Let's reduce statistical drudgery. III.

SETAR (serial event timer and recorder) "… is based on techniques used in electronic digital computers" and is employed "… to reduce the drudgery of record reading and computation." SETAR "… can be thought of as doing the same work as a polygraph with eight electromagnetically operated pens, some or all of which could be connected to the apparatus of the task being studied." Utility of the apparatus is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Four semantic rating scales compared.

In the construction of semantic rating scales, what format works best? "The questionnaire used in this investigation consisted of 24 eight-step rating scales… . All the scales were bipolar, and were defined by words or phrases at the scale poles, in the manner of the Semantic Differential… . The ratings were made by approximately 400 housewives… interviewed in their own homes by 11 professional interviewers." Rating and interviewer reports were the criteria. Methods were compared. "Whatever method is chosen, the choice should be made with a thoughtful evaluation of the influences these details of format and administration may have upon results." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism and reactions to "sputniks."

"This study investigated the relationship between authoritarianism, as measured by an F scale, and changing or retaining predictions following a natural influence event. Following Sputnik I, college Ss made forced-choice predictions… about which nation is most likely to get to the moon first. The same prediction was again elicited following Sputnik II. Among Ss who initially favored the U. S., those who did not change their prediction… received significantly higher scores on the F scale than did those who changed their initial predictions." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The semiautonomous process: Its nature and nurture.

Theories concerned with analysis of the complexity of the "central process" in thought and perception are considered. Data concerning the "nature of the semi-autonomous process of the cerebrum" are examined. New "possibilities of explanation… open up when one separates sensory from perceptual processes, and recognizes that identifying the two had a purely theoretical origin and neurological to boot. This can be a psychological distinction, based on behavioral criteria, and need not be contaminated by other ideas… . Psychology cannot be reduced to physiology… but… the psychologist may need every now and then a short bout of physiological psychotherapy, just to permit him to get on with his own business." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congress looks at science.

Congress "has been inviting the nation's top scientists… to come to the witness table… . Congress is not trying to crack down on science; rather it is trying… to equip itself for its constitutional role in an area where it has heretofore been rather laggard." The "Federal Government has been extremely generous to science." Science "has become terribly expensive in recent years… . Congress is beginning to demand, in effect, that the scientific community vouch for it productivity… . Congress is aware of its own inadequacy, which is why the scientific community should be pleased, rather than distressed, by the sudden rush of investigations and studies. They present a splendid opportunity for the nation's scientists to help the political process adopt itself to the needs of science." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribute criteriality and sex-linked conservatism as determinants of psychological similarity.

"Two hypotheses were proposed: 1… . One event is more likely to be judged similar to a standard event if the two differ on some property which… has not been learned as criterial for defining it, than if this property has been learned as criterial for its definition. 2… . When presented with events of varying criterial difference from a standard, females should judge fewer of these events as similar to the standard than males, on the ground that the former tend to categorize more narrowly… . It was concluded that recognition of similarity depends on learned classification rules and on individual differences in conceptual conservatism." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of congitive-dissonance theory to an aspect of psychotherapeutic practice.

"The present paper is designed to link dissonance theory with one practical reality-oriented aspect of the process of psychotherapy with emotionally troubled individuals—namely, the charging of fees." Freud stated that "money matters are treated by civilized people in the same way as sexual matters—with the same inconsistency, prudishness, and hypocrisy. It is… avowed… that in order to accomplish any significant therapeutic work the patient must be charged a fee that is somewhat painful and discomforting." Dissonance theory "would predict that if a person paid nothing for something that he believed was worth nothing he would not experience cognitive dissonance. Rather his cognitive world would be in a state of harmony in this regard. My main purpose has been to stimulate greater clinical interest in the possibilities of employing general psychological theories, developed in the more traditional academic areas of psychology, to shed light upon seemingly complex issues in the field of clinical psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of cooperation and competition upon small group behavior.

"From previous research on cooperation, competition, and studies of small groups, an attempt was made to formulate hypotheses that would integrate theoretical approaches to both areas of investigation… . The results of the experiment [presented] permit the following conclusions: 1. Cooperation may be considered a determinant of group cohesiveness… . 2. Cooperation may be considered a determinant of instrumental communications." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An evaluation of two attitudinal approaches to delegation.

2 cases were worked through in a multiple role-playing procedure under a "limited delegation" condition (leader made decision and led discussion of it) and a "full delegation" condition (leader accepted group's decision). "In terms of solution quality, acceptance and satisfaction of superiors and subordinates, the full delegation procedure consistently yielded the more satisfactory results… . The results are interpreted to mean that attitudes of supervision toward the delegation process may be an important factor in the solution of certain management problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychology.

"This paper is a proposal to establish counseling psychology as a functionally unique pattern of practice." Three hypotheses are proposed, one of which holds that "… counseling psychologists resemble industrial psychologists to a greater extent than they do psychotherapists." Eight points are made in summarizing "… a relatively unique pattern of function for the counseling psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Le syllogisme catégorique: Une réexamination du terme "certains" dans une perspective développementale.

