Hypnotic Validation of Two Hand Test Scoring Categories

When emotions of aggression and affection were hypnotically induced in seven college students, they produced corresponding increases on the Aggression and Affection scores of the Hand Test.     

Life,Chaos, and Transdisciplinarity: A Personal Journey

This article uses an autobiography as an object of research, to both illustrate some principles of chaos theory in analytic practice, and give those ideas a personal and social context, thereby producing a unique but explanation-rich history of chaos theory and recent intellectual history of transdisciplinarity and social research in the West. The ideas from Chaos Theory it uses and illustrates include: three-body analysis (Poincaré); fractals (Mandelbrot); fuzzy logic (Zadeh); and the butterfly effect (Lorenz).     

Individual response patterns in binary choice tasks with nondiscriminable stimuli

The present experiment sought to determine whether individual Ss tend to employ repeatedly the same response patterns in binary choice tasks containing nondiscriminable stimuli and, if so, whether the response sequences when used to construct stimulus sequences improve the performance of other choice tasks. Information and frequency analyses of the response sequences of 48 Ss showed moderate consistency of patterning within a light and within a tone task. Performance of a card task following the light and tone tasks was closely related to the task (light or tone) from which the stimulus sequence was obtained. The frequency analysis showed that repetition patterns were preferred by most Ss but at the expense of alternation responses. The presentation of reinforcement in the card task did not improve performance over that observed in the light and tone tasks.     

Beyond category sorting and pleasantness rating: Inducing relational and item-specific processing

In most studies of relational and item-specific processing, category sorting and pleasantness rating have been the main procedures used to induce these two types of processing. Because the two types of processing have been studied in a wide range of memory phenomena (Hunt & McDaniel, 1993), it is strange that other tasks have not been proposed and tested. The present experiment demonstrates that equivalent results can be obtained with three relational processing tasks (category sorting, narrative construction, and relational imagery) and equivalent results with three itemspecific processing tasks (pleasantness ratings, familiarity ratings, and single imagery).     

Gender and self-concept: A reexamination of stereotypic differences and the role of gender attitudes

Sex Roles - Gender differences in overall self-evaluation and in specific dimensions of self-concept were examined in primarily White Caucasian college and high school students. The role of gender...     

A Simple, Unified Approach to Bayesian Risk Calculations

A simple, unified approach for calculating Bayesian risks is presented and illustrated with examples. Although new genetic tools have reduced the need for these risk calculations, situations still exist in which consultands need to know these kinds of risks (for example, when no direct test is available for a particular deleterious mutation, or when a consultand wants to know his/her risk before deciding whether to undergo a direct test). The Unified Approach presented here is straightforward and ensures calculating the correct risks. It can be applied to a wide variety of genetic counseling situations, including but not limited to: calculating recurrence or carrier risks for dominant and recessive diseases; incorporating false-positive and false-negative rates on genetic tests into risk calculations; and determining the probability that an isolated case in a family represents a new mutation. The method is based on basic principles of probability and likelihood theory but can be used without sophisticated knowledge of this theory. The method relies on two rules, the Rule of All Configurations and the Rule of Fundamental Probabilities, which are explained and illustrated. The Unified Approach does not represent new or original mathematics but should make it easier for users to calculate risks accurately. A warning is included that complex calculations should always be independently verified by another individual.     

Some further tests of the constant-ratio rule

Five experiments sought to test the constant-ratio rule (CRR) with single dimensional ensembles composed of 2, 4, or 8 stimulus objects. Each S attempted to identify stimuli which varied in weight or in visual size or brightness. The results demonstrated: (a) The CRR predicts equally well the response proportions of single dimensional visual, kinesthetic, and auditory stimulus ensembles, but less well than those for multidimensional auditory stimuli. (b) Better predictions are obtained with four than with two stimulus objects.(c) The CRR is sensitive to variations in the spacing and range of the stimulus ensembles and to practice on the task. It is concluded that the rule tends to fail whenever stimulus conditions elicit differential amounts of stimulus and response confusion.     

Sleep problems of parents of typically developing children and parents of children with autism

Few researchers have investigated the relation of children's sleep problems to their parents' sleep problems. Children with autism have been reported to evidence greater sleep problems than do typically developing children (C. D. Hoffman, D. P. Sweeney, J. E. Gilliam, & M. C. Lopez-Wagner, 2006; P. G. William, L. L. Sears, & A. Allard, 2004). In the present study, parents (N = 106) of children independently diagnosed with autism (4-16 years of age; M= 8.20 years, SD = 2.69 years) reported greater sleep problems for themselves than did parents (N = 168) of typically developing children (4-15 years of age; M = 8.62 years, SD = 3.28 years). Children's sleep problems were related to parents' sleep problems for both groups; in the autism group, children's level of symptomatology was not related to their parents' sleep. The authors suggest areas for further research on the sleep problems of children and their parents, the potential interaction of these problems with children's symptomatic behavior, and the relations of these factors to child, parent, and family functioning.     

A Big Regulatory Tool-Box for a Small Technology

There is little doubt that the development and commercialisation of nanotechnologies is challenging traditional state-based regulatory regimes. Yet governments currently appear to be taking a non-interventionist approach to directly regulating this emerging technology. This paper argues that a large regulatory toolbox is available for governing this small technology and that as nanotechnologies evolve, many regulatory advances are likely to occur outside of government. It notes the scientific uncertainties facing us as we contemplate nanotechnology regulatory matters and then examines the notion of regulation itself, suggesting new ways to frame our understanding of both regulation and the regulatory tools relevant to nanotechnologies. By drawing upon three different conceptual lenses of regulation, the paper articulates a wide range of potential regulatory tools at hand. It also focuses particularly on the ways various tools are currently being used or perhaps may be employed in the future. The strengths and weaknesses characterising these tools is examined as well as the different actors involved. The paper concludes that we will increasingly face debate over what is likely to work most effectively in regulating nano technologies, the legitimacy of these different potential approaches, and the speed at which these different regimes may be employed.