Instability of hierarchical cluster analysis due to input order of the data: the PermuCLUSTER solution

Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) may yield different solutions under permutations of the input order of the data. This instability is caused by ties, either in the initial proximity matrix or arising during agglomeration. The authors recommend to repeat the analysis on a large number of random permutations of the rows and columns of the proximity matrix and select a solution with the highest goodness-of-fit. This approach was implemented in an SPSS add-in, PermuCLUSTER, which can perform all HACA methods of SPSS. Analyses of 2 data sets show that (a) results are affected by input order, (b) instability in one method co-occurs with instability in other methods, and (c) some instability effects are more dramatic because they occur at higher agglomeration levels.     

Dismal: a spreadsheet for sequential data analysis and HCI experimentation

Dismal is a spreadsheet that works within GNU Emacs, a widely available programmable editor. Dismal has three features of particular interest to those who study behavior: (1) the ability to manipulate and align sequential data, (2) an open architecture that allows users to expand it to meet their particular needs, and (3) an instrumented and accessible interface for studies of human-computer interaction (HCI). Example uses of each of these capabilities are provided, including cognitive models that have had their sequential behavior aligned with subject’s protocols, extensions useful for teaching and doing HCI design, and studies in which keystroke logs from the timing package in Dismal have been used.     

Change after long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy in clinical practice is traditionally a long-term treatment conducted by well-trained psychotherapists. However, very few studies have been published that evaluate the effects of such treatment. To redress this lack of studies, 55 individuals selected for long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (average, 3 years) were invited to participate in a naturalistic study. The psychotherapists had a mean of 15 years of professional experience. The 36 patients who completed psychotherapy manifested a substantial reduction in symptomatic suffering and decreased levels of character pathology, as measured by the Karolinska Psychodynamic Profile (KAPP) and the Karolinska Scales of Personality. Generally, such changes were not found in the individuals who did not engage in treatment. In the therapy group, improvements were found on eight KAPP subscales defining different aspects of character: Intimacy and Reciprocity, Frustration Tolerance, Regression in the Service of the Ego, Coping with Aggressive Affects, Conceptions of Bodily Appearance and their Significance for Self-esteem, Sexual Function, Sexual Satisfaction, and Personality Organization. The results indicate that individuals who engaged in psychotherapy improved their capacity to handle crucial aspects of life and reduced their symptomatic suffering.     

An eye movement analysis of "mental rotation" of simple scenes

Participants saw a standard scene of three objects on a desktop and then judged whether a comparison scene was either the same, except for the viewpoint of the scene, or different, when one or more of the objects either exchanged places or were rotated around their center. As in Nakatani, Pollatsek, and Johnson (2002), judgment times were longer when the rotation angles of the comparison scene increased, and the size of the rotation effect varied for different axes and was larger for same judgments than for different judgments. A second experiment, which included trials without the desktop, indicated that removing the desktop frame of reference mainly affected the y-axis rotation conditions (the axis going vertically through the desktop plane). In addition, eye movement analyses indicated that the process was far more than a simple analogue rotation of the standard scene. The total response latency was divided into three components: the initial eye movement latency, the first-pass time, and the second-pass time. The only indication of a rotation effect in the time to execute the first two components was for z-axis (plane of sight) rotations. Thus, for x- and y-axis rotations, rotation effects occurred only in the probability of there being a second pass and the time to execute it. The data are inconsistent either with an initial rotation of the memory representation of the standard scene to the orientation of the comparison scene or with a holistic alignment of the comparison scene prior to comparing it with the memory representation of the standard scene. Indeed, the eye movement analysis suggests that little of the increased response time for rotated comparison scenes is due to something like a time-consuming analogue process but is, instead, due to more comparisons on individual objects being made (possibly more double checking).     

Lying to insurance companies: the desire to deceive among physicians and the public

This study examines the public's and physicians' willingness to support deception of insurance companies in order to obtain necessary healthcare services and how this support varies based on perceptions of physicians' time pressures. Based on surveys of 700 prospective jurors and 1617 physicians, the public was more than twice as likely as physicians to sanction deception (26%versus 11%) and half as likely to believe that physicians have adequate time to appeal coverage decisions (22%versus 59%). The odds of public support for deception compared to that of physicians rose from 2.48 to 4.64 after controlling for differences in time perception. These findings highlight the ethical challenge facing physicians and patients in balancing patient advocacy with honesty in the setting of limited societal resources.     

