How psychological assessment taught me compassion and firmness

In this article, I reflect on 2 specific assessment experiences and how they helped me grow as a person and as a psychologist. I believe that practicing assessment creates opportunities for personal growth in assessors because (a) to truly understand difficult clients, we must find personal versions of their psychological dilemmas in ourselves, which we might otherwise never be called on to face, and (b) to be effective as assessors, we must say difficult things to clients in plain nonjudgmental language, which forces us to develop courage and wisdom.     

Subjective assessments of firmness: The use of a rating scale

An experiment was carried out to investigate the extent to which an absolute standard for firmness could be held independently of variations occurring within the samples being judged.

Although the method gave good results as a whole, it was found that, when correlating the ratings to the objective measurements, the absolute standards were not held independently of the average firmness of the groups being judged. In practice, if a certain sample was judged, within a “soft” series of samples, it would be rated as being firmer than when it was judged among “firm” samples. Certain differences in the effects of these changes were related to the nature of the subjects' previous experience.

When the results were considered on a relative comparison basis, it was found that a much lower threshold was achieved than had previously been obtained with judgments for springs using paired comparison methods. There were certain trends in the levels of discrimination with time. These trends are discussed.

The strength of grip of the subjects bore some relation to their initial rating values, but apparently was not related to their level of discrimination. Subjects who were able to exert a more constant pressure throughout the test did not seem to be any better at discriminating than were others.

Ratings made for a single sample two months after the main experiment were very similar to those previously given for the same sample.     

On the Escaig obstacle hypothesis for cross-slip in face-centered-cubic materials

There is a significant body of literature wherein a linear approximation of Escaig's model is used to justify the large experimentally measured activation-volumes for cross-slip in face-centered-cubic copper. Here, by examining the error between the linear approximation and the original theory, we show that this explanation is not satisfactory. The calculated value for activation volume in copper, using Escaig's original equations, yields ～60b ³ (b?=?Burgers vector) while the linear approximation yields 200b ³, the latter result fortuitously matching the experimental values.     

论竹书筮占材料对《左传》筮例研究的意义

《左传》中的十三则筮例是传世文献中最早且成系统的早期易学史资料,自古以来即受到周易研究者的重视。近几十年出土的竹书文献中包含数量可观的筮占记录和数字卦卦画,可以填补《左传》筮例与今本《周易》经传流行之间一段漫长的缺失环节。本文对近三四十年出土的竹书筮占材料详加梳理,胪列了其中对《左传》筮例研究具有较大参考价值的材料,并评介了它们当前的整理、考释、研究状况。通过对这些材料的初步研究,认为新出土的竹书数字卦筮占资料对《左传》筮例研究可以有三方面启发意义:推求今本《周易》文辞的写定过程、搜集古卦象和总结观象玩辞的方法、探索运算成卦的程序和方法。     

Calculations of the minimal perimeter for N deformable cells of equal area confined in a circle

Candidates to the least perimeter partition of a disk into N?planar connected regions are calculated for N?≤?43. A Voronoi construction is used to randomly create the candidates and then the perimeter of each is found with the Surface Evolver. Formulae for the perimeter and number of peripheral regions are given, and the candidates classified according to their topology. The simulation technique also provides improved candidates to the unconstrained problem of finding the least perimeter arrangement of N planar regions.     

出土文献学术研讨会综述

2004年12月6日-8日,由教育部人文社会科学重点研究基地--山东大学易学与中国古代哲学研究中心主办的"出土文献学术研讨会"在山东大学邵逸夫科学馆隆重举行.山东大学副校长方宏建先生到会并致开幕辞.大会由著名易学家刘大钧教授主持,来自全国各地的专家学者30余人,以及山东大学博士、硕士研究生40余人出席了会议.会议提交论文近30篇,取得了圆满成功.大会主要围绕以下问题进行了热烈而深入的讨论:     

《周易研究》之出土易学文献研究综述

本文通过对《周易研究》自1988年创刊以来至2005年底刊登的64篇有关“出土易学文献研究”的论文进行归类阐述与分析研究,梳理了《周易研究》所关注“出土易学文献研究”的脉络,为今后本刊确立研究重点与方向提供了系统的分析资料。     

Long-term effects of testing on the recall of nontested materials

The isolation paradigm is a staple in the study of distinctiveness and memory. Isolated items are better remembered than non-isolated controls, and the standard interpretation of this effect is that subjective experience of salience recruits extraordinary processing to the isolated item. This interpretation is at odds with data showing an isolation effect when the isolate is not perceived as salient (e.g., von Restorff, 1933). All available research on the early isolation effect has tested memory after a relatively short retention interval. Perhaps the effect of salience on memory in the isolation paradigm would be revealed following longer retention intervals. The experiment reported here examines the effect of isolation following a 48-hour retention interval when the isolate evokes an experience of salience compared to when the isolate does not evoke that reaction. The isolation effect was substantial after the 48-hour delay but equally so for early and late isolation. Salience appears to have nothing to do with the memory processes even at the longer retention intervals.     

Subjective hardness of compliant materials

The apparent hardness and softness of nine samples of compliant materials were scaled by direct magnitude estimation and by cross-modal matches to the apparent force exerted on a hand dynamometer and a finger dynamometer, and to the loudness of a band of white noise. The physical hardness (force/indentation) of the compliant specimens covered a range of more than 100 to 1, extending from a fairly soft sponge to a fairly hard block of rubber. The apparent hardness of the specimens was found to follow the psychophysical power law. Subjective hardness grows as the physical hardness raised to a power. The indicated exponent was about 0.8 for magnitude estimation, about 0.7 derived by calculation from handgrip matches, and about 0.6 derived by calculation from loudness matches.

Numerical estimates and cross-modal matches for softness gave functions that were approximately the reciprocal of the functions given for hardness. Hardness is a continuum on which there exists an upper threshold.     

Preparation of ambiguous stimulus materials

The problem of ensuring that ambiguous figures are equally probable in the appearance of each of their two alternative and mutually exclusive aspects is discussed. Failure to consider this problem raises difficulties for interpretation of the results of experiments in which such figures are used. A method of preparing and evaluating the extent to which ambiguous figures are equivocal according to acceptable criteria is described and illustrated. This yields a new ambiguous figure, each alternative aspect of which becomes apparent with approximately the same frequency.     

Sensation seeking and the use and selection of media materials

175 individuals recruited from urban universities (n=82) and the surrounding community (120 women, 55 men; 82 18- to 25-yr.-olds, 26 26- to 34-yr.-olds, 44 35- to 50-yr.-olds, 23 50 yr. old or over) completed a sensation seeking scale and measures of the frequency with which they used specific media and selected specific television programming, film, and music genres. Regression analyses showed Sensation Seeking to be associated positively with Movie Theatre Attendance and with the Selection of Urban Music Genres. Sensation Seeking was also associated negatively with Selection of Light Film Genres.     

Delayed sidetone in relation to the reading of different materials

Several studies were conducted with speakers reading short phrases aloud while experiencing one amount or another of delayed sidetone (0.0–0.30 sec). The phrases represented different numbers of syllables, different types of syllables, different numbers of phonemes, and first and second languages. Additional syllables and unfamiliar material consistently increased the reading time of the speakers disproportionately. The reading of syllables of two and four sounds was apparently more retarded by delayed sidetone than ones of three sounds. Two-sound syllables comprised of vowel-consonants required more time to read than ones comprised of consonant-vowels. The effect of additional phonemes, with the type of syllables held constant, added linearly in the reading time of the phrases. The syllabic characteristics, the length, and probably the familiarity of the material affected the reading time nonlinearly.