Publication bias in research synthesis: sensitivity analysis using a priori weight functions

Publication bias, sometimes known as the "file-drawer problem" or "funnel-plot asymmetry," is common in empirical research. The authors review the implications of publication bias for quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis) and describe existing techniques for detecting and correcting it. A new approach is proposed that is suitable for application to meta-analytic data sets that are too small for the application of existing methods. The model estimates parameters relevant to fixed-effects, mixed-effects or random-effects meta-analysis contingent on a hypothetical pattern of bias that is fixed independently of the data. The authors illustrate this approach for sensitivity analysis using 3 data sets adapted from a commonly cited reference work on research synthesis (H. M. Cooper & L. V. Hedges, 1994).     

Disillusionment and Devaluation in Winnicott's Analysis of Masud Khan

Biographical references to Winnicott's analysis of Masud Khan provide the background for this exploration of Winnicott's and Khan's conflicts about disillusionment. On the basis of historical data, speculative hypotheses are presented about possible sources of Winnicott's difficulty engaging Khan's hate and destructiveness. Winnicott's feelings about Khan may have been influenced not only by his denied disillusionment with his own father and his analysts, James Strachey and Joan Riviere, but also by the impact of Strachey's covert anti-Semitism.     

Evaluating the Social Acceptability of Persons with Habit Disorders: The Effects of Topography, Frequency, and Gender Manipulation

In this study, 120 undergraduate students were asked to rate the social acceptability of a male and female who portrayed different habit behaviors (motor tics, vocal tics, Tourette's disorder, and trichotillomania). The portrayals of these behaviors were clinically valid as viewed by mental health professionals. Each habit behavior was portrayed in a variety of frequency/topography combinations including low frequency/mild topography, low frequency/severe topography, high frequency/mild topography, and high frequency/ severe topography. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four habit conditions (motor tic, vocal tic, Tourette's disorder, and trichotillomania) and were asked to rate the social acceptability of the frequency/topography combinations exhibited by each actor. Results showed that across the various habit conditions, the man with the habit was seen as less socially acceptable than the woman with the habit. In addition, low-frequency habit behaviors were more acceptable than high-frequency behaviors, and behaviors with mild topographies were more acceptable than those with severe topography habits. Motor tics were seen as more acceptable than vocal tics, Tourette's disorder, or trichotillomania. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Intrusive memories and depression in cancer patients

Matched samples of depressed and nondepressed cancer patients were interviewed about past life events, particularly experiences of death and illness. They identified and described any spontaneous intrusive visual memories they had experienced in the past week corresponding to these events. About one quarter reported such memories and, as predicted, the majority of intrusive memories concerned illness, injury and death. The mean levels of intrusion and avoidance were equivalent to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Consistent with prediction, depressed patients reported significantly more intrusive memories than controls, and described the memories as typically beginning with or being exacerbated by the onset of depression. Greater numbers of intrusive memories were associated with more maladaptive coping, and greater avoidance with deficits in autobiographical memory functioning.     

Conjoining auditory and visual features during high-rate serial presentation: Processing and conjoining two features can be faster than processing one

The time required to conjoin stimulus features in high-rate serial presentation tasks was estimated in auditory and visual modalities. In the visual experiment, targets were defined by color, orientation, or the conjunction of color and orientation features. Responses were fastest in color conditions, intermediate in orientation conditions, and slowest in conjunction conditions. Estimates of feature conjunction time (FCT) were derived on the basis of a model in which features were processed in parallel and then conjoined, permitting FCTs to be estimated from the difference in reaction times between conjunction and the slowest single-feature condition. Visual FCTs averaged 17 msec, but were negative for certain stimuli and subjects. In the auditory experiment, targets were defined by frequency, location, or the conjunction of frequency and location features. Responses were fastest in frequency conditions, but were faster in conjunction than in location conditions, yielding negative FCTs. The results from both experiments suggest that the processing of stimulus features occurs interactively during early stages of feature conjunction.     

Perceived exertion and the field-independence--dependence dimension

Perceived exertion responses were compared between field-independent and field-dependent perceivers at three cycle-ergometer pedalling rates. 50 male subjects were classified according to mode of field approach on the basis of their performance on an embedded-figures test. Power output was held constant at 840 kpm/min., while pedalling rate was randomly set at 40, 60, or 80 rpm. Significant differences between the field-independent and -dependent groups were not found at the three pedalling rates for any of the physiological variables or for over-all, legs and chest ratings of perceived exertion. The extent of differentiated psychological functioning did not account for individual differences in perceptual reactance during muscular exertion.     

The effects of stressful arousal on conjugate lateral eye movement

This study investigated the relationship between stressful arousal and conjugate lateral eye movement tendencies in right-handed males. Sixty subjects were asked both neutral and mildly emotional questions after watching either a stressful industrial accident movie or a bland control film. Subjects had been previously classified as either right-movers, left-movers, or bidirectionals on the basis of their responses in a prefilm interview. A statistically significant interaction between dominant direction and film condition was found on right eye movement. Subjects classified as right-movers displayed increased right eye movement preferences under the stress film, compared to the neutral film condition. This effect was seen with neutral, but not mildly emotional, questions. Results were interpreted within an elaborated brain asymmetry model of conjugate lateral eye movement, in which stressful arousal is assumed to increase subjects' reliance on characteristic, neurologically based ways of dealing with stimuli. Implications for theory and research on brain-behavior relationships in ego-defensive styles are discussed.     

The eating paradox: how we tolerate food

It is hypothesized that food, which is certainly a necessary commodity with powerful positive reinforcing qualities, also provides a potential threat to organisms, including humans. The act of eating, although necessary for the provision of energy, is a particularly disruptive event in a homeostatic sense. Just as humans learn responses to help them tolerate the administration of dangerous drugs, so do they learn to make anticipatory responses that help minimize the impact of meals on the body, to limit the amount of food consumed within any individual meal, to recruit several parts of the protective stress-response system while meals are being processed, and to limit postprandial behaviors so as to minimize the possibility of disrupting homeostatic systems even more. It is further hypothesized that defenses against eating too much may become activated inappropriately and contribute to clinical problems such as reactive hypoglycemia.