Near-death veridicality research in the hospital setting: Problems and promise

We attempted to conduct near-death veridicality research in the hospital setting, the rationale for which (we presented previously (Holden, 1988).) This paper describes problems, both anticipated and unanticipated, that we encountered. Based on the successes and failures of this undertaking, we present recommendations for future research of this type.At the time of this study, Dr. Holden was a candidate for the Ed.D. degree at the Northern Illinois University Graduate SchoolThis study was funded in part by a Dissertation Completion Award granted to Dr. Holden by the Northern Illinois University Graduate School. The authors also express gratitude to Robert Stromberg, Chaplain of the Lutheran General Hospital CCU at the time of this study, for his assistance in this research.     

Boundary Conditions of the High‐Investment Human Resource Systems‐Small‐Firm Labor Productivity Relationship

Although a few published, multiindustry, firm‐level, empirical studies have linked systems of high‐investment or high‐performance human resource management practices to enhanced small‐firm performance, this stream of strategic human resource management research is underdeveloped and equivocal. Accordingly, in this study, we use a sample of for‐profit, private‐sector, small Canadian firms with fewer than 100 employees from a variety of industry sectors to examine boundary conditions of the relationship between firm‐level high‐investment human resource systems and objective small‐firm labor productivity. Congruent with contingency theory, this study's results indicate that the extent and nature of the influence of high‐investment human resource systems on objective small‐firm labor productivity is contingent on internal (differentiation strategy and firm capital intensity) and external boundary conditions (industry dynamism and industry growth). Implications and limitations of this research study as well as avenues for future research are discussed.     

Are visual cue masking and removal techniques equivalent for studying perceptual skills in sport?

The spatial-occlusion paradigm makes use of two techniques (masking and removing visual cues) to provide information about the anticipatory cues used by viewers. The visual scene resulting from the removal technique appears to be incongruous, but the assumed equivalence of these two techniques is spreading. The present study was designed to address this issue by combining eye-movement recording with the two types of occlusion (removal versus masking) in a tennis serve-return task. Response accuracy and decision onsets were analysed. The results indicated that subjects had longer reaction times under the removal condition, with an identical proportion of correct responses. Also, the removal technique caused the subjects to rely on atypical search patterns. Our findings suggest that, when the removal technique was used, viewers were unable to systematically count on stored memories to help them accomplish the interception task. The persistent failure to question some of the assumptions about the removal technique in applied visual research is highlighted, and suggestions for continued use of the masking technique are advanced.     

Automatic analysis of altered gait in arylsulphatase A-deficient mice in the open field

In current research with laboratory animals, observing their dynamic behavior or locomotion is a laborintensive task. Automatic continuous monitoring can provide quantitative data on each animal’s condition and coordination ability. The objective of the present work is to develop an automated mouse observation system integrated with a conventional open-field test for motor function evaluation. Data were acquired from 86 mice having a targeted disruption of the arylsulphatase A (ASA) gene and having lowered coordinated locomotion abilities as a symptom. The mice used were 36 heterozygotes (12 females) and 50 knockout mice (30 females) at the age of 6 months. The mice were placed one at a time into the test setup, which consisted of a Plexiglas cage (53× 34.5 × 26 cm) and two fluorescent bulbs for proper illumination. The transparent cage allowed images to be captured from underneath the cage, so image information could be obtained about the dynamic variation of the positions of the limbs of the mice for gait reconstruction. Every mouse was recorded for 10 min. Background subtraction and color filtering were used to measure and calculate image features, which are variables that contain crucial information, such as the mouse’s position, orientation, body outline, and poßible locations for the mouse’s paws. A set of heuristic rules was used to prune implausible paw features and label the remaining ones as front/hind and left/right. After we had pruned the implausible paw features, the paw features that were consistent over subsequent images were matched to footprints. Finally, from the measured footprint sequence, eight parameters were calculated in order to quantify the gait of the mouse. This automatic observation technique can be integrated with a regular open-field test, where the trajectory and motor function of a free-moving mouse are measured simultaneously.     

An Application of Generalizability Theory to the Consistency-Specificity Problem: The Transsituational Consistency of Behavioral Persistence

We assessed the behavioral persistence of 65 elementary school children in five situations to explore further the consistency-specificity, or trait-situation, issue. We predicted that the cross-situational consistency of persistence would co-vary with gender, socioeconomic status, and intelligence. The data were analyzed within the context of generalizability theory, and some of our predictions were supported by the results. We contend that the consistency-specificity issue can be profitably studied by direct behavioral assessments within the context of generalizability theory. The implications of the findings for the consistency-specificity issue, and for personality assessment in general, are discussed.     

Bio-X: Removing Bodily Contingency in Regenerative Medicine

This paper addresses the social, cultural, and ethical dynamics of research in regenerative medicine. The author turns to both science fiction and recent developments in regenerative medicine for clues about the future of the body and medical practice, suggesting that regenerative medicine uses the body as its own resource for the purposes of preserving life, and that by attempting to remove the body from the limitations of both mortality and contingency, regenerative medicine fundamentally alters the meaning of “human.”     

MMPI-2 fake-bad scales: an attempted cross-validation of proposed cutting scores for outpatients

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) results were compared in 118 psychiatric outpatients given standard instructions, instructions to exaggerate their problems, instructions to feign a disorder they did not have, or instructions to feign global psychological disturbance. The groups were comparable on demographic, occupational and diagnostic characteristics as well as intake MMPI-2 results. Experimental MMPI-2 results showed that clinical scales were generally elevated in the feigning groups, with only modest differences across dissimulating instruction sets. The feigning groups had reliably higher scores than controls on all overreporting indexes examined, although no significant differences between feigning groups were present for overreporting indexes. Classification rates using previously proposed cutting scores for outpatients on individual feigning indexes showed near perfect specificity, but low to at best moderate sensitivity. Multiple regression analyses indicated that Gough's (1954) Dissimulation Scale (Ds2) was most strongly related to feigning status, and no other feigning scale contributed a significant increment in predictive power once Ds2 was entered.