Book reviews

Thomassen, A., Keuss, P. and van Galen, G. (Eds.). Motor aspects of handwiriting. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 1984. Pp 354. ISBN 0444-86774-0. $50.

Klatskyk, R. L. Memory and awareness. New York: W. H. Freeman. 1984. Pp. 155. ISBN 0-7167-1600-3. £9.95.

Longman Dictionary of Psychology and Psychiatry. New York: Longman. 1984. ISBN 0-582-28257, pp 816, £46.00.

Kintsch, W., Miller, J. R., and Polson, P. G. Methods and tactics in cognitive seience. Hilisadale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1984. Pp. xii+324. ISBN 0-89859-372-1. £27.50.

Dubery, F. and Williats, J. Perspective and other drawing systems. London: The Herbert Press. 1983. Pp. 128. ISBN 0-906969 -25-5. £4.95.

Morris, P. E. and Hampson, P. J. Imagery and consciousness. London: Academic Press. 1983. Pp. 341. ISBN 0-12-507680-0. $36.50.

Bundy, A. The computer modelling of mathematical reasoning. London: Academic Press. 1983. Pp. 322. ISBN 0-12-141252-0. $15.00.

Jeeves, M. A. and Greer, G. B. Analysis of structural learning. London: Academic Press. 1983. Pp. 265. ISBN 0-12-382080-4. $40.00.

Taylor, I. and Taylor, M. M. The psychology of reading. New York: Academic Press, 1983. Pp. 511. ISBN 0-12-684080-6 $29.50.

Wade, N. J. (Ed.). Brewster and Wheatstone on vision. London: Academic Press. 1984. Pp. 358. ISBN 0-12-729550-X. $39.00.

Harre, R. and Lamb, R. The encyclopedic dictionary of psychology. Oxford: Blackwell. 1983. ISBN 0-631-12663-5. £55.00.

Kail, R. and Spear, N. E. (Eds.). Comparative perspectives on the development of memory. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1984. Pp. x+ 374. ISBN 0-89859-317-4. £37.50.

R. Hockey (Ed.). Stress and fatigue in human performance. London: Wiley. 1983. ISBN 0-471 10-265-2. £16.50.

Sarris, V. and Parducci, A. (Eds.). Perspectives in psychological experimentation: Toward the year 2000. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1984. Pp. 370. ISBN 0-89859-272-9. £33.30.     

Stimulus Preexposure, Comparison, and Changes in the Associability of Common Stimulus Features

In four experiments, rats received preexposure either to both of two compound flavours (AX and BX), or to just one (BX). Experiment 1 demonstrated a perceptual learning effect, showing that, for animals given preexposure to both flavours, an aversion conditioned to AX generalized only poorly to BX. Subsequent experiments assessed the properties of the common feature, X. Experiment 3 showed that the two preexposure treatments did not differ in the extent to which they produced habituation of the neophobia evoked by X. Experiment 2 showed that conditioning to X proceeded more rapidly in subjects given preexposure to both AX and BX than in subjects preexposed to BX alone. In Experiment 4, a similar effect was found when the elements of the compounds were presented serially. It is concluded that the perceptual learning effect of Experiment 1 occurs in spite of the fact that preexposure to two stimuli tends to maintain the associability of their common elements.     

Moving Beyond Self‐Report: Implicit Associations about Death/Life Prospectively Predict Suicidal Behavior among Veterans

Reliance on self‐report limits clinicians' ability to accurately predict suicidal behavior. In this study the predictive validity of an objective measure, the death/suicide Implicit Association Test (d/sIAT), was tested among psychiatrically hospitalized veterans. Following acute stabilization, 176 participants completed the d/sIAT and traditional suicide risk assessments. Participants had similar d/sIAT scores regardless of whether they had recently attempted suicide. However, d/sIAT scores significantly predicted suicide attempts during the 6‐month follow‐up above and beyond other known risk factors for suicidal behavior (OR = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.15–3.12; based on 1SD increase). The d/sIAT may augment the accuracy of suicide risk assessment.     

‘From nature to nature’s God’: Ellis A. Davidson—mid-Victorian educator, moralist, and consummate Designer

In recovering the life and work of Ellis Abraham Davidson (1828–1878), this paper draws attention to a Victorian who expands our understanding of Anglo-Jewry as he does not fit the occupational stereotypes. Unusually, he contributed to education, more specifically to the socially-important but frequently neglected topic of technical education. He taught the “lowly” arts, generally known in the nineteenth century as “arts and manufactures”, or the “useful arts”, or “art and design”. Thus although he did not become an artisan or tradesman himself, through his teaching others acquired the requisite skills to become artisans and tradesmen. Moreover, drawing on his experience teaching practical subjects he lectured to Jewish artisans and advised the Board of Guardians on the best way to support apprentices. Finally, and most importantly, this study of Davidson sheds new light on the relations between science, technology, and Judaism in the mid-Victorian period. Thus the final two sections of this paper will examine his commitment to a form of natural theology that set him against Darwin’s theory of evolution and also informed his only book directed specifically at the Anglo-Jewish community.