The locus of redundant-targets and nontargets effects: evidence from the psychological refractory period paradigm

In target detection tasks, responses are faster when displays have 2 targets (redundant-targets effect; RTE) and slower when they have no targets (nontargets effect; NTE) relative to displays with a single target. The psychological refractory period paradigm was used to localize these effects. In Experiment 1, participants classified tones as high or low and then classified letters as targets or nontargets after a short or long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). The magnitudes of the RTE and NTE did not depend on SOA. In Experiment 2, the order of the tasks was reversed, and at short SOAs the RTE and NTE had similar magnitudes for both tone discrimination and target detection responses. These findings suggest that the RTE and NTE arise during response selection. Interactive effects of tone pitch with the number and type of target features were also observed, and these were tentatively interpreted as synesthetic effects.     

Child Assent and Parental Permission in Pediatric Research

Since children are considered incapable ofgiving informed consent to participate inresearch, regulations require that bothparental permission and the assent of thepotential child subject be obtained. Assent andpermission are uniquely bound together, eachserving a different purpose. Parentalpermission protects the child from assumingunreasonable risks. Assent demonstrates respectfor the child and his developing autonomy. Inorder to give meaningful assent, the child mustunderstand that procedures will be performed,voluntarily choose to undergo the procedures,and communicate this choice. Understanding theelements of informed consent has been theparadigm for assessing capacity to give assent.This method leaves the youngest, leastcognitively mature children vulnerable towaiver of assent and forced researchparticipation. Voluntariness can also becompromised by the influence of authorityfigures who can exert undue influence andcoerce children to participate in research. This paper discusses factors that may influencethe decision to give assent/permission,potential parent-child conflict in theassent/permission process and how it isresolved, and potential parental undueinfluence on research participation. Theseissues are illustrated with quotations drawnfrom a larger qualitative study of parentalpermission and child assent (data notpresented). We suggest a developmentalapproach, viewing assent as a continuum rangingfrom mere affirmation in the youngest childrento the equivalent of the informed consentprocess in the mature adolescent.     

A factor analysis of a 100-item fear survey inventory

A 100-item fear survey schedule was constructed by compiling all previously published fear surveys to effect a more comprehensive assessment technique. It was administered to 435 college students. Reliability estimates of this instrument approximated 0.87. An orthogonal factor analysis was performed, and yielded 21 interpretable factors within each sex. Sixteen of these were similar across sex. The major areas of fear response were: social criticism; medical intervention; contamination; sudden noises; cars; death.

Previous research had indicated a four factor structure. Results of this study indicate that the number of factors varies with the number of input items. The present study presents a more comprehensive picture of the underlying factor structure of fear responding.     

Autobiographical memory processes and the course of depression.

The authors report a 6-month follow-up study of clinically depressed patients. At baseline, 2 indexes of autobiographical memory functioning were assessed: the presence of spontaneous intrusive memories of stressful life events and performance on the Autobiographical Memory Test (J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986), which measures overgeneral memory. The index of overgeneral memory was associated with greater levels of spontaneous intrusion of stressful memories. Overgeneral memory did not predict outcome, but depression at follow-up was predicted by the amount of intrusion and avoidance of stressful memories, even after controlling for initial severity of psychiatric symptoms.     

Educational Success in High-Risk Settings: Contributions of the Chicago Longitudinal Study

I provide an overview of the Chicago Longitudinal Study. This prospective study traces the educational and social success of a large sample of low-income children (over 90% of whom are African American) from high-poverty neighborhoods in the Chicago Public Schools. In 1985–1986, the sample participated in the Child–Parent Centers and other early childhood programs. The four studies reported in this special issue highlight the contributions of school mobility, parent involvement, educational expectations, and other family and school experiences in preventing learning problems and promoting educational success.     

CDAscal: An algorithm for assessing the correspondence of one or more vectors to a symmetric matrix using ordinal regression

An algorithm for assessing the correspondence of one or more attribute rating variables to a symmetric matrix of dissimilarities is presented. The algorithm is useful as an alternative to fitting property variables into a multidimensional scaling space. Rather than requiring a two step process of first deriving a multidimensional space and then fitting variables individually into the space, the algorithm directly assesses the correspondence of each variable to the symmetric matrix and permits a regression extension such that a set of variables can be considered simultaneously. The relation between the matrix and the variables is determined by evaluating pairs of pairs relations, . Though the algorithm requires only ordinal assumptions, the correspondence may be computed intervally also. Multiple ordinal regression is performed with the values derived from the matrix serving as the dependent variable and those derived from the attribute ratings serving as the independent variables. Standard multiple regression statistics forR-square,F, andt are calculated as well as measures of ordinal association between the vectors and the matrix.     

Preferences for idioms: Restrictions due to lexicalization and familiarity

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that preferences for figurative interpretations of common idioms depend on both lexicalization and the degree of familiarity of the phrase's idiomatic meaning. Experiment I reported that native English speakers understood both high and low familiarity idioms as lexicalized units while nonnatives did not. Experiment 2 found that preferences for idiomatic interpretations depended on the degree of familiarity only when idioms were recognized as lexicalized units. It was concluded that both lexicalization and familiarity contribute to the likelihood of idiomatic preferences, while only lexicalization contributes significantly to the comprehension of idiomatic meanings.     

Stress counselling in the Post Office

This paper highlights a unique experiment in stress counselling in industry. It will provide the background to an in-house stress counselling service for postal employees in the north-west and north-east of England. The structure of the counselling service, its location within the organization, the problems of setting it up, the terms of reference, the client base and many more issues will be discussed. In addition, systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the service has also been independently undertaken and will be discussed. Preliminary findings on the impact of stress counselling on sickness absence and psychosocial measures of job stress are presented and discussed.     

Job stress and task interest: Two factors in work life quality

A study of how stressful job events and task interest are associated with quality of work life was conducted through interviews and questionnaire assessment of 56 members of the nursing staff at a psychiatric hospital. Factor analyses of work life satisfactions revealed two separable factors, one that accounted for satisfaction with the work itself and another that identified level of satisfaction with the work context. As predicted by a two-factor model, the number of stressful work events correlated with dissatisfactions with the work context but not with satisfaction with the work itself. Level of task interest was associated with higher ratings of satisfaction with the work itself and was uncorrelated with level of work context satisfaction. Turnover was predicted by both the number of stressors on the job and a lack of interest in tasks. An interaction was found between these two variables predicting turnover; employees tended to stay at work even if the job was stressful when the tasks were interesting.