Der Einfluß der Darbietungsmodalität auf das kurzfristige Behalten

Zusammenfassung Ausgehend von der Zweikomponententheorie des menschlichen Gedächtnisses wird die bessere Behaltensleistung bei akustischer gegenüber optischer Darbietung diskutiert. Drei Erklärungsvorschläge dieses Modalitäts-effektes werden einander gegenübergestellt. Ein Experiment mit unimodaler und bimodaler Darbietungsweise bei freier Reproduktion unterstützt die Annahme zweier getrennter Speicher. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Markov-Modellen beschrieben. Abschließend wird vorgeschlagen, die Gedächtnistheorie flexibler zu gestalten.

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Effect of the mode of presentation on short-term memory

Summary The two-component theory of human memory is taken as the basis for a discussion on the effect of mode of presentation on recall probability. Three different explanations for this modality effect are compared. An experiment using auditory and visual and bimodal presentations with single-trial free recall supports the two-store hypothesis. The results are described with the aid of Markov models. It is suggested that the theory of human memory should be modified to allow for greater flexibility.

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Die Untersuchung wurde durch eine Sachmittelbeihilfe der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft an A.F. unterstützt. Wir danken Frau C. Klein und Herrn W. D. Müller für ihre Hilfe bei der Durchführung der Experimente.     

A kinesthesiometer for assessing digital passive movement sensitivity in man

An electromechanical system for the delivery of kinesthetic stimulation to human digits is described. The system provides highly precise control over angular velocity (in degrees per second), angular displacement (in degrees), and stimulus duration (in seconds) and uses an electromagnetic brake to terminate the stimuli. It also permits three measures of passive movement sensitivity to be made: correct detections, response time, and angular displacement.     

Treatment of overweight children: The relationship between dependent measures and a clinically significant outcome

Behavioral treatments for overweight children have not fared well in achieving or maintaining clinically significant weight losses. The use of more appropriate dependent measures which also take height, sex, and age into consideration is suggested. A multiple-baseline analysis of the behavioral treatment of seven overweight children was conducted. Results support the contention that a more clinically significant outcome emerges when appropriate measures are used.     

Structural analysis of subjective categorical data

A general approach to the analysis of subjective categorical data is considered, in which agreement matrices of two or more raters are directly expressed in terms of error and agreement parameters. The method provides focused analyses of ratings from several raters for whom ratings have measurement error distributions that may induce bias in the evaluation of substantive questions of interest. Each rater's judgment process is modeled as a mixture of two components: an error variable that is unique for the rater in question as well as an agreement variable that operationalizes the true values of the units of observation. The statistical problems of identification, estimation, and testing of such measurement models are discussed.The general model is applied in several special cases. The most simple situation is that underlying Cohen's Kappa, where two raters place units into unordered categories. The model provides a generalization and systematization of the Kappa-idea to correct for agreement by chance. In applications with typical research designs, including a between-subjects design and a mixed within-subjects, between-subjects design, the model is shown to disentangle structural and measurement components of the observations, thereby controlling for possible confounding effects of systematic rater bias. Situations considered include the case of more than two raters as well as the case of ordered categories. The different analyses are illustrated by means of real data sets.The authors wish to thank Lawrence Hubert and Ivo Molenaar for helpful and detailed comments on a previous draft of this paper. Thanks are also due to Jens Möller und Bernd Strauß for the data from the 1992 Olympic Games. We thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on an earlier draft.     

Ergodic theorems and the basis of science

New results in ergodic theory show that averages of repeated measurements will typically diverge with probability one if there are random errors in the measurement of time. Since mean-square convergence of the averages is not so susceptible to these anomalies, we are led again to compare the mean and pointwise ergodic theorems and to reconsider efforts to determine properties of a stochastic process from the study of a generic sample path. There are also implications for models of time and the interaction between observer and observable.Supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-9203489. The author thanks Klaus Schmidt and Máté Wierdl for illuminating discussions.     

On the estimation of polychoric correlations and their asymptotic covariance matrix

A general theory for parametric inference in contingency tables is outlined. Estimation of polychoric correlations is seen as a special case of this theory. The asymptotic covariance matrix of the estimated polychoric correlations is derived for the case when the thresholds are estimated from the univariate marginals and the polychoric correlations are estimated from the bivariate marginals for given thresholds. Computational aspects are also discussed.The research was supported by the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSFR) under the programMultivariate Statistical Analysis. The author thanks a reviewer for pointing out an error in the original version of the paper.     

A corpus of 714 full-color images of depth-rotated objects

A set of full-color images of objects is described for use in experiments investigating the effects of in-depth rotation on the identification of three-dimensional objects. The corpus contains up to 11 perspective views of 70 nameable objects. We also provide ratings of the “goodness” of each view, based on Thurstonian scaling of subjects’ preferences in a paired-comparison experiment. An exploratory cluster analysis on the scaling solutions indicates that the amount of information available in a given view generally is the major determinant of the goodness of the view. For instance, objects with an elongated front-back axis tend to cluster together, and the front and back views of these objects, which do not reveal the object’s major surfaces and features, are evaluated as the worst views.     

Towards an anthropological psychiatry

The situation of present day psychiatry is described as being dominated by an empiricist perspective. The limitations of this perspective are analyzed and a rough sketch of the hermeneutical approach in psychiatry is offered. It is argued that a fully developed hermeneutical psychiatry implies a reference towards anthropological themes. Three of them, time, historicity and corporality, are investigated.     

Principia Ecologica: Eco-principles as a conceptual framework for a new ethics in science and technology

As a result of contemporary environmental problems, scientists are focusing their interests on developing a greater understanding of nature. Described in this paper is a view of life and the environment as a case of complex systems analysis; this analysis results in a series of general principles which are manifested in life and bioprocesses. These ‘eco-principles’ will be very useful as guidelines for the eco-restructuring of technology as well as the reorientation of human activities towards a sustainable lifestyle which includes the economy, society, management of industry, the university and even the church. The goal is a society which will be in harmony with the laws of nature (‘Principia Ecologica’). The author is a bioprocess engineer interested in achieving a transition from ‘biotech’ to ‘ecotech’.     

Johannes Daubert als Ästhetiker

Ohne Zusammenfassung