Social science evidence in the courtroom: Daubert and beyond?

Recent Supreme Court decisions suggest that judges should conduct a gatekeeping inquiry before admitting testimony that is based on psychology or other social sciences. Perspectives from other areas of applied social research may be of use to psychologists and others as they consider these decisions by the Court. A view of research as "assisted sensemaking" highlights (a) the importance of better understanding the capacities and limits of the natural sensemaking of jurors, (b) reasons why the gatekeeping function is appropriate, and (c) possible ways in which researchers can better serve the courts as they deal with the implications of gatekeeping. The possible impact of different types of expert testimony and the potential development of nonadversarial support mechanisms are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skimpy AP?

Registers a complaint about the amount of American Psychological Association dues, and about the way the funds are used. The author suggests that the size of the American Psychologist be increased and the less popular journals eliminated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The agonistic metaphor in psychotherapy: Should clients battle their blues?

A tradition stretching back to early Greek philosophy has described the mind as a field of struggle or even battle. This comparison has been termed the agonistic metaphor, based on the Hellenistic notion of athletic contests. Today, it is not uncommon for psychotherapists and the general public to seek solutions to mental health problems agonistically. Examples of this are cited from major psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, family, and humanistic theorists, and advantages and disadvantages of the metaphor are explored. Although agonistic thinking can energize clients and ennoble the therapeutic journey, it runs the risk of ignoring educative aspects of problematic situations and ironically perpetuating the resistance it predicts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Contextualism in psychological research?: A critical review.

Reviews the book, Contextualism in psychological research?: A critical review by E. J. Capaldi and Robert W. Proctor (see record 1999-04104-000). In this book, these authors seek to expose what they perceive to be the fatal epistemological and conceptual flaws of the contextualist position (which they broadly and somewhat sloppily define as any approach in psychology that is more or less anti-mechanistic in its inclinations). It is a useful, clearly written, and provocative response to much recent contextualist thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the ambiguity of concept use in psychology: Is the concept “concept” a useful concept?

We provide a historical and philosophical review of the main theories of concepts that implicitly or explicitly ground the various senses of the concept “concept” in psychology and related sciences, highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. We then consider these theories in terms of their ontology (i.e., their view of the nature/meaning of “concept”) and epistemology (i.e., their view of how concepts are acquired by individuals). This is followed by a brief summary of more current treatments and conceptualizations of concepts within psychology that seem linked, at least to some extent, by a general “received view” of sorts, according to which concepts are in some way “in the head.” We contrast this received view with a linguistic construal of concepts, according to which concepts are inextricably bound up with the terms in which they are expressed. We conclude with a consideration of the implications of the foregoing for concept research in psychology by conducting an ordinary language analysis of the concept “concept.” (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual kin recognition in nonhuman primates: (Pan troglodytes and Macaca mulatta): Inbreeding avoidance or male distinctiveness?

Faces provide important information about identity, age, and even kinship. A previous study in chimpanzees reported greater similarity between the faces of mothers and sons compared with mothers and daughters, or unrelated individuals. This was interpreted as an inbreeding avoidance mechanism where females, the dispersing gender, should avoid mating with any male that resembles their mother. Alternatively, male faces may be more distinctive than female faces, biasing attention toward males. To test these hypotheses, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys matched conspecifics' faces of unfamiliar mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters. Results showed no evidence of male distinctiveness, rather a cross-gender effect was found: chimpanzees were better matching moms with sons and fathers with daughters. Rhesus monkeys, however, showed an overwhelming bias toward male-distinctiveness. They were faster to learn male faces, performed better on father–offspring and parent–son trials, and were best matching fathers with sons. This suggests that for the rhesus monkey, inbreeding avoidance involves something other than facial phenotypic matching but that among chimpanzees, the visual recognition of facial similarities may play an important role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

But Are they symposia?

The author discusses perceptions of a frustrating and self-defeating quality of the symposia presented at the 1958 APA convention. It is argued that most of the symposia had too many speakers who read papers far too lengthy, so that no time remained for an exchange of ideas among the participants, let alone for reactions from the audience. Presumably the symposium, along with discussion groups, workshops, etc., is considered a superior way of encouraging the interchange of ideas in areas which are new, complex, or controversial. If so, it needs continued experimentation as to form and procedure so that something creative may emerge. Instead our APA symposia seem to follow a stereotyped pattern and too often turn out to be long-winded paper sessions involving little or no meeting of the minds. Will the program chairmen for 1959 please think seriously about improving this important part of our national and regional meetings? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Was Walter Lippmann interested in stereotyping?: Public opinion and cognitive social psychology.

