The historical roots of the theories of local signs and labelled lines

The theories of labelled lines and local signs are commonly invoked to explain numerous perceptual phenomena. These theories postulate that perceptual systems use information about which nerve cells or which information channels are activated by the stimulus. The origins of this idea in nineteenth century German psychophysics are traced. From Descartes's idea of a dualistic mind, Kant's idea of a mental ability to conceive space, Da Vinci's ideas of pictorial 'signs', and Müller's idea of 'specific nerve energies' to explain perceptual qualities, Steinbuch, Lotze, and others derived the conclusion that neural-level signs exist that signal stimulus location to the mind. Helmholtz, Hering, and others soon suggested variations on this basic idea. By the time of James the theory had changed yet again. It was revived elsewhere in the 1920s and again in the 1970s, although used implicitly by many workers in between and since. Against a modern metaphysical background, however, a distinction between labels (hardware) and signs (symbols) is the minimum step needed towards an appropriate and comprehensive explanation of perceptual behaviour and experience.     

Practical Considerations and Alternative Research Methods for Evaluating HR Programs

Program evaluation methods capitalizing on quasi-experimental designs are introduced as useful alternatives for evaluating human resources (HR) programs such as selection systems, training courses, performance measurement systems, and 360 degree feedback. A case study is presented to illustrate the benefits of program evaluation methods for evaluating HR programs. In addition, several post-hoc considerations that often moderate results from HR evaluations are described. It is suggested that when these considerations are addressed, quasi-experimental program evaluation methods provide a promising tool for demonstrating bottom line impact of HR initiatives.     

Expression of Fos and Jun Proteins Following Passive Avoidance Training in the Day-Old Chick

It has been shown previously that the immediate-early genes, c-fos and c-jun mRNA are induced in the 1-day-old chick forebrain after one-trial passive avoidance training in which chicks learn to avoid pecking at a bitter-tasting bead. Here, we have studied the expression of their proteins using antibodies to Fos and Jun. Western blotting disclosed two immunoreactive bands for the anti-Fos antibody (47 and 54 kD) and two immunoreactive bands for the anti-Jun antibody (39 and 54 kD). Two hours post-training there was an increase in the number of Fos-positive stained nuclei in right intermediate medial hyperstriatum ventrale (IMHV) (P<0.01), left IMHV (P<0.05), right lobus parolfactorius (LPO) (P<0.025) and left LPO (P<0.05) of birds trained on the bitter bead compared with controls that had pecked a water-coated bead. Staining for Jun protein was significantly greater in the right LPO of trained chicks (P<0.01). Other forebrain regions showed no increase over quiet control levels. The findings are discussed in the context of the cascade of events involved in passive avoidance memory consolidation in the day-old chick.     

Do authorship policies impact students' judgments of perceived wrongdoing?

Although authorship policies exist, researchers understand little about their impact on perceptions of authorship scenarios. Graduate students (N=277) at a large university read 1 of 3 vignettes about a graduate student-faculty collaboration. One half of the surveys included the American Psychological Association's statement on authorship. Participants rated (a) the ethics of the professor as first author and (b) the likelihood of a dissatisfied student reporting the authorship result, as well as the effectiveness and negative consequences of reporting. Work arrangements on the project had a consistent main effect. Also, an authorship policy impacted women's ratings of first authorship when the student contributed the idea for a project. For men, a policy impacted only ratings of the likelihood of reporting when a professor was first author on a student's dissertation. Apart from sex, no other demographic variables on participants were predictive. Discussion focuses on the policy's potential for making only some specific issues salient.     

The relationship between gender role orientation and perceived self-competency in male and female adolescents

Sex Roles - Relationships among gender, gender role orientation, grade, and perceived self-competency were examined in this study. Subjects were almost entirely Caucasian and included one hundred...     

Why good job performance may (not) be rewarded: Sex Factors and Career Development

An experiment tested the effects of three sex variables on managerial career evaluations. The variables were sex of evaluator, sex of manager (evaluatee), and predominate sex of manager's subordinates. Each subject evaluated four managers, one in each possible combination of the last two independent variables, in an “in basket” format. All four situations included comparable managerial performance data. Subjects evaluated each manager in terms of size of a deserved salary increase, probable performance if promoted, promotability, and probability of attaining 5-year tenure. There were no differences in evaluations between male and female evaluators. Manager's sex and predominate subordinate sex frequently interacted. The interactions were interpreted as a sex-matching bias which can inappropriately benefit managers of opposite sex subordinates and hinder careers of managers with subordinates of their own sex.     

Perceived exertion and the field-independence--dependence dimension

Perceived exertion responses were compared between field-independent and field-dependent perceivers at three cycle-ergometer pedalling rates. 50 male subjects were classified according to mode of field approach on the basis of their performance on an embedded-figures test. Power output was held constant at 840 kpm/min., while pedalling rate was randomly set at 40, 60, or 80 rpm. Significant differences between the field-independent and -dependent groups were not found at the three pedalling rates for any of the physiological variables or for over-all, legs and chest ratings of perceived exertion. The extent of differentiated psychological functioning did not account for individual differences in perceptual reactance during muscular exertion.     

Ear asymmetries on a selective attentional task

To ascertain whether there are ear-hemisphere asymmetries of selective attention, signal stimuli (tonal sequences) were presented monaurally with and without complex maskers (music and speech). The right ear-left hemisphere was more disrupted by language maskers; the left ear-right hemisphere was more disrupted by music maskers. These results suggest that there are hemispheric asymmetries of selective attention and that the ear hemisphere that usually processes a class of stimuli has greater difficulty filtering out those stimuli than does the nonspecialized hemisphere.