Software informed consent: Docete emptorem, not caveat emptor

Should software be sold “as is”, totally guaranteed, or something else? This paper suggests that “informed consent”, used extensively in medical ethics, is an appropriate way to envision the buyer/developer relationship when software is sold. We review why the technical difficulties preclude delivering perfect software, but allow statistical predictions about reliability. Then we borrow principles refined by medical ethics and apply them to computer professionals.     

A computer touch-screen apparatus for training visual discriminations in rats.

We describe an operant conditioning apparatus that uses computerized touch-screen technology and is designed for the versatile and highly controlled testing of rats in a potentially wide variety of behavioral paradigms. Although computer-controlled touch-screen systems have been developed for use with pigeons, monkeys, and humans, analogous technologies and methods have not yet been developed for rats. The development of a touch-screen system for rats could enhance the efficiency of behavioral research with rats, and may offer a unique tool for studying animal learning. In the first test of the utility of the apparatus, 3 Sprague-Dawley rats learned to activate the touch screen only after the touch-screen panel was made slightly movable. These animals then learned to discriminate visual stimuli presented on the computer monitor, but only after the food magazine and pellet dispenser were moved to the rear of the chamber opposite the stimulus display and response window. In a test of the utility of the modified apparatus, 6 Long-Evans rats learned to activate the touch screen and learned one of three different simple discriminations using computer-generated, visually presented stimuli. A basic method for training rats to activate the computer touch screen and for visual discrimination training is described. Results show that rats learned to activate the touch screen and discriminate visual stimuli presented on a computer monitor. Potential applications and advantages of the touch-screen-equipped rat operant conditioning chamber are discussed.     

Unique ethical problems in information technology

A distinction is made between moral indoctrination and instruction in ethics. It is argued that the legitimate and important field of computer ethics should not be permitted to become mere moral indoctrination. Computer ethics is an academic field in its own right with unique ethical issues that would not have existed if computer technology had not been invented. Several example issues are presented to illustrate this point. The failure to find satisfactory non-computer analogies testifies to the uniqueness of computer ethics. Lack of an effective analogy forces us to discover new moral values, formulate new moral principles, develop new policies, and find new ways to think about the issues presented to us. For all of these reasons, the kind of issues presented deserve to be addressed separately from others that might at first appear similar. At the very least, they have been so transformed by computing technology that their altered form demands special attention.     

The accuracy of automated and clinical detection of brain damage and lateralization in neuropsychology

The validity of both computer programs and clinical judgment in neuropsychology for determining the existence and lateralization of brain damage is reviewed. Computerized interpretation in neuropsychology, after a propitious beginning, was largely abandoned due to severe criticism, essentially based on only three studies. Only one of these studies compared clinical judgment with computer programs. A thorough examination of the literature located many more studies assessing the accuracy of computer programs, clinical judgment, and discriminant analysis. When reviewed, these studies found that the computer programs, especially the Neuropsychological Key, were quite accurate though not as accurate as clinical judgment. Computer programs and especially the Lateralization Index are potentially as accurate as expert clinical judgment. The rationale related to computer programs is also discussed. This includes the implications of impairment, criterion adequacy, and methods used in designing the neuropsychological Key and the Lateralization Index. Since computer programs are completely reliable across studies, they can be used to examine the differences between sample populations and criterion accuracy. Factors contributing to reduced accuracy in both clinical judgment and computer programs are also explicated.     

FRANK TIPLER'S PHYSICAL ESCHATOLOGY

Abstract. Frank L. Tipler's book The Physics of Immortality is a striking attempt by a scientist to resolve the conflict between theology and science on the basis of a physicalist position that identifies theology as a branch of physics, and that calculates God “in exactly the same way as physicists calculate the characteristics of electrons.” Tipler's work may be seen as a scientistic myth, and its critique is organized around the three basic characteristics of such myths: (1) it is illogical in that it argues as if physics were in fact metaphysics; (2) it is grim in that its glorification of technology is insensitive to ethical issues; (3) it is meaningless in that its espousal of a strong theory of artificial intelligence empties concrete personal histories by subsuming them under abstractions that distort our understandings both of God and of resurrection.     

