Conditioning in human opiate addicts

Eight volunteers maintained on daily methadone participated in a classical conditioning procedure to determine which if any of the elements of narcotic withdrawal could be conditioned. The unconditioned stimulus was the injection of a small dose of naloxone. The unconditioned response was a brief precipitated withdrawal syndrome. The conditioning stimulus was a tone, odor, and injection of saline. Conditioning was successful in the pilot study in 5 of 8 subjects. The conditioned response consisted of tearing, yawning, lacrimation, systolic blood pressure increase, respiratory irregularities and subjective feelings of narcotic withdrawal sickness (nausea, muscle aches, chills). A second group of 8 subjects showed, in addition to the above, evidence of conditioning of heart rate, respiratory rate and skin temperature decrease. These laboratory findings support the clinical reports of a conditioned withdrawal syndrome and suggest ways to improve treatment results by detecting and extinguishing or modifying conditioned responses.     

Lump detection in simulated human breasts

Sixteen observers palpated silicone models of human breasts containing lumps 1.6-12.1 mm in diameter. Detectability depended on the size of the lump, producing a systematic psychometric function. In eight observers who participated in three or more sessions, performance improved with practice, with most improvement occurring within one or two 26-trial sessions. Three-week retention measures disclosed no appreciable decrease in performance, but a significant correlation was found between the number of lumps detected and duration of trial (p < .01). There was no difference in performance between four observers who used their preferred hands and four observers who used their nonpreferred hands. These data establish that examination of breast models for the detection of lumps simulating cancer is a task amenable to experimental analysis.     

In What Sense Christian?: The Humane Economic Ethic of Wilhelm Röpke

Christian social thinkers who strongly support the free‐market system often have drawn connections between the social values of their faith and the ideas of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek. Hayek's comments on religion, however, seem to predict its demise for the sake of progress, whereas his colleague Wilhelm Röpke posits “transcendent” religion and established moral traditions as essential to a humane economy. This essay contends that what Röpke described as “enmassment” has similarities to the present “financialization” of society, which involves the rising influence of financial values in all institutions, exaggerated emphasis on quantitative performance measures, and reliance on technical processes in lieu of human relationships. Röpke's “Christian humanist” philosophy advances the kind of ethical entrepreneurialism needed to morally sustain a global society experiencing enmassment and financialization simultaneously.