There is more to aptitude than cognitive capacities: Comment.

Comments on the original article "Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science?: A Critical Review," by E. S. Spelke (see record 2005-15840-001). Spelke's critical review is a research-based rebuttal (though implicitly) of Summers's (2005) speech that posited a hypothesis that one of the reasons why women are underrepresented in math, science, and engineering may be sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science. Putting aside the question of whether the empirical evidence was sufficiently reviewed, the way Spelke conceptualized aptitude as a static rather than a dynamic quality (namely, cognitive capacities) rendered her critique of the "differences in intrinsic aptitude" hypothesis less effective in many respects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive neuropsychology is more than single-case studies.

S. M. Sokol et al (see record 1991-27965-001) claim that "the cognitive neuropsychology approach" is limited to the single-case study design. The present article takes issue with this claim. Contrary to the beliefs of Sokol et al, it is argued that (1) cognitive modularity is best studied by group design, (2) the possibility of neural reorganization in patients should be tested through converging evidence from different populations using various methods, and (3) cognitive neuropsychology can benefit from being a part of cognitive neuroscience where both neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying normal cognition are relevant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When more of a good thing is better: A reply to Hayes et al. (1996).

More of a good process component is better when clients are not already getting enough. Process components may be in short supply because of limited resources or ignorance, because they are evaluations themselves, or because they are difficult-to-attain subgoals on the way to valued outcomes. Levels of crucially important process components that are not in short supply (including most commonly used therapeutic interventions) are unlikely to be statistical predictors of outcome. Conversely, then, null correlations with outcome do not impugn a component's therapeutic importance. Many of A. M. Hayes, L. G. Castonguay, and M. R. Goldfried's (see record 84-08768) examples of positive correlations usefully illustrated clients' cognitive and emotional processes that were treatment subgoals or evaluative indexes. However, by focusing on the (relatively rare) positive correlations, they overlooked the more common null or inconsistent correlations of theoretically important process components with outcome, which are the central topic of the responsiveness critique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The jury is still out: A reply to Deffenbacher.

Responds to comments by K. A. Deffenbacher (see record 1985-20010-001) concerning the present authors' (see record 1984-06612-001) arguments against the use of psychological testimony on eyewitness reliability. It is argued that there is currently no sufficient basis for the conclusion that jurors need to be made more skeptical of eyewitness testimony or that psychology can provide useful information concerning areas such as the decline of retention with time or the effect of arousal levels on eyewitness performance. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis and the Lamaze method: A reply to Wideman and Singer.

Comments on M. V. Wideman and J. E. Singer's (see record 1985-28845-001) claim that no correlation exists between hypnotic susceptibility and response to the Lamaze method in childbirth by refuting their claim with results from the present author's own research and by suggesting that the possibility that hypnotizability is a relevant dimension in nonhypnotic forms of therapy is an area that warrants further research. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three issues in predicting more of the people: A reply to Mischel and Peake.

Reviews 3 issues central to a critique by W. Mischel and P. K. Peake (see record 1983-05642-001) of several previous attempts to deal with the implications of the situational variability of behavior for the study of personality. The 3 issues are the assessment of situations, the basis of lay impressions of personality, and the role of aggregation in the prediction of behavior. It is concluded that Mischel and Peake have failed to address key elements of the earlier research and of each of these issues and that the best resolution of the controversy might be simply to acknowledge the distinct uses and limitations of both dispositional and situational variables. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It is time to re-reconsider the GRE: A reply to Marston.

Disagrees with A. R. Marston's (see record 1972-11620-001) conclusion, drawn from R. A. Weitzman's statistical interpretation of Marston's data, that the use of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as an admissions criterion be discontinued. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

External validity is more than skin deep: Some answers to criticisms of laboratory experiments.

Discusses some criticisms of laboratory experiments in psychology, emphasizing the claim that these experiments lack external validity. It is suggested that representative designs are inadequate for testing causal hypotheses, that ecological validity may facilitate the formulation of population estimates but is not necessary for causal hypothesis testing, and that experiments are not conducted to establish population estimates. The meaning that Ss assign to the laboratory setting and their actions, rather than the laboratory setting's mundane realism, affects the generalizability of the laboratory results. It is emphasized that whether laboratory results are generalizable to other situations is an empirical question. Research on aggression, especially in regard to the "weapons effect," is employed to illustrate the possible extension of laboratory findings to more natural situations. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more evocative than retrospection.

The results of 5 experiments indicate that people report more intense emotions during anticipation of, than during retrospection about, emotional events that were positive (Thanksgiving Day), negative (annoying noises, menstruation), routine (menstruation), and hypothetical (all-expenses-paid ski vacation). People's tendency to report more intense emotion during anticipation than during retrospection was associated with a slight, but only occasionally significant, tendency for people to expect future emotions to be more intense than they remembered past emotions having been. The greater evocativeness of anticipation than retrospection was also associated with and statistically mediated by participants' tendency to report mentally simulating future emotional events more extensively than they report mentally stimulating past emotional events. The conclusion that anticipation is more evocative than retrospection has implications for research methodology, clinical practice, decision making, and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

You proved our point better than we did: A reply to our critics.

