Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology: Margaret W. Matlin.

M. W. Matlin is honored as the 1995 recipient of the American Psychological Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology. Matlin is an exceptional teacher and textbook author. She is noted for her energetic, stimulating, and involving lectures; conscientious encouragement of student performance; and her student-centered approach to teaching. Her textbooks are regarded as engaging, comprehensive, and superbly organized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Georges Guillain's neurologic exploration of America

This is a study of the status of American neurology at the beginning of the 20th century as perceived by European neurologist Georges Guillain. Guillain trained in Paris, the international "Mecca" of neurology at that time. Whereas many Americans traveled and studied in Europe, very few European neurologists made the reverse journey to the United States. In 1902 Georges Guillain, age 26, traveled to the United States with the specific aim of evaluating neurologic services in America. Recent access to Guillain's personal travel journal and an article in French that he wrote after his return to Europe provide first-hand documentation of American neurology at the turn of the century from a European perspective. Using introductory references from his teacher, Pierre Marie, Guillain visited New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He studied hospitals, outpatient departments, laboratories, and universities, comparing them with institutions in his native France and other European capitals. Guillain was particularly struck by the creative energy of American neurologists, the broad-ranging programs in research and patient care, and the strong financial support provided by local philanthropists, universities, and governments. Guillain clearly foresaw the rising international role of American neurology and the prominence it would gain by the end of his career in the 1950s.     

Improving elementary mathematics education in Nicaragua: An experimental study of the impact of textbooks and radio on achievement.

Reports an experimental study of the effect of textbook availability on mathematics achievement of approximately 3,000 students in 88 Nicaraguan 1st-grade classes. This intervention is compared with control classes in which textbooks are relatively rare and with a radio-based instructional program that uses student worksheets but no other textual material. Classes were assigned at random to the 3 conditions, control and 2 treatments. The groups scored similarly on a pretest of mathematical readiness. Both the textbook and the radio treatments had significant positive effects on achievement. Availability of textbooks increased student posttest scores by about 3.5 items correct, approximately .33 of a standard deviation. Availability of the radio instructional program increased student posttest scores by 14.9 items, about 1.5 standard deviations. Both interventions reduced the achievement gap between urban and rural students. However, the question remains whether either radio or textbook use is sufficiently powerful to close the substantial achievement gap that exists between the schools of high- and low-income societies. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social Psychology: An Applied Approach.

Reviews the book, Social Psychology: An Applied Approach by Ronald J. Fisher (1982). In what is probably the first of a new generation of social psychology textbooks, Ronald Fisher has attempted a very ambitious intergration of basic, theoretical and applied social psychology. My overall feeling about the book is very positive, since there is much to recommend in it. Some of the chapters, such as those dealing with social issues and social change, program development and evaluation, and organizational development, are outstanding. They are scholarly, well written and contain information that traditional social psychologists should be aware of but rarely teach. Indeed, these chapters are so comprehensive, that they could serve as good introductions to these topics for graduate students. In addition, while not being a truly "Canadian" textbook, there are considerably more Canadian examples and anecdotes contained in this book than can be found in any of the other current textbooks. My hope as an instructor of an advanced undergraduate course in applied social psychology is that if there is a second edition of this text that the author might amend it by broadening the coverage of current topics in applied social psychology while retaining those chapters that are unique to the book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in nineteenth century high schools.

"Psychology as a teaching subject in high schools has been a topic of active discussion by groups and individuals for the past decade." In the writer's collection of textbooks by American authors published prior to 1890, "there are seven which the authors claim are intended for use in high schools, although in two cases it is made clear that the texts are intended for teachers and not pupils." "While we have no data on the amount of use made of these textbooks in secondary schools, the fact that they were issued for such use suggests that the teaching of psychology in high schools has been considered possible for over a century." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy due to phenobarbital: a frequent and treatable condition

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) complicating barbiturates therapy is not well acknowledged in the neurologic literature in spite of the fact that barbiturates are present in 17% of the cases of RSD. Two new cases detected during one year in a general neurology clinic are described. One of them did not suffer from any previous neurologic disease. A review of the literature showed that the association of RSD and barbiturates affects predominantly upper limbs and is often accompanied by other fibrosing musculoskeletal disorders. Apart from barbiturate withdrawal, corticosteroid therapy may be necessary to prevent irreversible tissue damage.     