Walter Lippmann's public Opinion is much cited but little read. A review of references to Public Opinion by social psychologists over the last 20 years reveals the widespread beliefs that (1) the book focuses primarily on group stereotypes and prejudice, and (2) the concept of stereotyping originated with Lippmann. However, stereotypes, as currently conceived--as opposed to schemata more generally--do not play a central role in the book, and Lippmann did not introduce the concept (although he may have broadened it). In addition, throughout his long and distinguished career, he showed little interest in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Nonetheless, Public Opinion is a seminal work in the area of cognitive social psychology and (like other little read citation classics) still deserves to be read--including, ironically, by students of stereotyping and prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The congruency effect: Just what is being learned?

G. H. Bower, S. Thompson-Schill, and E. Tulving (1994) found that when stimulus-response sets in A–B, A–C learning belong to unique categories (congruent-triads), learning appropriate responses appear rapid and memory performance on a modified modified free recall (MMFR) test is enhanced. Bower et al. assumed that category cues protect associations from interpair interference, allowing more rapid learning. However, unlike arbitrary pairs, congruent pairs also allow a reliance on preexperimental associations. As a result, MMFR test performance may not be an unbiased test of what was learned. In the present experiment, free recall (FR) demonstrated that responses were learned approximately equally in all conditions and that the pattern of clustering was compatible with the hypothesis that preexperimental associations continue to play a major role in FR test performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What ought psychology to do?

The Reverend Jesse Jackson addressed the American Psychological Association on August 20, 1999, in Boston, Massachusetts. His speech concerned social justice and psychology. This article presents the text of an abridged version of his remarks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Mystery of mysteries: Is evolution a social construction?

Reviews the book, Mystery of mysteries: Is evolution a social construction? by Michael Ruse (1999). Beginning with such seminal figures as Erasmus and Charles Darwin and Julian Huxley, and considering closely such contemporary thinkers as Richard Dawkins, E. O. Wilson, Stephen J. Gould, and Richard Lewontin, Ruse sets out to explore the roles that metaphor and social context have played in the development of evolutionary theory from the 18th century to the present day. Framed within the context of the antithetical visions of Popperian and Kuhnian philosophies of science, and the “science wars” that their thinking has induced, Ruse contemplates the delicate interplay of cultural values and the intellectual machinery of scientific inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Jewish quotas in clinical psychology?: The Journal of Clinical Psychology and the scandal of 1945.

In 1945 Frederick Thorne, editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology, proposed to limit the acceptance of Jewish applicants to clinical psychology graduate schools. A public scandal erupted over this proposed limit, which was modeled on Jewish quotas in medical education. Criticized by the mass media and most psychologists, Thorne’s proposal was repudiated by the Eastern Psychological Association and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Using private correspondence, oral histories, and published articles, this mostly forgotten episode in the history of clinical psychology is recreated. It is argued that the 1945 campaign against Jewish quotas prepared activists for the 1950s campaign against racial segregation and the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. Because the participants in 1945 came from all specialties in psychology, it is suggested that this story is of significance to the field as a whole, rather than just to historians of social issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The painted dragons in affective science: Can the Chinese notion of ganlei add a transformative detail?

I propose for emotion research a dynamic approach to truth in which folk theories, no matter how much they may be infested with magical thinking and peculiar beliefs, can function as potential competitors and valued interlocutors on the platform of theory construction. For demonstration, I present the ancient Chinese notion of ganlei as a counterpoint to Western metaphysics. Potential contributions of this indigenous belief system to theory and research on emotions include bringing greater clarity to existing concepts of empathy and mind reading and participating meaningfully in the current debates on emotions. More important, ganlei suggests a shift of focus in emotion research from epistemological to ontological categories and from mental representations to intermental transactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Olfactory predator recognition in predator-na?ve gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus).

Olfactory cues of predators, such as feces, are known to elicit antipredator responses in animals (e.g., avoidance, activity). To date, however, there is little information on olfactory predator recognition in primates. We tested whether the odor of feces of different predator categories (historical Malagasy predators and introduced predators) and of Malagasy nonpredators (control) induces antipredator behavior in captive born, predator-na?ve gray mouse lemurs. In an olfactory predator experiment a mouse lemur was exposed to a particular odor, fixed at a preferred location, where the animal was trained to get a reward. The behavior of the mouse lemur toward the respective stimulus category was videotaped and quantified. Results showed that mouse lemurs avoided the place of odor presentation when the odor belonged to a predator. They reacted with a significantly enhanced activity when exposed to odors of carnivores compared to those of nonpredatory controls. These findings are in favor of a genetic predisposition of olfactory predator recognition that might be based on the perception of metabolites from meat digestion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of After high school--what?.

