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Some critical comments are offered with regard to the use of the designation psychotherapy dropout in the article by Weisz, Weiss, and Langmeyer (1987). It is proposed that individuals who do not begin a course of psychotherapy should not be viewed as dropouts. Reference is also made to problems of generalization.
The authors comment on three aspects of R. F. Baumeister's (2000) theoretical article on female sexuality. Questioning the predominance of nature versus cultural factors in accounting for sexual outcomes for men and women, the authors draw attention to the similarities (as opposed to differences) in the sexual attitudes, behaviors, and responses of men and women, and directly question the suggestion of "controlling" women's sexual attitudes, behaviors, responses, etc. to meet social needs for change.
F. Leri and J. Stewart (2002) recently presented results from an animal study of lapse and relapse in an attempt to model the human situation. The authors of this comment consider two criteria for evaluating the usefulness of animal models for studies of human relapse: (a) the extent to which the animal model captures the essential components of human lapse and relapse phenomena and (b) the extent to which the conceptualization guiding the animal model is congruent with modern research and theory on animal behavior in related preparations. The authors argue that F. Leri and J. Stewart's (2002) model, as of yet, does not meet the standards suggested by these criteria. However, features of this work may prove valuable for informing efforts to develop relapse paradigms in both human and animal research.
The comment herein is a response to R.A. Meisch (2000), in which he argues for a new conceptualization of reinforcer effects, vis-à-vis relative persistence. The concept is likely to be quite helpful. It is similar to some applications derived from behavioral economics.
W. J. Lynch and M. E. Carroll (2001) suggested 3 processes that contribute to the regulation of drug intake over time when drugs serve as reinforcers. The commentator suggests that none of these processes are necessary for drugs to function as reinforcers and hence are either secondary or superfluous to the study of drugs as reinforcers.
Ainsworth's description of attachment patterns in the Strange Situation is one of the best known and most enduring descriptive insights in developmental psychology. Yet attachment theorists have paid little attention to whether ABC classifications represent a true taxonomy or to mechanisms that might produce truly distinct patterns of attachment. This comment focuses on three questions. Does attachment theory require distinct patterns of attachment? How can taxonomic analysis contribute to an understanding of individual differences in attachment security? And are attachment theorists asking the right questions? The authors conclude that attachment theory is indifferent to the structure (taxonomic or dimensional) of individual differences. Nonetheless, taxonomic search methods can make important contributions to attachment study if research is broadened to include secure base behavior in naturalistic settings.
M. McGue, I. Elkins, B. Walden, and W. G. Iacono presented the findings from a twin study examining the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the developmental trajectories of parent-adolescent relationships. From a behavioral genetics perspective, this study is well conceptualized, is well implemented, and raises some interesting developmental questions. Yet, the classic twin methodology and heritability estimates obfuscate the dynamic gene-ecology transactions that underlie these social developmental trajectories. There is a growing divide between the findings of quantitative behavioral genetics, with its foundational estimate of a statistical genetic influence, and developmental molecular genetics. This comment provides a brief overview of this divide and its implications for the findings of McGue et al. as well as quantitative behavioral genetics more broadly.
M. Cloitre, K. Koenen, L. R. Cohen, and H. Han (2002; see record 2002-18226-001) presented results of a randomized trial that clearly demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a treatment program delivering skills training in affective and interpersonal regulation (STAIR) prior to conducting imaginal exposure (IE) to trauma memories for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse. In this comment the authors review the results presented by Cloitre et al and specifically compare the impact of the STAIR and IE phases of the treatment on affect regulation and psychopathology measures. Evidence for adverse events associated with exposure therapy is reviewed. The authors emphasize that the present study should not be interpreted as evidence that pretreatment with STAIR is additively helpful or necessary prior to IE for PTSD associated with child abuse and that a between-groups comparison is necessary before such conclusions can be drawn.
According to the contextual change theory of memory loss, spontaneous forgetting reflects a retrieval impairment due to subtle and unprogrammed shifts in environmental cues over a retention interval. However, Riccio, Richardson, and Ebner (1984) noted an apparent paradox in this model; specifically, laboratory studies inducing explicit shifts in contextual cues found less disruption of performance as retention intervals increased. Bouton, Nelson, and Rosas (1999) critiqued several of the claims made by Riccio et al. and concluded that the contextual cue theory is still a valid account of spontaneous forgetting. In this comment, the authors address the 3 major criticisms offered by Bouton et al., point out an inconsistency in their argument, and conclude that the original paradox still poses problems for the contextual change theory of forgetting.
Recently, 3 different meta-analytic reviews of the literature concerning the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation have appeared, including that by Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) in this issue. Interestingly, despite their common focus, these reviews have offered dramatically opposed bottom-line conclusions about the meaning and implications of this literature. In this comment, the authors examine differences among these 3 reviews and conclude that the findings of this literature have been more accurately captured by the reviews of Deci et al. and Tang and Hall (1995) than by that of Cameron and Pierce (1994). More broadly, the authors also suggest that there may be significant short- and long-term costs to the unthinking or automatic use of meta-analysis with theoretically derived, procedurally diverse, and empirically complex literatures like that concerning extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation.
