Abortion: A Jewish view

A practicing physician reviews the contribution of Jewish ethics, as it relates to the structure of Jewish law, to the issue of abortion. The topics approached include the status of the fetus, the relationship of fetus to mother, abortion and murder, therapeutic abortion, and the rights of the mother. The discussion describes rabbinic answers to abortion requests and is followed by a summary of the Jewish attitudes toward termination of fetal life. An appendix is provided, dealing with central aspects of Jewish ethics, the structure of Jewish law, their relationship, and a note on abortion legislation in Israel.     

The development of sexual identity

The development of sexual identity was studied in 686 individuals, using a fantasy measure of sexual identity that does not depend on learned sex-role stereotypes. The results showed a marked differentiation between the sexes at pre-adolescence, a loss of differentiation during the freshman year of college that most closely resembled the lack of differentiation in sexual identity of preschool children, and a reemergence of a clear sexual identity during the last years of college. Possible biological, social context, and psychodynamic-maturational explanations for this pattern of development are discussed.     

Assessment of personality and demographic aspects of cohabitation and marital success

The outcomes of 68 marriages of four-year duration were compared on the basis of whether the partners had or had not cohabited premaritally. Background characteristics and personality data were assessed on those couples when there were newly married, and they were followed-up four years later to determine their current marital status, level of satisfaction, difficulty with various problem areas and the number of children born to them. No reliable differences on marital satisfaction or divorce rates between premarital cohabitors and noncohabitors were found. Cohabitors who divorced did so while reporting less marital distress than noncohabitors who divorced. Premarital cohabitors had significantly fewer children than noncohabitors. Degree of difficulty experienced on various problem areas differed between the groups. Certain personality and background variables predicted marital success differently for the two groups. Using the same selected set of six predictor variables, multiple regression equations were generated for cohabitors and noncohabitors. The cohabitors equation (R2 = .56) predicted marital success significantly more effectively than the noncohabitors equation (R2 = .28), When comparing the tri-weight vectors for these two equations, none of the predictor variables had the same influence in both groups. Theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.     

Alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement

Five rats were trained under alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules, in which food reinforcement was provided for the completion of either a fixed-ratio or a fixed-interval requirement, whichever was met first. Overall response rate and running rate (the rate of responding after the postreinforcement pause) decreased for all subjects as the fixed-ratio value increased. As the proportion of reinforcements obtained from the fixed-ratio component increased and the alternative schedule approached a simple fixed ratio, overall response rate and running rate both increased; conversely, as the proportion of reinforcements obtained from the fixed-interval component increased and the alternative schedule approached a simple fixed interval, response rates decreased. Postreinforcement pause length increased linearly as the average time between reinforcements increased, regardless of the schedule parameters. A break-run pattern of responding was predominant at low- and medium-valued fixed ratios. All subjects displayed at least occasional positively accelerated responding within interreinforcement intervals at higher fixed-ratio values.     

Test for effects of visual and position cues on T-maze learning in toads

This research was concerned with the effects of different classes of cues on the ability of toads (Bufo marinus) to learn an escape task, discrimination learning, in a T-maze. The cues were either a black or white brightness cue, a right or left position cue, or combinations of brightness and position cues. The toads were given a .6-A shock until they made the correct response. Results suggested that toads are capable of learning a discrimination task based on either a position or brightness cue. However, the rate of learning was influenced by strong aversion to the white arm when escaping from an aversive stimulus. No particular preference for either brightness or position cues was found independent of this aversion.     

Assessment of the relative importance of S+ and S− in rats using differential training on intercurrent discriminations

The present studies assessed the degree of stimulus control exerted by S+ and S? without confoundings of stimulus novelty and stimulus ambiguity. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on two intercurrent simultaneous discrimination problems with nine times more training given on one than the other. Then the animals were given transfer tests with re-paired stimuli. The results showed that S? exerts greater stimulus control than S+ in a two-choice simultaneous discrimination. Experiment 2 provided a test of the possibility that the relative degree of control by S? varies with different amounts of training. Three groups were trained on two intercurrent simultaneous discrimination problems; each group was given 7, 11, or 15 times more training on one problem than the other. Then transfer tests were given with re-paired stimuli. Again the results showed that S? exerts greater stimulus control than S+ in a two-choice simultaneous discrimination.     

A comparison of the reliability and validity of the standard MFF and MFF20 with learning-disabled children

A direct comparison was made of the reliability and validity of the standard Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) to a recent longer version of the task (MFF20). Subjects comprised two samples of learning-disabled children, matched on age, sex, IQ, and SES. The Salkind and Wright (1977) formulation was used to generate continuous data, and IQ was statistically controlled. Internal reliability estimates showed the MFF20 to be more consistent that the standard version on both error and latency scores. Validity was addressed by comparing the two versions of the task in their ability to predict cognitive and behavioral skills of conceptual relevance to impulsivity. Results indicated that the MFF20 is a more sensitive predictor of academic achievement and attention as observed in a natural setting than is the standard version of the task.This study was supported by a contract (300-77-0495) from the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, Office of Education, for the University of Virginia Learning Disabilities Research Institute. The authors would like to express appreciation to the school officials who generously assisted in the present study: Elizabeth Bailey, Thomas Cox, Charles Dempsey, Julian King.     

Trees as memory representations for simple visual patterns

The form of the memory representation for visual patterns consisting of a few line segments was investigated with three tasks. One task was the reproduction of remembered patterns using pencil and paper. The order in which the subparts of those patterns were reproduced was used to make suggestions about possible memory representations for the patterns. The second task involved rating the “goodness” of subparts of the patterns. These ratings were also interpreted as reflecting the underlying representations of the patterns. In the third task, the time required to recognize that a small pattern was part of a larger remembered pattern was used as further evidence about the memory representations of the patterns. The results from all three tasks are consistent with the theory that the memory representations are tree structures. Methods for deriving and comparing tree structures are discussed.     

Dimensions of behavior in children with speech and language disorders

The behavioral symptoms of a population of children with speech and language disorders (with a mean age of approximately 6 years) were studied with a teacher and a parent questionnaire. A factor analysis produced similar factors for both questionnaires: Hyperactivity-Conduct, Affect, and Language. An Asocial factor was also found with the teacher questionnaire. The factors of this study were in good agreement with the general factors of Aggression and Withdrawal found in other quantitative studies. Mean factor score profiles were reported for this unique population of children.The authors would like to thank Dr. Donald Guthrie for his statistical consultation and Dr. Howard Grey for the use of his patient population.