A sample-to-disk system for psychomusical research

A hardware-and-software system is described that permits musical-bandwidth signal quantization, monophonic or stereophonic, direct to/from hard disk. The system, which uses an IBM AT or compatible, is cost effective and device independent. Software functions allow for automated aural and graphical signal analyses. Perceptual experiments that use contextual, natural-instrument stimuli, and that take advantage of the immediate and random access provided by this system, are described.     

What do decision models tell us about information use?

This paper develops hypotheses about the implications of different types of decision for the utilization of different types of systematically produced information: data, research, and analysis. The engineering and enlightenment models found in the knowledge utilization literature prove inadequate for this purpose. We turn to three decision models—routine, incremental, and fundamental–and determine their implied demands for information. We also examine how information might be used in scanning procedures in anticipation of decision regime shifts. The results suggest that patterns of information should differ markedly in each decision context and indicate that there may be an inherent bias against the use of research in decision. Evert A. Lindquist, a doctoral candidate at the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Calfornia at Berkeley, is completing a dissertation onPolicy Institutes in Canada: The Organization and Relevance of Public Inquiry and will join the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto this fall. Organizations, public policy, and the role of information in decision making are among his primary research interests.     

Apple slide tachistoscope

We outline a BASIC program and subsidiary machine language timing routines that enable the Apple II series of computers to be employed as control devices for the tachistoscopic presentation of 35-mm slides and the collection of response latencies. The program is functional for experiments that require pictorial stimuli to be presented in up to three separate fields, with precise display times, precise interstimulus and intertriai intervals, and the collection of manual or vocal reaction times with millisecond accuracy. The major advantages of this system are that initial setup costs are substantially lower than those for other similar systems (e.g., Loftus, Gillispie. Tigre, & Nelson, 1984) and that user customization of the program may be accomplished by anyone possessing rudimentary knowledge of the BASIC programming language.     

Beyond medical ethics: New directions for philosophy and medicine

A unique relationship exists between physicians and philosophers — one that expands on the constructive potential of the liaison between physicians and, for example, theologians, on the one hand, or, social workers on the other. This liaison should focus in the scientific aspects of medicine, not just the ethical aspects. Philosophers can provide physicians with a perspective on both the philosophy and the history of medicine through the ages — a sense of how medicine has adapted to the social cultural and ethical needs of each period. This perspective, while emphasizing medicine asscience, should not be limited to matters of methodology, or to criteria for distinguishing science from other intellectual pursuits, but should be concerned also with the history, sociology and politics of science. Both physicians and philosophers stand to gain from a strengthening of their active liaison now as never before; but most of all, the public will be the beneficiary.     

Social sensitivity in adolescents and adults with learning disabilities.

This study investigated social sensitivity and self-concept in students with learning disabilities (LD) and their non-learning-disabled (non-LD) peers. Thirty students each from public junior and senior high schools and a community college participated in the study; at each grade level, half were identified as learning disabled and half experienced no learning problem. Students were individually assessed in 30-minute interviews for their accuracy in interpreting the thoughts and feelings of actors in tape-recorded stories depicting two adults in happy angry, anxious, and sad interactions. A questionnaire assessing four dimensions of self-concept in learning situations (motivation, task orientation, problem-solving ability, and class membership) was also administered. LD students at all grade levels were significantly less accurate at interpreting social situations than were their non-LD peers, and had significantly lower self-concepts. These results support the need for remediation efforts specifically aimed at social skills for overcoming social deficits in adulthood.     

The association between adolescents' attitudes toward suicide and their psychosocial background and suicidal tendencies.

The present study examined the relationship between adolescents' attitudes toward suicide and their psychosocial background. It also evaluated the association between attitudes toward suicide and the subjects' own suicidal tendencies. A questionnaire assessing these issues was administered to 525 Israeli adolescents. Results indicated that significantly more females, nonreligious adolescents, those exposed to suicidal behavior, and those with increased suicidal risk held more accepting attitudes. Ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, and living in intact/nonintact families were not associated with adolescents' attitudes toward suicide.