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Biomedical subjects

L J Bloom

Publications and source records attributed to L J Bloom.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Attraction to therapy and therapist credibility as a function of therapy orientation.

Exposed male and female Ss (N = 96) to psychoanalytic, behavioral, client-centered, or gestalt therapy, in the form of a brief written description and a 5-minute videotaped simulation. Attraction to therapy and various dimensions of therapist credibility were measured. The psychoanalytic presentation generated the greatest attraction and the greatest perceived total credibility. The gestalt presentation was next highest on these variables, followed by the behavioral and client-centered presentation. No significant effects for sex of S or sex by therapy approach interaction were reported. Explanations for and implications of these findings are discussed.

Attitude↗
PubMed1978

Effectiveness of complementary projection in reducing stress.

Threatened Ss in five stress groups with electric shock, while Ss in a sixth group were not threatened. In one of the stress groups Ss were encouraged to project causality for their feelings that resulted from the threat of shock to the E instead of to the shock, while Ss in the remaining stress groups were not encouraged to project causality for the threat-produced affects to the E. Physiological and self-report measures indicated that Ss who projected their anxiety and nervousness to the E were just as distressed by the veridical source of arousal as were Ss who did not project. Implications of these results for the hypothesized stress-reducing effectiveness of complementary projection were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Therapeugenic factors in psychotherapy: the use of psychological tests.

In the first part of the experiment all Ss were administered a battery of psychological tests that they were told would provide an accurate description of their personality. Two weeks later, Ss were contacted and asked to participate in the second half of the experiment. Half of the Ss were led to believe that the psychological assessment indicated that they could remain calm and relaxed when exposed to a stressful situation (therapeutic suggestion), while the other half did not receive this feedback (no suggestion). Half of the Ss then were exposed to a stressful situation (threat), while the other half were not (no threat); the effectiveness of the diagnostic predictions was assessed via physiological and self-report measures of arousal. Results indicated that (a) the threat manipulation was effective in creating stress; and (b) Ss given therapeutic-suggestion feedback based on the psychological assessment were able to remain significantly more calm and relaxed in the experiment than Ss who did not receive therapeutic suggestions. Implications for the use of psychological testing and diagnostic feedback as a technique of social influence are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1978

Anxiety management training for pattern A behavior.

During a 3-week period, seven subjects were treated with Anxiety Management Training (AMT) while seven subjects served as a wait-list control. Pattern A behaviors, measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), self-report of anxiety, as measured by the Spielberger state (STAI-S) and trait (STAI-T) anxiety inventories, and indices of blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides were obtained before and after treatment. Results indicate that treated subjects compared to controls showed significant reductions in the Hard-Driving component of pattern A behavior, showed lower posttest STAI-A and StAI-T scores, but failed to evidence a statistically significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure or cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The implications of these data to theoretical and practical conceptualizations of stress management are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Positive evaluation of stressful experiences.

Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that the more stressful an experience is, the more positively it will be evaluated. Stressfulness was manipulated in the two studies by means of threat of shock, and both self-report and physiological measures of stress indicated that these manipulations were highly successful. In both studies subjects who were exposed to the more stressful situation evaluated their experience as significantly more worthwhile and somewhat more interesting than did subjects exposed to the less stressful situation. Furthermore, as expected, subjects did not like the high stress experience more than the low stress experience. Implications and qualifications of these findings are discussed.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1978

Dysmenorrhea and personality.

The experiment examined whether reliable personality differences exist between (a) women who suffer from spasmodic and congestive dysmenorrhea and (b) women who experience dysmenorrhea and women who do not. A sample of 12 congestive dysmenorrhea sufferers, 12 spasmodic dysmenorrhea suffers, and 24 nonsufferers obtained from a larger sample of university women, completed the Menstrual Symptom Questionnaire, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and Personality Research Form. Results indicated that congestive sufferers differed from spasmodic sufferers only in their level of impulsivity. However, dysmenorrhea sufferers differed significantly from nonsufferers in that dysmenorrhea sufferers were more similar to a neurotic sample, were depressed, anxious and introverted, and less independent, playful, satisfied with themselves, positive about their physical and social selves than nonsufferers. In spite of these differences, standard scores from the personality measures suggested that dysmenorrhea sufferers were not maladjusted.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1978

Psychotherapists' perceptions of clients' satisfaction following termination.

