Contralateral interference and ear advantages for identification of three-element patterns

Recent experience with attempts to test relatively simple patterns such as three-tone sequences in a traditional dichotic-listening paradigm indicates that when such sequences are used for both target and contralateral interference, performance tends to be low in both ears and not useful for measuring or comparing ear advantages in various target conditions. It is reported that tests with a variety of sounds presented contralaterally to three-element patterns show that several such sounds can (1) allow performance in at least one ear to remain above floor values, (2) result in performance in at least one ear that is below ceiling, and (3) reveal ear advantages that are similar in direction and magnitude to those seen with the traditional dichotic paradigm.     

Louis Couturat,modern logic,and the international auxiliary language

ABSTRACT

To some extent, the early twentieth century revival of universal languages was the work of logicians and mathematicians. Pioneers of modern logic such as Frege, Russell and Peano wanted to overcome the diversity and deficiencies of natural languages. Through the rigour of formal logic, they aimed at providing scientific thinking with a reliable medium free from the ambiguity and inconsistencies of ordinary language. This article shows some interconnections between modern logic and the search for a common tongue that would unite scientists and people of all nations. The French mathematician and philosopher Louis Couturat is a key figure in understanding the interplay between these two movements. Through his work in composing the Ido language as an alternative to Esperanto, Couturat gave a new life to the Leibnizian idea of a universal characteristics. In addition, his multifaceted work provides a valuable insight into some political implications of early analytic philosophy.     

‘May those who know nothing be content to listen': Loys Bourgeois's Advertissement to the Psalms (1551)

Abstract

In 1551 the Genevan cantor, Louis Bourgeois, published an updated collection of metrical psalms with melodies, as part of Jean Calvin's project to publish all 150 psalms in French verse. With this collection, Bourgeois wrote a short notice describing the changes he had made to some of the pre-existing psalm tunes, and offered advice to the congregation on how they might improve the quality of their psalm-singing. After the appearance of the publication, Bourgeois was imprisoned for making unauthorized changes to the psalms, and for encouraging people to remain silent rather than sing out of tune or out of time. Although the intervention of Calvin ensured the cantor's quick release, the Genevan town council ordered that all copies of the book be destroyed. For the first time, Bourgeois's Advertissement to the reader is presented here in the original and in English translation with commentary.     

A comparison of female supervisors in business and government organizations

This exploratory study compared the life style and interpersonal need orientation, leadership style, and perception of the organization structure of female supervisors in business and government organizations. The government group had a significantly higher formalistic and lower sociocentric and personalistic life style orientation; lower needs for expressed control, expressed affection, wanted inclusion, wanted affection, and a higher need for wanted control; were lower on consideration and higher on structure leadership dimensions; and perceived their organization as being more bureaucratic and less collaborative and coordinative than the business group. The findings were discussed in terms of the processes of individual-organization congruity and organizational socialization.     

Effects of public and private deviancy on compliance with a request

A confederate requester asked subjects to write letters for an educational campaign after they had completed a battery of tests and received either deviant or nondeviant feedback. Half of the subjects were led to believe that the requester had knowledge of their test performance; the remaining half believed that the confederate did not know their test scores. Within these conditions, some subjects believed that complying with the request would involve future meetings with the requester while others were not led to anticipate any future interaction. As expected, deviants complied more than nondeviants replicating Freedman and Doob's (1968) results; however, neither the secret/known nor the future interaction variations produced effects. Contrary to the prediction that deviants are compliant because they wish to avoid mistreatment, secret deviants complied slightly more than known deviants. Compliance was discussed as instrumental in improving self-image.     

Learned taste aversions in rats as a function of delay,speed, and duration of rotation

Rats fed a saccharin solution and then rotated on a turntable showed an aversion to the saccharin solution on later testing. In the first experiment, the rats learned to avoid saccharin with delays of as much as 9 hr between drinking the saccharin and the start of rotation. The second experiment showed that the critical determinant of aversiveness of rotation was number of rotations. The rats avoided saccharin as much after rotation at high speeds for short durations as after rotation at low speeds for long durations.