Constituents of response rates

Response rate and the proportion of time pigeons allocated to a key-pecking activity were measured on several basic types of reinforcement schedules. Reinforcement frequency was varied within each type of basic schedule, and the effects on two constituents of response rate were noted. Propensity, the proportion of time the birds spent on a platform in front of the key, showed very consistent effects as reinforcement frequency varied: in general, it decreased when reinforcement frequency markedly decreased and it increased when reinforcement frequency increased. Speed, key pecks per unit of time spent on the platform, showed inconsistent effects when reinforcement frequency varied. Consequently, response rate showed less consistent effects than did propensity. Cumulative response records demonstrated the existence of several different types of transitions or boundary states between the key-pecking activity and other activities. The types of transitions that occurred between activities depended on both the type of reinforcement schedule and the frequency of reinforcement. The propensity data support the position that general laws of behavior can be based on temporal measures of behavior. The speed data suggest that, if a complete assessment of the dynamic properties of behavior is to be achieved, measures of behavior must incorporate the structural variations in the operant unit.     

The Icarus flight of speculation: Philosophers' vices as perceived by nineteenth-century historians and physicists

Why did nineteenth-century German historians and physicists habitually warn against vices that they believed philosophers in particular embodied: speculation, absence of common sense, and excessive systematizing? Drawing on a rich array of sources, this article interprets this vice-charging as a rhetorical practice aimed at delineating empirical research from Naturphilosophie and Geschichtsphilosophie as practiced in the heyday of German Idealism. The strawman of “the philosopher” as invoked by historians and physicists served as a negative model for strongly empiricist scholars committed to virtues like precision, thoroughness, and conscientiousness. In their historical narratives, historians and physicists consistently depicted philosophy either as a relic from the past or as a phase that they had virtuously left behind. This boundary work was central to the self-positioning of both history and physics, which makes clear that the persona of the philosopher mattered not only to philosophers but also to scholars in adjacent disciplines.     

Boundaries for career success? How work–home integration and perceived supervisor expectation affect careers

The necessity to actively manage the work–home boundaries has drastically increased. We postulate that work–home integration may affect individuals' subjective career success via its positive effects on work goal attainment and exhaustion. Furthermore, we study perceived supervisor expectation for employee work–home integration as a boundary condition. Our three-wave online survey with 371 employees showed support for the two hypothesized moderated mediation effects. Work–home integration preference is indirectly related to subjective career success: (1) positively via home-to-work transitions and work goal attainment and (2) negatively via home-to-work transitions and exhaustion. Perceived supervisor expectation constrained work–home integration preference's direct effect on home-to-work transitions and indirect effects on subjective career success. Exploratory analysis revealed that exhaustion negatively affected all career success dimensions, whereas work goal attainment was only related to some. Our results indicate that supervisor expectation can override the effect of employee's work–home integration preference on home-to-work transitions which have a double-edged sword effect on subjective career success. Our study contributes to integrating the careers and work–life interface literature and incorporating contextual factors. Furthermore, with the exploration of differential effects on subjective career success, we advance our understanding of this outcome's nomological network.     

Boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship

Boundaries in the doctor–patient relationshipis an important concept to help healthprofessionals navigate the complex andsometimes difficult experience between patientand doctor where intimacy and power must bebalanced in the direction of benefitingpatients. This paper reviews the concept ofboundary violations and boundary crossings inthe doctor–patient relationship, cautions aboutcertain kinds of boundary dilemmas involvingdual relationships, gift giving practices,physical contact with patients, andself-disclosure. The paper closes with somerecommendations for preventing boundaryviolations.     

The impact of object weight,reach distance,discomfort and muscle activation on the location of preferred critical boundary during a seated reaching task

Successful performance of a goal-directed action requires the prospective actor to perceive the environment relative to their action capabilities and tailor their movements accordingly. The current study examined the roles of reach distance, object (power drill) weight, gender, discomfort, and muscle activation (anterior deltoid, upper trapezius, biceps, ventral and dorsal forearm) in determining the location of the transition between an arm-only and an arm-and-torso reach (preferred critical boundary) during a seated reach task in which participants had to direct a power drill toward a target. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) used extrinsic (independent of the participant) and intrinsic measures (relative to the biodynamic properties of the participant) of reach distance and drill weight, discomfort judgments, and EMG integral recordings for the five muscles to identify factors that best predicted the type of reach used. GEE revealed that intrinsic measures of reach distance and drill weight were superior predictors compared to extrinsic measures. Discomfort judgment and upper trapezius activity were also significant predictors of the location of the preferred critical boundary.     

