Gender bias in clinical judgment: An assessment of the analogue method's transparency and social desirability

The main purpose of this research was to determine whether clinicians discern the intent of an analogue study of gender bias in clinical judgment and, if so, whether they respond in a socially desirable manner. A total of 147 psychologists responded to a national mail survey in which they were instructed to make clinical ratings of a case summary describing either a female or male client. In one condition (the Social Desirability condition), clinicians were informed of the study's intent and instructed to respond in a socially desirable fashion. In another condition (the No Social Desirability condition), the study's intent was not revealed and clinicians were asked to guess the study's hypothesis following their ratings. Results indicate that only 10 of 100 clinicians reported having deduced the purpose of the study. The small number of guessers prohibited examination of whether guessing the intent leads to socially desirable responses. Results provide no evidence that either therapist or client gender influenced clinical judgment. Implications for evaluating experimental findings which fail to support gender bias in clinical judgment are discussed.This research was supported in part by a Biomedical Research Grant awarded to the first author when he was a faculty member at the University of Southern California. Thanks are due to Bernie Weiner and Rena Repetti for their comments on early drafts.     

The object-line inferiority effect in pigeons

Eight pigeons (Columba livia) were trained to discriminate between diagonal lines presented alone or embedded in a redundant L-shape right-angle form. The stimuli were white and were presented in an environment that was otherwise totally dark. Numerous experiments done with human observers have shown a strong superiority effect when the diagonal lines are embedded in redundant contexts. However, in Experiment 1 ofthe present study, the pigeons discriminated significantly better between the two diagonal lines when presented alone than when they were embedded in the right-angle context. In order to check on the possibility that these results were restricted to the semi-Ganzfeld condition of Experiment 1, a second experiment was done with black stimuli presented on a white background. Results of Experiment 2 also showed a strong distractor effect. The results of the present experiments confirmed the predictions of the Heinemann and Chase model of pattern recognition by pigeons.     

Perception of sweetness and bitterness in different vehicles

In the present study, we investigated taste-taste, taste-vehicle, and simultaneous taste-vehicle-taste mixtures. Subjects made estimates of the sweetness and bitterness of 27 stimuli. Sucrose (292, 585, and 1170 mM), caffeine (13, 26, and 52 mM), and binary mixtures of low (292-13 mM), middle (585-26 mM), and high (1170-52 mM) levels of both components were dispersed in water, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) 1% w/v, and gelatin 6% w/v. The sweetness and bitterness of the sucrose-vehicle-caffeine combinations were significantly weaker than the respective sucrose-vehicle and caffeine-vehicle combinations. The emerged mutual suppressive effects were asymmetrical and persisted when both tastants were presented in CMC and gelatin. Moreover, the increase in vehicle consistency and the simultaneous addition of another taste reduced the perceived intensity of a taste either presented alone or dissolved in water. For both sweetness and bitterness, the total taste suppression observed was always significant.     

A voice-activated key for the Apple Macintosh computer

An interface circuit to connect a microphone to an Apple Macintosh computer is described. The Apple Macintosh mouse port is used as the input port, and the microphone activation simulates a mouse press.     

Sex differences and bilateral electrodermal activity

The present study was aimed at replicating the results of a previous work on sex differences and electrodermal asymmetry from our laboratory (Román,et al. 1987). Skin conductance was bilaterally recorded in a sample of 44 dextral volunteers (22 males and 22 females) during a stimulus-free period, and the performance of two tasks (verbal and spatial). Subjects were grouped into two groups of right-hand and left-hand dominance in their electrodermal responses (EDRs) in accordance with their laterality coefficient scores at rest. During the tasks subjects appeareed clearly differentiated by their lateralization in the magnitude and frequency of EDRs independently of gender: right-hand responders showed higher electrodermal activity on their right hand, while left-hand responders showed higher electrodermal activity on their left hand. Sex differences were not observed within each responsiveness pattern. The orientation of phasic electrodermal changes remained constant throughout the different conditions.     

A gestural repertoire of 1- to 2-year-old human children: in search of the ape gestures

Animal Cognition - When we compare human gestures to those of other apes, it looks at first like there is nothing much to compare at all. In adult humans, gestures are thought to be a window into...     

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale–Portugal Form: Psychometric properties and relationships to employment status

The Career-Adaptabilities Scale (CAAS)–Portugal Form consists of four scales, each with seven items, which measure concern, control, curiosity, and confidence as psychosocial resources for managing occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. Internal consistency estimates for the subscale and total scores ranged from good to excellent. The factor structure was fairly similar to the one computed for combined data from 13 countries. The CAAS–Portugal Form includes all the items in the International Form, and it adds one further national item to each scale. The syntheses of a variety of differential studies are presented to illustrate the importance of an adaptability measure to the field of career construction.