Who is or was E. R. F. W. Crossman,the champion of the Power Law of Learning and the developer of an influential model of aiming?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - It is unusual for very little to be known about a highly influential psychological scientist, but that is the case for the individual responsible for promoting...     

Reply to “Reconsidering evidence for the suppression model of the octave illusion,” by C. D. Chambers,J. B. Mattingley,and S. A. Moss

Chambers, Mattingley, and Moss (2004) present a review of research and theory concerning the octave illusion, a phenomenon that was originally reported by Deutsch (1974). The authors argue against the two-channel model proposed by Deutsch (1975a) to explain the illusory percept that was most commonly obtained and propose, instead, that the illusion results from binaural fusion and diplacusis. This article replies to the arguments raised by Chambers et al. (2004) and argues that the octave illusion and the two-channel model proposed to explain it are in accordance with growing evidence for what-where dissociations in the auditory system and for illusory conjunctions in hearing.     

Book Review of Health and the Construction of the Individual. J. Ogden. London: Routledge, 2002. i–viii + 130 pages ISBN 0415233070

Abstract

Recent theoretical and empirical research has challenged the assumption of health psychologists employing social cognitive models that beliefs can confidently be inferred on the basis of questionnaire responses. It is charged that responses to questionnaires are a function of the intelligibility of the items, constructs and theoretical framework to survey participants. To investigate this contention, cognitions specified by Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) were measured with respect to intentions to use a condom and intentions to use dental floss. Three alternative formats of a questionnaire which varied the order of presentation of PMT items were distributed to student samples. Analyses showed that while questionnaire format did not affect the reliability of cognition measures, there was some variation in the significance and strength of correlations between PMT cognitions across formats. Individual differences in social desirability and salience of the target behaviour had small and predictable effects upon reliabilities and intercorrelations. Implications for the measurement of health beliefs and the status of questionnaire responses are outlined and suggestions are made for controlling bias associated with respondents' capacity to “read” a questionnaire.     

The subjectivity of the mother in the mother–son relationship. Attachment,separation, and autonomy

Abstract

Margaret Mahler and John Bowlby's positions are crucial in understanding the tensions that can arise in mother–son relationships. A more recent development of a systems view illuminates the co-construction of this relationship that occurs mainly out of awareness. A systems model of development that describes the co-construction and bi-directional influence between mothers and sons will be used in this paper. The often-neglected subjectivity of the mother is the focus, and the relationship between the mother and her adult son is viewed as a process whereby all participants strive to achieve a balance among attachment, separation, and autonomy. In addition, the contributions of the mother and the impact on her of the son's difficulties in attachment, separation, and autonomy are highlighted. In a case illustration, the subjectivity of the mother in relation to her son is explicated, showing how the son distances himself from his mother and why themother is at a loss to understand how and why this has occurred. The mother's perspective was dominated by anger and disappointment toward her son as well as by self-blame and self-justification. As a result of psychotherapy, the mother was enabled to come to terms with the estrangement of her son.     

Since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens,has anyone beaten you up? Improving the accuracy of retrospective reports with landmarkevents

When people are questioned about past experiences, it is common for eventsto be reported as happening more recently than they actually did. One technique for reducing the instances of this “forward telescoping” is tested in the current research: It involves the provision of landmark events that can clearly mark the beginning of the reference period. Such atechnique was shown to reduce the telescoping problem in five experiments, involving 1, 694 subjects. The landmark event used in two of the studies was the first major eruption of Mt. St. Helens, and use of this event was shown to significantly reduce the incidence of forward telescoping of crime victimizations. Asking subjects to provide their own personal landmarks had similar beneficial effects. Finally, a more usual public landmark event, New Year’s day, substantially reduced forward telescoping. At least part, but not all, of the benefit of landmark events appears to be due to their being dated rather precisely.     

A Pastoral Analysis of the Three Pillars of U.S. Hegemony—“Free Market” Capitalism,Militarism, and Exceptionalism

In this article, I offer a pastoral analysis of the three interrelated pillars of U.S. hegemony, namely, “free market” capitalism, militarism, and exceptionalism. My claims are that these pillars 1) were and are integral to the rise and maintenance of the U.S. Empire or the U.S. as hyperpower, 2) while beneficial to some U.S. citizens (as well as Western Europeans) and accidentally to other peoples, have significant and extensive detrimental and long-term consequences for other peoples, and 3) represent fundamentally and profoundly flawed symbol systems vis-à-vis creating social policies and programs that involve the common good or foster community. I argue further that the fusion of these symbol systems—free market capitalism, militarism, and exceptionalism—gives rise to the interpretation of the Other as functional and is inherently flawed and dangerous, because these systems lead to controlling, manipulating, using, or destroying the Other. If the notion of the common good is to expand beyond the narrow confines of corporations or a nation and if we seek a good enough society that fosters diverse communities, then these semiotic systems must be subordinate to religious or humanistic symbol systems that elevate the personhood of the Other.     

The Perfection of the Teacher Through the Pursuit of Happiness: Cavell’s Reading of J. S. Mill

Drawing upon Nel Noddings’ contention that, if children are to be happy in schools, their teachers should also be happy, this paper tries to explore a way in which the obviously intimate but seemingly conflicting connections between students’ and teachers’ happiness can be understood from the viewpoint of Stanley Cavell’s reading of J. S. Mill. Mill’s conceptions of desire and pleasure are examined as a means of liberating the above connection from existing prioritization: that is, teachers’ or students’ happiness comes first. The pursuit of happiness for both teachers and students is discussed, in the hopes of illuminating alternative images of teacher education.     

On the Origin of the Concept of “Deviant Subculture” in Criminology: W. I. Thomas and the Chicago School of Sociology

“Deviant subculture” has been a key concept in sociology of deviance and crime for a long time. It has often been argued that Albert K. Cohen was the person who first developed the concept. However, this article argues that the concept first emerged in the work of the Chicago School of Sociology and that W. I. Thomas’ notion of “the definition of the situation” was at the core of it. The notion allowed Thomas to redefine the problem of deviance and crime from one caused by psychological and physiological defects to one caused by normative disorganization.