Craig T. Twentyman

A critical evaluation of the research methodology employed in the investigation of causative factors of child abuse and neglect

The present assessment of the literature pertaining to the causative factors of child abuse was conducted to determine the scientific merits of the existing literature in this field. The reviewing process entailed randomly assigning those articles that presented original data to four reviewers. Each reviewer then evaluated the studies independently using a standard evaluation procedure that addressed quality of methodological design, clarity of exposition, reliability and validity of data source and appropriateness of analysis. It was discovered that the quality of this scientific inquiry was variable and often not satisfying the basic requirements of sound experimental design. In fact, the majority of the papers reviewed presented no original data to support their positions. Those studies incorporating empirical evidence were frequently plagued with methodological and statistical problems. The specific problems discussed were the following: inappropriate comparison group, lack of a priori predictions, insufficient documentation pertaining to the reliability and validity of data sources, lack of adequate demographic descriptors to provide a context and enable future analyses to be performed, omission of informed consent, and illogically derived conclusions. Concrete recommendations were then addressed to each area.

Heterosocial Avoidance in College Males Four Studies

The heterosocial skill deficits of nondating college men were explored in four separate assessment studies. The first two experiments compared dating and nondating men on numerous self-report, observational, and performance measures. The third study empirically established what social norms govern the initiation of conversations with strangers, and assessed the relative knowledge of these norms among daters and nondaters. The final study obtained naturalistic samples of heterosocial avoidance behaviors among daters and nondaters. Overall, nondaters were primarily characterized by the avoidance of interactions; by low self-ratings of skill, confidence, and approach behaviors; and by less knowledge about social cues and norms. The Survey of Heterosexual Interactions—a self-report measure employed throughout the studies is also presented in an appendix, along with normative data.

Instructed heart rate control in a high heart rate population.

Forty college students were selected from a large number of introductory psychology students on the basis of high heart rate during an initial screening session. Subjects were then contacted and participated in two additional sessions during which heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance measures were obtained. Each session consisted of a baseline period followed by five trial periods during which subjects attempted to control their heart rate or performed a visual tracking task. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group served as a control and monitored a visual feedback display driven by their own heart rate but received no instructions to decrease their heart rate. In contrast, the three heart rate control groups were instructed to decrease heart rate during the trial periods by utilizing a relaxation procedure, proportional biofeedback, or proportional biofeedback plus criterion information. No group differences were present during the baseline periods. During feedback trials, however, all the training groups differed from the control in heart rate but did not differ from each other. It is suggested that feedback displays may not facilitate heart rate reduction beyond the level achieved by instructing subjects to use a general relaxation procedure.

Coping with Authority: Social Skills Training for the Complex Offender.

Twenty probationers participated in an assessment during which reports of problematic situations with probation officers and employers were elicited. Situations which were rated as occurring frequently were later employed in a role-play test. During the second part of the study, sixteen probationers were randomly assigned to groups which received either behavioral training in petitioning and then justification skills, or training in these skills in the reverse order. Results indicated that the probationers were able to learn the responses as assessed during the role-played situations. Issues concerning the specification of social skills, the empirical derivation of problem situations, and ethical concerns in social skills training are discussed.

Instructed heart rate control: Effects of varying feedback frequency and timing

Forty subjects participated in an experiment designed to test the effects of different feedback displays on instructed heart rate speeding and slowing. One group of subjects received information about interpulse interval length every beat. This display included specific information about when systole occurred, in addition to information about performance relative to a criterion. Two other groups received similar information about performance, but their displays were not triggered by systole; rather, information about average interpulse interval was presented either every second or every 6 seconds. A fourth group of subjects participated in a perceptual motor task in which no instructions were given to control heart rate.Results indicated that the instructed subjects generated significantly greater heart rate speeding than slowing. Groups receiving feedback produced greater changes when compared to the control group only during the speeding seassions. No differences among feedback groups were present in the slowing task. During speeding, the 1-second groups performance deteriorated dramatically in the second session. The results suggested that, in the context of a feedback task, it is information about the occurrence of systole that facilitates heart rate speeding. Real-time displays are less facilitating of heart rate change and may disrupt speeding performance when information is presented at certain “critical” frequencies. Slowing performance was again shown to be unrelated to information frequency or reinforcement rate.

The utility of a measure of aggression in differentiating abusing parents from other parents who are experiencing familial disturbance

Discussed the utility of a measure of aggression using the MMPI (N = 54). Although child abusers significantly differed from a distressed and socioeconomic-status matched group on this scale, a discriminative analysis on the scale failed to adequately differentiate the groups. Results are discussed in terms of the deficiencies in the current method of separating their groups and for constructing measures that are likely to differentiate aggressive from nonaggressive populations.

Book Review: Delinquent Therapies: Some Hard Core Street Corner Approaches PROGRESS IN BEHAVIOR THERAPY WITH DELINQUENTS. Compiled and edited by Jerome S. Stumphauzer. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1979. Pp. 390 + xvi.

Behavior therapists once again have accepted the challenge of helping a difficult and perplexing population. In this text Stumphauzer has assembled a collection of papers describing a variety of treatment approaches dealing with the social dilemma of juvenile delinquency. This gathering of articles from eminent professionals documenting their exemplary programs could provide a rich resource to communicate recent progress and trends in the area of modification of delinquent behavior. Unfortunately, however, the quality of the articles vary widely. ,