A divergent view of convergence in hypnosis research.

N. P. Spanos and T. X. Barber's (see record 1975-00161-001) article on convergence in hypnosis research exudes an optimism that is misleading. This illusory confidence involves 2 factors that mediate response to hypnotic suggestions: (1) willingness by the S to cooperate and (2) a shift in cognitive orientation from an objective perspective to one of involvement in suggestion-related imaginings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergence or coexistence.

Comments on N. P. Spanos and T. X. Barber's (see record 1975-00161-001) article on convergence in hypnosis research, arguing that state and nonstate theories of hypnosis coexist but do not converge. The state theory is grounded in Cartesian dualism, while the nonstate theory is basically monistic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theodore X. Barber (1927-2005).

Presents an obituary for Theodore Xenophon Barber (1927-2005), one of the most prolific and influential researchers in the field of hypnosis. At the time of his death he was an active scholar in his private research enterprise, the Interdisciplinary Science Research Institute. A brief biography of Barber is followed by an overview of his published work, his theories and other influential accomplishments. Although hypnosis was the main focus of Barber's research, his interests and research encompassed other topics, including the phenomenon of investigator bias, psychical phenomena, and even comparative psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis and the influence of most recently perceived events.

Tested the hypothesis that the expectancy of the hypnotist is especially significant in determining the nature of the response of susceptible Ss. Three studies were conducted, using a total of 126 undergraduates. Using E. G. Boring's ambiguous Wife/Mother-in-Law figure and procedures first isolated by W. Epstein and I. Rock (1960), unique waking conditions were established under which the events most recently seen, rather than what was expected, reliably influenced subsequent perception. The effects of these same conditions were then studied for task-motivated, hypnotized, and waking (imagination only) Ss in formal application of T. X. Barber's (1969) model of hypnosis. Results support the hypothesis showing that susceptible hypnotic Ss exclusively demonstrated expectancy rather than recency behavior in the trance test setting; however, Barber's task-motivation instructions were ineffective in reproducing the suggested response. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interdigital pilonidal sinus ("barber's disease")--a rare occupational disease

Barber's disease is produced by short hairs that penetrate the interdigital spaces of the hands. The following chronic inflammatory reaction causes fistulas or sinuses and cysts. We present the case of a patient with interdigital pilonidal sinuses of all web spaces in both hands. Such an extensive case of this occupational disease has so far not been reported.     

"Substance and artifact in the higher-order factors of the Big Five": Correction to McCrae et al. (2008).

Reports an error in "Substance and artifact in the higher-order factors of the Big Five" by Robert R. McCrae, Shinji Yamagata, Kerry L. Jang, Rainer Riemann, Juko Ando, Yutaka Ono, Alois Angleitner and Frank M. Spinath (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2008[Aug], Vol 95[2], 442-455). In this article, an incorrect DOI was published. The correct DOI for this article is 10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.442. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-09787-013.) J. M. Digman (1997) proposed that the Big Five personality traits showed a higher-order structure with 2 factors he labeled α and β. These factors have been alternatively interpreted as heritable components of personality or as artifacts of evaluative bias. Using structural equation modeling, the authors reanalyzed data from a cross-national twin study and from American cross-observer studies and analyzed new multimethod data from a German twin study. In all analyses, artifact models outperformed substance models by root-mean-square error of approximation criteria, but models combining both artifact and substance were slightly better. These findings suggest that the search for the biological basis of personality traits may be more profitably focused on the 5 factors themselves and their specific facets, especially in monomethod studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The confluence model's good predictions of mental age beg the question.

