Language functioning after bilateral prefrontal leukotomy

Three groups of patients with orbital frontal lesions secondary to leukotomy were compared to psychiatric and normal control groups on a series of tasks involving language. The results indicated that chronic orbital frontal lesions, at least in the patients in this study, do not affect language as defined by the tasks used in the study. The frontal lobes, when implicated in language, appear to require dorsal-lateral or medial cortical involvement.     

Perceptual Ambiguity, Gender, and Target Intoxication: Assessing the Effects of Factors That Moderate Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

Subjects read a passage which described an interaction between a man and a woman at an office party. The woman was either sober or intoxicated, and eventually the man engaged in 1 of 3 behaviors which involved varying degrees of sexual innuendo and/or aggression: (a) verbal comment, (b) verbal request, and (c) nonverbal physical display. The results indicated that perceptions did not vary as a function of target person's intoxication in the nonverbal-display condition. On the other hand, in the verbal-comment and verbal-request conditions, subjects in the intoxicated-target-person condition perceived the initiator more favorably than subjects in the sober-target-person condition. In addition, they indicated that perceptions did not vary as a function of target-person intoxication level in the nonverbal-display condition. On the other hand, in the verbal-comment and verbal-request conditions, male subjects were more favorable toward the initiator than toward female subjects.     

Comparison of metabolic rates, language, and memory in subcortical aphasias

Four patients with subcortical lesions and either aphasia or amnesia were compared to four patients with cortical lesions and aphasia. Each patient had [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission computed tomography, language, and memory evaluations. Marked metabolic depression was found in the thalamus and caudate in all patients. The subcortical patients had only mild left-cortical changes, while the cortical patients showed marked cortical metabolic changes in the left hemisphere. Language changes were mild in the subcortical patients, while moderate to severe in the cortical patients. All patients showed severe verbal memory dysfunction. The only common abnormalities in the two groups were metabolic changes in the thalamus and severity of verbal memory dysfunction. These findings suggest a relationship between verbal memory and thalamic function.     

Organizational Coverups: Factors Influencing the Discipline of Information Gatekeepers1

This study examines factors that influence the severity of discipline administered to a subordinate information gatekeeper who is guilty of covering up an event and concealing and distorting information. Undergraduate business students read one of eight versions of a case depicting faulty upward communication, in which three variables-the superior-subordinate dependency relationship, the subordinate's motivation, and the subordinate's remorse-were manipulated. Unethicality of the offense was evaluated to be quite high across all experimental conditions, yet mild discipline was recommended when the superior was highly dependent on his subordinate and when the subordinate acted out of altruism for his superior. Probability of reoccurrence of the infraction was judged lowest when the offending subordinate displayed remorse. These findings are interpreted as representing a pragmatic orientation toward discipline based on perceived costs or benefits to the administrator. Conditions that increase the vulnerability of decision-makers to faulty upward communication are discussed.     

The misrepresentation of science by philosophers and teachers of science

In education there is a concern that science teachers misrepresent the nature of science to students. An assumption that is implicit in this concern is that science teachers should be teaching the philosophy of science as it is understood by philosophers. This paper argues that both philosophers and science teachers misrepresent science when they engage in their respective disciplines, and it is evident the two misrepresentations are of different types. In philosophy, the misrepresentation is of a philosophical-epistemological nature where advocates of particular views maintain that advocates of other views misinterpret the nature of science. In education, the misrepresentation is of a cognitive, teaching nature where teachers' practical interpretations are not congruent with philosophers' interpretations of science. The discrepancy that exists between the two misrepresentations is due to the intentions of the two disciplines, and assuming that science teachers should teach a philosophically coherent interpretation of the nature of science is an over-simplification of the problem. The concepts of espoused theories and theories-in-use are used to link the two interpretations of science and provide suggestions for future research that may help clarify misrepresentations of science in science education.     

Case study: Use of propranolol to reduce aggressive behavior in a woman who is mentally retarded

Although neuroleptic medications are frequently used to treat the aggressive behavior of persons with mental retardation, little empirical support exists for their efficacy. In the case study reported here, the beta-blocker propranolol was used to treat the aggressive behavior of a 23-year-old woman with severe mental retardation. Initiation of treatment was correlated with a dramatic decrease in aggression and a less pronounced improvement in self-injurious behavior (SIB). An increase in resting heart-rate was associated with a significant increase in aggression, and progressive increases in propranolol dosage were correlated with reductions in heart rate and in significant behavioral improvement. Consideration of propranolol as a less intrusive, and possibly more effective, pharmacologic treatment for the aggressive behavior of persons with mental retardation is discussed.