Intraclass correlation associated with therapists: estimates and applications in planning psychotherapy research

It is essential that outcome research permit clear conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of interventions. The common practice of nesting therapists within conditions can pose important methodological challenges that affect interpretation, particularly if the study is not powered to account for the nested design. An obstacle to the optimal design of these studies is the lack of data about the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which measures the statistical dependencies introduced by nesting. To begin the development of a public database of ICC estimates, the authors investigated ICCs for a variety outcomes reported in 20 psychotherapy outcome studies. The magnitude of the 495 ICC estimates varied widely across measures and studies. The authors provide recommendations regarding how to select and aggregate ICC estimates for power calculations and show how researchers can use ICC estimates to choose the number of patients and therapists that will optimize power. Attention to these recommendations will strengthen the validity of inferences drawn from psychotherapy studies that nest therapists within conditions.     

META‐HUMANS AND METANOIA: THE MORAL DIMENSION OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS

Abstract. Although we do not know whether intelligent extraterrestrials exist, they are a permanent fixture of literature and philosophical argument. Part of their appeal is that they watch us from above and thus serve as a metaphor for human self‐reflexivity. This makes fictional aliens especially useful when moral issues are at stake. In order to evaluate stories about aliens with respect to moral conclusions two conditions must be fulfilled. First, the stories have to be detailed enough that we can understand the circumstances of the aliens' moral choices. Therefore science fiction often is more useful than arguments involving aliens in short technical papers. Second, their fictional lives need to be possible in our own universe, or very nearly so, in order to be relevant for our own moral conduct. Taking as an example the unfallen aliens in C. S. Lewis's novels Out of the Silent Planet (1938) and Perelandra (1943), we can acknowledge the theological interest and literary subtlety. Nonetheless, the stories fail as moral parables in one important respect: The aliens depicted could not be a product of evolution in our universe, at least as we currently understand its scientific laws. This realization has important consequences for our self‐understanding and thus underlines how fictional aliens can be useful in making sense of the complexities involved in moral argumentation.     

Algorithms for fast and precise computation of the normal integral

Five highly accurate algorithms that evaluate the normal distribution function are presented. The algorithms, which are based on either numerical integration or series expansions, are explicated, and applications of Simpson’s rule are discussed. Computer programs that implement the algorithms were compared with respect to accuracy and speed. The programs attain from 11- to 15-decimal-place accuracy in finding one-tailed areas of the normal curve, and most execute very quickly. Recommendations are made for selection of algorithms and programs to approximate the normal distribution.     

Social preference of female gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) as influenced by coat color of males

Female gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) of three distinct coat colors (agouti, black, and sandy or pink-eyed dilution) were tested in a Y-maze whose arms led to compartments containing unfamiliar male gerbils of varying coat colors. The stimulus animals were separated from the females by a Plexiglas door. The trials lasted for 2 min and each female was exposed to the following four combinations: two males of the same coloring as the female; one male of the same color and another of a different color from the female; both males of different color from the female. The number of crossings to the left and right arms was relayed by photocells to an IBM PC computer. The results indicate that agouti females preferred visiting the arm occupied by agouti males while those of the other coat colors showed no preference for the "wild-type" males. Instead, sandy and black female gerbils preferred to be in proximity with those of non-wild types.     

A rapid technique to assess the resting states of the eyes and other threshold phenomena: The Modified Binary Search (MOBS)

A technique was developed to automate subjective measurement of the resting states of the eyes. This technique, the Modified Binary Search (MOBS), evolved from the binary search and a commonly used manual bracketing technique. The procedure is mathematically and logically simple, and it requires minimal storage and computation capabilities. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the MOBS procedure provides more precise measures with fewer stimulus presentations than conventional staircases. It is also relatively insensitive to response errors.     

