The physician's influence on patients' choices

Although the traditional physician ethic sees nothing objectionable about the doctor's influence over patients, superficial conceptions of the patient's right to self-determination imply that this influence may be manipulative. On the contrary, there are several different lines of argument which can reconcile self-determination with the physician's influence. Nevertheless, drawing the boundaries between legitimate methods of persuasion, and manipulation or coercion sometimes proves difficult.     

Evidence for disparity change as the primary stimulus for stereoscopic processing

Subjects were able to respond to a lens-induced stereoscopic slant more quickly and more accurately when it was imposed on only part of a surface rather than on the whole surface. This shows that the presence of a stereoscopic boundary, where disparity is discontinuous, increases the efficiency of stereoscopic processing. This finding is not consistent with many current models of stereopsis.     

Typicality ratings for 893 exemplars of 93 categories

Although the typicality effect has been much studied in the semantic memory literature, typicality ratings exist for exemplars from only a very limited number of categories. This lack of ratings frequently limits the range of stimuli that can be used in investigations of the typicality effect. As an aid in stimulus construction, this paper reports typicality ratings of 893 exemplars from 93 different categories.     

A new technique for measuring word processing time in reading

This paper reports some preliminary data on a “window-pointer” technique for measuring word processing time in reading. In this technique, almost all of the letters are masked on a page of text shown on a video monitor. The letters can be seen only through a “window” showing one word on one line. Subjects control the horizontal location of the window by moving a pointer left and right. When subjects want to move the window to the next line, the window is moved off the right end of the current line, and the pointer is moved back to the left. The window then reappears at the beginning of the next line. After some practice, subjects can move the window in approximate synchrony with their eyes, and can read the passage without any difficulty. The length of time the window spends on each word can then be used as a measure of word processing time. An analysis of these window durations indicates that they are similar in many respects to the gaze durations obtained with eye-movement monitoring techniques.     

Postnatal development of respiratory and vocal responses during aversive classical conditioning in cats

Respiratory rate, respiration amplitude, and vocal responses were recorded in cats of different ages during classic conditioning. Vocal responses to the conditional stimulus (CS) appeared first in 8-week-old kittens, and became prominent at older ages. An increase in respiration rate occurred after the onset of the CS in cats of all ages. Similarly, the decrease of respiration amplitude was observed at all ages, but only in 8-week-old and older subjects did this response resemble an adult pattern. In 4-week-old kittens the response was characterized by an early and brief peak, suggesting an alpha conditional response (CR). Clear and significant discrimination between a warning and a safety signal was present in both respiratory and vocal responses after the age of 8 weeks.     

Cognitive dissonance as a mechanism in vocational decision processes

This study examined changes in cognitive-dissonance-related variables during the professional training period. Differences in levels and change in satisfaction with career choice, importance of career, certainty of career decision, self-occupational perceptions, general attitude toward career, time since career decision, and past experience were observed when students who left a collegiate professional training program before program completion were compared with those who remained in the program. Data supports the validity of D. Hershenson and R. Roth's (1966, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 13, 368–370) and V. Harren's (1979, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 119–133) theoretical models of vocational decision and the Assessment of Career Decision Making scale.     

Self-reported assessment practices of school psychologists: Implications for training and practice

This study reports the results of an investigation of the assessment views and practices of school psychologists in the United States. Results of the investigation indicated that respondents are predominantly behavioral and cognitive behavioral in orientation; spend most of their professional time in the public schools; and engage in a great deal of assessment. Behavioral assessment and projective testing occupies the greatest amount of their social-emotional assessment time. Behavioral interviewing is the most used behavioral technique, followed by behavioral observation, which is reportedly used by approximately one third of the respondents with from 41% to 100% of clients. Although most of the respondents report a preference for continuing to do approximately the same amount of the various social-emotional assessment activities as they are presently doing, very high percentages of respondents indicate that their use of behavioral assessment strategies would increase with development of published instrumentation, normative standards, and standardized out-of-setting behavioral procedures.