Irrelevant speech and serial recall: Implications for theories of attention and working memory

Irrelevant speech markedly impairs serial recall of visually presented lists, even though the person is asked to ignore the speech. In this, the first major review of the phenomenon, we conclude that (i) the effect occurs in memory rather than at encoding; (ii) within memory, the disruption occurs as a result of a confluence of information at the phonological rather than at the articulatory stage of coding; (iii) speech does not have privileged access to memory, since its disruptive effects may be attenuated by habituation; and (iv) disruption occurs as a result of the changing state of the auditory channel, not as had previously been thought the phonological similarity of visual and auditory streams, and is particularly sensitive to pitch changes in both speech and non-speech stimuli. These conclusions are discussed in the light of two complementary theoretical constructs: a cascading filter system responsible for the access of speech to memory and a system of coding within memory sensitive to changing state of the stream responsible for disruption of serial order. Recommendations are made also for empirical work to refine these constructs.     

A Counseling Paradox: Do Preservice Counselors Need Employment Counseling?

Data from this study identified a significant discrepancy between preservice counselors' perceptions of their career opportunities and actual placement data.     

Psychology and "ordinary language"—a critique of Smedslund

This article takes up methodological issues of the kind raised by Jan Smedslund in earlier issues of this journal, concerning the status of psychological enquiry as a discipline. Arguments are presented which aim to show that Smedslund has failed to establish the thesis that all generally valid theoretical statements in psychology are explications of conceptual relationships embedded in ordinary language, i.e., analytic statements. Some specific examples of what Smedslund takes to be "ordinary language theorems" are examined. Doubts are expressed concerning the validity of the proof procedure Smedslund employs in the "demonstration" of a number of his alleged theorems. Finally, it is argued that the results produced by the situation-bound and culture-bound empirical research of the psychologist need not be viewed as "arbitrary" in Smedslund's sense of that term.     

传统药物治疗认识误区几点浅析

药物是治疗疾病的物质基础,传统药物治疗认识中的许多误区影响人们对疾病的合理治疗.积极宣传药物治疗新理念,普及现代药学知识和理论,提高广大人民群众对药物治疗的认识水平,是避免出现药物治疗认识误区的主要手段.应加强宣传力度,带领群众走出误区,促进合理用药.     

药物治疗的风险及其处理

造成药物治疗风险的因素包括药物因素、病情因素、患者因素、用药因素及管理因素等。通过对药物进行严格监管,对医药从业人员加强培训和教育,对民众开展科普教学和用药指导,可以降低药物治疗的风险。风险事件主要表现为用药差错、药物不良反应或药物治疗无效。在药物治疗中,首先必须时刻警惕和及时发现风险;其次需要全面评估风险,还要对疾病风险和药物治疗风险进行比较。应尽可能避免药物治疗的风险,对于必须承受的风险,需采取相应措施,减少风险事件发生的概率和严重程度。如果存在较大风险,务必同时设计处理风险事件的预案,并与患者及其家属保持良好的交流和沟通。