The role of phenomenal displacement on the perception of the visual upright

Tilt invariably involves the factor of displacement. A clockwise rotation of a rod, for example, results in the top being displaced to the right and the bottom to the left. The question was raised as to which is primary, displacement or tilt. Through a series of experiments, apparent tilt was found to be the perceptual outcome of phenomenal displacement. In addition, gravity seemed to play no significant role in determining the visual upright. Therefore, the conventionally accepted field theory of apparent verticality was rejected and the visual upright was interpreted according to principles which govern the perception of motion and radial direction.     

The use of extreme groups to test for the presence of a relationship

Experimenters in psychology frequently investigate the relationship between two variables by selecting extreme groups on the first measure and comparing their mean scores on the second. This paper considers the efficacy of this procedure from the criterion of the power of the statistical tests. Optimal cutting points for the extreme groups are defined, and the power of the difference approach is compared to that of significance tests for the productmoment correlation coefficient.     

A comparison of two psychophysical methods using animals

A discrimination box containing two levers with a light above each was used to train eight rats to press beneath the brighter light for a milk reinforcer. The brighter light was held constant and the comparison light was varied to produce 12 brightness differences. The animals were run under two experimental methods: the block method in which each brightness level comparison was presented for a block of 11 contiguous trials, and the staircase method in which the sequence of brightness comparisons was determined by the correctness of the response on the preceding comparison. The block method produced a smaller differential brightness threshold and a larger change in discrimination performance for stimulus magnitude changes than did the staircase method.     

Limiting the role of the family in discontinuation of life sustaining treatment

In matters of discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment, traditional role of the family to speak on behalf of the incompetent patient is questionable. We explore the reasons why physicians perceive patient autonomy to be transferrable to family members. Principle of patient autonomy may not suffice when futile treatment is demanded and may serve to erode the ethical integrity of medical profession. An enhanced role for bioethics committees is proposed when physicians propose to discontinue life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient or their families.     

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.     

The substitutability of reinforcers

Substitutability is a construct borrowed from microeconomics that describes a continuum of possible interactions among the reinforcers in a given situation. Highly substitutable reinforcers, which occupy one end of the continuum, are readily traded for each other due to their functional similarity. Complementary reinforcers, at the other end of the continuum, tend to be consumed jointly in fairly rigid proportion, and therefore cannot be traded for one another except to achieve that proportion. At the center of the continuum are reinforcers that are independent with respect to each other; consumption of one has no influence on consumption of another. Psychological research and analyses in terms of substitutability employ standard operant conditioning paradigms in which humans and nonhumans choose between alternative reinforcers. The range of reinforcer interactions found in these studies is more readily accommodated and predicted when behavior-analytic models of choice consider issues of substitutability. New insights are gained into such areas as eating and drinking, electrical brain stimulation, temporal separation of choice alternatives, behavior therapy, drug use, and addictions. Moreover, the generalized matching law (Baum, 1974) gains greater explanatory power and comprehensiveness when measures of substitutability are included.     

Images of black women among anglo college students

Previous research on popular images of women and of minority groups has looked almost solely at images of minority men and of white women. This article presents survey data on images of black women among 256 white non-Hispanic college undergraduates, using a modified Katz/Braly scale. The article explores the nature, distribution, correlates, and emotional evaluations of these images and the implications of these images for black women's lives. Images of black women differed substantially from those of American women in general. Most commonly, black women were characterized as loud, talkative, aggressive, intelligent, straightforward, and argumentative. In addition, students rated positive traits less positive and negative traits less negative when exhibited by black women than by American women in general, apparently because of their expectations for black women's behavior.This paper has benefited from the comments of Verna Keith, Wade Smith, and, most especially, Mary Benin. This research was partially supported by Arizona State University Women's Studies Summer Research Awards Program.     

Disruptive behaviors in the classroom: Initial standardization data on a new teacher rating scale

This study presents initial standardization data on the Sutter- Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory (SESBI), a teacher- completed measure of disruptive classroom behaviors. SESBIs were completed on 1116 children in kindergarten through fifth grade in a rural eastern Washington school district. Various analyses (Cronbach's alpha, corrected item- total correlations, average interitem correlations, principal components analyses) indicated that the SESBI provides a homogeneous measure of disruptive behaviors. Support was also found for three factors within the scale (e.g., overt aggression, oppositional behavior, and attentional difficulties). While the child's age did not have a significant effect on the SESBI, the child's gender did have a significant effect on scale scores as well as on most of the items, with males being rated more problematic than females. The SESBI was also able to discriminate between children in treatment for behavioral problems or learning disabilities and children not in treatment.The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the teachers in the Pullman School District, whose kind help and assistance made the study possible. Special thanks are also extended to Todd Sosna, Christine Ladish, and Lee Sternberger for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper. Preparation of this study was supported in part by funds provided to G. Leonard Burns by Washington State University.     

Research on working women: A report card of 22 journals

The study was part of an official project of the Women in Management Division of the Academy of Management to examine the status of research in gender issues in organizations. It specifically looked at 22 major scholarly and trade journals plus the Proceedings of the Academy of Management for the six-year period of 1983–1988 to determine quantity, patterns, and trends in publication of research on issues of interest to the domain of the division. Results show a downward trend in gender-issue publication at a time when working women are becoming an ever-increasing percentage of the work force. This is particularly true of the so-called prestige journals. Psychology journals accounted for 64% of the total, management 13.4%, personnel 19%, and Proceedings 3.5%. Implications for research and careers are discussed.A shorter, less-complete version of this paper was presented in summary form at the annual meeting of The Academy of Management in Washington, DC, August 1989 as part of a symposium for the Women in Management Division.