The nature and treatment of stuttering as revealed by fMRI A within- and between-group comparison

This article reviews some of our recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of stuttering. Using event-related fMRI experiments, we investigated brain activation during speech production. Results of three studies comparing persons who stutter (PWS) and persons who do not stutter (PWNS) are outlined. Their findings point to a region in the right frontal operculum (RFO) that was consistently implicated in stuttering. During overt reading and before fluency shaping therapy, PWS showed higher and more distributed neuronal activation than PWNS. Immediately after therapy differential activations were even more distributed and left sided. They extended to frontal, temporal, and parietal regions, anterior cingulate, insula, and putamen. These over-activations were slightly reduced and again more right sided two years after therapy. Left frontal deactivations remained stable over two years of observation, and therefore possibly indicate a dysfunction. After therapy, we noted higher activations in persons who stutter moderately than in those who stutter severely. These activations might reflect patterns of compensation. We discuss why these findings suggest that fluency-inducing techniques might synchronize a disturbed signal transmission between auditory, speech motor planning, and motor areas.

Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to: (1) identify regions of brain activations and deactivations specific for PWS; (2) describe brain activation changes induced by fluency shaping therapy; and (3) discuss the correlation between stuttering severity and brain activation.     

Confronting prejudice (literally): reactions to confrontations of racial and gender bias

Participants in two studies reported how they would feel, think, and behave after being confronted about either gender-biased or equivalent racial-biased responses. In Study 2, whether the confrontation was from a target group member (Black or female) or nontarget (White or male) group member was manipulated. Regardless of confronter status, allegations of racial bias elicited more guilt and apologetic-corrective responses and greater concern over having offended the confronter than similar confrontations of gender bias, which elicited more amusement. Target confrontations elicited less guilt but greater discomfort than nontarget confrontations and were associated with feelings of irritation and antagonism among more prejudiced participants. In addition, participants perceived a target's confrontation as more of an overreaction than the same confrontation from a nontarget. The implications of these findings for prejudice-reduction efforts are discussed.     

A Jewish View of Human Learning

This paper offers a rabbinic reading of the Hebrew Bible's conception of human learning. Although addressed to adults, and focused on initiation of both young and old into its vision of the good, the Bible nonetheless offers a conception of how children ought to be educated. Central to this pedagogy is the view that education is fundamentally an ethical activity whose purpose is to nurture and affirm the moral potential of each person through the internalization of divine teachings.     

Rhetorical Unity and Social Division: A Longitudinal Study of Change in Australian Self-Stereotypes

This paper examines the impact of social division associated with the emergent "race debate" in Australia (and the so-called "Hanson phenomenon") on the consensus of Australian students' stereotypes of their national ingroup. It compares the stereotypes held by a sample of students in 1997 ( N = 20) with those revealed in studies conducted from 1992 onwards ( N = 102). Results provide strong evidence that stereotype consensus was reduced in the current phase of research and post-testing also indicates that participants themselves interpreted this as being the product of political change in Australian society. The findings are consistent with the argument that stereotypes are sensitive to changes in intergroup and intragroup relations, and that they respond to the reality of social division rather than to the rhetoric of unity.     

The Social Psychology of Black–White Interracial Interactions: Implications for Culturally Competent Clinical Practice

Social psychological research suggests that because of concerns about being perceived in stereotypical ways, people may experience negative affect and diminished attention and cognitive capacity during interracial interactions. The authors discuss this research in relation to therapy and assessment and also offer practical suggestions for ensuring culturally competent professional practice. La investigación en el campo de la psicología social sugiere que, debido a la preocupación por ser percibida de forma estereotipada, la gente puede experimentar sentimientos negativos y un nivel reducido de atención y capacidad cognitiva durante interacciones interraciales. Los autores discuten esta investigación en relación a la terapia y evaluación, y también ofrecen sugerencias prácticas para asegurar una práctica profesional culturalmente competente.