A model for courseware development in psychology

Many behavioral scientists are aware of the advantages of a systematic approach to research and the development of software used in research. However, coordinated and systematic efforts to develop instructional materials in the behavioral sciences are relatively rare. This paper and the symposium of which it is a part describe a systematic effort funded by FIPSE to assess the needs for microcomputer tools and courseware in the undergraduate curriculum in psychology and to stimulate the development of high-quality materials. The conceptual bases for development of materials are vertical and horizontal integration-the development of courseware that spans the curriculum from introductory to advanced, specialized, courses, and the systematic use of materials within a course and across courses and subject areas. The activities of the project, as well as implications for other computer-based development projects, are discussed.     

Science as a justification for psychology as a social institution

Psychology seeks to justify its claims to privilege as a social institution largely on the basis of its scientific knowledge claims. These knowledge claims tend to be based on, and to reflect a particular view about the nature of science which is under increasing challenge. This situation is discussed and some of its implications examined.     

Comments on Hughes and Sussman''s time-sharing study of cerebral laterality in language-disordered and normal children

M. Hughes and H. M. Sussman (1983, Brain and Language, 19, 48-64) suggest that the time-sharing paradigm "does not serve as an adequate behavioral index for language lateralization in children." The merits of this conclusion are considered and general interpretative issues regarding manual interference in dual-task/time-sharing studies are discussed.     

Performance of disturbed hyperactive and nonhyperactive children on an objective measure of hyperactivity

Twenty hyperactive emotionally disturbed children (6–11 years) and a matched sample of nonhyperactive emotionally disturbed children were selected from the population of a therapeutic day treatment facility on the basis of teacher ratings. They were administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 and were rated on several scales of impulsivity and/or hyperactivity. Each subject was required to perform on the Delay Task of the Gordon Diagnostic System, which required them to inhibit behavioral responding on a temporally based schedule (DRL-6) in order to win points. Children classified as hyperactive, whether by one or more criteria, were relatively unable to refrain from emitting a high number of nonreinforced responses. Moreover, these performance differences persisted regardless of age or IQ and were stable over the 8 minutes required to complete the test.The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the following members of the Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia: Richard Abidin, Ann Loper, Ronald Reeve, and Sherry Kraft. Data analyses were conducted using STATMANAGER, Hayden Software Company, copyright 1983.     

Theoretical functions in physical science

The aim of this paper is to give an account of theoreticity which captures the preanalytic conception of a theoretical function, which is precise and yet which expresses what is significant about theoretical functions. The point of departure for this account is a recent discussion of the topic by Balzer and Moulines. On the basis of criticism of this discussion and on the basis of an examination of laboratory measurement, an account of theoreticity is proposed.I am grateful to the members of the philosophy seminar at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, to Barbara Davidson and particularly to Wolfgang Balzer and this journal's referee for their comments on earlier versions of this paper.