest that the new Health Questionnaire is a useful instrument for the assessment of neuroticism in a situation in which the direct mention of the topic of neurotic disturbance would perhaps be unwise.

Religious Belief and Co-education in a Sample of Sixth-Form Boys and Girls

Abstract: A sample of 2,276 boys and girls in the sixth forms of English grammar-schools completed a questionnaire which included items on religious belief and practice. Results indicate that the incidence of belief is lower than in the adult population, though reported frequency of church-going is higher. Grounds are offered for thinking that the several indices of belief and practice may not be functionally equivalent. Boys are less religious than girls, and have a less benevolent conception of God. Girls in co-educational schools are significantly less religious than girls in single-sex schools. Boys in co-educational schools are less religious only if they are studying science. Reasons are given for thinking that the effects of co-education cannot be explained in the same way for the two sexes.

The Use of the Cattell 16 P.F. Test and Eysenck's E.P.I. with a Literate Population in Ghana

Abstract: The Cattell 16 P.F. personality questionnaire was administered to a sample of Ghanaian students together with the E.P.I. (Eysenck Personality Inventory—Eysenck, 1964). The validity of both tests within this population was demonstrated by examination of their inter-correlations and factor loadings which were similar to those found in other investigations. The E.P.I. was also item-analyzed and the Neuroticism (N) scale was found to be efficient and thus suitable for comparative purposes whereas the Extraversion scale, though valid within the population, was vitiated by the low discrimination of certain items. The hypothesized aetiology of the 16 P.F. factors was examined with regard to the Ghanaian culture pattern and the scores obtained from this sample and other comparable groups.

The relation of two flash and two click thresholds to withdrawal in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenics.

Abstract: Two flash and two click thresholds were measured in a group of chronic schizophrenic patients. The relation between these thresholds and a measure of withdrawal indicated that in non-paranoid patients the more withdrawn the patient the more he gave evidence of cortical arousal; on the other hand in paranoid patients the relation was in the reverse direction.

Social schemas and perceptual accuracy in schizophrenia.

Abstract: Thirty schizophrenic and thirty normal males estimated distances between eighteen pairs of cut-out figures representing neutral and hostile relationships and control rectangles at three different intervals under immediate and delay conditions. The following significant results for overall accuracy and direction of error (social schema effect) were obtained. Schizophrenics were less accurate than normals. All Ss were less accurate under delay, but schizophrenics were even more inaccurate in this condition. All Ss were less accurate as intervals increased. All Ss overestimated small intervals and underestimated large intervals and delay enhanced this effect. Neither neutral nor hostile figures had any effect on overall accuracy or direction of error. These results can be accounted for by the psychological deficit characteristic of schizophrenics and such psychophysical determinants as interval length and delay in judgments. The findings are discussed in terms of the relationship between procedural variations in experiments and complex intervening variables of a social or dynamic nature such as social schemas.

Age and the Memory-for-Designs Test

Abstract: Whilst there is much standardization data on the use of the MFD test with young subjects, there is little information on test performance in the old. This study investigates the effect of age on MFD performance through adult life and also examines the test's effectiveness in discriminating brain damage in the young. The test was found to have two limitations. There are large numbers of false positives if the present norms are applied to a healthy elderly group of volunteer subjects, whilst there are too many false negatives if the test is used with a young brain damaged group.

Some differences between neurotics and character disorders.

Abstract: A short scale from the S.S.I. (Symptom—Sign Inventory—Foulds, 1965) differentiated efficiently between Character Disordered women and all other groups of the Personally Ill available in this study as well as a Normal sample. The same scale (with some items weighted) was almost equally efficient in distinguishing between the same classes among men. The efficiency of the differentiation implies that the psychiatrists who diagnosed individuals in the present samples as Psychopaths (here called Character Disorders) did in fact select a rather homogeneous group. Eighty-two women in the Psychiatric and forty-six women in Medical and Surgical Wards of a General Hospital, classified by means of the Symptom-Sign Inventory into Normals, Character Disorders, Neurotics and Psychotics, were shown to differ on other measures.

Acquiescent response set, the Jesness inventory, and implications for the use of 'foreign' psychological tests.

Abstract: The performances on the Jesness Inventory of 203 English borstal boys are compared with those of American institutionalized boys of the same age. The English sample tends to be described by test scores as more socially maladjusted but at the same time more inhibited against acting out in socially unacceptable manners than the American sample. The result is an apparent similarity between the two groups as to the likelihood of anti-social acting-out behaviour. Alternative explanations are discussed for the differences between the test results of the two samples and it is argued that the most viable explanation is in terms of artifact rather than essence, that the tests reflect not the personality differences indicated but differences in test-taking techniques related to a relatively pronounced acquiescent response set among the English boys. The crucial problem of the international exchangeability of psychological tests is raised.

