Pronoun disambiguation: Accessing potential antecedents

Two general classes of pronoun disambiguation processes are considered. In reading “Jack threw a snowball at Phil, but he missed,” both possible antecedents of “he” (“Jack” and “Phil”) may be accessed initially. Or, the actual antecedent alone may be accessed after sufficient semantic context is encoded. To evaluate these alternatives, a yes-no-probe recognition task was used to measure priming of the potential antecedents in sentence comprehension. Subjects read sentences similar to the example and were presented a test word immediately following each sentence. Response times for the actual antecedent (“Jack”) and nonantecedent (“Phil”) probes were obtained. Results indicated that the nonantecedent as well as the antecedent was activated (accessed) in pronoun disambiguation. This conclusion was not affected by the ordering of the antecedent and nonantecedent in the first clause.     

The history of a catatonic dog

This article is a condensed life-history of a dog (“V3”) born and reared in the Pavlovian Laboratory and studied until his death in 1961. A detailed study was made of his pathologic development, his relations to people, and the effects of drugs. Measurements recorded were heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, 24-hour activity, sexual reflexes, general behavior. Although early experiments were done chiefly for recording and were not considered noxious or traumatic, this dog’s general development and symptoms seem to have been “constitutionally” rather than environmentally determined. His external behavior was strikingly similar to that of a catatonic patient-flexibilitas cerea, general immobility. Of particular interest was the “Effect of Person”: in the presence of all humans who confronted him he showed catatonic postures, cardiovascular disorders (tachycardia up to 200 beats/min., bradycardia to 12 beats/min., drop of blood pressure from 150 to 75 mm Hg, arrest of heart-beat for as long as 8 seconds), moribund poses. His response to drugs illustrated the specificity to a definite “constitutional type”: sexual activity markedly increased by alcohol and rarely present except after administration of alcohol; no improvement after administration of tranquilizers, except alcohol and meprobamate, which made him act like a normal dog in behavior and in relations to people. His symptoms and reactions to both people and drugs were generally opposite to those of another dog, “Nick”, studied over his life span: Nick showed excessive activity in physiologic systems; hyperactivity (running); generally, improvement through “Effect of Person”; sexual inhibition with alcohol. Observations of the two dogs suggest that symptoms as well as reactions to drugs are the result of the “type” rather than the procedure used, that perhaps psychopathologic symptoms are due more to inborn constitution than to “conflict” (“collision”) between excitation and inhibition, and that neurotic or psychotic symptoms may not interfere with longevity-Nick lived to be 14 years old and died fighting; V3, who also spent most of his life in the laboratory, died at the age of 14.     

The professional ethics course

A professional ethics program was recently developed and implemented as a comparative values course at the University of Puget Sound. This article is a report ontheprogram, “Professional Ethics fora Technological Era.”The program consists of two courses: “Ethics for a Technological Era,” and “Values: Conflict and Compromise.” The first course emphasizes skills necessary for ethical decision making. The second course follows through with an opportunity to apply these skills to a major social policy program. This article discusses the approach to ethics, and participation, and the theoretical approach, including role modeling, speakers, and reading and discussion material, for “Professional Ethics in a Technological Era.”     

Andisp: A Turbo pascal program to analyze and display sampled data

ANDISP is a Turbo Pascal program that analyzes, displays, and manipulates sampled data recorded with a PC-compatible data-acquisition system The data analysis routines include “integrate/differentiate a channel”, “rectify,” “smooth,” “filter,” and “add/sub/mult/div a channel by a constant, ” as well as a routine that gives some basic statistics. The data manipulation routines are “copy a channel” or “copy the data buffer to a file.” The versatile display routine can give either oscilloscope-type displays of a data channel or plots of pubUshable quality. Hardware requirements are an IBM-compatible microcomputer and an EGA color monitor.     