Automated teaching methods using linear programs.

186 freshman engineering students studied elementary probability by different teaching methods. Multiple choice teaching machines, free-response teaching machines in individual booths, free-response teaching machines in a classroom, programed textbooks requiring overt responses and providing correct answers, programed textbooks requiring no overt responses, "programed" lecturers, and standard lecturers were compared. No significant differences were observed between the performance of the students learning by any of the programed machine, programed textbook, or programed lecturer methods: all of the programed methods were significantly better than the standard lecturer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes and practices of pharmacy managers regarding needle sales to injection drug users

Neurologic disease, already common in the United States, will become even more common in the future. But presently, neurology education at the undergraduate level and in primary care residencies is declining and does not adequately train physicians to manage neurologic illness. The authors maintain that this serious problem can be partially addressed by improving the neurology education of all primary care physicians and by allowing students access to neurology specialists. The education of medical students in the basic and clinical neurosciences must be integrated into a seamless curriculum over the four years of medical education. This education experience must be taught through a team approach and must be led by both a clinician and a basic scientist. All medical students must acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to perform an initial evaluation of the patient with a neurologic complaint. Finally, students must understand the role and recognize the importance of the neurologist and know when consultation is needed. This continuum of neurology education must be financially supported by the institution, and course leaders who show excellence in education must be rewarded with compensation and promotion.     

Testing the significance of Kendall's τ and Spearman's r[s]..

An overview of procedures for testing the significance of Kendall's τ and Spearman's r[s], as presented in well-known textbooks for the behavioral sciences, is given. Testing Kendall's τ proceeds in an almost uniform way and seldom leads to erroneous conclusions. For N?>?20, the exact test can be replaced by an approximate z test. Testing Spearman's r[s] varies from textbook to textbook. Some textbooks present tables with significant values that are in error; this seems partly due to the discrete character of r[s]. The well-known Statistical Package for the Social Sciences computer package presents false results, both for τ and for r[s], when N is small. Although tables for exact tests of r[s] for N?=?12(1)16 exist, they seem to be unknown to textbook writers, except Zar (1984). Testing ΣD–2 instead of r[s] prevents a clear view of the degree of dependence. For these reasons, a table with exact values of r[s] for α?=?.01 and .05, one- and two-tailed, is presented for N?=?4(1)16. For N?>?16, an approximate t test may be used, although Zar's (1972, 1984) approximation yields slightly better results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tobacco-related instruction in undergraduate nursing education in Illinois

Tobacco use is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other factor. Nurses are in a unique position to convey life-saving messages to clients regarding tobacco use. To gauge the type and extent of tobacco-related background knowledge acquired by nurses in the course of their education, the Nurses' Committee of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS) surveyed 70 nursing programs in the state of Illinois. The number of lecture hours spent on tobacco-related issues was greater in LPN programs than in either associate or baccalaureate degree programs, and instruction was scattered throughout the curriculum of each program. Most schools reported heavy reliance on adult medical-surgical textbooks to convey tobacco-related content. The most recent editions of the textbooks used by the schools were reviewed, and they also were found to adopt a scattered approach, with a disappointing lack of depth regarding the hazards of tobacco. It is recommended a single course be identified as responsible for relaying tobacco-related content and information supplied by general medical-surgical textbooks be supplemented by materials drawn from other sources.     

Stereotype Threat Does Not Live by Steele and Aronson (1995) Alone.

