I am professor emeritus in the DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND BRAIN SCIENCES at Washington University in St. Louis and am currently involved with colleagues studying sensory decline in older adults and other troublesome default issues facing an ageing population.
This study characterized women&am... more This study characterized women's concurrent and subsequent levels of emotional distress associated with a questionable mammogram screening and relationships between women's coping and psychosocial adjustment. State anxiety was assessed in 98 women 1 day after receiving a mammogram screening (Time 1), after notification of a questionable screening result that necessitated additional testing (Time 2), and after being informed of their breast-cancer-free status (Time 3). Key findings include (a) women reported a significant increase in anxiety following notification of the need to return for follow-up testing; (b) significant and positive associations were found between anxiety and behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, and cognitive avoidance coping in cross-sectional analyses; and (c) cognitive avoidance coping was a strong predictor of final levels of state anxiety in women. Findings suggest that cognitive avoidance coping plays an important role in reducing anxiety in women recalled to clarify an initially ambiguous screening procedure.
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Nov 1, 1984
The present study evaluated the efficacy of two automated behavioural treatment modalities used a... more The present study evaluated the efficacy of two automated behavioural treatment modalities used as a self‐control strategy (deep muscle relaxation and assertive training) as compared to two control groups (attention/placebo and no behavioural treatment) in a psychiatric out‐patient population. Results indicate that, as compared to the other groups, the relaxation group achieved a clinically substantial and statistically significant change. Furthermore, the efficacy of automated relaxation used as a self‐control strategy is sufficient to warrant its introduction as an adjunct psychiatric therapy in out‐patient psychiatric settings. More research is needed before automated assertive training as a self‐control strategy can be introduced to the clinic as an adjunct therapy.
The generalization of verbal conditioning within a personal interview context for 24 male and 24 ... more The generalization of verbal conditioning within a personal interview context for 24 male and 24 female college students was studied. During training, subjects were reinforced and directed to produce positive self-references in one group and negative self-references in another. The latter showed generalization but positive self-references did not change. These data suggest that this positive affect resists transfer and may account for the poor to mixed results of conventional psychotherapeutic situations where talking prevails.
This study characterized women&am... more This study characterized women's concurrent and subsequent levels of emotional distress associated with a questionable mammogram screening and relationships between women's coping and psychosocial adjustment. State anxiety was assessed in 98 women 1 day after receiving a mammogram screening (Time 1), after notification of a questionable screening result that necessitated additional testing (Time 2), and after being informed of their breast-cancer-free status (Time 3). Key findings include (a) women reported a significant increase in anxiety following notification of the need to return for follow-up testing; (b) significant and positive associations were found between anxiety and behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, and cognitive avoidance coping in cross-sectional analyses; and (c) cognitive avoidance coping was a strong predictor of final levels of state anxiety in women. Findings suggest that cognitive avoidance coping plays an important role in reducing anxiety in women recalled to clarify an initially ambiguous screening procedure.
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Nov 1, 1984
The present study evaluated the efficacy of two automated behavioural treatment modalities used a... more The present study evaluated the efficacy of two automated behavioural treatment modalities used as a self‐control strategy (deep muscle relaxation and assertive training) as compared to two control groups (attention/placebo and no behavioural treatment) in a psychiatric out‐patient population. Results indicate that, as compared to the other groups, the relaxation group achieved a clinically substantial and statistically significant change. Furthermore, the efficacy of automated relaxation used as a self‐control strategy is sufficient to warrant its introduction as an adjunct psychiatric therapy in out‐patient psychiatric settings. More research is needed before automated assertive training as a self‐control strategy can be introduced to the clinic as an adjunct therapy.
The generalization of verbal conditioning within a personal interview context for 24 male and 24 ... more The generalization of verbal conditioning within a personal interview context for 24 male and 24 female college students was studied. During training, subjects were reinforced and directed to produce positive self-references in one group and negative self-references in another. The latter showed generalization but positive self-references did not change. These data suggest that this positive affect resists transfer and may account for the poor to mixed results of conventional psychotherapeutic situations where talking prevails.
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Papers by Michael Merbaum