The SPSSI Statement on Academic Freedom.

In September 19S3 the SPSSI Council approved the formation of a committee to develop a policy statement which might serve as a guide for the Society's efforts in behalf of academic freedom. In February 1954 the Council adopted a statement (Statement on the Relation of Investigating Committee to Academic and Scientific Freedom), which was then mailed to all members for a referendum vote. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heredity versus environment: An integrative analysis.

C. S. Jencks's (1972) method of analysis of the heredity–environment data is presented, but with the important modification that cognizance is taken of the principle of genetic variation with age, that is, that the genotypic value (G) varies with age. As a result of this modification and a more critical examination of the IQ data, a solution is obtained that agrees with Jencks's figure for covariance, but supports C. Burt and M. Howard's (1956) and A. R. Jensen's (see record 1969-09740-001) emphasis on heredity in that it assigns 75% of the remaining variance to heredity and only 25% to environment. The present study can be regarded as integrative in that (a) it eliminates most of the discrepancies in the field and (b) it uses Jencks's approach, albeit modified, to produce what is essentially Burt's result. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heredity, environment, and race differences in IQ: A commentary on Rushton and Jensen (2005).

J. P. Rushton and A. R. Jensen (see record 2005-03637-001) ignore or misinterpret most of the evidence of greatest relevance to the question of heritability of the Black-White IQ gap. A dispassionate reading of the evidence on the association of IQ with degree of European ancestry for members of Black populations, convergence of Black and White IQ in recent years, alterability of Black IQ by intervention programs, and adoption studies lend no support to a hereditarian interpretation of the Black-White IQ gap. On the contrary, the evidence most relevant to the question indicates that the genetic contribution to the Black-White IQ gap is nil. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separation of home intellectual environment and maternal IQ as determinants of child IQ.

Measured both parental and child IQs with the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Ss included 80 mothers, 35 fathers, and 80 children (mean age 12 yrs). Home intellectual environment was assessed through a 2-hr interview with the mother. Multiple regression analyses showed that for each IQ test and for the 2 scores combined, the addition of home environment ratings to the regression equations did not add a significant increment to the prediction of child IQ from that provided by maternal IQ, whereas the addition of maternal IQ to the regression equation did add a significant increment to that provided by home environment ratings. Thus, the correlation of home environment and child IQ is considerably overestimated when maternal IQ is allowed to covary. When maternal IQ was statistically controlled, the correlation between home environment ratings and child IQ was attenuated to nonsignificance. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heritability estimates versus large environmental effects: The IQ paradox resolved.

Some argue that the high heritability of IQ renders purely environmental explanations for large IQ differences between groups implausible. Yet, large environmentally induced IQ gains between generations suggest an important role for environment in shaping IQ. The authors present a formal model of the process determining IQ in which people's IQs are affected by both environment and genes, but in which their environments are matched to their IQs. The authors show how such a model allows very large effects for environment, even incorporating the highest estimates of heritability. Besides resolving the paradox, the authors show that the model can account for a number of other phenomena, some of which are anomalous when viewed from the standard perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching the psychological aspects of international relations: An SPSSI questionnaire.

In 1964, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) Committee on International Relations conducted a survey to establish the present extent of teaching in the psychology of international relations and the possibilities for its expansion. A questionnaire was mailed to the chairmen of the 194 psychology departments with graduate programs, and to a random sample of 41 departments with only undergraduate programs. Returns were received from 74% of the former and 54% of the latter departments. 75 of the 144 graduate departments and 8 of the 22 undergraduate departments sampled would appear interested in teaching material bearing on the psychological aspects of international relations. The SPSSI Committee on International Relations will, therefore, attempt to obtain support for a fellowship program designed to provide instruction in political science, a review of pertinent psychological material, and the opportunity to develop a course on the psychological aspects of international relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A method for judging measures of stochastic dependence: Further comments on the current controversy.

A large number of reports have been published on stochastic independence (SI) between implicit and explicit measures of memory. This is often taken to imply that different memory systems mediate implicit and explicit memory performance. In these cases, SI is inferred from contingency analysis of overall success rates in 2 memory tasks when the performance in 1 or both of the tasks is, to a large extent, mediated by factors other than memory. Typically, the difference between performance with studied and nonstudied items is not large in implicit memory tasks. It is argued that this must be taken into account when evaluating the contingency analysis. A method is presented for estimating the relevant joint and conditional probabilities, assuming that the aspects of performance in the 2 tasks that are related to memory are dependent to the maximum possible extent. The method is applied to a number of published studies, and it is shown that the difference between these estimated probabilities and those given by SI is too small to allow any conclusion to be drawn about memory systems from contingency analysis of data reported in these studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discounting future green: Money versus the environment.

