The effect of dextroamphetamine on habituation of peripheral vascular response in children

The blood volume pulse (BVP) measured by a photoplethysmograph was recorded in 43 children with behavior and learning problems before and after either stimulant drug treatment or placebo. A series of twenty-four 750-cps tones was presented at 10-sec. intervals, with one trial having a doubled interval and one with a halved interval. A 1,000-cps tone was introduced following the 24th trial. As predicted, the drug-treated subjects showed significantly more rapid habituation to the tones. They also showed more variability of BVP following the longer intertriai interval, but showed less variability following the introduction of the high tone. The results are interpreted as showing that the stimulant has the effect of raising autonomie arousal level with consequently more rapid habituation of the orienting response.An earlier version of this article was presented to The Society for Psychophysiological Research, Monterey, California, October 1969. This research was supported by Grant No. MH14432 from the Psychopharmacology Section (National Institute of Mental Health) and Research Scientist Development Award No. K2MH7839 (National Institute of Mental Health).     

The school psychologist in evaluating educational programs

A discussion of school psychology practice is presented, with emphasis on school programs rather than on individuals. While pressures exist to continue emphasizing the individual as the unit of study, current literature in evaluation theory and community psychology suggest a more viable model for the practice of school psychology. The learning process as it occurs in school programming is discussed, illustrating potential sources of involvement for school psychologists in effecting change in education. It is suggested that school psychologists, operating from a framework of evaluation theory, are well suited to be evaluators of school programs.     

A synoptic framework for school program evaluation

A broad-based conceptual schema, termed the Synoptic Evaluation Framework (SEF), is discussed in relation to providing school program evaluation services. Derived from evaluation theory and practice, the SEF allows for the design and conduct of a range of program evaluation studies within the school context. Moreover, the SEF has been used as a basis for training doctoral school psychology students in program evaluation. The SEF consists of the three constituent dimensions: (a) Evaluation Unit, (b) Evaluation Purpose, and (c) Evaluation Service. An understanding of the interactions among these dimensions enables an evaluator to identify the specific programmatic concerns of a decision maker and to design and conduct a responsive evaluation.     

(Not) giving credit where credit is due: Citation of data sets

Adequate Citation of data sets is crucial to the encouragement of data sharing, to the integrity and cost-effectiveness of science and to easy access to the work of others. The citation behavior of social scientists who have published based on shared data was examined and found to be inconsistent with important ideals of science. Insights gained from the social sciences, where data sharing is somewhat customary, suggest policies and incentives that would foster adequate citation by secondary users, and greater openness and sharing in other disciplines.     

Ethical aspects of the safety of medicines and other social chemicals

The historical background of the discovery of adverse health effects of medicines, food additives, pesticides, and other chemicals is reviewed, and the development of national and international regulations and testing procedures to protect the public against the toxic effects of these drugs and chemicals is outlined. Ethical considerations of the safety evaluation of drugs and chemicals by human experimentation and animal toxicity studies, ethical problems associated with clinical trials, with the falsification of clinical and toxicological data, and with inadequate experimental methodology, are reviewed, and the ethics of the marketing of drugs and their post-marketing surveillance, are similarly considered. These ethical problems are illustrated with many specific examples, including the drugs neoarsphenamine, chloramphenicol, thalidomide, diethyl stilboestrol and benoxaprofen.