Studied the meaning of the quantifiers "some" and "some… not" from a developmental perspective, using 326 participants aged 10 yrs to adulthood. Results show that the pragmatic interpretation of "Some" as equivalent to "Some… not" (and vice versa) appears as the dominant response from the age of 14 yrs (67% of the responses), and becomes still more dominant in adulthood (90%). Among 10-yr-olds, this interpretation is rarely made (16% of the responses), which fixes the limits of the classical pragmatic approach to "Some" based only on its interpretation as "Some but not all." Contrary to the prediction of the pragmatic approach, 10-yr-old children completely reject the equivalence between "Some" and "Some… not." Between the ages of 11 and 13 yrs, in contrast, such equivalence is only accepted by 50% of participants; at this age, one cannot argue that the pragmatic factor is predominant. Yet the progressive evolution of "compatible-type" responses is consistent with the progressive acquisition of reasoning based on the implication "Some" implying '…and not all," which contradicts the premise "all." Results overall demonstrate a real developmental evolution in the pragmatic interpretation of the quantifier, "Some." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deceiving experimental subjects.

A survey to obtain "… some insight into how they felt about it themselves… " was conducted with "… subjects who had actually been deceived in an experiment… ." Results indicated "… very little evidence that these subjects were disturbed by being deceived." The author speculates that "… being deceived as an experimental subject is more of a problem when viewed in the abstract than when it actually happens to the individuals concerned." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Production of associative sequences in schizophrenia and chronic brain syndrome.

"… timing differences in the associative process of schizophrenics and epileptics" was studied. Recall and a "condition of restricted association were employed… . controls were found to differ from the patient groups with respect to gross output of words… . As increased restrictions were imposed on the associative process, disturbances in the thinking of the pathological groups became more apparent… . results suggest that inappropriate responses (intrusions), which appear in the productions of psychotic individuals, are but symptomatic of a more basic disturbance in thought processes… . [Results] discussed within the framework of Hebbian theory and in relation to other theoretical formulations." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test-anxiety and blame-assignment in grade school children.

"… an attempt was made to measure the relationship between test-anxiety in elementary school children and the propensity for self-blame assignment in regard to the experience of failure in a test situation… . The general hypothesis… was that in a failure situation, high test-anxious S's assign blame for a failure to themselves to a greater extent than do non-test-anxious S's… . The overall results… tend to support the hypothesis, but with qualifications that… change the perspective… of test-anxiety and blame assignment." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychodynamics of social mobility in adolescent boys.

"In this paper, a first effort is made… to analyze some of the psychic accompaniments of upward and downward mobility strivings among adolescent boys… by distinguishing varieties of mobility behavior… the mechanisms through which the differing aspirations become established… The findings reveal sharp differences, in the prediction directions, between upward and downward aspiring groups." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A unique regional program of psychological research and training in the south.

"The Council on Psychological Resources in the South was appointed by the Southern Regional Education Board and met for the first time on July 16-17, 1953 in Atlanta, Georgia… . The Southern Regional Education Board has made a real contribution to the development of psychology as a science and as a profession… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evaluation of instrument displays: A point of view.

"One of the most common duties to fall to an applied experimental psychologist is evaluation… . The control of a machine by a man may be conceived as a process of information exchange between man and machine… . Since it is the function of an instrument display in a man-machine system to present the human operator with signs, and since the signs may have the functions of command, designation, and computation, any evaluation of a display must be in terms of its success in presenting signs which perform these functions… . The properties of an instrument display in virtue of which its indications are effective in command and designation are the properties which must be assessed in an evaluation of the display." The point of view presented rests on 6 major principles which are stated, and the point of view is summarized in the statement that: "the only research which can in any significant measure lead to applied decisions is research of general import." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Broadening student experience in mental hygiene and abnormal psychology.

"At Whittier college an attempt is made to relate closely the student's experience in the mental hygiene and abnormal psychology courses." "In mental hygiene, emphasis is placed upon the practical problems of community mental health, and an attempt is made to stimulate the student's interest… ." "In the abnormal psychology course… trips are arranged to an institution for the mentally defective, a hospital for the care of the physically handicapped, a school for delinquents, and a state mental hospital. Other procedures and possibilities for provoking student interest and enriching class experience are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI: Professional use by professional people.

Aletter in answer to Mr. R., who inquired about the use of items relating to religion in the MMPI and pointed out that there are laws against inquiry about religious affiliation, is reproduced. "There is a well-recognized pattern of psychological distortion to which we apply the term "religiosity." There are also "frankly stated items on sex,… on body functions,… on certain occupations… " etc. Respondents "may omit any item they do not wish to answer for whatever purpose." Separate scores are derived on groups of items in the MMPI called scales; via machine scoring standard scores are derived which are "remote from the particular items that make up a scale. The MMPI is an experimentally derived instrument." If an item counts on a scale, it is on the basis of responses with well defined groups of maladjusted or mentally ill persons. "Tests are not offensive elements; the offensive elements, if any, come with the misuse of tests." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)