Simultaneous electronic recording of video and digital information on the video channel of a VTR or VCR

A technique is described that permits precise synchronization of video recorded behavior with discrete stimuli and responses. These discrete events are recorded as digital data on the video channel of a video recorder on a horizontal line that lies above the visible video information. These data may be observed in single-frame playback mode by underscanning the playback monitor. A circuit is described for computerized decoding of the digital data. Because each video field is uniquely coded, an updating of the data is possible 60 times each second. The described technique has several advantages over current approaches for synchronizing discrete stimulus and response events with video recorded behavior.     

Intonation and meaning

A general theory of meaning is introduced, based on a distinction between the content of a mental act and its mode of arousal. The distinction is extended to speech acts and to the role of intonation in determining their mode of utterance. Difference judgments based on intonation are used to produce a mode space with dimensions of Credence, Option, Salience, Arousal, and Weak Belief. It is argued that the modal function of intonations should not be restricted to the enrichment of declarations. The distinction between mode and content is used to separate the specficially linguistic content of intonations from other contents which they convey perceptually and by implication.This research was supported by a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship) (W70 3030, W71 4373).     

Bias-free improvement in wine discrimination.

Over three test sessions alternated with two training sessions, accuracy of 'same'/'different' judgments of four dry, white wines improved 14%. Confidence ratings were obtained so that the area under the isosensitivity curve could be computed as a bias-free measure of accuracy while the wine used for same pairs was held constant. An initial bias for 'different' judgments persisted, rather than disappearing as Walk found. While perceptual learning did occur, the problem of attending to irrelevant differences was not overcome.     

Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? Comment on Robbins et al. (2004)

Evidence is cited in support of the claim that the results of the meta-analyses conducted by S. B. Robbins et al. (2004) are not generalizable to either baccalaureate-granting commuter institutions or certain demographically identified subgroups of students.     

College students, tattoos, and sexual activity

This research examined the association of having a tattoo and engaging in premarital sexual intercourse. Data gathered from a convenience sample of 450 college students indicated that tattooed respondents were substantively and significantly more likely to be sexually active than nontattooed college students. Tattooed men became sexually active at a significantly earlier age than nontattooed men but no such difference was found between tattooed and nontattooed college women.     

FMRI of two measures of phonological processing in visual word recognition: ecological validity matters

Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the role of phonological processing by utilizing nonword rhyming decision tasks (e.g., Pugh et al., 1996). Although such tasks clearly engage phonological components of visual word recognition, it is clear that decision tasks are more cognitively involved than the simple overt naming tasks, which more closely map onto normal reading behavior. Our research aim for this study was to examine the advantages of overt naming tasks for fMRI studies of word recognition processes. Process models are presented to highlight the similarities and differences between two cognitive tasks that are used in the word recognition literature, pseudohomophone naming (e.g., pronounce BRANE) and rhyming decision (e.g., do LEAT and JEAT rhyme?). An fMRI study identified several differences in cortical activation associated with the differences observed in the process models. Specifically, the results show that the overt naming task involved the insular cortex and inferior frontal gyrus, whereas the rhyming decision task engaged the temporal-parietal regions. It is argued that future fMRI research examining the neuroanatomical components of basic visual word recognition utilize overt naming tasks.     

Exploring the similarities and differences between person-centred and psychodynamic therapy

Person-centred therapy is compared to the psychodynamic approach defined by Hans Strupp and Jeffrey Binder. Their broad-based time-limited version is chosen because it is a precise manual ofhow to practise that has been assembled from 30 years of research and practice experience. It is demonstrated that person-centred practice and theory are psychodynamic in a general psychoanalytic sense because they refer to unconscious processes. Furthermore, it is proposed that person-centred practice could be enriched by reconsidering the differences to and similarities with psychodynamic therapy, thereby establishing greater clarity about each form of practice and further defining the boundary between these similar forms of relationship and feeling-oriented work.     

Predicting attempts and sustained cessation of smoking after the introduction of workplace smoking bans

Examined predictors of smoking cessation attempts and predictors of the outcome of those attempts after the introduction of a workplace smoking ban. Smokers were surveyed in the month before the ban came into force, and variables collected at that time were used to predict outcomes 6 months later. Data from 491 respondents who were smokers at the time of the initial survey were used, and a set of potential predictor variables was chosen on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Making a cessation attempt was predicted by the strength of desire to quit and, to less extent, by not having been subject to extensive restrictions on smoking before the mandated ban, having tried to quit before, perceiving oneself high in ability to quit, and being worried about smoke at work. For the outcome of cessation attempts among those who tried, success was best predicted by low levels of a composite habit strength variable and, to less extent, by desire to quit, no previous attempts to quit, the existence of social supports for quitting, and educational status. Although cognitive variables were important in predicting attempts, they played only a minor role in predicting maintenance. Behavioral and environmental variables contributed slightly to prediction of attempts and strongly to prediction of maintenance.