Reference and comprehension: A topic-comment analysis of sentence-picture verification

A sentence often contains two components: a topic, which refers to a nonlinguistic object whose existence is presupposed; and a comment, which asserts some thought about this object. In addition, a sentence will often repeat (or refer back to) information that was expressed earlier in a text or conversation. The purpose of this article is to propose a single theoretical framework to describe the mechanisms that relate a sentence to its nonlinguistic environment as well as those that relate a sentence to its linguistic context. The theory developed in this article suggests that sentences can strongly influence the representation of visible nonlinguistic events and that this representation is sensitive to the distinction between presupposed and asserted information. To evaluate this theory, a sentence-picture verification priming task was developed. In this task, subjects were presented with pairs of sentence-picture displays, and were asked to verify whether or not the sentence in each display correctly applied to an accompanying picture. The relationship between pairs of sentence-picture displays was varied systematically. Across five experiments, three hypotheses were supported: (a) The processes which evaluate presupposed information and the processes which evaluate asserted information are differentially affected by nonlinguistic factors, (b) only those aspects of the picture which are referred to by the sentence are encoded for future use, and (c) coherence between successive sentences is in part a function of the referential continuity of the presupposed information.     

DETERMINANTS OF R AND D COMPENSATION STRATEGIES IN THE HIGH TECH INDUSTRY

This study indicates that sales volume, stage in the product life cycle, profitability and turnover are all important predictors of the method and magnitude of financial rewards provided by high tech firms to R and D employees. The most favorable situational factors for R and D incentive compensation are a low sales volume high tech company, operating in the growth stage of the product life cycle, with high turnover rates, and capable of linking profitability to incentive rewards such as bonuses.     

Phantom cotherapist: Treatment of a suicidal Arab by a Jewish therapist

A case study is presented of the treatment of an Arab coed by a Jewish trainee, and a phantom cotherapist using a modified dialectical therapeutic approach. Its effect on the treatment process and outcome, and on the therapist is discussed.     

Suicide attempts in twins whose co-twins' deaths were non-suicides

Familial similarity for suicidal behavior has been interpreted by psychosocially oriented researchers as reflecting extreme grief following loss. This view would anticipate a higher frequency of attempted suicide among bereaved MZ than DZ twins (regardless of cause of death), given their generally increased social closeness. Alternatively, support for a genetic influence on suicidal behavior has been provided by findings of greater concordance among monozygotic (MZ) than dizygotic (DZ) twins, and among biological than adoptive relatives. This approach predicts that the occurrence of suicidal attempts among bereaved MZ and DZ twins whose co-twins deaths were non-suicides should not differ and should be low in frequency, given an absence of predisposing genetic factors. Attempted suicide was compared in 166 MZ and 79 DZ twins whose co-twins' deaths were non-suicides. Suicidal attempts (during the first two months following the loss) were recalled by 3 MZ twins (1.8%) and by 3 DZ twins (3.7%), a difference that was not significant. The present study, together with previous twin and adoption studies, supports the view that concordance for suicide among family members reflects a common genetic predisposition to suicidal behavior.     

Suicidal Behaviors in Surviving Monozygotic and Dizygotic Co‐Twins: Is the Nature of the Co‐Twin's Cause of Death a Factor?

Genetically informative samples can address hereditary and experiential influences on suicide‐related behaviors. The frequency of suicide‐related behaviors was compared in twins from two survivor groups: (1) those whose co‐twins' deaths were suicides (monozygotic [MZ]: n = 47; dizygotic [DZ]: n = 31), and (2) those whose co‐twins' deaths were nonsuicides (MZ: n = 347; DZ: n = 170). The frequency of suicide attempts among suicide survivors was significantly higher in MZ than DZ twins, while the frequency of suicide attempts among nonsuicide twin survivors did not differ between MZ and DZ twins. Twin concordance for suicide attempts more likely reflects a genetic predisposition than a behavioral reaction to the loss.