Deciding how to act is not achieved by watching mental movies.

In the early days of research on visual imagery, it was believed that visual images are like pictures in one’s head. Only as the field matured did it come to be appreciated that visual images do not bear a first-order isomorphic relation to visual percepts. Now that the early days of research on motor imagery are coming to an end, it is important to ask whether motor images bear a first-order isomorphic relation to movements. We asked whether they do by focusing on internal simulations for motor planning. Our participants indicated which of two possible actions they preferred either by performing the preferred action or by indicating which action they would prefer to perform. We reasoned that if internal simulations of physical actions bear a first-order isomorphic relation to actual physical actions, the choices would be the same in the two conditions. They were not. We discuss the reasons for this outcome, including the adaptive advantage of a representational system for action which, like the representational system for vision, does not bear a first-order isomorphic relation to its external analog. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Here Comes the Judge—Duties and Responsibilities of Design Professionals When Deciding Disputes

Frequently during the progression of a construction project, the design professional is forced into the role of a judge of project disputes between the owner and contractor. These disputes generally involve substantial claims for extra compensation or extra time and have significant impact on the owner and contractor’s financial position on the project. The architect or engineer will be pressured by the owner, who controls whether the design professional gets paid. The contractor, however, may threaten to pursue legal claims against design professionals if they make the contractor’s job more expensive or fail to give it the appropriate time extension. In many cases, design professionals must admit or deny whether their services were defective in some nature. In addition to these pressures, the design professional is not necessarily trained or comfortable with acting as a judge and interpreting the meaning of contract terms. Generally, when an architect or engineer performs this judicial function, they are immune from any liability for the results of decisions. However, the design professional must make the decision in good faith and with impartiality. In addition, design professionals must only decide those matters that their contract obligates design professionals to decide. This paper will address the nature of the designer’s role as judge and the limits of the designer’s immunity with respect to the designer’s contract obligations and good faith and impartiality requirements.     

A comparison of physicians who did or did not respond to a postal questionnaire.

Responses were received from 80.4% of 997 male physicians and 82.8% of 122 female physicians; the sex difference was not significant. Relationships to willingness to reply were examined in regard to family background, medical school academic performance, age, year of graduation, and scales on the Adjective Check List, the California Psychological Inventory, and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. Only 12 of the 128 quantified variables produced significant differences. It is concluded that responders to mail surveys will constitute an unbiased sample of a professional group if they represent 75% or more of Ss. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deciding when, how, and if to correct turnover correlations.

E. R. Kemery et al (see record 1989-10678-001) and R. P. Steel et al (1990) offered correction formulas that adjust the point-biserial correlations used in turnover research for "inopportune splits in the dichotomous variable." Both suggested that their formulas could be used whenever turnover deviated from 50%. However, the proper criterion for choosing to correct turnover point-biserial correlations is not statistical but theoretical. Researchers should first determine which construct, tenure or turnover, they are investigating. Then they can decide which correction formula to use, if any. In this article, how and when to correct turnover correlations is discussed, an empirical comparison of 4 correction procedures is presented, and the necessary corrections for conducting turnover meta-analyses are specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metacognitive control and strategy selection: Deciding to practice retrieval during learning.

Retrieval practice is a potent technique for enhancing learning, but how often do students practice retrieval when they regulate their own learning? In 4 experiments the subjects learned foreign-language items across multiple study and test periods. When items were assigned to be repeatedly tested, repeatedly studied, or removed after they were recalled, repeated retrieval produced powerful effects on learning and retention. However, when subjects were given control over their own learning and could choose to test, study, or remove items, many subjects chose to remove items rather than practice retrieval, leading to poor retention. In addition, when tests were inserted in the learning phase, attempting retrieval improved learning by enhancing subsequent encoding during study. But when students were given control over their learning they did not attempt retrieval as early or as often as they should to promote the best learning. The experiments identify a compelling metacognitive illusion that occurs during self-regulated learning: Once students can recall an item they tend to believe they have “learned” it. This leads students to terminate practice rather than practice retrieval, a strategy choice that ultimately results in poor retention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsibilities in providing psychological test feedback to clients.

This introduction to a series of articles of test feedback highlights 10 fundamental aspects of the feedback process: (1) feedback as process; (2) clarification of tasks and roles; (3) responding effectively to a crisis; (4) informed consent and informed refusal; (5) framing the feedback; (6) acknowledging fallibility; (7) countertransference and the misuse of feedback; (8) records, documentation, and follow-up; (9) looking toward the future; and (10) assessing and understanding important reactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An outcomes analysis of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation: the futility rationale for do not resuscitate orders

Marriage between close biological relatives is strongly favoured in many countries in Asia and Africa. Although substantial numbers of migrants from these regions are now living in Australia, little information is available either on the prevalence of consanguineous unions among migrants or on their clinical outcome. Data are presented on a range of generally rare autosomal recessive genetic disorders diagnosed in the children of parents of Eastern Mediterranean origin who attended Westmead Hospital, Sydney for genetic counselling during the period 1990 to 1994. The effects of parental consanguinity are assessed both in terms of the specific recessive disorders detected, and the perceived role of consanguineous marriage in the communities investigated.     

