“Conversational” coupling of gaze behavior in prelinguistic human development

Mathematical regularities in the gross temporal pattern of infant-adult gaze behavior are identical to those found in adult verbal conversations. Both types of interaction conform to a Markov chain model. Such regularities suggest some universal property of human communication which predates the onset of speech. The present infants were 3.5 months old.This research was supported by the Grant Foundation, the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, and the Federal Work-Study program of the City College of New York.     

A low-cost integrated circuit comparator system

This paper describes a circuit that allows multiple-unit neural activity to be converted to standardized pulses for computer data acquisition. Positive or negative spikes can be converted at any voltage level from positive 25 V to. negative 25 V with visual identification of exactly where on the amplified spike potential conversion occurs. This circuit provides active output voltages compatible with TTL logic.     

Vibrotactile difference thresholds for intensity and the effect of a masking stimulus

Vibrotactile difference thresholds for intensity were measured at several intensity levels of a test stimulus in the absence of a masking vibration and in the presence of three different amplitudes of a masking vibration. The test stimulus was a 160-Hz vibration delivered to the right index finger. The masking stimulus was a 160-Hz vibration delivered to the right little finger. For the same amplitudes of the test stimulus, △I varied as a direct function of the amplitude of the masking vibration. The smallest △Is resulted from measurements made in the absence of the masking stimulus. The Weber fraction, △I/I, was constant only for the more intense test stimuli in the absence of any masking stimuli. Independent of the presence or level of the masker, the Weber fraction for all stimuli approached approximately the same value, .25, when the test stimuli were raised to 20-dB sensation level. A model is proposed to account for the increase in the Weber fraction as a function of masker intensity and to predict masked thresholds.     

SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT

An extensive body of literature has documented the widespread and damaging nature of sexual harassment and assault on college campuses, yet little research has investigated the impact of such victimization on the academic climate. This study examined experiences of sexual harassment and assault among 1,037 female undergraduate and graduate students, with a particular focus on educational outcomes. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed significant negative effects of harassment and assault on perceptions of academic climate. We also investigated the extent and effects of double victimization (i.e., experiences of both harassment and assault), as well as the relationships among sexual harassment types, incidence rates, and frequencies. Issues of sexual orientation and race/ethnicity are explored throughout the article, with membership in different groups affecting victimization incidence rates as well as harassment labeling.     

Divine timelessness and personhood

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

The Fort Bragg managed care experiment: Short term impact on psychopathology

Many concerns have been raised about mental health services for children and adolescents. These concerns have included not treating those in need and providing inappropriate services to those who are treated. The continuum of care philosophy purports to remedy these problems by offering a comprehensive and coordinated range of services emphasizing community-based treatment. Services in the continuum include alternatives to trditional restrictive forms of care such as hospitalization. The provision of more appropriate care is hypothesized to improve the clinical outcomes of children treated in a continuum of care. The Fort Bragg Evaluation compared quality, use, outcome, and cost of the continuum of care model to a more traditional, fragmented system of care. This paper presents the effects of a service delivery system on short term psychopathology outcomes.     

INCREASING SELF-DETERMINATION: TEACHING PEOPLE WITH MENTAL RETARDATION TO EVALUATE RESIDENTIAL OPTIONS

The community living preferences of 4 institutionalized adults with mild mental retardation were identified using photographs that depicted a variety of residential characteristics. Individuals then were taught to obtain information regarding their preferences during tours of community group homes, to report that information to their social worker, and to evaluate the homes based on the information obtained. A multiple baseline across participants design showed that all 4 participants substantially increased their skills at asking questions, reporting information, and evaluating homes. The results indicate that people with mental retardation can take an active role in major lifestyle decisions that others have typically made for them.     

Different WAIS-R short forms and their relation to ethnicity

Potential racial bias on commonly used WAIS-R short forms was examined in a group of 201 African-Americans matched with Caucasians in terms of age, education, gender, and occupational status. Within racial groups, all short form IQs correlated highly with the WAIS-R IQs (all rs 0.87). Although relatively large racial differences emerged on the Block Design, Vocabulary, and Arithmetic subtests, only mild racial discrepancies emerged for three out of the seven short forms investigated. While the magnitude of the results for the short forms was mild, based on these findings it was suggested that certain short forms not be used with African-Americans in order to minimize the potential influence of racial basis.     

Epilogue: Overarching themes and enduring contributions of the Lanzetta research program

In this Epilogue we step back from the four research lines that have been the focus of this two-part Special Issue and discuss four important themes that run through the Lanzetta research program: (1) the importance of the face as a fundamental channel of social communication, (2) the physiological nature of the information conveyed by facial expression, (3) the realization that response to facial expressions involve multiple levels of cognitive processing, and (4) the value in using multiple convergent measures and creative experimental paradigms to study complicated phenomena like emotional facial expressions. The ways in which these themes carry through the individual research lines are described, and important implications of the themes are highlighted.     

Introduction to the special issue

This article provides an overview of the special issue of Motivation and Emotion, which will appear in two parts. This special issue examines the enduring contributions of the research of John T. Lanzetta and his colleagues on facial expression and emotion. In its entirety, the special issue consists of five articles and an epilogue. Part 1 (this issue of Motivation and Emotion) consists of the first three articles, and Part 2 (to appear as part of the next issue of Motivation and Emotion) consists of the final two articles and the epilogue. The first article provides an in-depth review of the Lanzetta research program, and describes this program as developing along four distinct lines that, respectively, cover work on (a) the facial feedback hypothesis, (b) the power of facial expression as an emotionally evocative stimulus, (c) the role of facial expression in empathy and counter-empathy, and (d) the relations between facial displays of powerful political leaders and observers' attitudes toward those leaders. Each of the subsequent four articles considers, in turn, the current status and future promise of one of these research lines as it has continued to grow and develop outside of the Lanzetta research program. Part 2 of the special issue concludes with an epilogue that highlights the major themes and conclusions that course through the entire body of research considered in this special issue.We would like to express our appreciation to Basil Englis, Arvid Kappas, Bob Kleck, and Scott Orr, each of whom contributed to the development of this special issue in a variety of ways.