Congruency-induced blindness: a cost-benefit analysis

Targets are identified more accurately when they are presented during an incongruent response (e.g., a left-pointing arrowhead presented during a right key press) than during a congruent response (e.g., a left-pointing arrowhead presented during a left key press). This effect, referred to here as congruency-induced blindness, has been hypothesised to result from the occupation of feature codes. According to the code occupation hypothesis (Behav. Brain Sci.; J. Experim. Psychol.: Human Percept. Perform.; Vis. Cogn., in press), only costs of congruency between features of a planned or executed action and a to-be-perceived target should be observed; neither costs nor benefits of incongruency are predicted by this account. In the present study, we investigated costs and benefits in identifying left and right targets directly by manipulating neutral response type and the symbols used to cue the neutral response, which produced four neutral conditions. Three important results emerged: (1). a significant main effect of RSI (suggesting that increasing temporal overlap between a planned action and target presentation interferes with perceptual reports of the target), (2). a significant main effect of congruency (showing that impairment is code-specific), and (3). clear-cut costs with little evidence for benefits. Other complex patterns of results provided additional information relevant for extant theories of perception-action interactions.     

Some problems with social cognition models: a pragmatic and conceptual analysis.

Empirical articles published between 1997 and 2001 from 4 health psychology journals that tested or applied 1 or more social cognition models (theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, health belief model, and protection motivation theory; N = 47) were scrutinized for their pragmatic and conceptual basis. In terms of their pragmatic basis, these 4 models were useful for guiding research. The analysis of their conceptual basis was less positive. First, these models do not enable the generation of hypotheses because their constructs are unspecific; they therefore cannot be tested. Second, they focus on analytic truths rather than synthetic ones, and the conclusions resulting from their application are often true by definition rather than by observation. Finally, they may create and change both cognitions and behavior rather than describe them.     

A cost-benefit analysis of demand for food.

Laboratory studies of consumer demand theory require assumptions regarding the definition of price in the absence of a medium of exchange (money). In this study we test the proposition that the fundamental dimension of price is a cost-benefit ratio expressed as the effort expended per unit of food value consumed. Using rats as subjects, we tested the generality of this "unit price" concept by varying four dimensions of price: fixed-ratio schedule, number of food pellets per fixed-ratio completion, probability of reinforcement, and response lever weight or effort. Two levels of the last three factors were combined in a 2 x 2 x 2 design giving eight groups. Each group was studied under a series of six FR schedules. Using the nominal values of all factors to determine unit price, we found that grams of food consumed plotted as a function of unit price followed a single demand curve. Similarly, total work output (responses x effort) conformed to a single function when plotted in terms of unit price. These observations provided a template for interpreting the effects of biological factors, such as brain lesions or drugs, that might alter the cost-benefit ratio.     

Some problems and issues in the implementation of mental health programs in the public schools

New roles are possible for school psychologists because of mental health needs engendered by today's problems in educational settings. There is a great urgency for school psychologists to seek larger scale kinds of solutions than have typified the more frequently practiced therapeutic efforts of school psychologists in the past. Mental health programs that are more suitably adapted to the life styles of low-income and minority groups is a high priority requisite for such work to be successful in today's schools.     

Some problems in forensic assessment

The establishing of facts in criminal cases calls for the marshalling of evidence, from every angle and without bias, in strict compliance with the law. The findings of the court in respect of criminal accountability must likewise be established beyond doubt; probability is inadequate as a basis for conviction. The highest degree is inadequate as a basis for conviction. The highest degree of forensic competence in matters psychiatric and psychological must be assured. Expert opinion must proceed from an evaluation of the accused person's capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, taking account of the nature of the offense. Part of this evaluation consists in the determination of the combined effect of the principal determining factors. Greater depth of knowledge is required respecting the part played by alcohol in the capacity to distinguish right from wrong compared with impulse, mental deficiency, grave abnormal development, etc. In the interests of securing a sound judgment of criminal accountability, further research is desirable into the complexus of determining factors, for example, into the multifunctional contribution of deranged physiological structures and processes which take a mental and/or psychopathological course.     