Empirical support of the confluence model (R. B. Zajonc; see record 1983-25674-001), when based on the model's ability to predict observed MA, is shown to be logically invalid. The model's ability to predict MA is a mathematical artifact whose precise character is demonstrated formally. The artifact stems from the model's inclusion of CA as one of its parameters. There is a built-in correlation between CA and MA. That correlation is shown to be a function of the age bounds of a sample (M. C. Outhit, 1933). (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substance and artifact in the higher-order factors of the Big Five.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 95(3) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2008-11108-007). In this article, an incorrect DOI was published. The correct DOI for this article is 10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.442.] J. M. Digman (1997) proposed that the Big Five personality traits showed a higher-order structure with 2 factors he labeled α and β. These factors have been alternatively interpreted as heritable components of personality or as artifacts of evaluative bias. Using structural equation modeling, the authors reanalyzed data from a cross-national twin study and from American cross-observer studies and analyzed new multimethod data from a German twin study. In all analyses, artifact models outperformed substance models by root-mean-square error of approximation criteria, but models combining both artifact and substance were slightly better. These findings suggest that the search for the biological basis of personality traits may be more profitably focused on the 5 factors themselves and their specific facets, especially in monomethod studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An attentional learning account of the shape bias: Reply to Cimpian and Markman (2005) and Booth, Waxman, and Huang (2005).

Recently, Developmental Psychology published 2 articles on the shape bias; both rejected the authors' previous proposals about the role of attentional learning in the development of a shape bias in object name learning. A. Cimpian and E. Markman (2005; see record 2005-14938-017) did so by arguing that the shape bias does not exist but is an experimental artifact. A. E. Booth, S. R. Waxman, and Y. T. Huang (2005; see record 2005-05098-004), in contrast, concluded that the shape bias (and its contextual link to artifact categories) does exist but that the mechanisms that underlie it are conceptual knowledge and not attentional learning. In response, in this article the authors clarify the claims of the Attentional Learning Account (ALA) and interpretations of the data under question. The authors also seek to make explicit the deeper theoretical divide: cognition as sequestered from processes of perceiving and acting versus as embedded in, and inseparable from, those very processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive affect: A test of behavioral hypotheses. Reply to Wener and Rehm.

In reply to Wener and Rehm's (see record 2005-08994-001) comments on Buchwald's critique (see record 1978-21210-001) of an earlier article by them (see record 1975-25511-001), it is argued that (a) there are no grounds for interpreting their certainty ratings as a measure of self-confidence and that (b) the data they offer to refute the possibility of an artifact does not do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familiar jaws with new twists

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is an effective modality for the treatment of pain. TENS use is well tolerated and has relatively few complications. Potentially serious complications of TENS use include disruption of cardiac pacemaker function and electrical artifact during electrocardiographic monitoring. Electrical interference with cardiac monitoring using parasternal electrodes and electrocardiographic (EKG) artifact with an epidural stimulator has been reported. We report the case of EKG artifact produced by surface TENS electrodes applied to the thoracic and lumbar regions. The electrical signal produced by the TENS unit created an electrocardiographic artifact resembling a pacemaker spike on routine EKG. This was interpreted as a malfunctioning cardiac pacemaker. The easily misinterpreted electrical spikes that can result from TENS use as seen in this case highlights the need for physician awareness of this potential complication.     

"Some ambiguities in the escape from the ambiguous": Reply.

Replies to comments by L. R. Lieberman and J. T. Dunlap (1974) on P. W. Sheehan's (see record 1974-10335-001) article on the term artifact and the methodologies of hypnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A revision of the Job Diagnostic Survey: Elimination of a measurement artifact.

The dimensionality of the original Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and a revision were investigated. Factor analyses of two data sets identified six dimensions underlying the original JDS. Five of the factors correspond to the pattern expected for the JDS items; the sixth was identified as a measurement artifact. Five of the JDS items were subsequently rewritten to eliminate the artifact. The revised survey was administered to employees of a printing company (N?=?134) and the a priori five-factor solution was obtained with no artifact factor. Scale–factor correlations were also computed. The resulting coefficients suggest that the revised JDS scales are measuring their underlying constructs with reasonable accuracy. As a result of the measurement artifact in the original JDS, it is recommended that the revised JDS should be used in future research concerned with task characteristics. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unusual artifact with mammography film

The authors identified the origin of a high-density artifact with mammography film. An acrylic ramp phantom (thickness, 0-7 cm) was used to create a continuously variable radiation exposure. A perturbation in the curve of optical density versus position along the ramp was observed. Development of the film with the emulsion side down eliminated this artifact.     

Accurate reflection or systematic distortion? A reply to Block, Weiss, and Thorne.

