Perceptual economy and the impression of visual depth

Three experiments were carried out to investigate the hypothesis that the impression of visual depth given by gradient patterns is due to the operation of a principle of “perceptual economy.” The first experiment showed that the greater the number of values of the gradient variables in a pattern, the stronger was the tridimensional impression given by that pattern. The second showed that the greater the number of gradient variables, the less the amount of the pattern that had to be exposed before a tridimensional response was elicited. The third showed that judged slants increased as a function of the number of gradient variables in each pattern. The results suggest that the impression of visual depth given by a pattern represents a compromise between the economy gained from making a tridimensional specification of the elements in the pattern and the possible cost of making an error in coding the information in this way.     

Panic disorder and suicide attempt in the National Comorbidity Survey

Clinical and some epidemiological data conflict concerning the likelihood of suicide attempt in individuals with panic disorder (PD). The purpose of this study was to illuminate the panic disorder-suicide attempt association in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS; R. C. Kessler et al., 1994). Specifically, suicide attempt histories of those 5,872 respondents answering "yes" or "no" to the suicide attempt question were regressed against lifetime diagnostic histories. Lifetime PD history, in the presence of other disorders, was unrelated to elevated risk of suicide attempt and did not account for additional variance. PD respondents who had made a suicide attempt were characterized by Comorbidity. Epidemiological respondents with lifetime histories of PD alone are not at heightened risk for self-reported suicide attempt.     

Never cross the path of a traveling salesman: The neural network generation of Halstead-Reitan trail making tests

The Halstead-Reitan Trail Making Test (TMT) is one of the most widely used neuropsychological instruments for the assessment of brain damage. Despite its usefulness, however, the TMT has two major disadvantages. It has not been constructed in a principled manner that would facilitate systematic investigation, and there is no established procedure for generating equivalent, but stochastically different, test forms. The reason is that the generation of self-avoiding TMT pathways resembles the finding of near-optimal solutions to the Euclidean Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and constitutes a computational problem that is NP-complete. This article describes a practical approach to the problem of generating stochastically different test forms. This approach employs anelastic net neural network to generate TMT forms based on self-avoiding, near-optimal paths, and closed circuits. The usefulness and limitations of this solution are discussed briefly in relation to alternative and complementary problems and procedures.     

Associations between Major Domains of Personality and Health Behavior

ABSTRACT Broad personality traits may be important predictors of health behavior patterns. Two studies are reported which examined the associations between five major personality dimensions and four major health behavior dimensions. Prior associations between health behaviors and neurotic and extraverted personality tendencies generally were replicated. However, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, two domains of personality that have received little research attention, emerged as important personality predictors of health behaviors. The results indicate that personality is a reliable predictor of health behavior patterns. It is suggested that the importance of personality has been underestimated in past research by the failure to consider appropriate health behavior criteria and the omission of important personality dimensions, such as Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, when studying health behavior patterns.     

Decision making and memory: a critique of Juslin and Olsson's (1997) sampling model of sensory discrimination.

P. Juslin and H. Olsson's (1997) distinction between Thurstonian and Brunswikian uncertainty is examined and their sampling model of sensory discrimination analyzed as a representative of the class of memoryless decision processes. The separate characteristics and combined behavior of 4 main components of the model are explored: (a) the basic decision process, (b) the assumption of deadline responding, (c) the moving window model of memory, and (d) the hypothesized basis for confidence. It is argued that grafting a moving window memory onto a memoryless decision process has several undesirable consequences. Moreover, the suggested basis for confidence leads to predictions that are counterintuitive and unsupported by empirical evidence. It is concluded that the window-sampling model is a maladapted combination of inappropriate elements, which is implausible as a model of decision making, memory, or confidence, in sensory discrimination.     

Cross-national exchange,the OECD,and Australian education policy

This article addresses a topic that has hitherto gained scant attention in the knowledge utilization literature, namely, the effects of cross-national exchange on national policy formation. It draws on Weiss’s seminal study of U.S. congressional decision making, which suggested that in addition to using knowledge from research for guidance, politicians also use knowledge from many sources for legitimation, warning, and enlightenment. Case studies presented in this article suggest that while Australian policymakers use information from the OECD in all these ways, the enlightenment and legitimation fuctions are especially important. An earlier version of this article appeared in: J. Chapman and C. Evers (Eds.), (1994).Educational Administration: Australian Perspectives. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Helpful comments on earlier versions of this article were provided by Don Anderson, Judith Chapman, Colin Evers, Jane Marceau, Beryl Radin and especially by Carol Weiss.     

Sociodemographic characteristics and drinking status as predictors of older women's health.

As part of a U.S. national survey of women's drinking and life experiences, the authors used responses from a subsample (n = 245) of women aged 55-90 years (M = 65.8 years) to examine the relationship of sociodemographic characteristics (income, marital status, and occupational status) and drinking status to several health outcomes (self-perceived general health, depression, sexual satisfaction, and sexual dysfunction). In all analyses, the authors controlled for respondent age. Results indicated that higher household income predicted greater lifetime and current sexual satisfaction with a partner as well as higher general health ratings. Women drinkers also reported better general health than did abstainers. An interaction between marital status (married or cohabitating vs. nonmarried) and employment status (employed vs. nonemployed) was a predictor of general health ratings. The authors found significant contrasts among the 4 groups when they controlled for age, income, and drinking status: (a) Among the employed respondents, the nonmarried women reported better general health than did the married women; and (b) among nonmarried respondents, the employed women reported better general health than did the nonemployed women.