The case for place: Text arrangement and reading skill

To what extent does the reader integrate visual information from one fixation to the next and derive a spatially extended representation of text? Experimental studies of transsaccadic fusion in reading produce conflicting evidence. The results from work on “stepped-text” presentation, in which words appear in a single physical location, have been used to argue that readers secure no advantage from the spatially extended page and that reading may proceed without the computation of spatial coordinates. It is suggested that this conclusion may be inaccurate. A processing decrement is found for materials above a critical level of complexity when presented in a “stepped” mode. This appears to derive from the reader’s need at times to reinspect parts of previously presented text. Reinspections of this kind, which appear to characterize the fluent reader, demand a degree of spatial coding. Two classical issues in the study of perception come together in the study of reading. First, what segments the continuous stimulus flux into discrete perceptible objects? The second is, what is the nature of the control system for eye movements? - Kolers (1983) This research is supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.     

Impact of Institutional Review Boards on cancer research

The concepts of informed consent and surveillance of human research designed to protect human subjects is commendable. The regulations of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) are having a major impact on clinical cancer research. There is greater administrative time needed of the investigator, the mechanisms of patient care have become cumbersome and some patients reject optional medical management that could be life saving. IRB regulations must be flexible to meet the needs of human subjects as well as those of the clinical investigator.     

Sandra Day O'Connor and the justification of abortion

The recent Supreme Court decision upholding Roe v. Wade and in particular, the dissent by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, sheds new light on the issue of abortion. Let us consider any stage of a pregnancy when abortion is medically safe for the mother. If at that stage it is also medically viable to save the fetus, is an abortion performed at that stage of pregnancy morally justifiable? For example, if it is, or becomes, medically safe to perform abortions after first trimester of pregnancy and at the same time saving a fetus is, or becomes, medically viable or not unusual during some stage of the second trimester, can abortions during and after that stage of pregnancy be justified? With a number of qualifications I shall argue the thesis that as a general rule, but not an absolute rule, abortion in these instances is not usually justifiable. For if it is, then one will also have to grant the moral justification for a number of other highly questionable medical practices. This thesis is not to be identified with the stronger claim that abortions of viable fetuses can never be performed. There are surely exceptions such as when the life or health of the mother is in danger. But, I shall argue, the justification for making such exceptions is on different grounds than is sometimes claimed because one must weigh the health of the mother against the life of another human being.     

Mary and femininity: A psychological critique

This essay uses Freud to interpret the symbolism and theology of Mary in modern Catholicism. In her role as the mother of believers, Mary functions to place the Christian in the position of a child who receives illusory gratification from the mother. In her role as model for Christians to emulate, Mary functions to place the Christian in the position of receptivity and dependence which Freud associated with femininity. Reinterpreting Freud from a feminist perspective, I suggest that the kind of femininity Mary represents serves to perpetuate patriachal social structures and to inhibit full psychological maturity.     

Associative and serial-order information: Different modes of operation?

Two versions of a distributed-memory model, one for associative information and one for serial-order information, leave open the question of whether there are two different modes of operation or only one. An analysis of these two versions showed that differential predictions emerge when one considers the role of item information. To test these predictions, a standard item-recognition task (Sternberg, 1966) was embedded in a paired-associate probe-recognition task, a serial-order probe-recognition task, or both. The item-recognition serial-position curves were quite different in the paired-associate and the serial-order conditions, and followed the paired-associate condition when the two were combined. In general, the results were consistent with the predictions of the distributed-memory models, and supported the idea of different modes of operation rather than a single common mode of operation.     

A multivariable analysis of spatial abilities by sex

This article presents a series of studies investigating the influence of experimental factors and the personological variables of age and sex upon spatial abilities. It was hypothesized that the overall equivocal findings typical of spatial research may be partially due to the use of different factors across studies. The experimental variables of spatial factor, task demands, spatial information type, information-processing mode, and response mode were systematically manipulated across the eight studies. In each individual analysis of data collected in a specific study, no significant main effect sex differences were detected. However, when a meta-analytic review of the studies was conducted, both spatial information dimensionality and information dimensionality × spatial factor assessed proved to be influential on male and female spatial performances. Female performance was superior when the dimensionality of stimulus and response variables was invariant. Males had the advantage when dimensionality crossing was necessitated. The discrepancy between the sexes was particularly dramatic when the spatial orientation factor was tapped.     

Depressed mood and environmental mastery as potential pathways linking family relationship quality and disease self-management for African Americans with hypertension

African Americans are at significantly greater risk of hypertension and worse cardiovascular outcomes than other racialized groups, yet hypertension intervention effects remain limited. Thus, it is necessary to understand the potential mechanisms whereby interventions may be more effectively targeted to improve health. Supported by prior research evidence and guided by the Biobehavioral Family Model, this study examined associations between family relationship quality, psychological wellbeing, and self-management behaviors for African Americans with hypertension. Data were pooled from three Midlife Development in the U.S. projects, resulting in a sample of 317 African Americans (63.4% female, M_age = 53.32) with self-reported high blood pressure in the past 12 months. We tested four cross-sectional multiple mediator models, with depressed mood and environmental mastery mediating associations between family strain and exercise, smoking, problematic alcohol use, and stress-eating. Environmental mastery mediated the association between greater family strain and decreased odds of achieving recommended exercise levels; greater odds of reporting problematic alcohol use; and greater stress-eating. Though family strain was associated with depressed mood in each model, this variable did not serve as an indirect pathway to self-management behaviors. Family strain, and the potential pathway identified via environmental mastery, may be a meaningful predictor of disease self-management for African Americans with hypertension. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine directionality and to support intervention trials for improving self-management and hypertension outcomes.