Deciding whether to seek a bargain: Effects of both amount and percentage off.

Two experiments indicate that both the amount of money and the percentage of the base price that can be saved affect consumers' decisions about whether or not to exert extra effort to save money. The 1st study involved only small percentage savings, and Ss tended to say they would make the effort only when the amount saved was large; percentage off played no role. In the 2nd study, with a greater range of percentages that could be saved, both amount and percentage off affected the decision. This contrasts with suggestions (D. Kahneman and A. Tversky, 1979, 1984) from prospect theory that only the percentage that can be saved (the topical frame) affects these decisions. It is suggested, however, that the present results are not inconsistent with prospect theory as long as one recognizes that consumers can and do frame their decisions at several levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A proposal of significance.

Comments that the definitiveness of significance testing is a myth. Also discussed is the doubt some investigators have cast on the objectivity of experimentation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsibilities of psychologists under guardianship and conservatorship laws.

Reviews guardianship and conservatorship laws relating to adults in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia to determine the allocation of responsibilities to mental health professionals. Six major points in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings are identified in which mental health professionals, qualified to evaluate and comment on individuals' competency to care for themselves and/or their property, can provide valuable input into a subsequent determination of such issues. It was found that psychologists are discriminated against under these laws. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deciding about cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The contributions of decision analysis

BACKGROUND: Patients have the right to decide whether to authorize cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Physicians should provide adequate information and help clarify preferences. METHODS: The usefulness of decision analysis was investigated in two convenience samples: 20 healthy outpatient volunteers and 35 audience members at medical ethics grand rounds. Subjects quantified their relative preferences (utilities) for the outcomes of cardiac arrest. First, they rated them on a linear scale. Second, they participated in hypothetical gambles in which they indicated how much they would risk to avoid each outcome. The investigator then calculated the overall expected utilities of the CPR and no-CPR strategies. RESULTS: Subjects were able to complete both the gambles and the rating scale. Utilities derived by the two methods differed greatly. Subjects had strong aversions to an outcome of severe long-term brain damage and widely varying ratings of an outcome of a short period of intensive care followed by death (intensive care unit death). Because intensive care unit death is far more likely than long-term brain damage, its utility was the prime determinant of whether CPR or no-CPR had the higher calculated expected utility. CONCLUSIONS: The methods of decision analysis showed promise as a means not only of informing patients about CPR but of helping them make rational choices. They also revealed the inadequacy of current data on the key outcome of intensive care unit death.     

Counseling psychology training directors: Responsibilities and benefits.

Reports the responses of 30 directors of accredited counseling psychology (CP) programs to a survey of (1) the duties and benefits of CP training directors, and the (2) duties and benefit differences for directors housed in schools/colleges of education vs departments of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health service for physicians. What do physicians want--form and substance?

In 1991, a special health service for doctors was started in Rogaland county. Three years later this service was evaluated via a questionnaire. Two thirds of 109 doctors were very satisfied, and only one was dissatisfied with this health service. The results show a need for both psychosocial and somatic health examinations for doctors.     

Deciding versus reacting: Conceptions of moral judgment and the reason-affect debate.

Recent approaches to moral judgment have typically pitted emotion against reason. In an effort to move beyond this debate, we propose that authors presenting diverging models are considering quite different prototypical situations: those focusing on the resolution of complex dilemmas conclude that morality involves sophisticated reasoning, whereas those studying reactions to shocking moral violations find that morality involves quick, affect-laden processes. We articulate these diverging dominant approaches and consider three directions for future research (moral temptation, moral self-image, and lay understandings of morality) that we propose have not received sufficient attention as a result of the focus on these two prototypical situations within moral psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A proposal to unite two different worlds of children's mental health.

Responds to comments made by Holden and Blau (see record 2006-11202-017) on the current authors' original article (see record 2005-11115-005). The current authors suggest combining the complementary strengths of the community-based approaches identified by Holden and Blau (2006) and the evidence-based approaches discussed in their original article, rather than argue about the comparative limitations of each approach. Given that the contents of both systems of care and wraparound are free to vary with available services in the community, they suggest ensuring that those specific services are, in fact, interventions that have been tested and shown to work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When not to comment.

Suggests that errors, such as the one S. D. McLaughlin (1980) made in his critique of M. H. Birnbaum's (1979) article on sex bias in salaries of psychologists, could be avoided if authors would read material cited as containing theory before rushing into print with claims that procedures are atheoretical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)