Relative stability of scales formed in individual, togetherness and group situations.

Abstract: To demonstrate the need for employing a definition of group that differentiates between group stimulus situations and the coming together of strangers, the relative stability of auditory reference scales formed under alone (A), together (T), and group (G) conditions was investigated. One-hundred and forty-four subjects participated in the experiment. Session II (a collective interaction situation) tested the stability of scales established during Session I. Scale stability was found to be greater in the order G > T > A, and the ability of subjects to influence the judgment of others in the order G > T > A. Variability of estimates was predicted to be of the order A > T > G. Results substantiated A > T and A > G. T > G was not statistically significant.

The effect of age and personality on doctors' clinical preferences.

Abstract: General practitioners attending post-graduate courses from various parts of Britain were studied. Two personality tests were used, the Complexity and the Thinking-introversion scales. The doctors also completed a questionnaire evaluating their preferred method of approach to their patients' psychological disorders. An earlier analysis had shown that doctors' general tendency to either a physical or to a psychological bias was associated with their degree of reflectiveness, as measured by the Thinking-introversion scale. The present analysis explored whether that factor, and also a second trait, the need for closure under conditions of uncertainty, influenced the clinical preferences of the doctors; the effect of ageing on style of practice was also studied.

Masculinity‐Femininity as a Possible Factor underlying the Personality Responses of Male and Female Art Students

Abstract: This study was undertaken to test four hypotheses regarding masculinity-femininity as a factor underlying the personality characteristics of male and female art students. The Dynamic Personality Inventory was administered to 74 male and 115 female art students in four major English art colleges. All four hypotheses were confirmed. It was found that (1) mean DPI scores for both sexes tended to depart significantly and markedly from student norms over a wide variety of measures; (2) male art students showed sex-role deviation with high scores for tactile interests' and ‘creative interests’, and with low scores on ‘authoritarianism’, ‘exhibitionism’, ‘masculinity’, and ‘initiative’; (3) female art students showed sex-role deviation with high scores on ‘verbal aggression’, ‘drive for achievement (active)’, ‘interest in exploration and adventure’, and ‘sexuality’, and with low scores for ‘emotional dependence’, ‘femininity’, ‘social roles’, and ‘interest in children’; (4) female art students showed sex-role deviation over a wider range of scales than the males, and assumed a greater number of opposite-sex characteristics. Hypotheses (2) and (3) were confirmed to a limited extent only, in that sex-role intensification was found to occur on some scales. Certain differences between the sexes in personality structure and on pattern of sex-role deviation and intensification were noted. It was suggested that masculinity-femininity in mature female artists would be worth investigating.

Verbalization and Immediate Memory of Complex Stimuli in Normal and Severely Subnormal Children

Abstract: Recognition and recall for stimuli varying in colour and shape were investigated in normal and severely subnormal children of equivalent mental age levels in three experiments. In each experiment half the children in each group were made to verbalize about the stimuli while the other half was not. The normal subjects tended to remember both dimensions more equally than the subnormals who tended to remember one dimension in preference to another when there was no verbalization. However, since verbalization improved the memory of the second dimension in severely subnormal subjects it is concluded that severely subnormals are handicapped in paying attention to more than one dimension.

Effect of training on the performance of the W.I.S.C. 'block design' subtest.

Abstract: Two groups of normal school children aged 7–8 and 10–11 (N = 91) were trained and retested on the Block Design subtest of the W.I.S.C. Results were not related to sex or age. Significant increase occurred upon retesting, but with large individual differences in reaction to training. Retest scores correlated more highly with intelligence than initial scores. Gain after training correlated positively with intelligence. There were significant differences in reaction to training when the subjects were grouped according to social background. It was found that the initial score of subjects coming from adverse home conditions was a poor measure of their intelligence, whereas in children with favourable social backgrounds, it affords a more valid measure.

Diagnoses of psychotic patients with the Kahn test of symbol arrangement.

Abstract: Previous studies with the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement (KTSA) have been reported to differentiate successfully between a number of psychiatric categories and normals. Most of them, however, were carried out on American populations. In the present study, an attempt to follow up the diagnostic accuracy of the KTSA was made by applying the Dictionary of Scores compiled in the U.S.A. (Hill & Latham, 1965) on a group of British psychotic patients.