Myth Information and Bizarre Beliefs of Male Juvenile Sex Offenders

The author describes mythical beliefs, thinking errors, and faulty attitudes collected from a group of male juvenile sex offenders. Therapists need this information to develop effective treatment strategies for replacing distortions and misperceptions with correct and moral information as a foundation for change.     

A simple and sensitive method for monitoring running-wheel movement

A running-wheel movement-detection method is described for use with a modified 1350 Commodore mouse and a Commodore 64, is described. The movement-detection method allows for the detection of partial revolutions and direction of movement, but requires no interface equipment. The modified running wheel is discussed as a new technique that may be useful for bridging empirical and theoretical differences between free-operant and discrete-trial runway procedures.     

The effect of unilateral stellectomy on the regulation of heart rate during behavioral stress

Changes in heart rate were examined during classical aversive conditioning before and after either left (n=10) or right stellectomy (n=8). Heart rate (HR) significantly (p<0.01) increased in response to the conditional stimulus with a further increase noted during the unconditional stimulus. After right stellectomy (RSGx) the aversive stress elicited a significantly (p<0.01) smaller increase in heart rate (peak HR change: control 66.8 +/- 6.0; RSGx 36.1 +/- 6.8 beats/min). In contrast left stellectomy did not significantly alter the heart rate conditional response. Cardioselective beta-adrenergic receptor blockade, metoprolol HCl (BB, 1.0 mg/kg, n=8), significantly (p<0.01) reduced the heart-rate conditional response (peak HR change: control 66.8 +/- 6; BB 25.1 +/- 3.8 beats/min) to the same extent as noted during RSGx. These data suggest that the heart-rate increases elicited by aversive stress are mediated in part by sympathetic nerves that originate or pass through the right stellate ganglion. The residual HR increase noted after RSGx or BB probably results from the withdrawal of cardiac parasympathetic activity.     

Orientation-contingent color aftereffects mediated by subjective transparent structures

We examined whether the orientation-contingent color aftereffect (the McCollough effect) could be mediated by subjective horizontal and vertical structure induced by the perception of transparency. In our experiments, red vertical bars and green horizontal bars were alternated as an adapting stimulus. After adaptation, subjects (n=6) were asked to adjust the green and red saturation of a test pattern until they obtained a neutral gray. Horizontal and vertical stripes were combined in the test pattern in three different ways: (1) overlapping with a luminance combination that gave rise to a perception of transparent overlays of horizontal and vertical stripes (valid transparency condition), (2) overlapping with luminance combinations that did not induce a perception of transparency (invalid transparency condition) and that appeased more as a patchwork of checks, and (3) presented in adjacent, nonoverlapping areas. Our results showed that the McCollough effect was significantly greater in the valid transparency condition than in the invalid transparency conditions. The effect in the valid transparency condition was nevertheless less strong than was the effect seen with the standard test stimulus made up of nonoverlapping vertical and horizontal stripes, Our results suggest that the McCollough effect can be mediated by the subjective spatial organization (inner representation of vertical and horizontal stripes) that accompanies the perception of transparency in our stimulus.     

Alternating least squares algorithms for simultaneous components analysis with equal component weight matrices in two or more populations

Millsap and Meredith (1988) have developed a generalization of principal components analysis for the simultaneous analysis of a number of variables observed in several populations or on several occasions. The algorithm they provide has some disadvantages. The present paper offers two alternating least squares algorithms for their method, suitable for small and large data sets, respectively. Lower and upper bounds are given for the loss function to be minimized in the Millsap and Meredith method. These can serve to indicate whether or not a global optimum for the simultaneous components analysis problem has been attained.Financial support by the Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) is gratefully acknowledged.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECRUITING SOURCE, APPLICANT QUALITY, AND HIRE PERFORMANCE: AN ANALYSIS BY SEX, ETHNICITY, AND AGE

This study investigated both an applicant pool and its resulting class of new hires in an attempt to clarify a number of empirical questions concerning recruiting source effectiveness. A pre-established database of applicants and hires for the job of life insurance agent in a large insurance company was analyzed for recruiting activity. Differences in applicant quality and new hire survival were found in favor of the informal recruiting sources. A second measure of hire success, new business commission credits, failed to show differences across recruiting sources. The informal recruiting sources yielded significantly higher selection ratios than did formal sources for all groups. Examination of recruiting source use showed significant group differences, with females and blacks using the formal recruiting sources more frequently than males, non-minorities, and Hispanics. While the informal recruiting sources yielded higher quality applicants and more successful hires for all groups, this research cautions that the implementation of revised recruiting policies must be carefully monitored for adverse effects on protected groups.     

Hair mineral analysis: biochemical imbalances and violent criminal behavior

Trace mineral analysis of human hair was utilized to determine whether violent and nonviolent criminals could be differentiated on the basis of concentrations of levels of major and trace minerals. 40 violent and 40 nonviolent inmates from a prison population were selected for study. 27 mineral levels were analyzed and a discriminant function analysis correctly classified 86% of the violent and 78% of the nonviolent inmates. The results lent support to the hypothesis that significantly different levels of trace minerals could be found between the two groups.     

Episodic manifestation of hemiparkinson syndrome with severe dementia personality change and precursors of paranoid hallucination symptoms

A case of episodic manifestation of semiparalysis agitans is described, accompanied by severe demential personality change and precursory hallucinatory symptoms, which is made the basis for the discussion of aspects of mental disorders, notably dementia and symptoms resembling schizophrenia, in Parkinsonian patients. By way of allusion to Glass, a diagnosis including a very extensive, complex, symptomatology is made of a Parkinsonian syndrome.     

Blocking Effects in Two-Choice Discrimination Tasks in Rhesus Monkeys Macaca Mulatta

The Psychological Record - The present experiments investigated blocking effects in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in a discrimination learning paradigm using a single stimulus modality. Two...     

Ambiguity and structural information in the perception of reversible figures

The perspective reversals elicited by a set of drawings based on the Mach truncated pyramid are examined. We obtained each pattern of the set from the previous one by adding to it some graphic cues, which were easily integrated into one of the two competing interpretations, thus reducing step by step the ambiguity of the basic pattern. The phenomenological model, proposed to link the mean times of both alternative interpretations with their complexities, is in close agreement with our experimental data. Furthermore, different aspects of such data are well described by the model equations: The measure of the prevalence of the supported interpretation is well correlated with the difference in complexity between the two alternative interpretations; the two different trends of the mean time of the unfavored interpretation, found in the data obtained from different observers as a function of the various patterns of the set, are well fitted by the model without the need for any specific additional hypothesis.