THELMA GWINN THURSTONE

This paper examines the life and career of Thelma Gwinn Thurstone—her career strategies and her contributions to psychological testing, intelligence theory, and instruction—based on her publications and a series of personal interviews with her and her colleagues. Thurstone's contributions, with her husband, L. L. Thurstone, included the development of the American Council on Education's Psychological Examinations and the Primary Mental Abilities test batteries. Her own work included the development of instructional materials using the common factor theory of intelligence. Thurstone, wife of a preeminent scholar and mother of three sons, pursued career strategies that facilitated her continued professional activity for six decades. Further research on measurement history and also on women's career strategies are suggested.     

BOOKS Review

Life's Dominion: An Argument about Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom. By Ronald Dworkin.
Thought's Ego in Augustine and Descartse . By Gareth B. Matthews.     

Causal Attributions of Male and Female Performance by Young Children

Males and females in kindergarten and third grade predicted whether a boy or a girl would succeed on a masculine or a feminine task. Some predictions were confirmed; others were not. The children were asked to explain the winner's success by choosing among four determinants of achievement: ability, effort, task ease, and luck. For third graders, luck was more important in determining the success of an unpredicted winner than a predicted winner. For both ages, female success on a masculine task was attributed more to effort than to ability. These findings support attribution theory and indicate that differential perceptions of male and female performance exist in young children.     

Effects of framed spectacles and contact lenses on self-ratings of facial attractiveness.

15 females with glasses tended to defend against relatively low self-perceptions of attractiveness by de-emphasizing the influence of their eyes on facial beauty.     

The interaction of the explicit and the implicit in skill learning: a dual-process approach

This article explicates the interaction between implicit and explicit processes in skill learning, in contrast to the tendency of researchers to study each type in isolation. It highlights various effects of the interaction on learning (including synergy effects). The authors argue for an integrated model of skill learning that takes into account both implicit and explicit processes. Moreover, they argue for a bottom-up approach (first learning implicit knowledge and then explicit knowledge) in the integrated model. A variety of qualitative data can be accounted for by the approach. A computational model, CLARION, is then used to simulate a range of quantitative data. The results demonstrate the plausibility of the model, which provides a new perspective on skill learning.     

Influence of Accelerometer Placement and/or Heart Rate on Energy Expenditure Prediction during Uphill Exercise

Studies using a triaxial accelerometer and heart rate (HR) simultaneously for estimating energy expenditure (EE) during uphill exercise are rare. Exploring the optimal location for placing the accelerometer for predicting EE during uphill exercise is essential. Sixteen healthy male participants (M ± SEM; age 25.00 ± 0.61 years; body weight 74.13 ± 2.51 kg; body height 1.74 ± 0.01 m; body mass index 24.30 ± 0.63 kg/m²) exercised on a treadmill under 12 conditions (4 speeds and 3 gradients) on 3 days. Triaxial accelerometers, an HR recorder, and a metabolic measurement system were simultaneously used. Accelerometer outputs from various anatomical locations (upper arm, chest, lower back, waist, thigh, and instep) showed significant positive correlations with EE (0.819, 0.846, 0.816, 0.820, 0.672, and 0.669, respectively; p < .05). The linear regression equation for changes in HR showed the highest coefficient of determination (r²) of .837 with 87.9% reliability. When the HR signal was included, the r² value (> .842) and reliability (87.9%) between the accelerometer outputs and EE improved. Accelerometer outputs from the waist position alone provide highly accurate EE values. Using both accelerometer outputs and HR for EE estimation during uphill exercise is feasible and improves the accuracy of EE prediction.