On Rimland on individuality.

Comments on Rimland's article (see record 1990-55843-001). Rimland's point concerning within-group variability, small-but-significant (and essentially meaningless) between-group differences, and the study of individual differences as the ultimate psychology is well taken. It does not, however, necessarily follow that genetic differences are the sources of individual variability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's Be Psychologists.

In the February, 1956 "American Psychologist" three viewpoints were expressed concerning the relationships between psychology and psychiatry. That something should be done is well agreed upon by most psychologists; however, I have the uneasy feeling that there is a lack of agreement as to how we should bear arms for the common cause. The psychologist prides himself in being able to observe events in an objective fashion. My proposition is this: let's be psychologists. Instead of talking about the hypothesized issues, let us investigate (observe, measure, test) the issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's be realistic: When grief counseling is effective and when it's not.

Comments on the article by D. Larson and W. Hoyt (see record 2007-11559-003) which argued that bereavement researchers have erroneously and unscientifically advocated the pessimistic conclusion that grief counseling is ineffective and perhaps even harmful. They proclaimed that the news is actually good: Grief counseling is not harmful but is as effective as other forms of psychotherapy. Therefore, they concluded, most or all bereaved people should be considered candidates for treatment. This kind of unwarranted optimism is as dangerous, if not more so, than an overly cautious pessimism. The current authors contend that the debate should be focused on (a) fine tuning assessment instruments so that they can best identify those bereaved people in serious clinical need and (b) further developing effective treatments that can more judiciously intervene when intervention is called for. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's end the duel.

Argues for an end to the psychologist–psychiatrist rivalry. 50 yrs ago, the handful of psychologists was confined to ability–achievement diagnosis. This author then wrote that the growth of psychology as a unified science would eventually qualify psychologists in both cognitive and emotional practice. This has happened, and psychotherapists now approach psychiatrists in number and status. Sharing the field, however, continues to be troublesome. The psychologist's position, apart from political weakness, is weaker because of locally variable PhD training qualifications. However, it is stronger in an intrinsic scientific sense as a result of statistical–psychometric advance. In reviewing the past 50 yrs, it is seen that diagnosis, monitoring, and therapeutic strategy developed from computer-assisted, quantitative, personality theory to what can be called systems therapy. Since human limitations demand specialization, the practical functional division is between psychology and physiology, indicating a team of psychologist and internist-psychosomatist and perhaps redefining the psychiatrist's specialization. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's reduce statistical drudgery.

Points out the values of high speed computers in psychological statistical work and proposes that the APA acquire such equipment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's all go public.

Increasing sophistication of information technologies has raised concern about potential abuses of power and invasion of privacy. However, sometimes the breakdown of privacy can promote openness in people, as in various therapy and sensitivity training groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a workable psychology of individuality.

A workable psychology of individuality is "one that would generate good research ideas, which, in turn, would lead to steady increases in dependable knowledge." Individual uniqueness "is described primarily in terms of choice and organization, and I consider it the task of psychologists to make those concepts workable—to bring them into the general stream of thinking in research, assessment, and practical activities." Tyler stresses "the significance of concepts of choice and organization in an inclusive psychology of the development of the human individual… . At each stage of our lives, we impose limits on the next stage, by the choices we make and the ways in which we organize what we have experienced." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's reduce statistical drudgery. III.

SETAR (serial event timer and recorder) "… is based on techniques used in electronic digital computers" and is employed "… to reduce the drudgery of record reading and computation." SETAR "… can be thought of as doing the same work as a polygraph with eight electromagnetically operated pens, some or all of which could be connected to the apparatus of the task being studied." Utility of the apparatus is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's Get into Adult Education.