The second androgyny: A proposed revision in adaptive priorities for college women

Evidence has accumulated suggesting that androgyny, as popularly conceived (i.e., balanced and flexible display of masculine and feminine behaviors across situations), has more adaptive value for women than for men and even that it holds less value than believed for women. Four sex types were compared in a series of studies bearing upon psychological adjustment in college women: (1) balanced androgyny, (2) blended androgyny that integrates masculinity and femininity, (3) femininity, and (4) masculinity. In three out of four studies that considered daily stress symptoms, Type A characteristics, and menstrual distress, balanced androgynes demonstrated the poorest psychological adaptation and blended androgynes the best. The fourth study considered the psychological characteristics associated with eating disorders and found feminine women to be the most maladapted. Interpretation of the trend of results in terms of identity problems for the balanced androgynous woman was offered.     

When visual search functions look like item recognition functions

Visual search data were collected from six Ss on three target set sizes on each of 30 days. Error level was low, and items assigned to memory sets were nonnested and changed from session tosession. For each S. the same item sometimes required a positive and sometimes a negative response (response inconsistency). Combining data over Ss and over successive 6-day blocks, visual search rates as a function of target set size were found to be linear for each of the five 6-day blocks. The slopes of the above functions (memory search time) did not differ significantly over the final four 6-day blocks, and averaged approximately.500 sec per six-character item. These results are qualitatively very similar to results obtained from item recognition studies when error level, memory set structure, degree of response’_ consistency, and practice are handled in the same way in that task. The significantly lower slope obtained on the first 6-day block is shown to be consistent with a speed-accuracy trade off interpretation when error rate is expressed per unit of processing time (percent errors/set size). Over the final three 6-day blocks, where all important parameters ofthe data were highly stable, the intercepts of the memory search functions were found to closely approximate zero, averaging .0068 sec. From this finding, along with the finding that the memory search functions are linear, it is inferred that visual search time is determined entirely by memory search time, or by memory search time and other processes which increase linearly with set size, under the conditions of this experiment. The estimate of memory search time (approximately 83 msec/character) obtained using this visual search procedure is much slower than that obtained using the item recognition procedure (approximately 35\2-40 msec/character). An explanation for this difference is proposed.     

A real-time criterion theory of duration discrimination

The common idea that a measure is taken of a duration stimulus over its temporal extent, and that the decision as to whether the stimulus is relatively long or short is based upon such a measure, is shown to be incorrect. Two experiments, which require speeded responding in duration discrimination and consider response latencies as well as response probabilities, demonstrate that the response that is made is determined by the outcome of a race between an internally timed interval, the criterion, and the presented stimulus. The onset of the stimulus triggers the criterion; if the criterion ends first, the response “long” is elicited. Duration discrimination is a matter of temporal order discrimination, and in the limit, “short” responses are simple reactions while “long” responses are time estimation responses. A specific model of the real-time criterion hypothesis is tested, and these initial tests generally confirm it. From this, it is concluded that errors in duration discrimination are due entirely to variability of the criterion and that afferent latencies are not necessarily variable. This adds additional evidence for the existence of deterministic afferent latencies.     

Effects of vestibular stimulation on motor development and stereotyped behavior of developmentally delayed children

Four developmentally delayed babies were given semicircular canal stimulation in an effort to facilitate their motor and reflex development. Each of the children also exhibited abnormal stereotyped movements. The theory was advanced that these movements are related to motor development and that significant improvements in motor abilities will produce changes in the intensity and/or form of stereotypic responding. Semicircular canal stimulation was provided by rotating the children in a motor-driven chair at a velocity of about 17 rpm for 10 minutes daily over a period of 2 weeks. Standard motor and reflex measures were taken before, during, and after the rotation treatment period. Daily observations were made of the children's stereotyped movements. Over the course of the study all of the children showed motor and/or reflex changes that were attributable to the vestibular stimulation. In addition, some evidence was obtained linking changes in stereotypic responding to the vestibular stimulation.This work was supported by PHS Grant Nos.HD15051 and HD13344.