This study examined the effectiveness of couple enrichment using currently-accepted standards of meta-analytic research, including analysis based upon both fixed-effects and random effects models. Ninety published and unpublished studies comparing enrichment groups to control groups were included in the analyses. The overall mean effect size (0.23) for couple enrichment was heterogeneous, positive, and significantly different than 0. Mean effect sizes for both post-treatment and follow-up did not differ significantly. Methodological and substantive moderator variables associated with publication date, publication source, program type, program length, latency of measurement, mode of measurement, measure type, measure/program congruence, design quality, and researcher allegiance were examined. Effect sizes were significantly greater for observation measures, studies with higher methodological quality, and studies with higher levels of researcher allegiance. Only one moderator, date of publication, failed to be associated with effect size. Limitations of the study were discussed and implications for future research were outlined.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of contemporary couple enrichment using currently-accepted standards of meta-analytic research. Twenty-seven published studies that compared enrichment groups to control groups were included in the analyses. The overall mean effect size (0.32), post-treatment effect size (0.35), and follow-up effect size (0.35) for couple enrichment were heterogeneous, positive, and significantly different than 0. Mean effect sizes for both post-treatment and follow-up did not differ significantly, Moderator variables associated with program type, measure type, nature of dependent variable, quality of methodology, measure reactivity, measure specificity, and researcher allegiance significantly improved homogeneity across effect sizes, Effect sizes were significantly greater for behavioral measures, studies with higher methodological quality, measures tailored to treatment, and studies with high researcher allegiance. Other moderator variables -- date of publication, number of dependent variables and total program length -- were not significantly related to magnitude of effect size Limitations of the study were discussed and implications for future research and clinical practice were outlined.

The present investigation was designed to test the hypothesis that failure experienced by the individual in a testing situation is moderated by causal attributions and these attributions influence subsequent test measures. The effect of manipulating cause (lack of effort or Lack of ability) to response-independent failure and its relationship to scores on the Reasoning, Hidden Patterns, and Paper Folding Test, in younger an older person's was investigated. The same measures were assessed in a group that experienced the same response-independent-failure but with no explanation offered as to the cause for the failure, a group that was not given any information concerning the outcome, and a control group that did not experience the response-independent-failure. Analysis of results indicated that younger subjects obtained significantly higher scores than one subjects on all three subtests. A significant age by condition effect in results from the Paper Folding Test was also found. The failure-ability group showed lower scores than the failure-effort group for both age categories. The two non manipulated-attribution groups were lower than the failure-effort group for the elderly, and were higher than the failure-ability group for younger subjects. The results supported the hypothesis that elderly individuals may demonstrate lower cognitive scores in part, due to influences that are extraneous to cognitive assessment. Implications of the results for elderly cognitive assessment were discussed.

There has been a growing interest in recent years in the study of person-environment interaction in the elderly. Several theoretical models have been proposed in the gerontological literature. Each of these models suffers from one or more limitations, including the restriction of requiring that the person and the environment be measured in the same terms, and the difficulty posed by attempting to empirically test the model. A new model of person-environment interaction in the elderly is proposed here. The model views life satisfaction as the ultimate outcome variable. Feelings of personal control and choice are seen as intervening between life satisfaction and the remaining components of the model. At the level of the environment, the model proposes an interaction between residents' perceptions of the environment,and their evaluations of, or preferences for, the environment's various qualities. These environmental perceptions are in turn influenced by characteristics of the actual environment, residents' health, and personality factors. A total of 44 residents and 121 staff members of three homes for the aged served as subjects for the present study. Assessment instruments used to operationalize the model components included: residents' scores on the Life Satisfaction Index (LSI), residents‘ responses to 10 questions designed to assess feelings of control and choice, residents' scores on Moos' Sheltered Care Environment Scale (SCES; measuring environmental perceptions), resident's responses to seven questions, corresponding to the seven SCES subscales, regarding the ideal nursing home environment (measuring environmental evaluations), staff scores on the SCES (measuring the objective environment), staff ratings of residents on the 15 Murrayan need scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL;, measuring personality factors), and interviewer assessments of residents' functional health. An overall test of the usefulness of the model components in predicting residents' life satisfaction showed that feelings of control and choice, by itself, was a significant predictor of life satisfaction. The addition of the other model components did not improve the prediction of life satisfaction. Further analyses tested the relationships between various components of the model. The results of these analyses confirmed the hypothesized interaction of environmental perceptions and evaluations influencing life satisfaction for four of the seven SCES subscales. Consistency between residents' perceptions and evaluations on the conflict, self-exploration, organization, and physical comfort subscales was related to greater life satisfaction. Analysis of the remaining components showed that resident and staff ratings of the environment were not related, and the differences observed between the two were not associated with health or personality variables. The findings of the study are discussed within the context of methodological considerations as well as theoreti and empirical issues. It is suggested that the formulation of models of person-environment interaction in the elderly may be premature, given the relatively limited amount of research examining relationships among the various possible person, environment and outcome variables which could be considered. The present results support the findings of previous studies of person-environment fit in the elderly. The findings do not, however, provide empirical support for the hypothesized existence of individual difference factors, sud as health and personality variables, which underlie environmental preferences or evaluations. It is concluded that the search for such factors be continued, and suggestions for future research toward this end are proposed.

