Lightness matching for different visual routes through a compound scene

Left and right halves of a visual display were covered with inducing fields (IFs) of different lightnesses. S’s monocular gaze moved over an irreversible route from a neutral Munsell target to a CO series through either the left- or right-side IFs. For the 16 Ss there were 8 different IFs, varying from light to dark. For each of three different gray targets Munsell CO choices varied directly with the lightness of the IFs through which the gaze was routed rather than with the lightness of the total presented display. A replication with modifications is also reported.     

The value of relative-time-spent ratings in task-oriented job analysis

Recent studies have called for the abandonment of the relative-time-spent scale in task inventories. This recommendation is based on findings that the job profile created with the scale data is highly correlated with the profile created from a much simpler “Do you perform this task?” checklist. We examined this issue using 3 inventories and 42 jobs (N=2252). Profile correlations were computed on only the tasks actually performed by incumbents to avoid possibly inflated rs due to including irrelevant tasks. The specificity of task inventory items was proposed as an explanation for the high correlation between the two job profiles. Specificity of items was examined by looking at both the type (job duties versus tasks) and the amount (number of items in job profile and average number of items relevant to each job) of items used in the inventory. Correlations between time spent and checklist profiles were in the .80's and .90's regardless of the number of irrelevant tasks or the specificity of tasks. We agree with previous military research and conclude that the relative-time-spent scale has limited incremental utility beyond a dichotomous checklist.     

BIOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Abstract. The sciences may be conceptualized as a hierarchy ranked by level of organization (e.g., many-body physics ranks above particle physics). Each science serves as an antidiscipline for the science above it; that is, between each pair, tense but creative interplay is inevitable. Biology has advanced through such tension between its subdisciplines and now can serve as an antidiscipline for the social sciences—for anthropology, for example, by examining the connection between cultural and biological evolution; for psychology, by addressing the nature of learning and the structure of the unconscious; for economics, by examining economically irrational behavior and by comparing economic activity in humans and other species. Sociology, concerned mainly with advanced literate societies, is relatively remote from the genetic basis of human social behavior. However, moving between biological and social levels of organization generates richness and points to new and unexpected principles.     

Humility as a psychotherapeutic formulation

Humility training is conceptualized as an appropriate treatment for persons who occasionally describe themselves, but are most frequently described by others as overbearing, insensitive and deceitful. Procedures are outlined to identify unrecognized fears and improve interpersonal skills. Humility is presented as a counterpoint to assertiveness and aggression/anger control interventions.     

CHANGING PROTECTIVE AND RISKY BEHAVIORS TO PREVENT CHILD-TO-PARENT TRANSMISSION OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS

Child-to-parent transmission of cytomegalovirus may be reduced by increasing protective behaviors (handwashing and glove use) and decreasing risky behaviors (intimate contact between child and parent). This study showed that an educational intervention resulted in increases in reported and objective measures of protective behaviors and decreases in reported risky behaviors. Further study must determine if changes in protective and risky behavior are maintained and prevent cytomegalovirus transmission.     

The effects of hormones,Type A behavior pattern,and provocation on aggression in men

Thirty-eight male college students, classified as either Type A or Type B based on their Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS-T) scores, competed in a reaction time task that allowed them to administer shocks to an increasingly provocative fictitious opponent. Salivary testosterone and cortisol were measured both prior to and after the task. Aggression was defined as the level of shock the subject was willing to set for the opponent. The results of this study indicate that a relationship exists between endogenous testosterone levels in men and direct physical aggression. Some evidence for the moderating effects of hormones on the level of aggression expressed by Type As was observed. No direct relationship between Type A and aggression was found.