In 3 studies, participants made choices between hypothetical financial, environmental, and health gains and losses that took effect either immediately or with a delay of 1 or 10 years. In all 3 domains, choices indicated that gains were discounted more than losses. There were no significant differences in the discounting of monetary and environmental outcomes, but health gains were discounted more and health losses were discounted less than gains or losses in the other 2 domains. Correlations between implicit discount rates for these different choices suggest that discount rates are influenced more by the valence of outcomes (gains vs. losses) than by domain (money, environment, or health). Overall, results indicate that when controlling as many factors as possible, at short to medium delays, environmental outcomes are discounted in a similar way to financial outcomes, which is good news for researchers and policy makers alike. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Controlled drinking: The controversy rages on.

Responds to criticisms of the present author's (see record 1984-13214-001) comments on the controlled drinking controversy in alcoholism research. Three issues are addressed: the distinction between alcoholism and problem drinking, the role of biological factors in the etiology of alcoholism, and the continuing concern about the validity of the work on controlled drinking by M. Sobell and L. Sobell (see record 1973-23611-001). (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal IQ and home environment as determinants of early childhood intellectual competence: A developmental analysis.

Children at risk for sociocultural mental retardation were studied longitudinally from birth to 4 yrs of age. Maternal IQs were assessed before the children's births, and children's IQs and home environments were assessed at regular intervals during the 1st 4 yrs of life. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to separate the contributions of maternal IQ and home environment to child IQ at 24, 36, and 48 mo. When the effect of maternal IQ was controlled, home environment's association with child IQ was significant only at 48 mo. When the effect of home environment was controlled, maternal IQ's association with child IQ was significant only at 24 mo. Taken together, the 2 predictors explained 11, 17, and 29% of the variance in child IQ at the 3 respective times. The overall pattern suggested a monotonic increase in the predictability of child IQ within the context of a shift in the relative importance of maternal IQ and home environment as predictors. The integration of the study of behavioral genetics with the study of the process of intellectual development requires an ontogenetic perspective. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 101(3) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2008-10701-001). In this article, it was wrongly stated that that U. Schallberger put forward a hypothesis or hypotheses concerning the magnitude of Swiss IQ gains; in fact, he did not. The erratum includes the author's clarification.] Data from 14 nations reveal IQ gains ranging from 5 to 25 points in a single generation. Some of the largest gains occur on culturally reduced tests and tests of fluid intelligence. The Norwegian data show that a nation can make significant gains on a culturally reduced test while suffering losses on other tests. The Dutch data proved the existence of unknown environmental factors so potent that they account for 15 of the 20 points gained. The hypothesis that best fits the results is that IQ tests do not measure intelligence but rather a correlate with a weak causal link to intelligence. This hypothesis can also explain difficult trends on various mental tests, such as the combination of IQ gains and Scholastic Aptitude Test losses in the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The IQ game: A methodological inquiry into the heredity-environment controversy and Intelligence, Heredity and Environment.

Reviews the books, The IQ Game. A Methodological Inquiry into the Heredity-Environment Controversy by Howard F. Taylor (1980); and Intelligence, Heredity and Environment by Philip E. Vernon (1979). A fundamental issue in psychology is the relation between differences in heredity and differences in human behaviour and mental characteristics. The history of vigorous debate on this question is ancient, and two recent books show that it is far from being resolved. The approaches and conclusions by the two authors are so different that they are best presented as a study of contrasts. In doing so, I have chosen three specific topics for discussion which are addressed explicitly by both authors. Taylor reviews Burt's publications as well as critiques by Kamin (1974), Dorfman (1978), Hearnshaw (1979) and others, concluding that the data 'obviously cannot be used in this analysis.' Vernon, on the other hand, reprints many of Burt's correlations for IQ scores of relatives in several tables and relies heavily on Sir Cyril's analyses. He notes there are reasons to doubt the accuracy of some of the figures, but he vigorously defends Burt against charges of fraud and accuses Leon Kamin, who first exposed Sir Cyril, of being 'a good deal more one-sided than Burt.' Both authors make extensive use of the concept of 'heritability,' but only Taylor explains it clearly and correctly. Of these two books, only the one by Taylor adds anything positive to the extensive discussions of heredity and intelligence during the last decade. The IQ Game is a major contribution, being thorough, critical and thought-provoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept-oriented standardization and statistics-oriented classification: continuing the classification versus nomenclature controversy