The purpose of this study was to determine the stages in the adult development of single women living in religious communities and compare these stages with those of married women. Specific research questions about each five year period from age 21 to 50 were answered by this study. Questionnaires were sent to 200 women religious and 200 married women between the ages of 36 and 50 who live in the Pittsburgh area and are white, middle-class, and Catholic. In addition to requesting biographical information, these questionnaires asked participants to specify which five year period in their lives they experienced certain marker events and developmental processes. Participants also rated marker events according to their positive or negative effect on their lives. An analysis of the data from the questionnaires included determining participant characteristics, the percentage and mean age of women religious and married women who experienced each developmental issue during each age period, frequency and mean ratings for marker events, and "co-happenings" between marker events and developmental issues for women religious. The results of this study demonstrate that there is a similar pattern in the stages of development of the women religious and the married women in this sample regarding identity, satisfaction, stress, etc., despite the different marker events occurring in their lives and their diverse educational backgrounds and employment histories. The sequence of phases in their adult growth also mirrors that described in the review of recent research on this topic. Only on the issues of lower life satisfaction and satisfaction with the community in their early twenties do the women religious in this study deviate from recent findings. The sample of married women follows the predicted pattern except that their initial reactions to marriage were different than those of women in other studies, probably because of their religious affiliation. The similarity in the findings of the two groups of women in this study suggests that their adult development is not determined by the occurrence and timing of specific marker events in their lives. The sequence they follow appears to be more age than event-related. It seems more dependent on the manner in which they have been socialized regarding acceptable attitudes and roles for women than it is on their choice of a celibate or married lifestyle.

Spontaneous epileptic activity resembling spike wave discharges (SWD) characteristic of Generalized Absence (GA) epilepsy was induced in rat thalamocortical (TC) slices by incubating the slices in low-Mg2- artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) Extracellular field potentials were recorded in the cortex and thalamus to determine the effects of the broad spectrum metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist, trans- (1S, 3R)-1-Amino-1, 3-cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid (ACPD), ACPD elicited concentration dependent effects on the duration of SWD. At 1 μM ACPD (n=3) there were no significant changes in duration of activity. At 20 μM, 11 of 13 slices displayed a decrease in duration of activity (mean = 40.47 ± 5.07). In all cases, 200 μM ACPD (n=6) transformed SWD into single spike activity. Furthermore, the broad spectrum mGluR antagonist, (S)-α-Methyl-4-carboxyphenlglycine ((S)-MCPG), when pre-applied to TC slices at 500. μM followed by co-application with 200 μM ACPD (n=3), prevented SWD from switching into single spike activity. To determine the site of action of the mGluR agonist. experiments involving regional perfusion of 200 μM ACPD to the cortex (n=3) and thalamus (n=4) were conducted. mGluR activation in the cortex was unable to block SWD, while perfusion of the mGluR agonist to the thalamus transformed SWD into single spikes on all occasions. mGluRs may provide an alternative therapeutic target for the pharmacological treatment of GA epilepsy.

Research in the area of juvenile delinquency has reported personality and background differences between delinquents who have committed certain types of offenses (Randolph, l96l; Mizushima and DeVos, 1967). The major purpose of this study was to examine the academic characteristics of certain classifications of delinquent offenders. Specifically, the incidences of three school-related problems and absence of any of these problems were compared for certain classifications of offenders. The comparisons that were made were group versus individual offenses, person versus property offenses, and actual aggressors versus threatened aggressors. A second aspect of the study involved a comparative investigation of the personality characteristics of juvenile offenders. Ninety-nine 13-15 year old male offenders, committed to the state's institutional correctional system for the first time, were enlisted as subjects. While awaiting disposition at a reception and diagnostic center, subjects were administered the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) as an individual intelligence measure and the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) as a personality measure. An assessment of academic achievement level was made on the basis of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), which was routinely administered by educational evaluators to all children passing through the reception and diagnostic center. Subjects scoring 69 or less on the SIT were classified as psychometrically mentally retarded. A discrepancy model formula (bond and Tinker, 1973) was employed to identify underachievers and specific academic deficiencies. Delinquents scoring two or more years below expected achievement levels on all three subtests of the WRAT were classified as underachievers, while delinquents scoring below in only one or two subtests were classified as having specific academic deficiencies. The classification of a subject as to type of offender was made on the basis of his committing offense and reported history of offenses. Nearly 90% of the subjects were classified as having school related problems. An examination of the results indicated that the only significant relationship between the school-related groups and the offense classifications was that underachievers were more likely to be group offenders than individual offenders. A trend was found indicating that delinquents with specific academic deficiencies were more likely to be individual offenders than group offenders. The results of the HSPQ revealed few differences among the four groups. Psychometrically mentally retarded delinquents indicated that they felt more socially isolated than delinquents from the other groups. Personality comparisons for offense groups revealed several findings: (l) group offenders appeared to be more self-assured and secure than individual offenders, (2) group offenders were more socially conforming and moralistic than individual offenders, (3) individual offenders appeared to be more intelligent than group offenders, (4) individual offenders were less serious than group offenders, (5) property offenders were found to be more emotionally stable and less easily upset than person offenders, and (6) person offenders were found to be more intelligent than property offenders.