Reviews the book "After high school--what?" by Ralph F. Berdie (with chapters by Wilbur L. Layton and Ben Williams; see record 1955-02936-000). This volume reports the methods and results of a major investigation of the posthigh school plans of high school seniors and of a number of factors believed to be related to those plans. More specifically, the purpose of the study was "to investigate the factors determining college attendance with particular attention to a comparison of determinants related to economic status and those related to cultural or educational status." The study reported here gains in significance because of its comprehensive coverage both with respect to the population studied and to the types of data included. If the generalizations sometimes seem to outrun the data (despite disclaimers), this is a state of affairs not completely unknown in survey research. This is a solid contribution to current work on manpower problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of caching and object permanence in western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica): Which emerges first?

Recent studies on the food-caching behavior of corvids have revealed complex physical and social skills, yet little is known about the ontogeny of food caching in relation to the development of cognitive capacities. Piagetian object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible. Here, the authors focus on Piagetian Stages 3 and 4, because they are hallmarks in the cognitive development of both young children and animals. Our aim is to determine in a food-caching corvid, the Western scrub-jay, whether (1) Piagetian Stage 4 competence and tentative caching (i.e., hiding an item invisibly and retrieving it without delay), emerge concomitantly or consecutively; (2) whether experiencing the reappearance of hidden objects enhances the timing of the appearance of object permanence; and (3) discuss how the development of object permanence is related to behavioral development and sensorimotor intelligence. Our findings suggest that object permanence Stage 4 emerges before tentative caching, and independent of environmental influences, but that once the birds have developed simple object-permanence, then social learning might advance the interval after which tentative caching commences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanisms of what-where-when memory in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus): Do chickadees remember “when”?

Integrated what-where-when memory, sometimes called 'episodic-like' memory, has been shown to occur in a number of animals, including food-storing birds and rodents. It is not always clear in these studies, however, what aspect of “when” is remembered. We examined memory for what, where, and when in black-capped chickadees Poecile atricapillus in a procedure designed to dissociate memory for elapsed time (how long ago) from memory for a point in time, the sense of “when” implied in most discussions of episodic or episodic-like memory. Chickadees searched for food in multiple trials that each involved a two-phase procedure. In Phase 1, birds found preferred mealworms in half the sites on one side of an aviary and less preferred sunflower seeds in half the sites on the other side of the aviary. In Phase 2, following a retention interval, birds searched in the aviary with fresh sunflower seeds placed in the sites that held seeds in Phase 1 but either fresh or degraded mealworms in the sites that held mealworms in Phase 1. Whether a site held fresh or degraded worms depended on either when during the day Phase 1 had occurred (Group When), how long ago Phase 1 had occurred (Group HLA), or both (Group When + HLA). Chickadees in all three groups were able to discriminate where and when palatable worms were to be found, but there were temporal limitations on the use of HLA and When + HLA cues that were not found for the use of When cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the stress test useful in the detection of post-angioplasty restenosis?

Restetenosis is still the greatest limitation of coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The systematic use of ergometry (PE) with the objective of identifying restenosis is controversial and, namely, the ACC/AHA does not recommend its routine use. Our objective was to conduct a retrospective study of the use of PE when performed late (3 to 6 months) for the detection of restenosis. As a protocol, our group performed "late" PE on all the patients without contraindications, the patients with positive ergometry or CCS class II-IV angor submitted to angiographic control. Between January 1996 and July 1997, 121 patients (pts) were submitted to PTCA. Our study population was composed of patients submitted to complete revascularisation with follow-up in our centre: 59 pts (49%) with an average age of 58 +/- 12 years, 82% male. Eighty-three percent of the pts had revascularisation in a context of unstable angina, 10% in the acute phase of myocardial infarction and 7% due to chronic angina. Stents were implanted in 42% of the pts. In the follow-up after six months, 7 pts complained of CCS class II or III angor. The ergometry showed positive electrocardiographic criteria in 11 pts (18.6%). All pts with angor had positive PE. All these pts were submitted to angiographic control; restenosis (residual stenosis equal to or above 50%) was observed in all the patients who complained of angor (100% positive predictive value); restenosis occurred in 9 pts with positive ergometry (82% positive predictive value). In asymptomatic pts, PE indicated 2 pts with restenosis (2/59-3.4%) and two false positive (2/11-18%). At six months, PE detected 22% of the pts with restenosis. In conclusion, complete post-revascularisation angor due to coronary angioplasty has a higher positive predictive value than ergometry. However, the stress test, performed systematically, can identify an additional percentage of pts with restenosis with an acceptable percentage of false positives.