New understanding of the role of coincidence site lattice boundaries in abnormal grain growth of aluminium alloy

The sequential microstructure evolution of abnormal grain growth (AGG) in the aluminium alloy (AA5052) was investigated to analyse the migration behaviour of coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries, which are known to play an important role in inducing AGG. The sequential evolution showed that CSL boundaries tend to disappear more slowly than general boundaries at the growth front of abnormally growing grains. Especially, the migration rate of Σ9 boundaries was noticeably low, which is contrary to the previous suggestions.     

边界促进空间导航的认知神经机制

边界是指在人的视野中占据较大比例,且具有立体拓展平面的障碍物,对于人类和动物的空间导航行为具有极大的促进作用。认知发展研究发现儿童早期(1岁半～2岁)通过加工边界的空间几何结构实现物体定位,并且随着年龄的发展逐渐学会利用边界的高度信息(3.1岁～4.7岁)、长度信息(4～5岁)、视觉阻碍性信息(5岁)等完成空间导航。基于这些认知过程,神经影像学研究主要以成人为研究被试,发现大脑中的内侧颞叶和顶叶脑区在边界加工中有着不同功能作用。具体而言,边界的空间几何结构及构成要素(高度、长度和角度)体位置的学习和提取则由海马负责。但是,仍存在一些研究问题值得未来深入S探c讨i。e第n一c,e拓展深化边界促进与后顶叶之间的功能交互。第三,密切关注大脑对场地边界与场地中心编码的心理或神经表征的区别和联系。第四,重点考察阿尔兹海默症有关基因易感人群在基于边界导航的行为受损情况。最后,延伸探讨边界在长时记忆、时间知觉、视觉空间、社交网络等领域的影响机制。     

医学伦理学不可忽视的课题:利益伦理

当今是一个以利益为轴心的时代。利益伦理学是医学伦理学不可忽视的课题。将病人利益置于首位应当是现代医学伦理学的首要原则。欲望是无穷的,利益是有限的。任何利益都有自己的边界和限度。我们必须设置利益的道德界限,以回答当前医学伦理学面临的种种现实课题。     

A personal commentary on J.W. Perry,M.D., and introduction to ‘Reconstitutive process in the psychopathology of the Self’

John Weir Perry’s influence on the understanding of the psychotic process through his research in San Francisco between 1950 and 1981 was groundbreaking, because it both verified and expanded upon C.G. Jung’s research at the Burghölzli Hospital in Switzerland in the early 1900’s. The author explores both the brilliance of Perry’s contribution as a psychiatrist and Jungian analyst and also shows the flawed human, who, with his rare sensitivity to the psychotic process, devoted his life work to the schizophrenic population and their often ill-fated search for meaning. She tells how his creative engagement with the analytic processes of Self discovery eventually led to analytic boundary violations, which ultimately resulted in his indefinite suspension from membership in his local Jungian community. Further, this paper describes her reflections on the innovative work that influenced both the treatment of this population, as well as educating candidates in analytical training to be receptive to and cognizant of psychotic affects and imagery. The archetypal field of the psychotic process, its influence on the development of analytical psychology relative to the psychotic process, and one man’s impact on the analytic community are considered.     

Grain Size and Parameter Recovery with TIMSS and the General Diagnostic Model

The purpose of this study was to explore the degree of grain size of the attributes and the sample sizes that can support accurate parameter recovery with the General Diagnostic Model (GDM) for a large-scale international assessment. In this resampling study, bootstrap samples were obtained from the 2003 Grade 8 TIMSS in Mathematics at varying sample sizes from 500 to 4000 and grain sizes of the attributes from a unidimensional model to one with ten attributes. The results showed that the eight-attribute model was the one most consistently identified as best fitting. Parameter estimation for more than ten attributes and samples less than 500 failed. Furthermore, the precision of item parameter recovery decreased as the number of attributes measured by an item increased and sample size decreased. On the other hand, the distributions of latent classes were relatively stable across all models and sample sizes.