Thirty six female intercollegiate team athletes and 40 female non-athlete control subjects were studied in a two-experiment investigation designed to explore the personality patterns of female athletes; to measure any differences in performances of the experimental and control groups attributable to changing conditions, i.e., solo, coaction and competitive; and to explore the interactions of personality variables and performance. The previous research on personality, with Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Inventory and female athletes, is not plentiful and frequently in conflict. No previous research could be located that employed controlled competitive conditions with athletes—male or female. In Study 1, the team athletes were found to be more tough-minded (1-) and more group dependent (Q2-) than controls. The athletes were also found to be more tough-minded, group dependent, assertive (E+), venturesome (E+), and practical (M-) than Cattell's female college normative group. In a post-hoc analysis, the controls were found to be different from test norms on four scales. Discussions of the sometimes conflicting results is offered. A post-hoc discriminant analysis was also performed and discussed. The factor scales which were found to discriminate, in order of appearance, were Q2, A, I, B, M, and Q4- In Study 2, all subjects were administered one of the three experimental conditions on a stationary bicycle-competition, coaction (performance with another), and solo performance. An ANOVA applied to the 2 x 3 design found the conditions to be significant but not the Subject groups or inter-actions of subject groups and conditions. A sub-analysis showed the competition condition to be significantly different from each of the other two conditions. To investigate the interactions between personality and performance, a regression analysis was performed to test which of the 16PF scales best predicted competitive performance. Ten variables accounted for 23,81 of the variance at the .01 level of confidence. The variables, in order of appearance, were factors I, Q1, A, H, B, C, Q2, E, Q3, and M. Since the use of t-tests with groups of athletes has proven fruitless, it is recommended that future research in the area of sports personality use a different methodological approach. The only exception would be if the groups of athletes are highly unique (for example, fencers only) and at the highest levels of successful competition. The discriminative analysis procedure appears to hold some promise as does the application of a complex motor task under controlled conditions. Finally, the study of interactions of personality variables with varying conditions of performance seems to offer a promising area for further investigations.

This study examined the behavioral and biochemical effects of two neuroleptic drugs. Clozapine (10 mg/kg), an atypical neuroleptic, and pimozide (1 mg/kg), a typical neuroleptic, were administered acutely, chronically (10 days), or in a behavioral tolerance paradigm (9 days of post-session administration followed by 10 days of presession administration) in order to assess the mechanisms of tolerance. Behavioral Effects were measured on a multiple FI 60-second FR-30 operant response schedule; HPLC was used to measure the biochemical effects of clozapine in the blood plasma, frontal cortex and striatum. Presession administration of clozapine and pimozide both produced initial disruptions of response rate, response duration and reinforcement rate for both the FI and FR schedules, but only clozapine disrupted the pattern of FI responding as measured by IOC. Tolerance develops to the effects of clozapine for FI schedule response rate, response duration and reinforcement rate measures and for the FR response duration measure. Tolerance did not develop to clozapine's disruption of response and reinforcement rates on the FR schedule, nor did tolerance develop to the disruption of the IOC measure. Pimozide groups demonstrated an increasing sensitivity to the effects of the drug after repeated administration for both FI and FR response rate, response duration and reinforcement rate. Post-session administration of clozapine and pimozide failed to disrupt operant responding and did not affect subsequent presession drug administration. This suggests that both the tolerance to clozapine and the sensitivity to pimozide are mediated by functional mechanisms. Repeated clozapine administration produces a behavioral tolerance whereas repeated pimozide administration produces a "behavioral sensitivity". Biochemical assays measuring the amounts of clozapine in the blood plasma, frontal cortex and striatum confirm that the tolerance to clozapine is not due to a dispositional mechanism (i.e., changes in drug metabolism). Assays revealed that quantities of clozapine did not differ between the three clozapine groups, nor did clozapine differentially affect the frontal cortex and striatum. It was concluded that clozapine's response disrupting effects were not due to an anhedonic effect, nor were the disrupting effects due to a motor deficit involving a response termination deficit. Other motor deficits, however, were not discounted. Pimozide appeared to produce a pattern of disruption similar to that produced by extinction, thus suggesting that anhedonic effects were involved.

Existing commentary and research on the nature of musical talent was reviewed and found lacking in conception, primarily because previous researchers had failed to identify the unique creative element a musician contributes to a musical performance. The personality structures of 60 subjects, 32 males and 28 females, were analyzed via the 16PF. A Pearson Product Moment Correlation, an ANOVA, and a second order factor analysis were used to assess the relationship between personality and musical talent for 1) persons with little or no musical ability, 2) highly talented university music majors, and 3) professional performing musicians. Significant relationships were found for talent and perseverance, age, self-sufficiency, discipline, and creativity. Non-significant linear trends were found for nine other personality dimensions. Personality profiles were constructed for the three groups.