Reduction of rating scale data by means of signal detection theory

A d’-index computed from ratings of psychological stimuli does not necessarily represent the unbiased psychological distance between these stimuli. Such ratings may not be considered as discrimination tasks in the signal detection sense, because the rater has to discriminate between the psychological impact of the stimuli on some internal continuum rather than between the stimuli as such. The rater therefore can use stimulus-specific criteria for his decisions. As a result, the d’-index computed from the rating data will be biased.     

Saccadic eye movements during reading

Exposure duration and sequential redundancy are major determinants of report accuracy for textual displays. Increased emission of left-to-right saccades to both word strings and letter strings are associated with sequential redundancy. Such saccades are more frequent when words rather than pseudowords are viewed. The pattern of scanning is not simply left to right, and certain patterns of eye movements are associated positively with accuracy of report. These are a function of the sequential constraints of the display and are stronger for word strings than for letter strings. Presence of a word elicits more left-to-right saccades than does a pseudoword, even at exposures too short for a second fixation to be useful. In that case, there is no difference between redundant and nonredundant pseudowords. There is no redundancy effect at short exposures of pseudosentences.     

The power law for the perception of rotation by airline pilots

The purpose of this study was to determine the power laws for the perception of rotation about the three major body axes. Eighteen airline pilots made magnitude estimates of 5-sec pulses of nine angular accelerations having a range of acceleration x time of 10–150 deg/sec. The results showed that (1) the power law with an exponent of 1.4 describes the subjective motion of these pilots for all three major body axes, (2) the power law also describes the perception of motion for individual pilots with a substantial range of exponents, (3) there were significant correlations among the exponents for the three body axes, and (4) the data suggest that the power law over the wide range used may be more complex than implied by a formula with a single exponent.     

Social phobia and interpretation of social events

It has been suggested that social phobia may be characterized by two interpretation biases. First, a tendency to interpret ambiguous social events in a negative fashion. Second, a tendency to interpret unambiguous but mildly negative social events in a catastrophic fashion. To assess this possibility, patients with generalized social phobia, equally anxious patients with another anxiety disorder, and non-patient controls were presented with ambiguous scenarios depicting social and non-social events, and with unambiguous scenarios depicting mildly negative social events. Interpretations were assessed by participants' answers to open-ended questions and by their rankings and belief ratings for experimenter-provided, alternative explanations. Compared to both control groups, patients with generalized social phobia were more likely to interpret ambiguous social events in a negative fashion and to catastrophize in response to unambiguous, mildly negative social events.     

Toward DSM-V and the classification of psychopathology

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) developed by the American Psychiatric Association (1994) is a compelling effort at a best approximation to date of a scientifically based nomenclature, but even its authors have acknowledged that its diagnoses and criterion sets are highly debatable. Well-meaning clinicians, theorists, and researchers could find some basis for fault in virtually every sentence, due in part to the absence of adequate research to guide its construction. Some points of disagreement, however, are more fundamental than others. The authors discuss issues that cut across individual diagnostic categories and that should receive particular attention in DSM-V: (a) the process by which the diagnostic manual is developed, (b) the differentiation from normal psychological functioning, (c) the differentiation among diagnostic categories, (d) cross-sectional vs. longitudinal diagnoses, and (e) the role of laboratory instruments.     

The Measurement of Qualitative Probability

This essay presents necessary and sufficient conditions for representing a binary relation on a space of bounded random variables with a unique quantitative expectations operator. This result is used to provide a new characterization of qualitative probability. We also show that two distinct probability measures can induce the same qualitative ordering of events, even though they always produce different qualitative expectations relations. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Similarity and attribution in concept combination: Reply to Wisniewski

Wisniewski raises several important points in his comment on our study of the (non)role of similarity in concept combination. He notes that feature diagnosticity is an important factor in property attribution. He also points out that relational interpretations of combined concepts depend on thematic role plausibility, not constituent similarity. We agree with both of these points. Wisniewski further identifies a possible item artifact that might account for our results. However, reexamination of those items fails to support this hypothesis. Wisniewski also claims that an alignment process is necessary to specify how an attributed property should be instantiated in the combined concept. We argue instead that postcomprehension elaboration processes can account for specific property instantiations. Finally, we suggest that the perceived similarity between the constituents of a combined concept is an outcome of the comprehension process, not a prior condition for, or an integral part of, that process.     

MMPI-ER two-point codes of industrially injured Hispanic workers by DSM-III--R diagnosis.

The purpose of this study was to describe the MMPI-ER two-point codes of 492 Hispanic adults who had sustained work-related injuries and who had applied for workers' compensation benefits. More specifically, the focus was on whether there are unique MMPI two-point codes for Hispanic workers with three specific types of DSM-III--R diagnoses--adjustment disorder, anxiety disorder, and major depression. Analysis suggests that psychiatric condition or diagnosis may act as a moderator variable in Hispanic persons' MMPI performance, including MMPI two-point codes.