Assimilative hue shifts in color depend on bar width

Hue shifts were measured in isoluminant color gratings whose bar width was varied from 2′ to 20′ of visual angle. Subjects matched the hues in each grating with individual Munsell swatches. Hue shifts were largest for bar widths of 2′; however, they depended on the color combination used. Green and red shifted toward (i.e., assimilated with) whatever second grating color they were paired with. Blue, on the other hand, assimilated with red and with yellow, but remained relatively unchanged when combined with green. Yellow shifted only minimally, regardless of the second grating color. Hue shifts decreased with increasing stripe width and disappeared between 4.5′ and 7.5′. Compared with the assimilative hue shifts, color contrast effects were slight or absent. These results cannot be attributed merely to chromatic aberration, macular pigment, eye movements, or field size.     

Use of the Sleep Assessment Device (Kelley and Lichstein, 1980) to validate insomniacs' self-report of sleep pattern

A comparison is presented of insomniacs' self-reported sleep pattern and objectively monitored sleep using the Sleep Assessment Device (SAD; Kelley & Lichstein, 1980). Analysis of 110 subject nights revealed modest but significant subjective overestimates of both sleep latency and sleep duration which were accounted for by the demands of the task (i.e., longer time periods are harder to estimate accurately). Correlations between self-report and SAD measures were, however, consistently high, suggesting that self-report may be a valid index of sleep disturbance. Results are discussed with reference to the clinician's task in evaluating sleep complaints.This research stury was supported by a grant from the Research Fund of Lanarkshire Health Board, Scotland.     

Connections between reading disability and behavior problems: Testing temporal and causal hypotheses

In this study of children's reading and behavior problem status from Grade 2 to Grade 4 of elementary school, we tested hypotheses concerned with the temporal and causal connections between these two closely associated disorders. Children with both, either, or neither kinds of problems were followed up over 2 years. While reading disability remained stable over time, there was greater variability in behavior problem status. Our data did not support the claim that reading problems lead to the development of behavior problems. Children who were comorbid had the worst outcome at follow-up, suggesting that behavior problems may exacerbate reading delay. Reading-disabled children were lower (albeit in the normal range) on intelligence, but when IQ was controlled, large group differences on reading and spelling were still evident. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) type behavior problems significantly differentiated children with comorbid problems from children with behavior problems alone. Sex differences were noted in the association, with two-thirds of reading-disabled boys also having behavior problems and two-thirds of reading-disabled girls having no behavior problems, suggesting that pathways to reading disability may be gender specific.This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council. Our thanks to the children, families and teachers for their support of our project.     

Sex and gender bias in self-report personality disorder inventories: item analysis of the MCMI-II, MMPI, and PDQ-R

There has been considerable controversy and research regarding sex bias in the diagnosis of personality disorders, but little has involved self-report inventories. Thus this study investigated items from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (Millon, 1987), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Morey, Waugh, & Blashfield, 1985), and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (Hyler & Rieder, 1987). Subjects (N = 189) completed the Histrionic, Dependent, Antisocial, and Narcissistic scales from these inventories, along with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (Derogatis, 1977). Items were considered to evidence sex or gender bias if they (a) failed to correlate with dysfunction and (b) exhibited sex or gender role differences. At least 13 items evidenced sex bias (76 items using a more liberal threshold). The majority were from Narcissistic scales; few Histrionic items evidenced sex or gender bias. Implications with respect to sex-bias assessment and item construction are discussed.     

Predictors of Recycling Behavior: An Application of a Modified Health Belief Model1

In an examination of environmentally related behavior, the health belief model (HBM) was applied to the recycling behavior of a random sample of Missouri residents. The results indicated that both the basic and modified versions of the HBM significantly predict recycling behavior; significant predictors include perceived barriers, perceived likelihood of negative outcomes due to failure to recycle, self-efficacy, and consideration of future consequences. These findings are consistent with applications of the HBM to health-related actions. The poor performance of several variables provides evidence of the psychological processes underlying decisions to recycle.     

Transfer of a response controlling stimulus duration across discrimination problems

In the acquisition phase, pigeons learned to peck at a changeover key to shorten the duration of S? but not of S+ presented on the food key in a discrimination problem. In the transfer phase, the significance of S+ and S? was changed through extinction of both, equal reinforcement, or discrimination reversal, while the changeover key was not available. Transfer tests then showed appropriate modification of the changeover response. Similar transfer was demonstrated across orthogonal stimulus dimensions. Further analytic studies showed that this transfer of the changeover response did not depend upon mediation due to differential response rates to the food key. This research strategy enriches the study of the “second learning process” by providing an indicator of stimulus control in all phases of the procedure. Direct transfer between different problems also indicates that discriminative stimuli, although physically dissimilar, have the same “psychological value” for the subject.