In this comment on E. T. Gershoff (2002), the author notes the historical phases of punishment research. Punishment as a disciplinary tactic is best viewed as a packaged variable and therefore needs to be investigated in the context of other socialization practices. The role of parental values in this debate about punishment utilization and effectiveness merits more consideration. New directions in punishment research are also noted. These include the need for a family-systems perspective, a family-typology approach, a transactional model of punishment, the use of innovation observation and self-report methods, and more culturally sensitive paradigms.
In this comment, J. S. Ablon and C. Marci argue that focusing on the empirical validation of manualized treatment packages misses important information about what is efficacious about a given treatment. Psychotherapy process has demonstrated that treatments may promote change in ways other than their underlying theories claim. Manualized therapies may appear distinct despite important similarities in dyadic interaction. These functional similarities in the emergent transactional process between therapist and patient may help explain the difficulty demonstrating differential outcomes across brands of brief therapy. Rather than focus on treatment packages targeting patient symptomatology, the authors recommend a shift in focus to the empirical validation of change processes coconstructed by therapist and patient in naturalistic settings.
On the basis of a meta-analysis of pairwise correlations between working memory tasks and cognitive ability measures, P. L. Ackerman, M. E. Beier, and M. O. Boyle (2005; see record 2004-22408-002) claimed that working memory capacity (WMC) shares less than 25% of its variance with general intelligence (g) and with reasoning ability. In this comment, the authors argue that this is an underestimation because of several methodological shortcomings and biases. A reanalysis of the data reported in Ackerman et al. using the correct statistical procedures demonstrates that g and WMC are very highly correlated. On a conceptual level, the authors point out that WMC should be regarded as an explanatory construct for intellectual abilities. Theories of working memory do not claim that WMC is isomorphic with intelligence factors but that it is a very strong predictor of reasoning ability and also predicts general fluid intelligence and g.
The authors agree with P. L. Ackerman, M. E. Beier, and M. O. Boyle (2005; see record 2004-22408-002) that working memory capacity (WMC) is not isomorphic with general fluid intelligence (Gf) or reasoning ability. However, the WMC and Gf/reasoning constructs are more strongly associated than Ackerman et al. (2005) indicate, particularly when considering the outcomes of latent-variable studies. The authors' reanalysis of 14 such data sets from 10 published studies, representing more than 3,100 young-adult subjects, suggests a strong correlation between WMC and Gf/reasoning factors (median r=.72), indicating that the WMC and Gf constructs share approximately 50% of their variance. This comment also clarifies the authors' "executive attention" view of WMC, it demonstrates that WMC has greater discriminant validity than Ackerman et al. (2005) implied, and it suggests some future directions and challenges for the scientific study of the convergence of WMC, attention control, and intelligence.
G. MacDonald and M. R. Leary hypothesized that physical pain and social exclusion share many affective features in common. In this comment, the author discusses the implications of J. A. Gray and N. McNaughton's (2000) hierarchical defense system model, which MacDonald and Leary used in the development of their theoretical claims. Issues are discussed that require, at least, clarification; but more substantive problems need closer consideration of hierarchically organized defense. It is argued that research findings may be better understood (a) by systems of interacting neural modules, which lead to state dissociations between affective states, and (b) by general modulatory influences on the entire defense system that lead to trait associations (i.e., personality) between physical pain and emotional distress.
D. Westen, C. M. Novotny, and H. Thompson-Brenner (2004; see record 2004-15935-005) suggested that efforts to identify empirically supported treatments are misguided because they are based on assumptions that are not appropriate for some types of treatment and patients. The authors of this comment argue that Westen and colleagues are simply incorrect when they assert that empirically supported treatments require that psychopathology must be highly malleable, that treatments must be brief, or that the samples studied are unrepresentative of the kinds of patients typically encountered in clinical practice--comorbidity is common in many clinical trials. Randomized controlled trials remain the most powerful way to test notions of causal agency.
Comments on the original article "Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits Across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies," by B. W. Roberts, K. W. Walton, and W. Viechtbauer. Although Roberts et al depicted the present authors as proponents of the immutability of traits, in fact we have always acknowledged the possibility of change, and we are pleased that the results of their meta-analysis are consistent with our conclusions about modest change after age 30. We agree with B.W. Roberts et al that analyses should be conducted at the level of more specific traits, but prefer the 30 facets of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory to the Social Dominance-Social Vitality distinction. The origins of age changes might be found either in environmental influences common to all cultures or in biologically based intrinsic maturation; we offer some reasons for preferring the latter interpretation. Meta-analyses are useful but not definitive, and the resolution of the origin question lies in further research.
The authors comment on B. Gawronski and G. V. Bodenhausen's (2006) associative-propositional evaluation model of implicit and explicit attitudes by examining the claims that (a) truth value is attached to propositions but not to associations; (b) pattern activation is qualitatively different from syllogistic structure of arguments; and (c) Pavlovian conditioning may be propositional, whereas evaluative conditioning is not. They conclude that despite surface dissimilarities between implicit and explicit attitudes both may be mediated by the same underlying process.