An experimental and theoretical investigation of the constant-ratio rule and other models of visual letter confusion

The constant-ratio rule (CRR) and four interpretations of R. D. Luce's (In R. D. Luce, R. R. Bush, & E. Galanter (Eds.), Handbook of mathematical psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Wiley, 1963) similarity choice model (SCM) were tested using an alphabetic confusion paradigm. Four stimulus conditions were employed that varied in set size (three, four or five stimulus elements) and set constituency (block letters: A, E, X; F, H, X; A, E, F, H; A, E, F, H, X), and were presented to each subject in independent blocks. The four interpretations of the SCM were generated by constraining one, both, or neither of its similarity and bias parameter sets to be invariant in across-stimulus set model predictions. The strictest interpretation of the SCM (both the similarity and bias parameters constrained), shown to be a special case of the CRR, and the CRR produced nearly equivalent across-set predictions that provided a reasonable first approximation to the data. However, they proved inferior to the least strict SCM (neither the similarity nor bias parameters were constrained; the common interpretation of the SCM in visual confusion). Additionally, the least strict SCM was compared to J. T. Townsend's (Perception and Psychophysics, 1971, 9, 40–50, 449–454) overlap model, the all-or-none model (J. T. Townsend, Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 1978, 18, 25–38), and a modified version of L. H. Nakatani's (Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 1972, 9, 104–127) confusion-choice model. Both the least strict SCM and confusion-choice models produced nearly equivalent within stimulus set predictions that were superior to the overlap and all-or-none within-set predictions. Measurement conditions related to model structure and equivalence relations among the models, many of them new, were examined and compared with the statistical fit results of the investigation.     

Effects of sexual versus fear arousal on alcohol consumption in college males

To compare the effects of pleasant and aversive arousal on alcohol consumption, 18 male undergraduates had three weekly sessions to separately view erotic, mutilation or neutral slides in a simulated memory experiment. Following exposure to the slides, they received access to alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, which were presented to half the subjects in a taste rating task, and to half as the result of engaging in an operant lever-press task. Subjects believed these tasks to be distractors during a purported retention interval. Self-report instruments and basal skin conductance confirmed the success of the affective manipulations. However, only the subjects using the taste task after viewing erotic slides significantly increased alcohol consumption. These results question a tension reduction model of drinking and qualify the contribution of autonomic arousal to motivation for drinking.     

A note on the identifiability of parallel and serial processes

Due to the significant research effort devoted to discovering whether certain psychological processes are serial or parallel, it seems important to establish the degree to which such processes are identifiable and to investigate possible ways in which such knowledge can improve our experiments. General definitions of parallel and serial systems are given, followed by a qualitative summary of identifiability results obtained with special classes of exponential systems. Some of these results are applied to a current experimental paradigm, and possible     

Information available In brief tactile presentations

Two experiments investigated characteristics of Immediate recall for brief tactile stimuli applied to the 24 interjoint regions of the fingers of both hands (thumbs excluded) The obtained Immediate-memory span varied from 35 to 7,5 stimulus positions correct after correction for guessing, similar to the results In analogous visual studies, Properties of any hypothetical tactile short-term memory were studied by requiring subjects to report only a specified portion of the stimuli presented, and by varying the time of occurrence of the marker specifying which portion of the stimuli to report, In this partial-report condition, subjects had more stimulus information available at the time of reporting than their immediate memory spans indicated, provided that the stimulus marker occurred within 0.8 sec after stimulus termination, The data suggest that at least for the amount of training employed here, any tactile short-term memory has much less capacity than an analogous visual short-term memory.     

Tactile perception of sequentially presented spatial patterns

Tactile pattern recognition was studied by presenting pairs of alphabetic shapes in rapid succession at the same anatomical location, the subject being required on each trial to identify bath of the patterns. Experimental variables were the duration of each stimulus and the time between stimuli. Three aspects of the observed interaction were (1) an increase in letter reversals for very short interstimulus intervals; (2) a greater percentage of first-response errors for short-stimulus onset intervals and a greater percentage of second-response errors for long-stimulus onset intervals; and (3) a crossover in the first- and second-response error rates in the range of 100 to 200 msec. after the onset of the first stimulus. These results are consistent with some of the temporal properties of models proposed for analogous visual tasks.     

Perceptions of Registered Nurses/Midwives and Obstetricians on Having Males as Expectant Fathers Present in the Delivery Room at Public Hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago: Implications for Women and Their Partners

This study explored the perspectives of obstetricians and registered nurses/midwives on the presence of expectant fathers in the delivery room with a view to understanding the implications for the mother as well as the expectant father. A qualitative research design using a phenomenological approach to understand the nuances and challenges that affect the perceptions and attitudes of obstetricians and registered nurses/midwives on the research issue. Five focus group discussions and five key informant interviews were the data collection strategies. Data were coded openly then combined to form themes which were utilized as the framework for data analysis. Three major themes emerged in the findings which included potential benefits to the mother, potential benefits to the father and potential benefits to the relationship. Generally, obstetricians and registered nurses/midwives held positive views about their presence in the delivery suite. This was related to the perceived positive impact that he could have on the woman during the inter-natal and post-natal periods as well as the quality of the relationship. By extension, their presence could have positive long term benefits on the quality of the relationship. The presence of expectant fathers in the delivery room could have a positive impact on the delivery experience for mothers, fathers and the long term relationship. The findings could provide a framework for other studies including a prospective study on the long term implications for the presence of expectant fathers in the delivery room.     

Non-binary youth: Access to gender-affirming primary health care

ABSTRACT

Background: Transgender (trans) youth who identify outside the gender binary are a growing subpopulation. In this article, we document differences in access to gender-affirming health care between binary and non-binary identified trans youth and explore ways of meeting the health needs of non-binary youth within primary care settings.

Methods: The Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey is a national online survey of trans youth, 14–25 years, conducted in 2013–2014. Among the 839 participants who responded to gender identity items in the survey, 41% identified as non-binary. We compared demographic, health outcome, and health care access responses between non-binary and binary (trans girls/women and trans boys/men) youth.

Results: Non-binary and binary youth were similar in most demographics, including age, geographic distribution, and ethnocultural backgrounds, however a larger proportion (82%) of non-binary youth were assigned female at birth. Older non-binary youth (aged 19–25) were significantly more likely to forego needed healthcare than older binary youth; no significant differences were found between younger (14–18) non-binary and binary youth in foregoing healthcare. Overall, non-binary youth (13%) were significantly less likely than binary youth (52%) to access hormone therapy, but they were more likely than binary youth to report experiencing barriers to accessing hormone therapy when needed.

Conclusions: Non-binary trans youth in Canada report challenges in accessing needed gender-affirming healthcare. Primary care providers are well-situated to integrate a broad range of gender-affirming care services into practice in order to address the unique needs of non-binary youth. Future research is warranted to explore experiences of non-binary youth related to barriers to care and to explore how services can be designed and delivered to better meet the needs of non-binary youth seeking gender-affirming primary care.