Prime time advertisements: Repetition priming from faces seen on subject recruitment posters

Repetition priming is defined as a gain in item recognition after previous exposure. Repetition priming of face recognition has been shown to last for several months, despite contamination by everyday exposure to both experimental and control faces in the interval. Here we show that gains in face recognition in the laboratory are found from faces initially seen in a rather different context— on subject recruitment posters, even when the advertisements make no specific mention of experiments involving face recognition. The priming was greatest when identical pictures were shown in the posters and in the test phase, although different views of faces did give significant priming in one study. Follow-up studies revealed poor explicit memory for the faces shown on the posters. The results of these experiments are used to develop a model in which repetition priming reflects the process of updating representations of familiar faces.     

The role of impulse variability in manual-aiming asymmetries

Summary Two experiments are reported in which we examined the hypothesis that the advantage of the right hand in target aiming arises from differences in impulse variability. Subjects made aiming movements with the left and right hands. The force requirements of the movements were manipulated through the addition of mass to the limb (Experiments 1 and 2) and through control of movement amplitude (Experiment 1). Although the addition of mass diminished performance (i. e., it increased movement times in Experiment 1 and increased error in Experiment 2), the two hands were not differently affected by the manipulation of required force. In spite of the fact that the right hand exhibited enhanced performance (i. e., lower movement times in Experiment 1 and greater accuracy in Experiment 2), these advantages were not reflected in kinematic measures of impulse variability.We are grateful to an anonymous reviewer for clarification of this distinction.     

Influence of manipulated category knowledge on prototype classification and recognition

The recognition and classification of category members was explored, following a variable number of learning trials. In Experiment 1, subjects received 1 or 9 learning trials, followed by a recognition-then-classification test containing old, new, prototype, and foil patterns. In Experiment 2, subjects received 1, 6, or 12 trials, and made either classification or recognition judgments. In each experiment, classification accuracy for all item types was at near-chance -performance after a single trial but steadily increased with increased learning trials. On the transfer test, oldness judgments were highest for the category prototype after a single trial. However, with increased learning trials, oldness judgments increased for old instances and decreased for the category prototype and new instances. We suggest that false recognition of the category prototype, especially after a single learning trial, need not reflect an abstraction process. We discuss the possibility that an abstracted prototype may emerge with additional learning as an unfamiliar, ideal point.     

Dilemmas in the pathway of the DSM-IV

It is argued that the format for developing recent versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) taxonomy is constrained in ways that seriously impair the quality of the product. These constraints include inappropriate assumption of a categorical model, ensured persistence of traditional categories of disorder, excessive concern with interdiagnostician agreement, insufficient attention to the issue of construct validity, and excessive preoccupation with clinician acceptance. These problems and certain others are illustrated with an analysis of the nosologic status of the schizophrenia construct. There is a significant danger that the adequacy of DSM-IV will be compromised by continuing difficulties of this sort.     

Intrafamilial sexual abuse: family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics of female adult victims.

We examined connections between incest victims' family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics in a sample of 40 American women who were in treatment for childhood or adolescent experiences of victimization. Retrospective data on their families-of-origin were collected along with their perceptions of current relationships with family members in the three-generational system. Results showed a close association between family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics, especially in the areas of intergenerational intimacy, intergenerational fusion/individuation, and personal authority. A number of significant correlations were also found between subjects' past and present relationships with family-of-origin members and the dimensions of moral and religious orientation, achievement, and intellectual and cultural orientation, conflict, and control in their family-of-procreation. Some aspects of individual adjustment, including alienation, emotional discomfort, and defensiveness, were strongly related to various family-of-origin and family-of-procreation characteristics.     

From status to contract: a future for mental health law

Given the many complex issues and interests involved it is hardly surprising that mental health is a controversial topic. The law has a critical role in protecting interests and balancing claims. But the law is a major part of the problem. Indeed analysis of its role in producing anti-therapeutic outcomes led to the development of therapeutic jurisprudence. And we keep changing the law; for example on 16 October, 1999 the British Government announced proposals for radical reform of the mental health laws of England and Wales which, in the current form, were heavily influenced by developments in the United States of America. A major problem, it is submitted, is that we do not have an agreed model of the law, upon which to develop an appropriate structure for the delivery of mental health services. Currently we emphasis 'status', which puts a premium upon drawing distinctions which it is difficult, if not unrealistic, to achieve in practice. Another approach would be to emphasize the centrality of the relationship between the patient, or client, and the inter-disciplinary team of people providing him or her with services. This approach, outlined and argued for in this article, would involve developing the law of contract.