Cardiac arrhythmias in the monkey during classically conditioned fear and excitement

Rhesus monkeys(Macaca mulatto) were tested in classic aversive and appetitive conditioning paradigms following complete coronary artery occlusion (CO) to test the hypothesis that “emotional stress” induces ventricular arrhythmias. Findings were based upon conditioning trials conducted for one or more weeks after occlusion in 13 animals. When all data from each animal for the week following CO were considered, there was no demonstrable tendency for arrhythmias to increase during “fear” conditioned to unavoidable electric shock or during “excitement” in anticipation of food. However, selected trials from six monkeys did reveal instances when changes in the frequency of occurrence of arrhythmias were coupled with behavioral conditioning. While analysis of these trials did not reveal any simple relationship between emotional stress and the development of ventricular arrhythmias after myocardial infarction, certain of the behavioral situations may be more potentially arrhythmogenic than others. For these selected trials, with respect to control, the number of arrhythmias may have increased or decreased upon presentation of the conditional stimulus; the exact response appears to depend upon the immediate physiologic status of the animal as well as on the behavioral condition. “More stressful” situations, such as aversive conditioning, are not necessarily associated with greater numbers of arrhythmias than were “less stressful” situations, such as appetitive conditioning. Arrhythmias appear to occur more frequently when an animal’s heart rate is within a given range; this may reflect underlying cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activity.     

Eta,disco, odisco,andF

Two coefficients are proposed for measuring the extent of overlap in distributions as a direct function of the variance between the arithmetic means (“disco” and “odisco”). They are designed to answer such questions as: “Given the value of a numerical variablex, to which population should an individual be assigned so that minimum error would be incurred?” This is just the reverse of the question addressed by ANOVA. These coefficients are shown to be analytic inx and they are related to Pearson's eta and Fisher'sF. Extensions of these coefficients (designed for univariate, one-way discrimination) tok-way and multivariate discriminant analysis and measurement of “interaction” are suggested.     

Abnormal behavior after intracerebral injection of polypeptides from wheat gliadin: Possible relevance to schizophrenia

Accumulating evidence suggests that: (1) gluten-like proteins in cereal grains may produce psychiatric symptoms in schizophrenics as well as in celiac patients; (2) the genotypes for these two disorders may have one or more but not all, genes in common. Gluten fed to treated schizophrenics on a cereal grain-free, milk-free diet exacerbates their symptoms; ingestion of polypeptides resulting from peptic-pancreatic digestion of wheat gliadin (from gluten) produces psychiatric and other symptoms in celiac patients. To test their effect on behavior of normal rats we bypassed the protective barrier systems by intracerebral injection of a potent subfraction of gliadin polypeptides which produces psychiatric symptoms in celiacs. Eighteen exploratory experiments in 4 rats demonstrated that intracerebral injection of these polypeptides may variably produce stereotyped movements, prolonged “chewing in air,” “catelepsy” and seizures, all after an unusually long latent period. The lowest dose producing “catalepsy” was 600 μg, and that for seizures was 500 μg. Since we used a mixture, one or more polypeptides in it may be considerably more potent. The accumulated evidence suggests the following working hypothesis: One or more of the polypeptides produced by peptic-pancreatic digestion of certain glutamine-proline rich food proteins(e.g., cereal grain glutens) are psychotoxic and may enter the brain of the schizophrenic or celiac because the small gut, and possibly other, barrier systems (enzymatic, immunologic, membranous, other) suffer defects of an unknown nature due to one or more abnormal genes common to both diseases; and that the differences in the two diseases are determined largely by the dissimilar components of the genotypes.     

The place of the conditioned reflex in psychology and psychiatry: Reply to reese,dykman, and peters

Razran’s “The Place of the Conditional Reflex in Psychology and Psychiatry” delivered at GAP Symposium No. 9 traced historically the influence of Russian physiology on American behavior systems, first in the classical Watson period and then in present-day Neobehaviorism. The address collated Pavlovianism and Behaviorism, and mentioned recent Soviet emphasis of interoceptive, semantic, and compound-stimulus conditioning. Within the limits of time, it dealt with group developments and not with individual contributions. And it assumed that a behavior system comprises both normal and abnormal aspects; that is, the basics of both psychology and psychiatry. The assertion by Reese, Dykman and Peters that “Psychiatrists tend to avoid contributions of experimental psychologists and vice versa” is not shared by Razran, nor, he believes, by American psychiatry and experimental psychology as such. And the assertion is contrary to the Pavlovian tradition. Pavlov’s first, 1903, publication on conditioned reflexes was entitled “Experimental Psychology and Psychopathology in Animals” which he later renamed “the physiology and pathology [or pathophysiology] of higher nervous activity.”     

