The ABCs of categorical perception

Studies of speech perception first revealed a surprising discontinuity in the way in which stimulus values on a physical continuum are perceived. Data which demonstrate the effect in nonspeech modes have challenged the contention that categorical perception is a hallmark of the speech mode, but the psychophysical models that have been proposed have not resolved the issues raised by empirical findings. This study provides data from judgments of four sensory continua, two visual and two tactual-kinesthetic, which show that the adaptation level for a set of stimuli serves as a category boundary whether stimuli on the continuum differ by linear or logarithmic increments. For all sensory continua studied, discrimination of stimuli belonging to different perceptual categories was more accurate than discrimination of stimuli belonging to the same perceptual category. Moreover, shifts in the adaptation level produced shifts in the location of the category boundary. The concept of Adaptation-level Based Categorization (ABC) provides a unified account of judgmental processes in categorical perception without recourse to post hoc constructs such as implicit anchors or external referents.     

Increasing volunteering at a residential facility: An experimental evaluation of a volunteer assistance program

A helpful component for comprehensive residential services for developmentally disabled persons is volunteer assistance. This investigation involved the evaluation of a program developed to increase the amount of volunteer assistance provided to a public residential facility. The program consisted of three types of related procedures: systematic volunteer recruitment steps, specific volunteer activities at the facility, and consequence/recognition for the volunteer assistance. The program was successively implemented to involve students as volunteers from two local universities, and resulted in an increase in new students volunteering from both universities. Additionally, the frequency with which the students volunteered at the residential facility increased substantially from both universities relative to control periods during which the volunteer program was not in effect. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of volunteers and continued research to increase involvement of other prospective groups of volunteers.     

Women of color in academic administration: Trends,progress, and barriers

Women of color in academic administration are a recent phenomenon due to their double oppression as women and people of color. Their small numbers are intimately tied to American history, legal restrictions, and traditional customs. Legislation, court orders, and executive orders have greatly increased the number of minorities in higher education, although they are still substantially underrepresented in the academy. Women Ph.D.s—and to a lesser extent, administrators—are growing as a proportion of all Ph.D.s, but there will be required the continued removal of burdens of sexism, lower salaries, and career impediments to achieve parity for women in general, and women of color in particular, in academic administration. The recent laxity of enforcement of affirmative action has added to the slow growth of their numbers. However, the historically black colleges can play a major role in empowerment of women of color in administrative positions.