The nonverbal manifestations of cognitive processes in clinical listening

Nonverbal behaviors were observed during communicative sequences in videotaped clinical interviews. The interviews were conducted by two groups of physicians-in-training with contrasting cognitive profiles as determined by well-known laboratory tasks prior to the interviews. In each phase of the communicative sequences, significant differences emerged between the two groups for various types of nonverbal behaviors. Differences also emerged between the two groups of interviewers in their questioning patterns and in the nature of the narrative elicited from their interlocutors. A correlational analysis revealed consistent patterns of behaviors across phases of the communicative sequences. The findings provide additional evidence for the intimate connection between nonverbal behavior and cognitive activity and point to nonverbal behaviors as objective measures of the processes underlying clinical listening.     

Psychoanalysis of a patient who received a kidney transplant

A young man who had glomorulonephritis at age five was treated psychotherapeutically for an anxiety neurosis with phobic and obsessional features. He was referred for psychoanalysis at a time when he was approaching kidney failure, but was referred back for more psychotherapy with the possibility of future psychoanalysis. He underwent renal dialysis and then received a kidney transplant from a brother. The psychoneurosis became worse, and a psychoanalysis was begun about one year after the transplant operation. The clinical report illustrates the developmental effects of the childhood illness, as well as the patient's response to the adult treatment and the renal transplant. Nonanalytic observations by others on renal dialysis and transplant patients are reviewed and compared with the findings in this analysis. The psychoanalysis of a renal transplant patient is feasible if other indications for analysis are present. A previously unreported finding is the problem of changing a lifetime adaptation from illness to relative health. This involved the analysis of the narcissistic conflicts of the oedipal stage of development as well as the preoedipal maternal transference.     

Are There Algorithms That Discover Causal Structure?

There have been many efforts to infer causation from association byusing statistical models. Algorithms for automating this processare a more recent innovation. In Humphreys and Freedman[(1996) British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47, 113–123] we showed that one such approach, by Spirtes et al., was fatally flawed. Here we put our arguments in a broader context and reply to Korb and Wallace [(1997) British Journal for thePhilosophy of Science 48, 543–553] and to Spirtes et al.[(1997) British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48, 555–568]. Their arguments leave our position unchanged: claims to have developed a rigorous engine for inferring causation from association are premature at best, the theorems have no implications for samples of any realistic size, and the examples used to illustrate the algorithms are indicative of failure rather than success. The gap between association and causation has yet to be bridged.     

Death: the final stage of confusion

The sensitive case presentation by Barbara Springer Edwards and Winston M. Ueno, concerning a patient's desire to be sedated and disconnected from a respirator, furnishes much material for discussion. One issue: When a patient refuses treatment, what are the limits of the health-care provider's obligation to persuade the patient to accept or continue with treatment? I say "limits" advisedly, for the obligation has both a floor (the least that one must attempt) and a ceiling (beyond which efforts to persuade become medical harassment).... Another point concerns the language we all use to describe the experiences of patients. My wife, Barbara, rails at how doctors use the terms "distress" and "discomfort" -- a usage that, she points out, has infected her husband as well. She is right to rail. Someone who calls the suffocation caused by disconnecting a respirator "distressing" or "uncomfortable" will call the Gulf War a "spat."... The main issue this discussion by Edwards and Ueno raises for me, though, is that of the manner and meaning of dying.     

The effects of subordinate sex,pay equity,and strength of demand on compensation decisions

A decision-making simulation concerning a hypothetical subordinate was used to investigate the effects of subordinate sex, pay equity, and strength of demand on compensation decisions in an organizational setting. Results indicated that subjects recommended higher raises for underpaid subordinates than for equitably paid subordinates. A triple interaction of all three variables was also found. When subordinates were equitably paid, sex and strength of demand had no effect on the compensation decision. However, when subordinates were underpaid, strong-demand females received the largest raise and females making no demand received the smallest. Underpaid males in both demand conditions received a raise less than that of the strong-demand female but greater than that of the nodemand female.     

Language and hand: The dimension of referential competence1

Kinesic and verbal performance data were collected for two groups of women college seniors chosen to represent extremes in a type of verbal ability termed here referential competence. This ability is conceptualized in terms of degree of integration of symbolic and ikonic representation systems, i.e., the strength of the symbol-referent links in semantic memory. A criterion measure of referential competence was developed using deviation of color naming from word-reading times on the Stroop Color-Word test. Referential competence was shown to be statistically as well as conceptually unrelated to both the standard verbal intelligence and fluency measures, and to cognitive style. During a five-minute videotaped monologue about a personal experience, persons high in referential competence produced verbal material which was specific, vivid, and objective; in contrast to the subjective and general material of the low referential group; and also produced approximately three times as many object-focused hand movements, linked to rhythm and intonation patterns of speech but largely without decipherable content. The results suggest that motor schema have a continuing intrinsic role in mature speech production, related to structure rather than content of language.     

CORE: Computer-controlled operant reinforcement

A Pascal-based system and software is described for computer reinforcement of operant responding (CORE). CORE allows a single microcomputer to control up to eight different work stations simultaneously, on one of several schedules. The user need not be familiar with Pascal, although modifications of the programs require a good working knowledge. The system is menu-driven and interacts with the user in a question-and-answer format. The user can select a variety of experimental parameters, for example, session and reinforcement duration, delay, and type of reinforcement schedule. During run-time, CORE provides frequently updated on-screen graphics (Cumulative Records or Interresponse Time Distributions) and counter display. Permanently stored data and information from other counters may also be displayed or printed from the disk. Presently, three programs are implemented for a variety of related reinforcement schedules (e.g., fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, alternation).