Responds to comments by P. W. Thayer and J. W. Kalat, N. R. Kuncel et al, J. Ruscio, C. E. Miller et al, M. Roznowski, R. B. Darlington, T. P. Melchert, T. Andre and S. Hegland, and D. G. Cornell (see records 1998-01669-005; 1998-01669-006; 1998-01669-007; 1998-01669-008; 1998-01669-009; 1998-01669-010; 1998-01669-011; 1998-01669-012; and 1998-01669-013, respectively) on the article by R. J. Sternberg and W. M. Williams (see record 1997-04591-002) regarding the empirical validity of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) in predicting graduate student performance in psychology. The authors reply to local statistical issues raised by the comments, including restriction of range, studying only students admitted in part on the basis of the GRE, unreliability of criteria, students who speak English as a second language, compensation, and failure rates. Global issues are then addressed. It is concluded that existing tests and use of tests have value, but they are not the best they can be. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency encoding is not inevitable and is not automatic: A reply to Hasher and Zacks.

Replies to the suggestion by L. Hasher and R. T. Zacks (see record 1985-27168-001) that frequency of occurrence (fundamental information) is automatically processed. A discussion of (a) instructional effects, (b) substantial disruption from reduction in capacity, and (c) the need for substantial methodological care includes data that indicate patterns of instruction or strategy effect in the estimation of frequency. Data further show the disruption of frequency encoding when resources are withdrawn from the frequency estimation task. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

There is more to pain measurement in children than "ouch".

Describes the advances of pain measurement in children. There are excellent self report measures of pain for children over the age of about 5 yrs. There are both broadband and fine-grained behavioral measures that have been extensively studied. Among the fine-grained measures, facial action scales appear to be most sensitive. Broadband behavioral measures have been shown to be valid and sensitive for short, sharp pain and for pain in the recovery room in infants and children. There is evidence that these measures habituate when a child is in pain for several hours. Some measures are not specific to pain and may also reflect anxiety and depression. Although the progress has been impressive, there are significant deficiencies in the measurement of longer term pain when self report measures cannot be used. There are significant economic and political barriers to adequate pain measurement that are as important as technical problems. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mental illness culture is alive and well: A reply to Page.

Counters S. Page's (see record 1987-05244-001) criticisms of the 1st and 3rd authors' (1983; see also PA, Vol 67:1855) study of the relationship between physical proximity of psychiatric facilities and patient admission rates, suggesting that statistics showing a steady increase in psychiatric admissions in the US and Canada indicate that a culture that tends to perceive problems as mental illness is real and growing. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complex statistics are not always clearer than simple statistics: A reply to Woody and Costanzo.

This reply to E. Z. Woody and P. R. Costanzo's (see record 1991-01068-001) critique responds on both methodological and substantive grounds. The methodological grounds are that Woody and Costanzo misrepresented the issues in deciding whether to use change scores, partial correlations, or regression analyses or residuals. Regression toward the mean is misunderstood in their comment with respect to the issue of extreme groups. Futhermore, the problems they point out with the correlation of Time 1 social behavior with change scores in marital satisfaction remain intact with the part and partial correlations if the test–retest correlations are high. Five alternative statistics are discussed in this reply. Each statistic may have its own problems, but they tend to be equivalent if the test–retest correlation is high. Substantively, as suggested in our paper (J. M. Gottman and L. J. Krokoff [see PA, Vol 76:25730]), the analyses presented are robust to employing partial correlations, controlling Time 1 marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate education in school psychology: Teaching is more than a performing art.

Discusses how learning the practice of teaching is important in its own right, and stresses that those who teach students in school psychology need to know the complexity of teaching. Traditional views of teaching are presented and teaching strategies (e.g., teaching that involves behavior analysis) are examined that could lead to improvement in graduate education. Areas in which help is needed from researchers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

AIDS education is more than telling people what not to do

Education is only one of may approaches which may be used to bring about behavioral change. While it is clear that awareness in Africa about AIDS has grown since education campaigns were launched in the late 1980s, significant misunderstandings and misconceptions remain. The author invited seventeen nongovernmental organizations to participate in a review workshop in 1992 with the goal of learning about which communication methods are currently being used in AIDS education programs in Zimbabwe. Talks, lectures, leader controlled discussions, focus groups, drama/role play, posters, stories, and client counseling are being used to teach about AIDS. Little evidence, however, indicates that sexually active individuals within targeted risk groups have changed their behaviors to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. The denial of risk due to traditional beliefs about disease causation stemming from God or other external forces and the tendency to shift the blame for infection to women are cited as causal factors for the lack of behavior modification. Program planners and administrators must reach beyond the vague and diffuse education campaigns implemented thus far. AIDS workers must instead by trained to focus their attention upon the development of effective, targeted interventions involving communities and at-risk subpopulations.     

Feeling more than thinking.

Suggests that R. B. Zajonc's (1981) reply to M. H. Birnbaum's (1981) comment on Zajonc's (see record 1980-09733-001) earlier article seriously misrepresents both Birnbaum's position and the theories under consideration. The misrepresentations are addressed. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Polydrug self-administration in rats: cocaine-heroin is more rewarding than cocaine-alone

The i.v. self-administration by rats of a polydrug combination of cocaine and heroin was explored. The rewarding efficacies of a range of cocaine doses (0.25-8 mg/kg/injection) alone or in combination with heroin (12.5 or 25 microg/kg/injection) were compared using a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. Breaking points (BP) for one group of rats were determined at each dose of cocaine alone and for two other groups at each of the same cocaine doses plus one of the heroin doses, respectively. The cocaine-heroin combination was associated with higher BPs than cocaine alone at all doses of cocaine. These data demonstrate that cocaine-heroin combinations (speedballs) are more rewarding than the identical doses of cocaine alone. Some possible mechanisms by which heroin increases cocaine reward are discussed.