THE OMEGA POINT AS ESCHATON: ANSWERS TO PANNENBERG'S QUESTIONS FOR SCIENTISTS

Abstract. I present an outline of the Omega Point theory, which is a model for an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, evolving, personal God who is both transcendent to spacetime and immanent in it, and who exists necessarily. The model is a falsifiable physical theory, deriving its key concepts not from any religious tradition but from modern physical cosmology and computer science; from scientific materialism rather than revelation. Four testable predictions of the model are given. The theory assumes that thinking is a purely physical process of the brain, and that personality dies with the brain. Nevertheless, I show that the Omega Point theory suggests a future universal resurrection of the dead very similar to the one predicted in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. The notions of "grace" and the "beatific vision" appear naturally in the model.     

Psychological distance to reward: Segmentation of aperiodic schedules of reinforcement

College students responded for monetary rewards in two experiments on choice between differentially segmented aperiodic schedules of reinforcement. On a microcomputer, the concurrent chains were simulated as an air-defense video game in which subjects used two radars for detecting and destroying enemy aircraft. To earn more cash-exchangeable points, subjects had to shoot down as many planes as possible within a given period of time. For both experiments, access to one of two radar systems (terminal link) was controlled by a pair of independent concurrent variable-interval 60-s schedules (initial link) with a 4-s changeover delay always in effect. In Experiment 1, the appearance of an enemy aircraft in the terminal link was determined by a variable-interval (15 s or 60 s) schedule or a two-component chained variable-interval schedule of equal duration. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 except for the segmented schedule, which had three components. Subjects preferred the unsegmented schedule over its segmented counterpart in the conditions with variable-interval 60 s, and preference tended to be more pronounced with more components in the segmented schedule. These findings are compatible with those from previous studies of periodic and aperiodic schedules with pigeons or humans as subjects.     

Computer‐assisted reading intervention with a phonics approach for children using cochlear implants or hearing aids

The present study examined computer‐assisted reading intervention with a phonics approach for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in Sweden using cochlear implants or hearing aids, or a combination of both. The study included 48 children, 5, 6 and 7 years of age. Sixteen children with normal hearing (NH) served as a reference group. The first purpose of the study was to compare NH and DHH children's reading ability at pre and post‐intervention. The second purpose was to investigate effects of the intervention. Cognitive and demographic factors were analyzed in relation to reading improvement. Results showed no statistically significant difference for reading ability at the group level, although NH children showed overall higher reading scores at both test points. Age comparisons revealed a statistically significant higher reading ability in the NH 7‐year‐olds compared to the DHH 7‐year‐olds. The intervention proved successful for word decoding accuracy, passage comprehension and as a reduction of nonword decoding errors in both NH and DHH children. Reading improvement was associated with complex working memory and phonological processing skills in NH children. Correspondent associations were observed with visual working memory and letter knowledge in the DHH children. Age was the only demographic factor that was significantly correlated with reading improvement. The results suggest that DHH children's beginning reading may be influenced by visual strategies that might explain the reading delay in the older children.     

Computer-based written emotional disclosure: the effects of advance or real-time guidance and moderation by Big 5 personality traits

Standard written emotional disclosure (WED) about stress, which is private and unguided, yields small health benefits. The effect of providing individualized guidance to writers may enhance WED, but has not been tested. This trial of computer-based WED compared two novel therapist-guided forms of WED – advance guidance (before sessions) and real-time guidance (during sessions, through instant messaging) – to both standard WED and control writing; it also tested Big 5 personality traits as moderators of guided WED. Young adult participants (n = 163) with unresolved stressful experiences were randomized to conditions, had three, 30-min computer-based writing sessions, and were reassessed six weeks later. Contrary to hypotheses, real-time guidance WED had poorer outcomes than the other conditions on several measures, and advance guidance WED also showed some poorer outcomes. Moderator analyses revealed that participants with low baseline agreeableness, low extraversion, or high conscientiousness had relatively poor responses to guidance. We conclude that providing guidance for WED, especially in real-time, may interfere with emotional processing of unresolved stress, particularly for people whose personalities have poor fit with this interactive form of WED.