Donald J. Levis

Exposure to smoking-relevant cues: effects on desire to smoke and topographical components of smoking behavior.

The effects of exposure to two classes of smoking-relevant cues (environmental; negative affect) on desire to smoke and smoking topography were evaluated. Sixty chronic smokers were randomly assigned to one of six groups in a two-way ANOVA design in which the salience of environmental cues and presence of negative affective cues were manipulated. This was followed by a 20-minute interval during which ad libitum smoking was videotaped in an unobtrusive manner. Results indicated that the experimental manipulations differentially influenced ratings of desire and topographical components of smoking behavior. Implications are raised regarding the role of cue reactivity in the maintenance of smoking behavior.

The contributions of Eye movements to the efficacy of brief exposure treatment for reducing Fear of public speaking

The present study was designed to isolate the effects of the eye-movement component of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) procedure in the treatment of fear of public speaking. Seventy-one undergraduate psychology students who responded in a fearful manner on the Fear Survey Schedule II and on a standardized, self-report measure of public speaking anxiety (Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker; PRCS) were randomly assigned to one of four groups in a 2x2 factorial design. The two independent variables assessed were treatment condition (imagery plus eye movements vs. imagery alone) and type of imagery (fear-relevant vs. relaxing). Dependent variables assessed were self-reported and physiological anxiety during exposure and behavioral indices of anxiety while giving a speech. Although process measures indicated exposure to fear-relevant imagery increased anxiety during the procedure, no significant differences among groups were found on any of the outcome measures, except that participants who received eye movements were less likely to give a speech posttreatment than participants who did not receive eye movements. Addition of the eye movements to the experimental procedure did not result in enhancement of fear reduction. It was concluded, consistent with the results of past research, that previously reported positive effects of the EMDR procedure may be largely due to exposure to conditioned stimuli.

The S-S construct of expectancy versus the S-R construct of fear: which motivates the acquisition of avoidance behavior?

Abstract The authors provided a differential test between stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) theory predictions in regard to the roles that the constructs of expectancy and of fear play in maintaining classically conditioned fear responding within the context of a human conditioned-avoidance paradigm. After the participants had developed sustained avoidance responding, their shock electrodes and avoidance response apparatus were removed to enhance the cognitive expectancy that the conditioned stimulus (CS) would not be followed by the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). This manipulation of expectancy was successful in 96% of the participants. The study was conducted over a 2-day period and involved 1 experimental group and 3 control groups. During the test trials, the authors used autonomic and self-report indices of fear to assess the presence or absence of fear to the CS. The data disconfirmed the prediction of the S-S theory that fear to the CS would be extinguished. The authors discuss the implications of this finding for S-S theories and for approaches in cognitive behavior therapy.

Issues in the assessment of fear: Response concordance and prediction of avoidance behavior

A large group of female subjects completed a battery of questionnaires including the Fear Survey Schedule and the Snake Questionnaire. They were later administered a behavioral approach test with a live snake during which self-report, behavioral, and psychophysiological measures were collected. These data were initially used to test Hodgson and Rachmans (Behavior Research and Therapy, 1974,12, 319–326) hypothesis that response concordance varies directly with the strength of emotional arousal. The results indicated that the less fearful subjects produced a greater degree of response concordance—contrary to the hypothesis. Next, previously identified factors extracted from the Snake Questionnaire were examined to determine their ability to predict behavioral avoidance during the test procedure. One factor was suitably predictive of the avoidance criterion. These two sets of results are discussed in terms of a possible explanation for concordance variations and in terms of the potential value of factor scores in subject selection and fear assessment.

The Sexual Abuse Questionnaire: A Preliminary Examination of a Time and Cost Efficient Method in Evaluating the Presence of Childhood Sexual Abuse in Adult Patients

ABSTRACT This paper provides the results of two studies designed to evaluate a newly constructed self-report instrument, the Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ was designed as a brief screening device to aid in the identification of a childhood sexual abuse history. A “unique” feature of the SAQ is the inclusion of a number of non-face valid questions derived from clinical experience. Both studies used an undergraduate population of self-reported abused and non-abused participants. Based upon the combined results of the two studies, the final version of the SAQ was developed, which is comprised of 45 items that manifest good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminative validity. The SAQ can discriminate between abused and non-abused male and female participants.