Nowadays, most activities on controlled medical vocabularies focus on the provision of a sufficient atomic-level granularity for representing clinical data. Amongst others, clinical vocabularies should be concept oriented, compositional and should also reject "Not Elsewhere Classified". We strongly share the opinion that there is a need to deal with serious deficits of existing manually created vocabularies and with new demands for computer-based advanced processing and exchange of medical language data. However, we do not share the opinion that methodological requirements like observational and structural comparability needed for sound statistics should not be included in desiderata of controlled medical vocabularies. Statistical-oriented classifications are not developed for representing detailed clinical data but for providing purpose-dependent classes where cases of interest are assigned uniquely. Either statistical classifications are not included into the set of controlled medical vocabularies in the sense of Cimino, or his desiderata are misleading. We argue that statistical classifications should be linked to (formal) concept systems, but again this linkage does not change their different natures. With this article we continue the "classification versus nomenclature" controversy referring to Coté.     

Statement by the Joint Subcommittee on Human Rights.

This statement on human rights was produced by the joint subcommittee of the Committee on International Relations in Psychology (CIRP) and the Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP). It summarizes and codifies existing Central Office and committee practice in the human rights area. Drawing on the 1969 Tyler report and fundamental statements by the Council and by the International Union of Psychological Science (lUPsyS) for their basic orientation and authority, the members of the joint subcommittee distinguished three broad categories into which human rights cases have fallen in the past and can be expected to fall in the future. Of equal importance and centrality to psychologists, these categories are (a) professional ethics in psychology, (b) human and scientific/professional rights of psychologists and others, and (c) broader issues of the fate of psychology as a science and profession, or of academic or professional freedom. Graded scales of possible responses to violations falling within each of the three categories were elaborated by the subcommittee. These, too, summarize and clarify existing practice and are in accordance with existing statements and guidelines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on the limits-to-growth controversy.

Comments on P. C. Stern's (1978) article on the professional notice psychologists and other social scientists are taking of the limits-to-growth controversy, concerning solutions to environmental and resource problems. The ongoing debate is examined between those who believe in the necessity of limits and those who believe in the maximizing of personal freedom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The benzodiazepine controversy: therapeutic effects versus dependence, withdrawal, and toxicity

The authors present the results of an education investigation of knowledge retention. The programs of Dermatology and Psychiatry were studied, comparing the marks obtained in the fourth and fifth years. The examinations had the same content but were not identical and the fifth year's examination was applied in the first day of the training program. The losses of knowledge observed (average +/- standard error) were 20.0 +/- 2% for Dermatology and 27.0 +/- 3% for Psychiatry. These losses were not influenced by the time between the two examinations, by student's sex or race (oriental or not), or by the fact that the student had studied the contents of the disciplines out of the University program (hidden curriculum).     

The controlled-drinking controversy: A commentary.

A study by M. B. Sobell and L. C. Sobell (see PA, Vols 50:3611 and 56:8425) showed that alcoholic inpatients who received individualized behavior therapy to control their drinking showed significant improvement in "days functioning well" (including days of controlled drinking) compared to patients who received treatment with a goal of abstinence. These results were challenged by M. L. Pendery et al (see record 1983-04261-001) in an independent follow-up of patients originally treated in the Sobells's study. Pendery et al claimed that most patients trained to do controlled drinking failed from the onset to drink safely, and charges were leveled against the Sobells stating that their earlier research was fraudulent. A brief review of the ongoing debate is presented, along with the conclusions of an investigative committee of independent scientists that exonerated the Sobells. The controversy is discussed with an emphasis on the following topics: the historical evolution and current status of controlled-drinking research and treatment, methodological issues in the assessment of posttreatment drinking behavior, questions for future research arising from the controversy, and an emerging paradigm shift in the alcoholism field. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological and physical health at age 70 in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: Links with early life IQ, SES, and current cognitive function and neighborhood environment.

Objective: Researchers in many fields are interested in the robust observation that higher socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with better mental and physical health. Prominent explanations for the association involve effects of stress due to relative material and social adversity in lower socioeconomic environments, but early-life intelligence may also contribute directly to both later-life socioeconomic status and health. Here, we evaluated the effects of early-life IQ on mental and physical health outcomes at age 70, in the context of effects of SES. Design: The Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936 took part in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947, providing a measure of IQ at age 11. They have been extensively surveyed at age 70. Main Outcome Measures: Body mass index, constraints on daily life activities, hospital anxiety and depression, number of diseases, level of physical activity, weekly units of alcohol consumption, and pack-years of smoking. Results and Conclusion: SES had apparently direct effects on most outcomes, but age 11 IQ was also involved in several, either directly or because it contributed to SES. Several interactions helped to integrate these associations. High age-11 IQ tended to buffer effects of adverse environments on physical and mental problems in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)