Clarifies the authors' systematic distortion hypothesis (SDH) with reference to the J. Block et al (see record 1980-29222-001) critique. The "bipolar redundancy" effect is found to be an artifact of reduced variance in matrices of uncorrelated traits. It is contended that the SDH remains well supported and that the evidence for the existence of covarying, memory-based ratings remains dubious. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low education is a genuine risk factor for accelerated memory decline and dementia

A relatively high prevalence and incidence of dementia have been found in population strata with low levels of education in comparison to population strata with high levels of education. However, doubt remains whether this may be an artifact of education bias in the screening tests used. To investigate this matter, we analyzed results of two Dutch population surveys in which unbiased measures of memory decline were used. In the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (n = 1774) the percentage of words retained in a verbal learning test was found to be disproportionately low in the oldest age cohort (80-85 years) with less than 11 years of education. The Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (n = 4051) found a "dose-response" relationship between education and dementia prevalence. Cross-sectional and longitudinal results showed that, in less educated people, memory decline is faster and sets in at an earlier age. These findings indicate that the relationship between dementia and education is not just an artifact of case detection methods.     

Fantasy proneness: Hypnosis, developmental antecedents, and psychopathology.

In 7 studies, 6,000 college students were screened to obtain 5 samples of 156 fantasy-prone Ss. Fantasy-prone Ss were selected from the upper 2–4% on a measure of imaginative involvement and were contrasted with nonfantasizers (lower 2–4%) and medium fantasy-prone Ss. Wilson and Barber's construct of fantasy proneness was supported. Fantasizers differed from nonfantasizers on measures of hypnotizability, imagination, waking suggestibility, hallucinatory ability, creativity, psychopathology, and childhood experiences. Differences in hypnotizability were most reliable when Ss participated in a multisession study and were screened not only with the screening inventory, but also with an interview that substantiated their fantasy-prone status. However, our findings indicated that less correspondence between fantasy proneness and hypnotizability exist than Wilson and Barber suggested. Hypnotic responsiveness is possible even in the absence of well-developed imaginative abilities, and not all fantasizers were highly hypnotizable. Fantasizers recollected being physically abused and punished to a greater degree than other Ss did and reported experiencing greater loneliness and isolation as children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reinterpreting Seaver's (1973) study of teacher expectancies as a regression artifact.

Asserts that the results of W. B. Seaver's (see record 1974-07975-001) study of the effects of teacher expectancies are largely due to a regression artifact, in that the performance of an older sibling (which was subsequently compared to that of younger siblings) probably depended in part on teacher effectiveness. Why this interpretation was overlooked by Seaver and the plausibility of other hypotheses are discussed. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental disorders and disability among patients in a primary care group practice

OBJECTIVE: This article examines social and occupational disability associated with several DSM-IV mental disorders in a group of adult primary care outpatients. METHOD: The subjects were 1,001 primary care patients (aged 18-70 years) in a large health maintenance organization. Data on each patient's sociodemographic characteristics and functional disability, including scores on the Sheehan Disability Scale, were collected at the time of a medical visit. A structured diagnostic interview for current DSM-IV disorders was then completed by a mental health professional over the telephone within 4 days of the visit. RESULTS: The most prevalent disorders were phobias (7.7%), major depressive disorder (7.3%), alcohol use disorders (5.2%), generalized anxiety disorder (3.7%), and panic disorder (3.0%). A total of 8.3% of the patients met the criteria for more than one mental disorder. The proportion of patients with co-occurring mental disorders varied by index disorder from 50.0% (alcohol use disorder) to 89.2% (generalized anxiety disorder). Compared with patients who had a single mental disorder, patients with co-occurring disorders reported significantly more disability in social and occupational functioning. After adjustment for other mental disorders and demographic and general health factors, compared with patients with no mental disorder, only patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, phobias, and substance use disorders had significantly increased disability, as measured by the Sheehan Disability Scale. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care patients with more than one mental disorder are common and highly disabled. Individual mental disorders have distinct patterns of psychiatric comorbidity and disability.     

Rejoinder to Sherif.

The scaling artifact intrinsic to the method of ordered alternatives, as presented by Markley in 1971 (see record 1971-26705-001), is defended from the comments by Sherif (see record 1973-08982-001). The essential conclusion of the 1971 articles remains unchanged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)