Multilevel exemplar theory

This paper presents recent research that provides an overarching model of exemplar theory capable of explaining phenomena across the phonetic and syntactic strata. The model represents a unique exemplar-based account of constituency interactions encompassing both linguistic domains. It yields simulation and experimental results in keeping with experimental findings in the literature on syllable duration variability and offers an exemplar-theoretic account of local grammaticality. In addition, it provides some insights into the nature of exemplar cloud formation and demonstrates experimentally the potential gains that can be enjoyed via the use of rich exemplar representations.     

Subjective Reports and Postural Performance Among Older Adult Passengers on a Sea Voyage

We sought to evaluate changes in subjective experience and postural performance among older adult passengers during the first 2 days of a sea voyage. On a vacation cruise, volunteer passengers gave verbal ratings of subjective bodily stability and awareness of ship motion followed by performance on the tandem Romberg test while facing fore-aft and athwartship. Data were collected when the ship was at the dock and on each of the first 2 full days at sea. Ship motion reduced subjective bodily stability and performance on the Romberg test and increased awareness of ship motion. On the first day at sea, Romberg performance was more strongly impacted by motion of the ship in roll (i.e., when facing fore-aft) than in pitch (i.e., when facing athwartship). Also on the first day at sea, subjective bodily stability was correlated with Romberg performance when facing fore-aft but not when facing athwart. In summary, at the beginning of the voyage older adult passengers on a sea voyage exhibited consistent changes in subjective awareness and postural performance. Subjective reports were correlated with postural performance in ways that appeared to be functional. We suggest that this finding may help to illuminate the role of conscious awareness within ecological analyses of perception and action.     

Juvenile homosexual homicide

Limited information exists on juvenile homosexual homicide (JHH), that is, youths who perpetrate sexual homicides against same-sex victims. Only a handful of cases from the United States and internationally have been described in the literature. This study, the first of its kind, examines the epidemiology, victimology, victim-offender relationship, and weapon-use patterns in JHH offenders using a large U.S. database on homicide spanning three decades. The data for this study were derived from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHRs) for the years 1976 through 2005. A total of 93 cases of JHH were identified. On average, three of these crimes occurred annually in the U.S., and there was a marked decline in its incidence over the study period. Ninety-five percent were male offender-male victim cases and 5% were female offender-female victim cases. JHH offenders were over-represented amongst all juvenile sexual murderers, similar to their adult counterparts. The majority of these boys were aged 16 or 17 and killed adult victims. They were significantly more likely to kill adult victims than other age groups, to be friends or acquaintances of the victims, and to use contact/edged weapons or firearms. Most offenders killed same-race victims, although Black offenders were significantly more likely than White offenders to kill interracially. A case report is provided to illustrate JHH. Further research is needed to promote our understanding of the pathogenesis, etiology, and associated risk factors for this aberrant form of murder by children.     

Representation and misrepresentation: Tufte and the Morton Thiokol engineers on the Challenger

This paper examines the role of the Morton Thiokol engineers in the decisions surrounding the launch of the Challenger, particularly with reference to an analysis of this event by Edward Tufte. The engineers at Morton Thiokol recommended against the launch of Challenger because the projected launch temperature between 26°F to 29°F was far outside their field database of successful launches. The engineers had asked for, but not received, data necessary to determine the cause of massive blow-by on the launch the previous January, and they had informed their managers and NASA that continuing flights could be catastrophic if the cause of the problems with the launches was not discovered. The authors conclude that the engineers thus did what they were ethically as well as professionally obligated to do. This paper came about as a result of an experimental class called ‘The Challenger’ at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) which drew faculty from four different disciplines, teaching about various aspects of the Challenger disaster. Wade Robison was one of those professors, and David Hoeker and Stefan Young were members of the class in their freshman year as engineering students. We all owe thanks to the other professors in the class—Dominique LePoutre (Language and Interpreting Education, National Technical Institute for the Deaf), Erhan Mergen (College of Business), and Rose Marie Toscano (Liberal Arts Support, National Technical Institute for the Deaf). We also need to thank Stan McKenzie, Provost at RIT, and Kit Mayberry, Associate Provost, for their conceiving of the program that supported the class and for their financial and moral support. The paper has been presented at three conferences and circulated widely. We want to thank those who forced us to rework the paper because of their cogent queries, especially Michael Pritchard, David Suits, Steve Warshaw, and an anonymous reviewer.     

