Measurement and the interpretation of quantum mechanics and relativity theory

The axiomatic approaches of quantum mechanics and relativity theory are compared with approaches in which the theories are thought to describe readings of certain measurement operations. The usual axioms are shown to correspond with classes of ideal measurements. The necessity is discussed of generalizing the formalisms of both quantum mechanics and relativity theory so as to encompass more realistic nonideal measurements. It is argued that this generalization favours an empiricist interpretation of the mathematical formalisms over a realist one.     

Ability to generate mental images in students of art

To evaluate the ability to generate mental images and its relations to artistic training, 44 undergraduates were presented with a list of selected fragments from 40 characters in the Roman alphabet. Subjects provided those letters suggested by the fragments for as many items as possible within a 90-second interval. It was hypothesized that students who had received college training in studio art would be able to produce a greater number of candidate images than students not trained in art, resulting in more correct answers and higher scores. Results confirmed the hypothesis. Trained subjects completed significantly more of the letters on the image-generation task than did those not trained in art (p=.0001). This suggests that superior ability to generate images is associated with artistic training. Further, these results imply that, to the degree to which artistic training reflects ability, image generation may also be related to artistic ability.     

Anxious attachment and psychological distress in cardiac rehabilitation patients

This study investigated the relevance of anxious attachment to the differentiation of psychologically distressed and non-psychologically distressed cardiac patients. Attachment is a biologically based behavioral system in which proximity to a special other is sought or maintained to achieve a sense of safety and security. Anxious attachment, as the name denotes, fails to achieve the function of attachment in the sense of individuals having little or no confidence in the availability of their attachment figures. Empirically, three scales (feared loss of the attachment figure, proximity seeking and separation protest) capture the features of anxious attachment as elaborated by Bowlby. These scales were administered to 178 cardiac rehabilitation patients drawn from the cardiac rehabilitation program of the Calgary General Hospital. The results indicate that feared loss and proximity seeking differentiated psychologically distressed from non-psychologically distressed patients. The implications of this finding for the understanding of psychologically distressed cardiac patients are discussed.     

The impact of sexual harassment simulations on women's thoughts and feelings

Sex Roles - Women's thoughts and feelings in response to interpersonal and environmental sexual harassment simulations from co-workers with equal or greater organizational status were explored....     

Intuitive Perceptions of Decision-making Strategy: Naive Assessors' Concepts of Integrative Complexity

Although there are measurable differences in integrative complexity among solutions that individuals generate in dealing with problems, it is uncertain to what extent people comprehend, recognize, and have preferences among different levels of complexity. Integrative complexity is a function of differentiation (the perception of several attributes within, or perspectives about, a topic) and integration (combining the differentiated characteristics in an interactive or synthesizing solution). The current paper reports two experiments dealing with how university students perceive, interpret, and choose among solutions differing in complexity. Experiment 1 showed that subjects accurately rated the complexity of described solutions differing along the continuum, but that their assessment of their own responses differed from the results of expert scoring. Their self-estimated complexity was highly correlated with their preferences, and preferred complexity was reliably higher than either expert- or self-assessed complexity of subject-generated solutions. Subjects were able to hypothesize quite accurately about environmental and endogenous factors likely to affect complexity. Experiment 2 found that in response to problem scenarios, solutions selected as being potentially most effective were consistently more complex than solutions that participants considered themselves most likely to use. The idea of complexity seems to be intuitively recognizable and understandable by untrained subjects: They can and do distinguish among problem solutions (self-generated or presented) that vary on that dimension, and are able to assess accurately the effects of relevant variables. Such subjects also share the bias shown by experts in favour of the superiority of more complex approaches.     

A Playroom Observation Procedure to Assess Children with Mental Retardation and ADHD

Forty-two children (ages 6 to 12 years old) with moderate mental retardation to borderline intellectual functioning were studied in a laboratory playroom setting to determine whether children identified as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or controls differed on activity and attentional measures. Children with ADHD were further divided into ADHD + conduct problems (ADHD + CD) and ADHD-only subgroups (with an ADHD-combined group comprising children of both subgroups). An interval recording system was used to code observations of independent play and a restricted academic task. Results indicated that the ADHD-combined group was significantly more vocal and engaged in a significantly greater number of toy changes than controls during independent play. Significant group differences were also noted during the restricted academic task, with the ADHD-combined and ADHD + CD groups more off-task and engaging in a greater number of toy touches than controls. Discriminant analyses found independent play measures to predict group membership in 70 percent of cases (ADHD-combined vs. controls), but in only 64 percent of cases using measures from the restricted academic task. No significant findings resulted when the ADHD subjects were further divided into two subgroups. Despite some inconsistent findings, such laboratory-based observations may be of value in the diagnosis of ADHD in children with moderate mental retardation to borderline intellectual functioning.     

The Hairlessness Norm: The Removal of Body Hair in Women

This study aimed to investigate the frequency andmeaning of the removal of body hair in women.Participants were 129 female university students (meanage = 22.3 years) and 137 female high school students (mean age = 14.3 years). Almost all (>95%)were Caucasian. It was found that, as predicted, the vastmajority (92%) of women remove their leg and/or underarmhair, most frequently by shaving. This was irrespective of their feminist beliefs, but wasnegatively related to self-esteem in university students.The reasons cited for hair removal were primarilyconcerned with a desire for femininity andattractiveness. However, the reasons provided for starting toremove body hair differed between the groups, in thatthey were relatively more normative for the universitystudents than for the high school students. It was concluded that women's stated reasons forstarting the practice of hair removal reflectprimarilytheir vantage point as an observer. In fact, removingbody hair is a practice so normative as to go mostly unremarked, but one which contributessubstantially to the notion that womens' bodies areunacceptable as they are.     

SOCIAL REACTIONS, COPING STRATEGIES, AND SELF-BLAME ATTRIBUTIONS IN ADJUSTMENT TO SEXUAL ASSAULT

The present study investigated the impact of social reactions of others to sexual-assault victims on disclosure of their victimization. A convenience sample of adult sexual-assault victims (N = 155) completed a mail survey in which they reported information about their sexual assaults and postassault experiences. As expected, all negative social reactions were strongly associated with increased psychological symptoms, whereas most positive social reactions were unrelated to adjustment. The only social reactions related to better adjustment were being believed and being listened to by others. Victims experiencing negative social reactions also reported poorer adjustment even when other variables known to affect psychological recovery were controlled. Avoidance coping mediated the association of negative social reactions with adjustment. Implications of these findings for research and treatment of sexual-assault survivors are discussed.