Stability of the MCMI among depressed psychiatric outpatients

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is a promising, yet somewhat unproven psychometric inventory developed to identify clinical syndromes and personality traits consonant with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. [DSM-III]; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). The stability of its measures for both the theoretically more stable personality characteristics and the clinical syndromes was investigated in a group of depressed psychiatric outpatients. In this test-retest design with a 3-month interval between tests, clinical syndrome scales of relevance changed significantly as expected. However, many of the personality scales also changed significantly. Only four of the personality scales met a two-fold test of stability. Findings are discussed in terms of characteristics of self-report inventories such as the MCMI, the uniqueness of the depressed population, and characteristics of personality disorders.     

Nearest neighbor analysis of point processes: Applications to multidimensional scaling

A new approach for evaluating spatial statistical models based on the (random) number 0 ≤ N(i, n) ≤ n of points whose nearest neighbor is i in an ensemble of n + 1 points is discussed. The second moment of N(i, n) offers a measure of the centrality of the ensemble. The asymptotic distribution of N(i, n) and the expected degree of centrality for several spatial and nonspatial point processes is described. The use of centrality as a diagnostic statistic for multidimensional scaling is explored.     

The neural reality of syntactic transformations: evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging

The functional anatomy of syntactic transformations, a major computational operation invoked in sentence processing, was identified through a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation. A grammaticality judgment task was used, presented through a novel hidden-blocks design. Subjects listened to transformational and nontransformational sentences in which a host of other complexity generators (number of words, prepositions, embeddings, etc.) were kept constant. A series of analyses revealed that the neural processing of transformations is localizable, evoking a highly lateralized and localized activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's region) and bilateral activation in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. The pattern of activation associated with transformational analysis was distinct from the one observed in neighboring regions, and anatomically separable from the effects of verb complexity, which yielded significant activation in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus. Taken together with neuropsychological evidence, these results uncover the neural reality of syntactic transformations.     

Facts, rules, and procedures in normal calculation: evidence from multiple single-patient studies of impaired arithmetic fact retrieval.

This article presents results from multiple single-case studies of brain-damaged patients with impairments in retrieval of arithmetic facts (i.e., "table" facts such as 8 x 7 = 56). The results provide a basis for exploring the types of knowledge implicated in simple arithmetic performance, the internal representations for the various knowledge types, the processes operating upon these representations, and the ways in which the representations or processes may be disrupted by brain damage.     

Cognitive representations and processes in arithmetic: inferences from the performance of brain-damaged subjects.

In this article, we present data from two brain-damaged patients with calculation impairments in support of claims about the cognitive mechanisms underlying simple arithmetic performance. We first present a model of the functional architecture of the cognitive calculation system based on previous research. We then elaborate this architecture through detailed examination of the patterns of spared and impaired performance of the two patients. From the patients' performance we make the following theoretical claims: that some arithmetic facts are stored in the form of individual fact representations (e.g., 9 x 4 = 36), whereas other facts are stored in the form of a general rule (e.g., 0 x N = 0); that arithmetic fact retrieval is mediated by abstract internal representations that are independent of the form in which problems are presented or responses are given; that arithmetic facts and calculation procedures are functionally independent; and that calculation algorithms may include special-case procedures that function to increase the speed or efficiency of problem solving. We conclude with a discussion of several more general issues relevant to the reported research.     

Akiva Yosef Schlesinger—a forerunner of Zionism or a forerunner of ultra-orthodoxy

Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger (Pressburg 1838—Jerusalem 1922) is considered by some scholars to be a forerunner of ultra-Orthodoxy, but by others as a forerunner of Zionism. This article unravels this enigmatic personality, demonstrating that he was indeed a forerunner of ultra-Orthodoxy who was motivated by a complete rejection of modernity and promoted religious positions that were more radical than those of the Hatam Sofer. Those who associate Schlesinger with Zionism are misled by the fact that he encountered fierce opposition from his Hungarian colleagues and from the “Yishuv hayashan” in Jerusalem, advocated the use of the Hebrew language and promoted a “settlement” programme in Palestine. The article suggests that Schlesinger's programme was in reality designed to create a sacred utopian society, and was motivated by his desire to isolate the traditional Jewish community from modernity, rather than by a nationalist ideology. Furthermore, the opposition of the Jerusalem rabbis to Schlesinger's ideas was based largely on his unusual religious positions and his suggestion that the youth should be engaged in work. In analysing Schlesinger's legacy, the article also clarifies the distinctions between ultra-Orthodoxy and Zionism, as well as some common elements that they share.