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Biomedical subjects

S Kreitler

Publications and source records attributed to S Kreitler.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Cognitive antecedents of imitativeness and persistence in children with mental retardation.

Two studies with children with mild mental retardation were conducted within the framework of the cognitive orientation theory, which describes how cognitive contents and processes guide behavior and thus enable behavior predictions and modifications. The studies were designed to test whether specific clusters of beliefs would predict imitation and persistence among individuals with mental retardation. Behavioral measures and questionnaires that assessed beliefs were administered. The belief scores were related significantly to the behaviors. Implications concerning motivation, the developmental-difference controversy, and individual differences were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Rigidity in mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

The dependence of rigidity on task difficulty was examined. The hypothesis was that mentally retarded subjects would be more rigid than would nonretarded subjects on difficult but not on easy tasks. An intelligence test and seven rigidity tests varying in difficulty were administered to 45 retarded and 45 MA-matched nonretarded subjects. Factor analyses yielded one rigidity factor for the retarded group and two for the nonretarded group. In both groups the rigidity tests were interrelated and formed a Guttman simplex structure in terms of difficulty. The groups did not differ on three easy tests but did differ on four more difficult tests. The results were interpreted mainly in a motivational framework, with implications concerning mental retardation and rigidity as an interactional concept.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Probability learning and Piagetian probability conceptions in children 5 to 12 years old.

This study focused on the relations between performance on a three-choice probability-learning task and conceptions of probability as outlined by Piaget concerning mixture, normal distribution, random selection, odds estimation, and permutations. The probability-learning task and four Piagetian tasks were administered randomly to 100 male and 100 female, middle SES, average IQ children in three age groups (5 to 6, 8 to 9, and 11 to 12 years old) from different schools. Half the children were from Middle Eastern backgrounds, and half were from European or American backgrounds. As predicted, developmental level of probability thinking was related to performance on the probability-learning task. The more advanced the child's probability thinking, the higher his or her level of maximization and hypothesis formulation and testing and the lower his or her level of systematically patterned responses. The results suggest that the probability-learning and Piagetian tasks assess similar cognitive skills and that performance on the probability-learning task reflects a variety of probability concepts.

Child↗
PubMed1988

The cognitive orientation of obesity.

The paper focuses on studying the cognitive determinants of obesity within the framework of the cognitive orientation (CO) theory. This theory assumes that cognitive contents and processes guide behavior, and specifies procedures for predicting and changing behaviors. The subjects were 64 obese and 64 nonobese women matched in age, height and other demographic variables. They were administered the MMPI and a CO questionnaire of obesity which assessed beliefs of four types (about goals, rules and norms, self and general beliefs) concerning 20 themes found to represent the meanings of food, eating and obesity. The results showed that the groups did not differ and had no elevated scores on any of the MMPI scales. The obese had higher scores than the controls on each of the belief types, an overall belief index, 19 themes and a conflict propensity measure. A discriminant analysis showed 88.3 percent correct identifications on the basis of the beliefs. Discussion focused on the role of conflicts and the different themes in obesity and on outlining the elements of a CO model of obesity with therapeutic implications.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Body image: the dimension of size.

In view of a dearth of clear data concerning phenomenal body size and the shortcomings of the assessment methods, the purpose of the present study was to apply a new kinaesthetically based Body Size Estimation method for investigating differences in size estimations of 10 body parts by men and women of different age groups, comparing them to estimations of a neutral object, and examining their interrelations and relations to attitudinal and personality variables. Two hundred and forty Israeli subjects, 80 (40 male, 40 female) in each of three age groups (4 to 6, 10 to 12, and 28 to 30 years) were administered estimations of body and object, figure drawing, and questionnaires in two individual sessions. Results showed overestimation of body size in all groups, decreasing regularly with age or U-shaped, few gender differences, differences from object estimations, a grouping into bodily and facial images, increasing unitariness, negative correlations with body cathexis and satisfaction, bodily sophistication, and the richness of the self concept and positive correlations with exercise, field dependence, and figure drawing distortions.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The cognitive orientation of expressive communicability in schizophrenics and normals.

The study dealt with expressive communicability (EC), i.e., the amount, fluency, elaboration, clarity, and veracity of the voluntarily transmitted information about oneself. Low EC is considered as a schizophrenic symptom and as a cause of interpersonal difficulties in normals. For investigating the motivational antecedents of EC we applied the cognitive orientation (CO) theory that deals with explaining, predicting, and manipulating behaviors by means of cognitive contents and processes. The hypotheses were that schizophrenics would have fewer positive and more negative EC manifestations than normals, and that beliefs of four types would predict EC in both groups. Subjects were 30 hospitalized schizophrenics and 30 matched normals of both genders. They were administered individually the CO questionnaire and role-playing situations providing EC scores. Hospital personnel and close acquaintances answered a 13-item questionnaire about the subjects' EC. The findings confirmed the hypotheses: schizophrenics differed from normals on all EC measures, and the beliefs predicted 81%-100% EC measures in each group and the whole sample. The discussion focused on theoretical implications for cognitive motivation, the similarity of the motivational processes in schizophrenics and normals, and therapeutic implications for changing EC by changing the relevant beliefs.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Cognitive antecedents of coronary heart disease.

The purpose was to explore cognitive antecedents of CHD proneness in an attempt to avoid some of the problems besetting research focused on type A. The theoretical framework was the cognitive orientation theory by Kreitler and Kreitler which shows how cognitive contents, primarily beliefs about goals, norms, the self and reality guide human behavior and enable its prediction and change. The hypotheses referred to endorsement of beliefs orienting towards CHD-involved behaviors, inconsistencies among belief types and the relation of the beliefs to risk factors in CHD patients as compared to the controls. A self-administered questionnaire was constructed assessing endorsement of four belief types. Subjects were 92 males under 60: 44 with CHD, and two control groups: 28 orthopedic patients without CHD, and 20 healthy subjects. Results showed that CHD individuals scored higher than the controls on the overall beliefs measure, beliefs about norms and about self, had higher inconsistency scores, and had more correlations between belief measures and risk factors (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol). Discussion centered on suggesting a definition of CHD-proneness as consisting of a sustained externally-maintained tension-producing cognitive-motivational conflict, and on the psychometric and practical implications of the findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Curiosity and demographic factors as determinants of children's probability-learning strategies.

Children's curiosity, gender, activity level, and socioeconomic status (SES) were related to their performance on a partially reinforced discrimination-learning task. The 38 boys and 37 girls were in the first grade and were all white. Three factors of curiosity (manipulatory, conceptual, and about the complex) were assessed. Performance on the learning task was scored for the number of correct responses (maximizing) and for the frequency of three-step sequences reflecting variability, systematic patterning, and perseveration. In general, the three curiosity factors related negatively to maximizing and perseveration and positively to variability. (The same effects were found for activity level.) Systematic patterning related positively to one curiosity type and negatively to another. Girls used less maximizing and more systematic patterning than boys. The response choices of girls were affected more by differences in conceptual curiosity and those of boys by differences in curiosity about the complex. Activity level was unrelated to gender but differed with SES. The findings demonstrate the role of different curiosity factors in shaping response sequences and suggest some reasons for children's choice of probability-learning strategies.

Child↗