Many-Valued Logic and Event-Related Potentials

In previous experiments on event-related potentials (ERPs) during linguistic judgments, the subjects' decisions have been categorical (e.g., true vs false). In this experiment, more realistic variations in truth value and subject certainty were used. Thirty-eight naive undergraduates read a story about a fictional murder. ERPs were recorded as the subjects rated the strength of their beliefs about statements relating to suspects in the crime. Because no subject was sure which of the suspects was guilty of committing the crime, binary (true–false) category judgments were inappropriate. Three components of the ERP waveforms were affected by the experimental manipulations. An early positive component was largest to sentences concerning the suspect considered most likely to have committed the crime. A subsequent broad posterior positivity (LPC) also showed significant sentence-type differences, but it was larger to sentences considered probable—whether they were true or false—than to more ambiguous sentences. A third ERP component (N400) was negative at midline electrode sites and peaked at approximately 420 ms. Subjects' truth-value judgments had no effect on the N400. N400 was, however, affected by the subject's task. It was more negative when subjects made graded judgments about truth value than when they made binary true–false judgments. Overall, naturalistic judgments of sentence validity produced a variety of brain responses that reflected different aspects of linguistic decision making.     

Congruence of meaning between facial expressions of emotion and selected emotion terms

How similar are the meanings of facial expressions of emotion and the emotion terms frequently used to label them? In three studies, subjects made similarity judgments and emotion self-report ratings in response to six emotion categories represented in Ekman and Friesen's Pictures of Facial Affect, and their associated labels. Results were analyzed with respect to the constituent facial movements using the Facial Action Coding System, and using consensus analysis, multidimensional scaling, and inferential statistics. Shared interpretation of meaning was found between individuals and the group, with congruence between the meaning in facial expressions, labeling using basic emotion terms, and subjects' reported emotional responses. The data suggest that (1) the general labels used by Ekman and Friesen are appropriate but may not be optimal, (2) certain facial movements contribute more to the perception of emotion than do others, and (3) perception of emotion may be categorical rather than dimensional.     

Are research subjects adequately protected? A review and discussion of studies conducted by the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments

In light of information uncovered about human radiation experiments conducted during the Cold War, an important charge for the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments was to assess the current state of protections for human research subjects. This assessment was designed to enhance the Committee's ability to make informed recommendations for the improvement of future policies and practices for the protection of research subjects. The Committee's examination of current protections revealed great improvement over those from the past, yet some problems remain. Although the data collected by the Committee highlight specific areas in need of attention, the Committee's work should be viewed in part as the beginning of a series of ongoing assessments of the adequacy and effectiveness of the protections afforded to human subjects.     

The relationship between childhood violence and alcohol problems among men who batter: An empirical review and synthesis

The available literature indicates that: (a) experiences of childhood violence are associated with mediator variables, including antisocial behaviors and depressive symptomatology, that are themselves associated with development of alcohol problems and perpetration of partner violence for men in adulthood; (b) experiences of childhood violence and, more strongly, observation of interparental violence during childhood predict perpetration of partner violence in adulthood for males; (c) presence of partner violence is associated with certain types of alcohol problems for men; and (d) both partner violence and alcohol problems are associated with marital conflict. However, available research has often excluded important moderator variables, such as history of familial and parental alcohol problems and history of parental psychiatric disorders. Based on the available research, two indirect pathways between childhood violence and adulthood problems (i.e., alcohol problems and partner violence) are proposed as guides for future research in the areas of family violence and alcohol problems for men. Further, bidirectional associations between alcohol problems and partner violence are proposed. Finally, inclusion of important moderator and mediator variables in multivariate research designs is suggested.     

Should a criminal receive a heart transplant? Medical Justice vs. Societal Justice

Should the nation provide expensive care and scarce organs to convicted felons? We distinguish between two fields of justice: Medical Justice and Societal Justice. Although there is general acceptance within the medical profession that physicians may distribute limited treatments based solely on potential medical benefits without regard to nonmedical factors, that does not mean that society cannot impose limits based on societal factors. If a society considers the convicted felon to be a full member, then that person would be entitled to at least a “decent minimum” level of care — which might include access to scarce life-saving organs. However, if criminals forfeit their entitlement to the same level of medical care afforded to all members of society, they still would be entitled to a kind of “rudimentary decent minimum” granted to all persons on simple humanitarian grounds. Almost certainly this entitlement would not include access to organ transplants.     

The stability of status orientations among young,white, rural women from three southern states

This paper reports the results of a panel study of young, white, rural women from Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas (N = 138). The study was primarily concerned with how social origin variables affected early educational and occupational orientations and how early states of these orientations affected the orientations themselves at a later point in time. The results indicated that mother's education had a greater effect than father's education, but in either case the effect is mediated by intervening influences such as early aspirations and expectations. These young women held very traditional status orientations (with 60% projecting the occupations of beautician, nurse, stenographer, or school teacher), and their orientations were quite stable between their sophomore and senior years in high school. Since there has been so little work reported on the status attainment process for women, and rural women in particular, this study does offer a limited insight into this phenomenon.     

The toy salesperson: A voice for change in sex-role stereotypes?

A field experiment was designed in which students approached sales personnel in 31 different retail settings, asking for help in selecting toys for a twin niece and nephew, 5 years of age. A majority of salesperson suggestions involved a sex-stereotypic selection of toys for both the male and the female child. Limited support was found for hypotheses that the responses of sales personnel would vary by retail setting (specialized toystore, department store, dimestore/discount store) and by sex of salesperson; responses did not vary by salesperson's age, however. Because more different toys are available for boys than for girls, female role expansion in children's play activities is a more likely outcome than sex-role convergence.This article is a revision of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, August 1976.     

Memory for music

Subjects created imaginal interpretations of classical music passages in accordance with themes which were either concrete and comprehensible or abstract and difficult to comprehend. Recognition memory for the musical passages was found to be superior in the former condition. The results support the hypothesis that meaningful interpretation of stimulus material is a major determinant of memory accuracy. The implications of the results for comparisons of music and language are also discussed.     

Suppression and substitution in the treatment of nailbiting

The effectiveness of a package treatment for reducing nailbiting was studied. The package was composed of both positive procedures aimed at teaching adaptive behavior to substitute for nailbiting and negative procedures aimed at advancing skills for suppressing nailbiting. The design of the study permitted an analysis of the contributions of both positive and negative components of the package. Subjects assigned to combined, positive, negative and placebo groups received four weekly treatment sessions, and changes in their nailbiting behavior were compared with untreated controls. As in previous studies, nonspecific factors such as demand and attention to ones nails were found to be important determinants of outcome. In addition, positive procedures were found to be substantially more important than negative procedures in the maintenance of reductions in nailbiting over a 4-month follow-up period.     

Violation of a Spacing Norm in High Social Density

A field experiment investigated violation of the spacing norm which keeps distance between people in a particular type of crowding, high social density, when the number of people in an area is large but space is not necessarily restricted. The proportion of people passing a drinking fountain who drank from the fountain was observed in conditions of high and low social density and, for each of these densities, when a confederate stood one foot from the fountain and when no one stood near the fountain. Three hundred passersby were observed in each of the four conditions. The observations supported the conclusion that the spacing norm was followed in low social density ( p <.01) but violated under conditions of high social density for reasons other than lack of space. Interpretation focused on several concomitants of high social density, especially excessive social stimulation, and the accompanying tendencies to attribute less of the usual social meanings to people and honor fewer of their expectations.