A new challenge to ethical codes: Heart transplants

Summary We have entered into a new era of medical achievement with the development of successful transplantation of human organs. The transplantation of the heart has aroused the greatest scientific interest and at the same time created serious new problems of an ethical and legal nature. It has been necessary to develop new criteria to determine the moment of death of the donor in order to ensure continued life for the recipient. The decision of the moment of death should be made by a small team of skilled physicians interested in furthering this important development, but not as emotionally involved as are the surgeons awaiting the chance to prolong their patient's life with a new heart. Available and suitable hearts will probably always be in very short supply, and the selection of recipients will therefore become critical if the procedure proves to be widely acceptable.New laws will be essential before this process can be adopted in many states and countries. The cost in terms of total resources is so large that careful evaluation of the long-term results must be undertaken after a reasonable number of patients have been operated on and observed, perhaps at the end of the second year following the first procedure. Since the cost of each operation of this type approximates that of the education of several young physicians who could care for thousands of patients during their life span, a good hard look at the potential benefits and ultimate values is in order. At this point in time it is extremely important that this type of surgery be encouraged but limited to those prepared to undertake it with maximum skill and minimal risk. At present it must be recognized as a great experiment rather than a therapeutic triumph for general application.     

Adolescents: A Suppressed Minority Group

The recent antagonistic but equally meritorious arguments concerning the nature of the adolescent necessitates a new framework of analysis which would incorporate these apparent antagonisms. Cursory observations indicate that more fruitful results may be obtained if the adolescent is equated to a member of a suppressed minority group. A comparison of the characteristics of the adolescent peer group to those of a suppressed minority group reveals some striking similarities.     

Reaction time as a function of the intensity and probability of occurrence of vibrotactile signals

Three Ss made judgments of the presence or absence of a burst of 60-cps vibration onthe index fingertip.The probability of S’s reporting the presence of a signal was found to be influenced by signal probability and signal intensity. Mean reaction time for reporting the presence of a signal decreased as a function of signal intensity and signal probability whereas mean reaction time for reporting the absence of a signal increased as a function of signal intensity and signal probability. On trials where no signal was presented mean R T for reporting a signal decreased with increases in the signal probability whereas mean RT for reporting the absence of a signal increased with increases in signal probability. The results were interpreted as support for the hypothesis that S’s decision time was longer the closer on the sensory continuum a particular observation was to his criterion.     

A NOTE ON INTEROCULAR TRANSFER AND THE COLOUR OF VISUAL AFTER-IMAGES

Following monocular fixation of a red stimulus figure on a grey background, a projection field having the same colour as the stimulus figure was viewed either with ( a ) the stimulated eye, or ( b ) the non-stimulated eye. In case ( a ) the after-image appeared grey on a red background, but in case ( b ) green or blue, on a red background. In the latter case the brightness and to some extent the hue of the after-image varied when the amount of light coming to the originally stimulated eye varied. The data are in agreement with the assumption that after-images are primarily retinal.     

Relational perception and modes of perceiver operation

Judgments were made of the size of a small, luminous (inner) square appearing in the center of a somewhat larger, variable (outer) square, the whole pattern appearing in the dark. Accuracy of judgment was greatest when the outer square was constant from trial to trial but deteriorated when the outer square also varied in size, reaching a lower limit less than the accuracy produced under the absolute judgment condition (no outer square presented). An application of multiple discriminant analysis and the use of a maximum likelihood observer model provided estimates of the extent to which Os responded to inner and outer size variation as separate aspects of stimulation. Although Os differed markedly in this respect, their ability to identify inner square size under the various conditions did not reflect this difference.     

Geometrical representation of two methods of linear least squares multiple correlation

Geometrical properties and relationships of the Doolittle and square root methods of multiple correlation, as represented in the variable subspace of an orthogonal person space, are shown. The method of representation is also useful for depicting zero-order and partial correlations, as well as for the more general problem of the combination of variables.     

Some multiple correlation and predictor selection methods

The Doolittle, Wherry-Doolittle, and Summerfield-Lubin methods of multiple correlation are compared theoretically as well as by an application in which a set of predictors is selected. Wherry's method and the Summerfield-Lubin method are shown to be equivalent; the relationship of these methods to the Doolittle method is indicated. The Summerfield-Lubin method, because of its compactness and ease of computation, and because of the meaningfulness of the interim computational values, is recommended as a convenient least squares method of multiple correlation and predictor selection.     

Factor analysis by minimizing residuals (minres)

This paper is addressed to the classical problem of estimating factor loadings under the condition that the sum of squares of off-diagonal residuals be minimized. Communalities consistent with this criterion are produced as a by-product. The experimental work included several alternative algorithms before a highly efficient method was developed. The final procedure is illustrated with a numerical example. Some relationships of minres to principal-factor analysis and maximum-likelihood factor estimates are discussed, and several unresolved problems are pointed out.The authors wish to thank the Factor Analysis Work Group (supported, in part, by ONR) for valuable criticisms and suggestions made in the course of a discussion of the present work in April, 1965.     

ON THE ONTOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL CRITERIA

Changes in the dimensionality of the moral criteria, i.e. of those aspects of an action-sequence to which a person pays attention when judging how good/bad (nice/naughty) the agent is, were studied with 7-, 10-, and 13-year-old girls and adult subjects. Action sequences varying in respect to potential moral criteria were presented as cartoons. A proximity setting technique and Kruskal's (1964) method of analysis were used. In the younger age groups a remorse-spite-dimension was obtained, the motive criterion becoming more dominant and differentiated with age. Methodological problems are discussed.