HIV prevention with persons with mental health problems

The HIV seroprevalence rate among persons with mental health problems (PMHP) is substantially higher than that of the general population in the United States. This study examines the efficacy over 12 months of an HIV prevention program with 99 individuals attending outpatient mental health clinics who were randomly assigned to receive either: (a) a seven-session, small-group intervention of Project LIGHT (Living in Good Health Together); or (b) a one-session video intervention. Regression analyses of data from 87% of the sample interviewed at 1-year follow-up revealed that intervention group membership was associated with significantly fewer sexual risk acts. A significant intervention effect for condom use was found for 72% of the sample who were African American, but not for Latino or Caucasian participants. Results from this study suggest that HIV risk reduction groups such as Project LIGHT may have utility in public mental health care settings.     

Some neglected problems in IRT

The paper addresses three neglected questions from IRT. In section 1, the properties of the “measurement” of ability or trait parameters and item difficulty parameters in the Rasch model are discussed. It is shown that the solution to this problem is rather complex and depends both on general assumptions about properties of the item response functions and on assumptions about the available item universe. Section 2 deals with the measurement of individual change or “modifiability” based on a Rasch test. A conditional likelihood approach is presented that yields (a) an ML estimator of modifiability for given item parameters, (b) allows one to test hypotheses about change by means of a Clopper-Pearson confidence interval for the modifiability parameter, or (c) to estimate modifiability jointly with the item parameters. Uniqueness results for all three methods are also presented. In section 3, the Mantel-Haenszel method for detecting DIF is discussed under a novel perspective: What is the most general framework within which the Mantel-Haenszel method correctly detects DIF of a studied item? The answer is that this is a 2PL model where, however, all discrimination parameters are known and the studied item has the same discrimination in both populations. Since these requirements would hardly be satisfied in practical applications, the case of constant discrimination parameters, that is, the Rasch model, is the only realistic framework. A simple Pearsonx ² test for DIF of one studied item is proposed as an alternative to the Mantel-Haenszel test; moreover, this test is generalized to the case of two items simultaneously studied for DIF.     

United States and Canadian approaches to justice in health care: A comparative analysis of health care systems and values

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the basic ethical values underpinning national health care policies in the United States and Canada. We use the framework of ethical theory to name and elaborate ethical values and to facilitate moral reflection about health care reform. Section one describes historical and contemporary social contract theories and clarifies the ethical values associated with them. Sections two and three show that health care debates and health care systems in both countries reflect the values of this tradition; however, each nation interprets the tradition differently. In the U.S., standards of justice for health care are conceived as a voluntary agreement reached by self-interested parties. Canadians, by contrast, interpret the same justice tradition as placing greater emphasis on concern for others and for the community. The final section draws out the implications of these differences for future U.S. and Canadian health care reforms.     

A cost-benefit mechanism for selecting problem-solving strategies: Some extensions and empirical tests

Beach and Mitchell (Academy of Management Review 1978, 3, 439–449) proposed a contingency model for the selection of decision strategies in which the decision maker selected that strategy expected to result in the greatest net benefit (i.e., selection is based on a cost-benefit analysis). The perceived costs and benefits associated with each strategy are affected by various situational variables. Christensen-Szalanski (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 1978, 22, 307–323) developed the selection mechanism in greater detail. The present paper extends that selection mechanism by proposing a set of alternative assumptions underlying the mechanism and by proposing an expanded role for the variable time in the decision strategy selection process. In addition, the present paper presents the results of a study testing certain of the proposed extensions and the effects of time constraints, task complexity, and task significance on the selection of a decision strategy.     

Some new problems in biomedical regulation

The purpose of this paper is to present rather than resolve some new ethical problems which are likely to become the subject of public discussion in the near future. Some problems likely to be the subjects of extensive debate are: the foetal patient, 'home abortifacients' and abortifacient vaccines, the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, experimentation on 'spare' human embryos, the legalization of heroin abuse and the use of anencephalics and the persistently comatose as organ donors.     

How stigma interferes with mental health care

Many people who would benefit from mental health services opt not to pursue them or fail to fully participate once they have begun. One of the reasons for this disconnect is stigma; namely, to avoid the label of mental illness and the harm it brings, people decide not to seek or fully participate in care. Stigma yields 2 kinds of harm that may impede treatment participation: It diminishes self-esteem and robs people of social opportunities. Given the existing literature in this area, recommendations are reviewed for ongoing research that will more comprehensively expand understanding of the stigma-care seeking link. Implications for the development of antistigma programs that might promote care seeking and participation are also reviewed.