Ms. and the manager: A tale of two stereotypes

Recent research on the Ms. stereotype suggests a potentially important exception to the strong link between gender and managerial stereotypes observed in the 1970s. Specifically, we hypothesized that a woman who prefers “Ms.” as her title of address would be seen by perceivers of both sexes as more similar in the “requisite” traits of a successful, middle manager than would a woman who prefers a traditional title of address for herself. These hypotheses were tested by having respondents rate a “successful, middle manager” or other stimulus persons varying in titles of address, sex, and marital status. Correlational analyses of respondents' ratings of stimulus persons yielded strong support for the hypotheses. That is, a woman preferring Ms. as her title of address was seen by adult perceivers of both sexes as possessing the “requisite” personality characteristics of a successful, middle manager; whereas a traditionally titled woman was not. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Confidence ratings in speech perception research: Evaluation of an efficient technique for discrimination testing

Discriminability of voice onset time was determined for four naive Ss in order to evaluate the relative efficiency of a testing procedure which utilized confidence ratings along with the conventional oddity task. Ss rated their judgments on oddity trials as “very very sure,” “somewhat sure,” or “just guessing.” Each S’s discrimination scores were given weights according to his ratings, yielding functions that were compared with those computed using unweighted percent correct scores. The confidence-rating technique produced readily interpretable results with about one-third as many judgments as are needed when the conventional procedure is used. Possible problems with the interpretation of the functions and the generalizability of the technique are discussed.     

The discrimination of structure in vectorgraphs: Local and global effects

Many recent electrophysiological studies have demonstrated specificity for orientation and position tuning in single units of the visual system. Psychophysical investigations have produced complementary evidence for orientation and position coding in vision which is usually interpreted in terms of the underlying neuronal properties. To date, no studies have endeavored to relate such “local” receptive field response profiles to more “global” or field-specific aspects of the input signal. In a series of experiments, we have investigated orientation/position sensitivity as a function of general orientation and position rules governing line element, or “vectorgraph,” displays. We have discovered with such vectorgraph images that individual element acuities are determined by the field structures present. These results show that there are specific “top-down” components even to basic orientation/position coding in the visual system     

Visibility of an afterimage in the presence of a second afterimage

Visibility of an afterimage has been measured for a single rectangular bar on its own and in the presence of a second bar. Visibility of each bar is increased if the two bars are in the same orientation and closer than 1 deg (this effect being called “facilitation”) and is decreased if the bars are in different orientations (this effect being called “inhibition”). These interactions also depend on the relative size of the bars. If a pattern of two bars is viewed dichoptically, rivalry between the bars occurs causing a mutual decrease in visibility. The rivalry effect and the orientation-specific effects discussed above are additive in the dichoptic viewing condition. The orientation-specific effects have been likened to those found in other psychophysical studies of angle detection.     

Why grown-ups cry

Adults appear to cry only during a “recovery” phase following a period of arousal. Depending on the perturbation that caused the arousal, the first phase is sometimes described by them in positive terms (e.g., excitement, anticipation) and sometimes in negative terms (loss, threat). However, the tears always seem to be associated with tension reduction and signify that a second event has permitted the system to shift into recovery. In this sense, all tears can be thought of as “tears of joy” they follow the same mechanism regardless of the tone of the initiating circumstances. To provide evidence for this point of view the responses of 11 individuals (including 2 filmmakers) toThe Miracle Worker were analyzed. Their responses supported the hypothesis that crying occurs when a psychological barrier or perturbation “disappears”—it signifies recovery and adaptation rather than the continuation of distress or arousal.     

Rethinking Reconstructionist Confucianism’s Rethinking

In this review of Fan Ruiping’s book, I am concerned first of all about how representative his account of Confucianism/Ruism is in relationship to the multiform traditions associated with that teaching through more than two thousand years of its existence. Fan emphasizes pre-imperial forms of Confucian traditions, but neglects many alternatives from later sources. Secondly, his account of “familism” lends itself to questions related to the problem of revenge that is associated with traditional Confucianism. This raises further ethical doubts about the effectiveness of his reconstructed Confucianism within contemporary Chinese society. Finally, his “familism” appears to focus on extended family structures, but whether this is suitable and relevant for the structures of modern family transformations in mainland China is questioned.     

