Specificity of a cutaneous receptor

Absolute vibrotactile thresholds are determined on the human tongue and compared to corresponding data obtained on the hand. The mucosa of the tongue is devoid of Pacinian corpuscles but the hand is richly with these nerve endings. Summation of energy is characteristic of responses recorded from tissue containing Pacinian corpuscles and absent where the corpuscle is specifically sensitive to mechanical vibration.     

ADAPTATION EFFECTS AND AFTER EFFECTS OF MOVING PATTERNS VIEWED IN THE PERIPHERY OF THE VISUAL FIELD

Different patterns of figures moving behind a window were viewed by subjects while fixating a point 8.5–11° visual angle NW of the display. With prolonged viewing and small figures, the motion appeared to stop completely. With moving figures which stretched the whole way across the field, perpendicular to the direction of motion, a pulsating or wave motion was experienced. A reduction in the number of moving figures was also reported with all the patterns. When the stimulus motion was stopped, the expected after effect of motion in the opposite direction was usually experienced, although in many cases the stopping of the stimulus motion led to an immediate disappearance of the stimulus figures.     

Toolbox-based routines for Macintosh timing and display

Pascal routines are described for several real-time operations on Macintosh computers. Methods are presented for millisecond timing and for high-speed transfer of arbitrary bit-image displays to the screen. All routines are based on Toolbox procedures available on virtually all Macintosh computers.     

VSearch: Macintosh software for experiments in visual search

In this paper, we describe software that turns a Macintosh computer into an off-the-shelf tool for experiments on visual search. Our design goals included portability (between members of the Macintosh computer family and between various research settings), user-friendliness (equivalent to Macintosh programming standards), flexibility (to allow replication and extension of important experiments on visual search), and adaptability (very short design-to-data and data-to-analysis turnaround times). We describe how the software meets these goals in three major phases of an experiment: stimulus construction, experimental control, and statistical analysis. We then list several landmark studies of visual search that can be easily designed and extended with the software. Finally, we outline plans for expanding the experimental variations that will be supported in future versions of the software.     

Physicians,entrepreneurism and the problem of conflict of interest

This paper examines the ethical issues of conflict of interest raised by the burgeoning development of physician involvement in for-profit entrepreneurial activities outside their practice. After documenting the nature and extent of these activities, and their potential for conflicts of interest, the paper assesses the major arguments for and against physicians' referral of patients to facilities they own or in which they invest. The paper concludes that an outright ban on such activity seems ethically warranted.     

Self-Monitoring negative statements

We examined the effects of a self-monitoring program on reducing the frequency of negative statements of a student with mild mental retardation who was enrolled in a self-contained classroom at a middle school. A changing criterion design was used within a multiple baseline design across two classroom periods. Additionally, the frequency of positive statements was reported. The results showed a decrease in the number of negative statements, and an increase in the number of positive statements. Maintenance data collected up to 8 weeks after the program ended indicated that the student continued to emit positive rather than negative statements. The use of this procedure to decelerate undesirable behavior is discussed.     

Additivity of loudness across critical bands: A critical test

The use of magnitude estimation as well as axiomatic measurement theory has led to the suggestion that loudness adds across critical bands. In the present paper, we challenge this postulate by applying a more sensitive methodology, based on Falmagne’s (1976) random conjoint measurement procedure. A necessary condition for additivity of loudness was investigated in tone complexes consisting of 2-kHz and 5-kHz (resp. 3-kHz) components; the results showed systematic deviations from additivity. We argue that these deviations are due to asymmetric masking of the higher component by the lower one, and we propose a tentative quantitative model to account for the data. Such a model is in line with results from tone-on-tone masking, which show masking to be effective over a range of several critical bands.     

Book Reviews

S trenger , C arlo . Between Hermenetttics and Science: An Essay on the Epistemology of Psychoanalysis.
E igen , M ichael . Coming through the Whirlwind: Case Studies in Psychotherapy.
C arotenuto , A. Kant's Dove: The History of Transference in Psychoanalysis.
S toller , R obert . Pom: Myths for the Twentieth Century.
B razelton , T. B erry and C ramer , B ertrand G.: The Earliest Relationship.     

Comprehension and expression of affect in language-impaired children

Eight children with developmental language impairment (LI) and eight age-, sex-, socioeconomic-status-, and I.Q.-matched controls were given tests of comprehension and expression of affective intent in spoken language and through facial expression. The LI children performed significantly more poorly than did controls in both comprehension and spontaneous expression of vocal affect. On tasks involving emotional facial expression, the opposite results were observed: The LI children were more dramatic in their expression of facial affect than were the controls. Children with language impairment appear to have a deficit in affective comprehension and expression that is modality-specific, i.e., limited to vocal affect. The heightened range of affective facial expression that they demonstrate may be a compensatory mechanism to offset their difficulties with vocal affect.This work was supported by grant 12-203 from the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, and by NINDS grant NS22343 for the Center for the Study of the Neurological Basis of Language.