Confessions of an iconoclast: at home on the fringe

The career of a psychologist whose work has been on the fringe of psychometrics, of personality theory, and, at a stretch, of psychoanalytic theory and the philosophy of science is described in this article.     

Acquisition of superexcitatory properties by an irrelevant background stimulus

Six appetitive conditioning experiments with rats demonstrated that an irrelevant X accompanying a negative patterning discrimination (XA+, XB+, XAB-) acquires extraordinarily high levels of conditioned excitation. Responding to X was similar to that evoked by 2 excitors in combination (Experiment 1) and was greater than responding to a separately reinforced Y (Experiments 2-5). Superexcitatory properties were not acquired by X in the nonpatterning discriminations of Experiments 2-4. Experiment 5 found that A and B, if anything, were weakly excitatory. Making them more strongly excitatory after conditioning did not interfere with retention of the original discrimination (Experiment 6). Results support a counterintuitive prediction of associative theories that, under carefully arranged conditions, irrelevant stimuli may acquire superexcitatory properties.     

The prosodic property of lexical stress affects eye movements during silent reading

The present study examined lexical stress in the context of silent reading by measuring eye movements. We asked whether lexical stress registers in the eye movement record and, if so, why. The study also tested the implicit prosody hypothesis, or the idea that readers construct a prosodic contour during silent reading. Participants read high and low frequency target words with one or two stressed syllables embedded in sentences. Lexical stress affected eye movements, such that words with two stressed syllables took longer to read and received more fixations than words with one stressed syllable. Findings offer empirical support for the implicit prosody hypothesis and suggest that stress assignment may be the completing phase of lexical access, at least in terms of eye movement control.     

Transnationalism as a motif in family stories

Family stories have long been recognized as a vehicle for assessing components of a family's emotional and social life, including the degree to which an immigrant family has been willing to assimilate. Transnationalism, defined as living in one or more cultures and maintaining connections to both, is now increasingly common. A qualitative study of family stories in the family of those who appear completely "American" suggests that an affiliation with one's home country is nevertheless detectable in the stories via motifs such as (1) positively connotated home remedies, (2) continuing denigration of home country "enemies," (3) extensive knowledge of the home country history and politics, (4) praise of endogamy and negative assessment of exogamy, (5) superiority of home country to America, and (6) beauty of home country. Furthermore, an awareness of which model--assimilationist or transnational--governs a family's experience may help clarify a clinician's understanding of a family's strengths, vulnerabilities, and mode of framing their cultural experiences.     

On specifying the null model for incremental fit indices in structural equation modeling

In structural equation modeling, incremental fit indices are based on the comparison of the fit of a substantive model to that of a null model. The standard null model yields unconstrained estimates of the variance (and mean, if included) of each manifest variable. For many models, however, the standard null model is an improper comparison model. In these cases, incremental fit index values reported automatically by structural modeling software have no interpretation and should be disregarded. The authors explain how to formulate an acceptable, modified null model, predict changes in fit index values accompanying its use, provide examples illustrating effects on fit index values when using such a model, and discuss implications for theory and practice of structural equation modeling.     

A call to collaboration: the federal commitment to suicide prevention

The federal government, largely through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sponsors an array of science-based suicide prevention initiatives. This article details the prevention-related agendas and collaborative efforts of five operating divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services: the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indian Health Service, and Health Resources and Services Administration. The article highlights HHS's activities and their link to the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, the plan which will guide the nation's suicide prevention efforts for the next decade.     

Psychophysiologic effects of applied tension on the emotional fainting response to blood and injury

OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to investigate the psychophysiologic effects of "Applied Tension" (AT) on the emotional fainting response to blood and injury in a controlled experiment. METHOD: Twenty-two persons reporting to generally feel faint or to have fainted at the sight of blood or injury and 22 participants classified as Non-Fainters were randomly allocated to a treatment or control condition. Psychophysiologic responses were continuously monitored while individuals watched a video depicting open-heart surgery and a control film. Prior to the surgery film, participants in the treatment condition were instructed in the use of AT. RESULTS: All participants classified as Fainters showed a diphasic response pattern while watching the surgery film. This response, however, was significantly attenuated in Fainters in the treatment condition. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AT provides an effective treatment strategy for the prevention of fainting responses in persons with a fear of blood and injury.     

Effects on face recognition of spatial-frequency information contained in inspection and test stimuli

Researchers often assume a critical band of spatial frequencies is required for face recognition. Also, many studies have not measured the contrast required for recognition. On Day 1, observers viewed high-pass-filtered (HP), low-pass-filtered (LP), or unfiltered (UF) faces. On Day 2, they viewed a variety of faces, some of which were LP filtered, HP filtered, and UF. Observers adjusted contrast until they achieved both detection and recognition. Observers were most accurate and sensitive when filtered faces agreed in spatial-frequency content across days. Faces differing in spatial-frequency content were least well recognized. Unfiltered faces always fell between the 2 extremes. Observers generally used less contrast to recognize unfiltered than filtered faces. Correspondence of information between inspection and testing seemed more important than any particular range of frequencies.     

Self-centeredness and the adult male perpetrator of child sexual abuse

Self-centeredness has been identified as a quality of the adult male perpetrator of child sexual abuse, but little or no effort has been expended toward defining the concept clearly. In this paper, the research literature on the perpetrator and psychoanalytic writings on narcissism are reviewed for the purpose of developing a comprehensive definition of self-centeredness. Literature related to the social and developmental context of child sexual abuse also is discussed. In the final section of the paper, implications for primary prevention and treatment are drawn.This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family, July, 1986, in London, England. Support for the paper was provided through the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and the Faculty Summer Research Fellowship Program, Graduate School, University of Minnesota.