This comment notes that P. R. Sackett et al (see record 2004-10043-001) have raised a concern: that 29 mischaracterizations of an experiment from C. M. Steele and J. Aronson (see record 1996-12938-001) spread over 8 years of media reports, journal articles, and textbooks could mislead teachers, students, researchers, policymakers, and parents into believing that the African American-White test-score gap is entirely caused by stereotype and not at all by group differences in opportunities and test-related knowledge, and that this belief could undermine efforts to improve African American students' academic skills. Sackett et al focus on the reporting of only a single experiment from the first published article on stereotype threat. It is argued that this extremely narrow focus greatly exaggerates three issues. These issues are addressed in turn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

There is more to our history of giving: The place of introductory textbooks in American psychology.

Despite their continued widespread use in higher education, introductory psychology textbooks have rarely been the subject of historical study. The centennial of the American Psychological Association offers an appropriate moment for considering the disciplinary and cultural functions of introductory texts. Preliminary analysis indicates that this literary genre has contained far more than a compendium of secondhand knowledge; it also has provided a well-used cultural medium for defining social relations and ideals. Textbooks published around the turn of the century are examined to illustrate how these writings both reflect and contribute to shifts in social identities and aspirations. Close reading of introductory textbooks reveals that they are an inextricable part of what it means to give psychology away and are enmeshed in the cultural enterprise of fashioning human welfare. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of unobtrusive measures to the study of textbook usage by college students.

Examined textbook usage by 2 sections cholinolytic a college class in introductory psychology (N = 137) by placing glue seals between the pages of the assigned textbooks prior to the start of the semester and examining them for breakage at the end of the semester. Ss made greater use of material appearing earlier than material appearing later self-stimulation. their reading assignments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century.

A rank-ordered list was constructed that reports the first 99 of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Eminence was measured by scores on 3 quantitative variables and 3 qualitative variables. The quantitative variables were journal citation frequency, introductory psychology textbook citation frequency, and survey response frequency. The qualitative variables were National Academy of Sciences membership, election as American Psychological Association (APA) president or receipt of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. The qualitative variables were quantified and combined with the other 3 quantitative variables to produce a composite score that was then used to construct a rank-ordered list of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advances in palliative care for the patient with scleroderma

Few studies published within the past year have addressed palliative care for the patient with scleroderma or systemic sclerosis. However, progress continues to be made, and important contributions have been made with respect to different vasodilator preparations for Raynaud's phenomenon, a possible role for diltiazem in the treatment of calcinosis, and the treatment of gut dysmotility. A number of comprehensive review papers on different aspects of management, mainly organ based, were included in the recently published textbook Systemic Sclerosis. Until there is an effective disease-modifying treatment for systemic sclerosis, management will be largely palliative and is best delivered by a multidisciplinary team.     

Review of Cognition.

Reviews the book, Cognition by John G. Benjafield, et al. (2010). Cognition (4th ed.) provides a comprehensive introduction to cognitive psychology for undergraduate students and others who require an overview of the area. New in the fourth edition is a chapter on cognitive neuroscience. The reviewer only has one criticism of Benjafield et al.: Citations for published works in every chapter that also appeared in the third edition stop around 2007 or earlier (when the third edition was published). Cognition is a book that will appeal to those looking for a high-level, scholarly survey of cognitive psychology. It is this aspect of Cognition that sets it apart from most other textbooks that cover cognitive psychology. Yet, despite its scholarly approach, it remains an engaging text that makes the reader want to keep reading more: a delicate balance, but one that Benjafield et al. manage with aplomb. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do introductory texts in psychology communicate; and to whom?

Discusses the large number of introductory psychology textbooks, many of which are dull and not oriented to students with nonpsychology majors. The author solves the problem by not using a formal textbook to teach this course. Relevant references are assigned as required reading. Data from 2 different types of student bodies indicate a favorable student response to this type of procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

[Correspondence].

Presents a series of anonymous letters written in 1955 between representatives of the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI), a publishing house, and a professor who edited a textbook. The letters concern USAFI's request for a national agency check on authors and contributors to textbooks being considered for procurement and use by USAFI to ensure that government funds are not paid to individuals considered security risks to the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)