Understanding senile “confusion”: Sources and stages

A psychological phenomenon frequently encountered in pastoral care is senile “confusion.” Disorientation can result from sensory deprivation, sociocultural stress, or organic processes. The major cause of confusion among the elderly is dementia resulting from primary neuronal degeneration. Social, psychological, and pastoral support may reduce the degree of confusion or retard its progress toward advanced stages.     

Water taste in man

Taste quality and intensity shifts following adaptation to NaCl, quinine hydrochloride, sucrose and HCl were investigated in 10 Ss. In each of four sessions, Ss were adapted to water and two concentrations of one taste solution and gave magnitude estimates and quality judgments for a series of concentrations of that solution. Adapting to water produced magnitude estimates which increased with increasing concentration. Quality judgments were typical, e.g., “salty” for NaCl. Adapting to moderate concentrations of taste solutions generally produced magnitude estimates of zero at the adapting concentrations and increasing values for higher and lower (sub-adapting) concentrations. Sub-adapting tastes were atypical. Adaptation to NaCl and sucrose produced bitter sub-adapting tastes and adaptation to HCl and quinine hydrochloride produced sweet sub-adapting tastes. Water, as the lowest sub-adapting “concentration”, produced the largest sub-adapting tastes.     

Sex-role behavior and obedience to authority: A field study

Obedience by male and female subjects to male and female experimenters was investigated under various conditions of “perceived legitimacy.” The procedure involved an experimenter stopping a subject who was about to cross a street at a particular crosswalk, the subject was then instructed to cross at another designated location. The dependent variable was the level of obedience to these instructions. The four main factorial independent variables were the sex of the experimenter, the sex of the subject, and two conditions of “perceived legitimacy” (presence or absence of a “uniform,” presence or absence of an “explanation”). Significant results were obtained for the uniform and sex of subject main effects (more obedience with a uniform, more disobedience by females). Additional analyses indicated that “older” subjects disobeyed more often than “younger” ones, that “formally” dressed subjects disobeyed more often than “informally” dressed ones, and that ethnic minority group experimenters were disobeyed significantly more often than Caucasian experimenters. Significant interactions were also obtained, mainly due to the behavior of the younger men and the older women. Male and female experimenters were obeyed equally, in general. The results are discussed in relation to sex-role prejudice and discriminatory behavior.     

A propositional analyst’s assistant

A system (PAN) that is designed to assist both the inexperienced and the experienced user in performing propositional analysis is described. The system is implemented in UCSD Pascal on the Apple II and Apple He microcomputers.     

Can humans think their way to increased freedom?

In response to Auger's article, “Are Human Beings Free?” several points are made in favor of humans' having at least some degree of free choice or free will: (1) Although partly dependent on biological and social influences for their tastes, people may sometimes actually train themselves to change these tastes and desires. (2) Although logically people may never be totally responsible for their acts, unless we pragmatically hold them responsible for their antisocial behavior we vitiate all moral rules of the social groups in which theychoose to reside. (3) RET can hold people responsible for their wrongdoing and help them to act less wrongfully in the future by teaching them how to condemn theirdeeds andacts but not themselves as humans.     

Using HyperCard to administer a figural test on the Apple Macintosh

To date, applications of automated assessment techniques in personality testing have largely been limited to objective personality instruments with text stimuli; few assessment applications have involved graphic stimuli. Although projective personality instruments generally include ambiguous graphic or pictorial stimuli, computer applications with these procedures have been limited to automated scoring and interpretation, administration of sentence completion devices employing text stimuli, and the use of mechanical methods rather than computer graphics to display visual stimuli. In the present report, we describe a Macintosh HyperCard application for administering an objective personality test with visual stimuli, the Barron-Welsh Revised Art Scale of the Welsh Figure Preference Test. This test consists of a series of figural stimuli and a binary “like”/“dislike” response format, and it thus represents an administration procedure between standard objective self-report inventories involving text stimuli and a “true”/“false” response or variant, and tests such as the Rorschach or TAT that are both figural and free-response. The HyperCard language provides a variety of promising techniques useful for microcomputer test administration.