The Internet can be an effective medium for the posting, exchange, and collection of information in psychology-related research and data. The relative ease and inexpensiveness of creating and maintaining Web-based applications, associated with the simplicity of use via the graphic-user interface format of form-based surveys, can establish a new research frontier for the social and behavioral sciences. To explore the possible use of Internet tools in psychological research, this study compared Web-based assessment techniques with traditional paper-based methods of different measures of Internet attitudes and behaviors in an Italian sample. The collected data were analyzed to identify both differences between the two samples and in the psychometric characteristics of the questionnaires. Even if we found significant differences between the two samples in the Internet attitudes and behaviors, no relevant differences were found in the psychometric properties of the different questionnaires. This result, similar to the ones previously obtained in Web-based assessments of personality constructs, is even more interesting given the lack of control on the characteristics of the online sample. These finding suggests that, if sampling control and validity assessment is provided, Internet-based questionnaires can be a suitable alternative to more traditional paper-based measures.

F rom a communication psychology point of view, irony is not only a rhetorical gure or a cunning linguistic device, but also an articulated strategy for a exible negotiation of meaning, as well as for establishing and maintaining relations with others. Within the "irony family" phenomena our attention is focused on the sarcastic irony generated in a con ict context ("praise by blame") and on the kind irony produced in a cooperation context ("blame by praise"). The effects of the variability of contextual cues on the vocal variables (Fo, energy, time) of irony were studied. Through the analysis of the vocal features of standard phrases in a con ict or cooperation context, an ironic dominant pattern has been found consisting of caricatured vocal traits, although differences referring to the two ironic expressions came out. From a subject-by-subject analysis, four ironic patterns were obtained: (1) in the cooperation context (a) a rather high and changeable pitch and strong energy ("bantering" joy) were observed, as well as (b) a low and monotone pitch and strong energy (emphatic mark of tenderness); (2) in the con ict context (a) a very high and changeable pitch, strong energy, and slow rate of articulation ("accented banter") were found, as well as (b) a low and not very changeable pitch, slow rate of articulation, and steadily soft energy (like scorn and cold anger). Following these four vocal patterns, the ironic voice could be de ned as a "voice of banter." In such a way, irony appears as a method used to manipulate the weight of indirect speech, which allows the ef cacy of the word and the innocence of silence. Moreover, the ironist can be described as an able director of his own image, able to play with the voice. Within social relationships, in fact, he can use his own voice for calibrating strategically his ways of (un)masking himself to the others. D u point de vue de la psychologie de la communication, l'ironie n'est pas seulement une gure de rhétorique ou un astucieux dispositif langagier, mais aussi une stratégie articulée à la fois pour une négociation exible du sens et pour établir et maintenir les relations avec les autres. Dans la "famille de l'ironie", on a concentré l'attention sur l'ironie sarcastique générée dans un contexte con ictuel ("éloge par des reproches") et sur l'ironie débonnaire produite dans un contexte de coopération ("reproches par l'éloge"). Les effets de la variabilité des éléments contextuels sur les variables vocales (Fo, énergie, temps) de l'ironie ont été étudiés dans cette recherche. A travers l'analyse des traits vocaux des expressions standards dans un contexte de con it ou de coopération, un modèle ironique dominant se distingue, consistant en traits vocaux caricaturés, quoique des différences subsistent selon les deux expressions ironiques. Par une analyse "sujet par sujet", quatre modèles de voix ironique émergent: (1) contexte de la coopération: (a) voix avec un ton plutôt haut et changeant et avec une forte énergie (joie "drôle"), (b) voix avec un ton bas et monotone ...

The use of a multicomponent cognitive-behavioral treatment strategy for panic disorder with agoraphobia is actually one of the preferred therapeutic approaches for this disturbance. This method involves a mixture of cognitive and behavioral techniques that are intended to help patients identify and modify their dysfunctional anxiety-related thoughts, beliefs and behavior. The paper presents a new treatment protocol for Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, named Experiential-Cognitive Therapy (ECT) that integrates the use of virtual reality (VR) in a multicomponent cognitive-behavioral treatment strategy. The VR software used for the trial is freely downloadable: www.cyberpsychology.info/try.htm. Moreover, the paper presents the result of a controlled study involving 12 consecutive patients aged 35-53. The selected subjects were randomly divided in three groups: ECT group, that experienced the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Virtual Reality assisted treatment (eight sessions), a CBT group that experienced the traditional Cognitive Behavioral approach (12 sessions) and a waiting list control group. The data showed that both CBT and ECT could significantly reduce the number of panic attacks, the level of depression and both state and trait anxiety. However, ECT procured these results using 33% fewer sessions than CBT. This datum suggests that ECT could be better than CBT in relation to the "cost of administration," justifying the added use of VR equipment in the treatment of panic disorders.

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