Postural effects of the horizon on land and at sea

Motion of a ship at sea creates challenges for control of the body. Anecdotal reports suggest that the body can be stabilized by standing on the open deck and looking at the horizon. This advice contrasts with land-based findings that looking at the horizon leads to increased body sway. We measured standing body sway in experienced maritime crew members on land and at sea. On land, body sway was greater when subjects looked at the horizon than when they did not-the classical effect. At sea, body sway was greater in a closed cabin than on the open deck. On the open deck, body sway when looking at the horizon was reduced relative to sway when looking at middistance targets on the ship. The results are consistent with centuries of anecdotal advice given to sea travelers and raise new questions about the referents that are used for the control of standing posture.     

Strategic Interventions in Hospital Transitions

This paper describes two different strategic interventions designed to provide emotional and practical support to employees during downsizing in two large urban hospitals. The first program was hospital-wide and developed by a team of human resource professionals. The second program was smaller in scale and designed for a single hospital department. Both programs were initiated to minimize the negative impact of job loss and to address the concerns and heighten the morale of remaining employees.     

The Chimenti controversy

Jacopo Chimenti (c 1551-1640), an artist from Empoli, made two sketches of a young man holding a compass and a plumb line. When these were seen, mounted next to one another, by Alexander Crum Brown in 1859, he combined them by overconvergence and described the stereoscopic depth he saw. Brown's informal observation was conveyed to David Brewster, who suggested that the drawings were produced for a stereoscope, possibly made by Giovanni Battista della Porta. There followed a bitter debate about the supposed stereoscopic effects that could be seen when the pictures combined. Brewster's claims were finally dispelled when precise measurements were made of the drawings: some parts were stereoscopic and others were pseudoscopic. Brewster's attempts to wrest the invention of the stereoscope from Wheatstone were unsuccessful.     

Anxiety as a context for understanding associations between hypochondriasis, obsessive-compulsive, and panic attack symptoms

In the context of the integrative model of anxiety and depression, we examined whether the essential problem of hypochondriasis is one of anxiety. When analyzed, data from a large nonclinical sample corresponded to the integrative model's characterization of anxiety as composed of both broad, shared and specific, unique symptom factors. The unique hypochondriasis, obsessive-compulsive, and panic attack symptom factors all had correlational patterns expected of anxiety with the shared, broad factors of negative emotionality and positive emotionality. A confirmatory factor analysis showed a higher-order, bifactor model was the best fit to our data; the shared and the unique hypochondriasis and anxiety symptom factors both contributed substantial variance. This study provides refinements to an empirically based taxonomy and clarifies what hypochondriasis is and, importantly, what it is not.     

A taxometric study of hypochondriasis symptoms

Hypochondriasis has been conceptualized as both a distinct category that is characterized by a disabling illness preoccupation and as a continuum of health concerns. Empirical support for one of these theoretical models will clarify inconsistent assessment approaches and study designs that have impeded theory and research. To facilitate progress, taxometric analyses were conducted to determine whether hypochondriasis is best understood as a discrete category, consistent with the DSM, or as a dimensional entity, consistent with prevailing opinion and most self-report measures. Data from a large undergraduate sample that completed 3 hypochondriasis symptom measures were factor analyzed. The 4 factor analytically derived symptom indicators were then used in these taxometric analyses. Consistent with our hypotheses and existing theory, results supported a dimensional structure for hypochondriasis. Implications for the conceptualization of hypochondriasis and directions for future study are discussed.