Some physical determinants of viewing time under three instructional sets

One-hundred fifty human Ss viewed 32 patterns under neutral (N), pleasingness (P), or interestingness (l) instructional sets. An analysis of variance indicated that patterns with larger areas were viewed longer than patterns with smaller areas under all conditions; however, this effect was more pronounced under the P and I conditions than under the N condition. Patterns containing 9-sided shapes were viewed longer than those containing 3-sided shapes under the N and I conditions, while the reverse was true for the P condition.     

Between life and death: experiences of concentration camp mussulmen during the holocaust

During the years of 1981 and 1982, 89 former prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp responded to questionnaires on mussulmen-prisoners in the extreme phase of starvation disease. In this article, I describe the origin of the term "mussulman," mussulmens' somatic and mental state, their behavior and camp customs. Prisoners characterized as mussulmen remain between life and death, without expressing emotional reactions and defense mechanisms apart from a hypersensibility to food-related stimuli. A mussulman was a product of the camp factory of death. A deep somatic and emotional stigma remains in those who survived the mussulmen state.     

Nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts in adolescents

To determine the frequency and correlates of nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts in 12–14 year olds, a two stage epidemiologic survey with a self-administered questionnaire (N=3283) followed by a psychiatric interview of a subsample of the adolescents and their parents (N=444) was used. Prevalence estimates of interview validated nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts were 2.46% in males and 2.79% in females. Significant relationships were found between nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts and suicidal ideation, major depression and undesirable life events. Data suggest that physically self-damaging acts occur at substantial rates during early adolescence. The strong correlation between nonsuicidal self-destructive acts and both suicidal ideation and major depression clarifies prior conflicting reports in the literature and suggests that a history of self-damaging acts should be taken into consideration when evaluating for possible depression and suicide risk.     

Morale and Job Satisfaction Among Nurses: What Can Hospitals Do?

In an attempt to account for morale and job satisfaction among 314 nurses, this study investigated the influence of work-related and interpersonal variables. Morale on the unit was directly related to supervisor support, co-worker relationships, and work recognition. Personal morale was accounted for by recognition, physical environment, the job itself, and pay. Job satisfaction was predicted by personal morale, work commitment, job clarity, work pressure, and innovation. Suggestions for improving nurse morale and job satisfaction are made.     

Received and Perceived Social Support Following Natural Disaster1

Because they were participating in a concurrent panel study, 222 older adults had been asked how much help they would expect to receive in a hypothetical emergency before experiencing two separate floods. For the subsample suffering losses or injuries during the floods, Study 1 examined the accuracy of their expectations, as well as possible changes in them, as a result of help actually received. Generally, victims received much less help than they had expected to receive prior to the floods. Preflood expectation of support predicted help from kin, whereas loss and education predicted help from nonkin sources. However, subsequent expectations did not change as a result of the level of help received. Using the total sample, Study 2 examined the broader issue of whether the disaster itself affected subsequent perceptions of support. Flood exposure, as measured at both individual and community levels, was associated with declines in perceptions of support and social participation.     

The case for motivated reasoning

It is proposed that motivation may affect reasoning through reliance on a biased set of cognitive processes--that is, strategies for accessing, constructing, and evaluating beliefs. The motivation to be accurate enhances use of those beliefs and strategies that are considered most appropriate, whereas the motivation to arrive at particular conclusions enhances use of those that are considered most likely to yield the desired conclusion. There is considerable evidence that people are more likely to arrive at conclusions that they want to arrive at, but their ability to do so is constrained by their ability to construct seemingly reasonable justifications for these conclusions. These ideas can account for a wide variety of research concerned with motivated reasoning.     

Proof and truth in Lakatos's masterpiece

Proofs and Refutations is Lakatos's masterpiece. This article investigates some of its central themes, in particular: the nature of proofs ('Proofs do not prove, they improve'); the nature of definitions (real, not nominal); and the consequences of all this for ontology (platonism vs Popper's World Three).     

A multidimensional scaling analysis of vowel discrimination in humans and monkeys

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to compare perceptual maps for 10 synthetic English vowels in humans and Old World monkeys (Macaca fuscata andCercopithecus albogularis). Subjects discriminated among the vowels using a repeating background procedure, and reaction times were submitted to an MDS analysis to derive measures of perceived similarity. The dimensions that emerged related to the frequencies of the first(F1), second(F2), and third(F3) formants. Human data indicated a good match to previous MDS studies using rating procedures or confusion matrices: The dominant dimension mapped onto vowelF2, the phonetically most important formant, and the second and third dimensions mapped ontoF1 andF3, respectively.For monkeys, equal weightings occurred forF1 andF2, andF3 was not clearly represented. Monkey sensitivity to the formants appeared to relate to formant amplitudes. If monkeys are giving an accurate representation of the psychoacoustic relations among the formants, then our human results suggest that species-specific mechanisms, reflecting the salience of the phonetic feature of advancement, may contribute to vowel coding in humans.     

New Roles for Rhetoric: From Academic Critique to Civic Affirmation

The classical conception of rhetoric as the method of reasoned political judgment survived into the Renaissance but was reduced to academic critiques of style and "empty" public rhetoric with the rise of modern science and its representationalist theories of language. Recently, however, rhetoric, textuality, and the "linguistic turn" generally, have become central metaphors in the human sciences. This renewed rhetorical perspective not only fosters a critique of positive philosophy and of scientism in public discourse, it also offers affirmative methods by which persons can construct their civic lives.