An investigation of the normative and factor analytic composition of six questionnaires used for subject selection

Six self-report instruments which have been widely used for subject screening were administered to large samples of males and female college students. Normative information and bivariate correlations between scales were derived. Principal components analysis was applied to the individual scales to determine substructures. Finally, factor scores from the scales were examined in terms of second-order factors from an additional principal components analysis. The results are discussed in terms of comparisons with the results of previously published reports and implications for the discriminant validity of the scales and factor scores. The use of factor scores for more homogeneous subject selection is suggested.

Exposure is a necessary condition for fear-reduction: A reply to De Silva and Rachman

Abstract de Silva and Rachman (1981) have recently suggested that although non-reinforced exposure of a fear-evoking stimulus constitutes a sufficient condition for unlearning fears, it does not represent a necessary condition. This conclusion was reached, in part, by examples they provide which appeared to them to suggest that fear-reduction can occur in the absence of exposure to the fear stimulus. They then call for an extended search for non-exposure types of intervention, especially those involving ‘sources of information’ and ‘expectations’. After reviewing in detail the arguments advanced, the present authors adopt the position that de Silva and Rachmans conclusions are premature and unwarranted. To abandon or lose sight of one of the most effective and perhaps most important therapeutic principles, CS exposure, would be myopic and detrimental to the advancement of effective behavior change. At this point in time what is needed is a more careful analysis of the extinction process especially at the stimulus level so the effectiveness of this principle can be maximized.

Extrapolation of two-factor learning theory of infrahuman avoidance behavior to psychopathology

This paper involves a theoretical attempt to extend O. H. Mowrers two-factor theory of infrahuman avoidance behavior to the area of human psychopathology, Central to any such theoretical extrapolation is the need to explain why human fears and avoidance behavior manifest such strong resistance to extinction while the abundance of infrahuman findings suggests that the extinction of such behaviors is rapid. The position is advanced that this noted paradox can be resolved both theoretically and empirically by modifying and extending the Solomon and Wynne conservation of anxiety hypothesis to include complex, serial ordered cues. The model presented also provides the rationale for an extinction approach to psychotherapy, referred to as implosive therapy which is briefly described. Supporting data for the model as well as alternative explanations are provided and discussed.

Experimental and Theoretical Foundations of Behavior Modification

The importance of the subject matter of this volume, which deals with issues of the assessment and treatment of human psychological disturbance, cannot be overstressed. A dramatic increase has occurred in the number of individuals requesting solutions to their psychological problems. The cost to society in terms of human suffering, loss of productivity, and dollars is staggering. It was not until World War II that the extent of this problem was recognized. Nearly 5 million men in the United States, almost 1 out of 5, were rejected for military service, and many thousands were discharged following acceptance because of neuropsychiatric problems. The seriousness of the problems was even more clearly demonstrated in the Midtown Manhattan Study conducted by Srole and his co-workers (1962). These investigators reported that fewer than 1 out of 4 persons was judged to be psychologically healthy, and nearly 1 out of 5 persons was considered “incapacitated” by psychological disturbance. Adding to this conclusion is Lemkow and Crocetti’s (1958) estimate that between 14 and 20 of every 1, 000 children born will be hospitalized in a mental institution within their lifetime. Recent attention has also been focused on the possibility that a large percentage of the presenting physical health problems may be affected by and related to psychological factors.

The utility of presenting slides of a phobic stimulus in the context of a behavioral avoidance procedure

The study reported involves a comparison between in vivo and slide presentations of a phobic object. Female college students (N=82) who reported fear of rats were tested using a behavioral avoidance procedure. Subjects were divided into three groups. Subjects in an in vivo condition were instructed to bring a live rat increasingly closer by pressing a button on the test apparatus. Subjects in two slide conditions followed a similar procedure with a button press bringing the slide of a rat in clearer view. Behavioral, self-ratings, and psychophysiological measures were obtained. Subjects were classified as no-touch (NT) or touch (T) on the basis of a contact test which took place at the end of the experiment. The in vivo condition, as expected, produced in the NT subjects a reliably greater fear reaction when compared to T subjects and to the slide conditions. However, one of the slide conditions was also found to reliably discriminate behaviorally between NT and T subjects. This latter finding suggests the potential usage of slide material to discriminate at a clinical level other feared stimuli for which an in vivo phobic stimulus would be difficult or impossible to present. Other findings with implications for assessment of phobic behavior are reported.