Incorporating the size principle into an ensemble of back-propagating neurons

As researchers try to move from cybernetics to neural reality, it is time to look at the match between the back propagation strategy and the functional parameters of neurons. Traditionally, the “bias value” in the back propagation activation function has served a mathematical rather than a biological function. By incorporating a production system into the activation logic at the hidden layer, we are able to arrive at a conditional bias value that approximates the function of thresholds in biological neurons.     

Social phobia in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain

The present study assessed the prevalence and impact of social phobia and other anxiety disorders in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Potential participants were 200 disabled workers consecutively referred to an interdisciplinary tertiary care centre. A two stage screening process was used in which: (a) a self-report battery was given during a pre-admission visit, and (b) preplanned selection criteria were applied to the self-report instruments to select patients for a structured diagnostic interview. Fifty-four of the 146 patients who provided complete responses on the self-report battery met criteria for interview. Twenty-six patients (17.8%) met DSM-IV criteria for a current anxiety disorder and, of these, 16 (11.0%) were diagnosed with social phobia. Subjects with social phobia rated themselves as having less social support than subjects with no psychiatric disorder, but the groups did not differ in pain-related life interference, personal control, or health care utilization. The results suggest that social phobia is over-represented in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain and should be noted as a comorbid condition that may compound both suffering and disability.     

Experimental Personality Designs: Analyzing Categorical by Continuous Variable Interactions

Theories hypothesizing interactions between a categorical and one or more continuous variables are common in personality research. Traditionally, such hypotheses have been tested using nonoptimal adaptations of analysis of variance (ANOVA). This article describes an alternative multiple regression-based approach that has greater power and protects against spurious conclusions concerning the impact of individual predictors on the outcome in the presence of interactions. We discuss the structuring of the regression equation, the selection of a coding system for the categorical variable, and the importance of centering the continuous variable. We present in detail the interpretation of the effects of both individual predictors and their interactions as a function of the coding system selected for the categorical variable. We illustrate two- and three-dimensional graphical displays of the results and present methods for conducting post hoc tests following a significant interaction. The application of multiple regression techniques is illustrated through the analysis of two data sets. We show how multiple regression can produce all of the information provided by traditional but less optimal ANOVA procedures.     

Category typicality effects in episodic memory: Testing models of distinctiveness

Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee Category typicality effects were investigated within the context of three models of distinctiveness: a univariate model, a fixed-multifeature model, and a weighted-multifeature model. High-typical, medium-typical, and atypical targets were embedded in lists containing a background set of mediumto high-typicality items. Atypical items were more poorly recalled than were medium- and high-typical items independently of list structure. In recognition, subjects who studied high-typical items had difficulty discriminating between high-typical items that were and were not presented as part of the list. However, item typicality had little effect on the recognition performance of subjects who did not study high-typical items. These findings were consistent with the weighted-multifeature model of distinctiveness.     

Ken and Barbie at life size

There has been considerable discussion in both the scientific literature and general media concerning the appropriateness of the body shape and proportions of the Ken and Barbie dolls, the most popular dolls in modern history. The greatest concern has been of the possible influence that these, and other cultural ideals for body shape, may have on young children. However, these concerns have been based entirely on the subjective interpretation of how one perceives the body dimensions of the dolls relative to an adult size. We therefore used our skills in anthropometry and the rules of allometry to scale the dolls to an adult height to determine the dimensions that these dolls would assume at this adjusted size. These were compared to actual proportions of several representative adult groups of predominantly Anglo-Australian males and females. The critics have been justified in their opinions since both Barbie and Ken are thin relative to the reference samples. Barbie's mean girth z-score relative to a reference cross-section of the young adult population was –4.2. This indicates that the probability for such a body shape is less than 1 in 100,000. Ken is more realistic at about 1 in 50.Special thanks to Melissa Clough, Brendon Dews, Loretta Downie, Judy Morris, and Kim Birchall.     

Religiosity and social desirability: impression management and self-deceptive positivity

The first aim of the present study was to replicate previous research, which has investigated the association between scores on the Francis Scale of Attitudes towards Christianity (FSAC) (Francis & Stubbs, 1987) and scores on Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R Short Scale) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991). Further evidence is presented that higher religiosity is associated with lower scores on the psychoticism scale. The main aim of the present study, however, was to investigate the association between social desirability and religiosity. Although no association was found between religiosity and Lie scale scores in the present study, there is debate over what the Lie scale is actually measuring and so we also included, among other measures, the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR: Paulhus, 1988), which consists of two subscales, self deceptive positivity and impression management. It was found that although religiosity was not associated with self-deception it was associated with impression management.     

Denial and self-denigration in the draw-a-person profiles of alcoholics

The present study attempts to cross-validate earlier findings that alcoholics tend to use more denial and are more demeaning of their characters than controls on the objective-projective Apperceptive Personality Test. One hundred nonalcoholic, nonpatient controls were matched to 100 outpatient alcoholics on age, race, and social class. All subjects were given the objective-projective Draw A Person Questionnaire, which was scored for 14 scales. As hypothesized and consistent with the earlier findings, alcoholics used more denial and were more often demeaning of their drawn characters than were controls. These and other exploratory findings are discussed.     

Efficacy of delayed auditory feedback for treating cluttering: Two case studies

Two clutterers were treated with similar preplanned delayed auditory feedback (DAF) procedures, using probe samples in which the DAF was not present to measure treatment efficacy. Whereas both clients met established fluency criteria during treatment, both clutterers had difficulty transferring gains to probe sessions—one more than the other. Differences in results of DAF treatment are discussed from the perspectives of differences in cluttering severity, coexisting disorders, and supplementary clinical techniques.