We gathered the adult education programs from all the colleges and universities in the domain of the Eastern Psychological Association. We found that very little was being done by psychologists in the adult education area. A few courses with psychological titles appear in home economics or industrial business offerings, but not many under departments of psychology. Increased adult education in psychology would serve at least two ends. Students could be helped to realize that people have different patterns of growth and different concepts of self, and they could be led to develop an appreciation of the dynamics behind different attitudes and behaviors. Secondly, the development of adult education programs in psychology would be of value to the profession itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transitions in individuality

The evolution of multicellular organisms is the premier example of the integration of lower levels into a single, higher-level individual. Explaining the evolutionary transition from single cells to multicellular organisms is a major challenge for evolutionary theory. We provide an explicit two locus genetic framework for understanding this transition in terms of the increase of cooperation among cells and the regulation of conflict within the emerging organism. Heritability of fitness and individuality at the new level emerge as a result of the evolution of organismal functions that restrict the opportunity for conflict within and ensure cooperation among cells. Conflict leads, through the evolution of adaptations that reduce it, to greater individuality and harmony for the organism.     

Human individuality, happiness, and flow.

Comments on the article by M. Csikszentmihalyi (see record 1999-11644-003) on materialism and the flow experience as an explanation of happiness. His analysis put forth research issues psychologists should attend to in greater detail. However, he made a number of errors in logic and paid inadequate attention to human individuality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The parser doesn't ignore intransitivity, after all.

Several previous studies (B. C. Adams, C. Clifton, & D. C. Mitchell, 1998; D. C. Mitchell, 1987; R. P. G. van Gompel & M. J. Pickering, 2001) have explored the question of whether the parser initially analyzes a noun phrase that follows an intransitive verb as the verb's direct object. Three eye-tracking experiments examined this issue in more detail. Experiment 1 replicated the finding that readers experience difficulty on this noun phrase in normal reading and found that this difficulty occurs even with intransitive verbs for which a direct object is categorically prohibited. Experiment 2, however, demonstrated that this effect is not due to syntactic misanalysis but to disruption that occurs when a comma is absent at a subordinate clause/main clause boundary. Experiment 3 replicated the finding (M. J. Pickering & M. J. Traxler, 2003; M. J. Traxler & M. J. Pickering, 1996) that when a noun phrase "filler" is an implausible direct object for an optionally transitive relative clause verb, processing difficulty results; however, there was no evidence for such difficulty when the relative clause verb was strictly intransitive. Taken together, the 3 experiments undermine the support for the claim that the parser initially ignores a verb's subcategorization restrictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's find basic behavioral systems first.

Highlights an issue covered by D. M. Buss et al (see record 1998-01669-001) on evolutionary thinking and its application to psychology, and their critique of S. J. Gould's views (see record 1992-11754-001) concerning exaptations and spandrels. The present author suggests a different direction that can be taken that may demonstrate that Gould's conception of the importance of spandrels and exaptations as "a mountain to the adaptive molehill" is "entirely backward". (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning to ignore the mask in texture segmentation tasks.

Although traditionally texture segmentation has been regarded as an automatic, preattentive process, participants confronted with texture segmentation in experimental settings (i.e., with brief presentation time and subsequent masking) are initially unable to perform the task. According to perceptual learning concepts, participants must learn to fine-tune their sensory channels before perception improves under restricted viewing conditions. The present article proposes an alternative perspective that emphasizes the role of the mask. Four experiments showed that the amount of observed learning depends on the structural and temporal homogeneity or heterogeneity of the mask. The authors suggest that learning consists of separating the task-relevant signal stemming from the texture from the task-irrelevant signal of the mask and of ignoring the mask. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's get real: The fallacy of post-modernism.

The anti-realist nihilism of post-modernist thought provides a constant challenge for science and scientists not only to refute this view but to make clear what constitutes science and the scientific method. The author reviews the major arguments of post-modern thought and its criticism of science and then provides a point by point refutation. The Popperian notion of refutability and empiricality provide the cornerstone of this discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Let's give the fundamental attribution error another chance.

J. H. Harvey et al (see record 1981-32800-001) question the status of the fundamental attributional error (FAE) on both logical and empirical grounds. Although a number of important distinctions are made, the present author suggests that their conclusion may be inappropriate. Specifically, there is no necessary relationship between the existence of an FAE and a denial of disposition causality. When appropriate criteria are adopted, direct and indirect support is noted for the FAE. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)