The present investigation sought to examine psychotherapists' perception of client's satisfaction following termination. During a 6-mo. period, 86 clients who terminated treatment at a large mental health center were asked to evaluate the service that they had received from their therapists. Therapists were also asked to predict how their clients would evaluate them. Results indicated that clients were favorably impressed with the services provided by their therapists and therapists tended to underestimate the worth of their services. Further conclusions, which at this point can only be speculative due to the limited sample, were that there were no differences in reported satisfaction of clients among psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers and para-professional groups, but psychiatrists predicted significantly greater satisfication by satisfaction by clients than the other groups. They were the only group which predicted more satisfaction by clients then was actually reported.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1976

Acceptance of general personality interpretations prior to and after receipt of diagnostic feedback supposedly based on psychological, graphological, and astrological assessment procedures.

There was no difference in the acceptance of a general personality interpretation supposedly based on psychological, graphological, or astrological assessment procedures. Ss told that their general personality interpretation was based on one of the three assessment procedures, however, accepted the interpretation to a greater degree than did Ss told the interpretation was "generally true of people." S faith in all assessment procedures and perceived diagnostician skill increased significantly from before to after receipt of the diagnostic feedback. Ss elicited a halo response after they had received the interpretation, such that they generated a highly consistent positive (or negative) view of the assessment procedures and diagnostician skills. Implications of results from this acceptance paradigm were discussed for diagnosticians and therapists.

Aptitude↗
PubMed1976

The psychological effects of vasectomy for American men.

Evidence concerning the psychological effects of vasectomy for American men was reviewed. Surveys of postoperative sexual behavior, satisfaction, and/or happiness suggest that the effects of vasectomy are generally positive. Data from studies employing clinical interviews and/or psychological tests, however, support a very different conclusion. These investigations which are generally superior in methodology and measurement techniques to the survey studies indicate that (a) although men in general verbally express satisfaction with vasectomy, many men are probably describing feelings which have been distorted as part of an attempt to cope with their private concerns about the consequences of the operation; and (b) many men experience some difficulty in adjusting to the psychological consequences of vasectomy. Implications for future research are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1975

An experimental investigation of the effectiveness of complementary projection for reducing anxiety.

The present study was designed to determine whether complementary projection is effective to reduce anxiety. To test this, Ss in two experimental groups were threatened with electric shocks. Ss in one threat group then were encouraged to project malevolence onto E. Ss' subjective reports, pulse rates, and skin resistances indicated that the threat of shock significantly increased the anxiety levels of threat as compared to control Ss. Neither the subjective reports nor physiological measures revealed a differential decrease in anxiety in threat Ss as a function of whether Ss projected a justifiable cause for anxiety, i.e., malevolence, onto E. These results raise serious questions as to whether complementary projection serves an anxiety-reducing or defensive function.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1975

Selective autonomic blockade of conditioned and unconditioned cardiovascular changes in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Changes in heart rate and in systolic and diastolic blood pressures were examined in eight rhesus monkeys during six sessions of differential classical conditioning. The conditioned stimuli consisted of tones differing in frequency and the unconditioned stimuli consisted of tail shock. Both the conditioned responses (CRS) and unconditioned responses (UCRs) consisted of increases in heart rate and in systolic and diastolic pressures, but blood pressure CRs sometimes occurred in the absence of heart rate CRs. Graded doses of the selective blocking agents propranolol, phentolamine, and atropine methylnitrate were systemically administered to four of the monkeys prior to additional conditioning sessions. The results suggested that the CRs and UCRs were mediated by both sympathetic and parasympathetic influences.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