On becoming a school psychologist: A semiautobiographical account

As an example of the development of an early school psychology program in the Southwest, the beginning of Child Study and Consultation Service is described. The unique aspect of this program undoubtedly had to do with its relationship to a demonstration mental health center and a consultation program started in several elementary school districts in the area. Beginning with a consortium of five school districts, it was later expanded to include 16 school districts with a staff of 15 doctoral-level school psychologists. This account also describes the author's involvement with the Division of School Psychology and some of the major issues facing the division in the late 1950s and 1960s. An attempt is made to show how the author's educational and work experiences contributed to the philosophy, policies, and practices of school psychology.     

Least squares metric,unidimensional unfolding

The partial derivatives of the squared error loss function for the metric unfolding problem have a unique geometry which can be exploited to produce unfolding methods with very desirable properties. This paper details a simple unidimensional unfolding method which uses the geometry of the partial derivatives to find conditional global minima; i.e., one set of points is held fixed and the global minimum is found for the other set. The two sets are then interchanged. The procedure is very robust. It converges to a minimum very quickly from a random or non-random starting configuration and is particularly useful for the analysis of large data sets with missing entries.This paper benefits from many conversations with and suggestions from Howard Rosenthal.     

Choice behavior and the accessibility of the reinforcer

In Experiment 1, matching of relative response rates to relative rates of reinforcement was obtained in concurrent variable-interval schedules when the absolute values of the two concurrent variable-interval schedules varied from 6 sec and 12 sec to 600 sec and 1200 sec. Increases in the duration of the changeover delay, however, produced decreases in the relative response rates and, consequently, some deviation from matching. In Experiment 2, matching of relative response rates to the relative duration of the reinforcer failed to occur when the equal variable-interval schedules arranging access to the two different reinforcer durations (1.5 and 6 sec) were varied in size from concurrent variable-interval 10-sec schedules to concurrent variable-interval 600-sec schedules.     

Rehabilitation of the Culturally Different: A Model of the Individual in Cultural Change

Services of rehabilitation agencies and facilities tend to be structured to the needs of the larger American culture. It is important, however, to reconsider our social service programs in view of the needs of different cultural groups when providing services that will aid these individuals to move across cultural boundaries. An attempt is made in this paper to develop a model of the individual who undergoes such cultural transition. Such a model should help define problems in service programs, assess the value of current service activities, and identify areas for developing new services that will aid the overall process of cultural transition. A model of behavior development is outlined, followed by a formulation of a model of the individual in cultural change.     

Information processing,neuropsychological function,and the inherited predisposition to alcoholism

Sons of male alcoholics are at particularly heightened risk for the development of alcoholism. This heightened risk frequently appears in association with increased incidence of conduct disorder or hyperactivity, with deficits in abstract thinking and poor school performance, with abnormalities in cued psychophysiological response, and with increased sensitivity to the putatively stress-response-dampening effects of alcohol intoxication. This risk and its associated features are discussed within the context of a neuropsychological theory, predicated on the notions (1) that deficits in cognitive functions theoretically dependent upon the intact functioning of the prefrontal cortex could underlie manifestation of the idiosyncracies commonly attributed to sons of male alcoholics, and (2) that acute alcohol intoxication could relieve the subjective discomfort associated with the consequences of such deficits.     

Creativity training: An assessment of a novel approach

The right hand hemisphere of the brain is purported to be the seat of the perceptual, intuitive, synthetic, visual and non-rational activities. In it is believed to reside the creative ability. Evidence is presented which suggests that, by exercising specifically the right hand hemisphere using a series of carefully structured tasks, some aspects of creative behaviour can be enhanced. It follows that users of creativity training courses should not expect every aspect of creative behaviour to be enhanced by any given course.     

EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS, EYE MOVEMENTS, AND READING

Abstract— This article compares studies that use event-related brain potential (ERP) and eye movement data to examine changes in reading behavior when a text is read twice. Although the types of information provided by these methodologies are different, both indicate that rereading a text facilitates many aspects of processing. ERPs provide a method for measuring comprehension and memory processes separately, while eye movements provide a continuous record of performance and allow changes in reading behavior to be localized to specific words. The results from these studies are compatible. However, converging evidence is not always found when different paradigms are contrasted, and diverging results can provide important information. To facilitate comparison across experiments, we suggest using a common set of materials for both paradigms. We conclude that comparing the results of research based on more than one paradigm provides a more complete understanding of the processes involved in reading.