Pharmacological cognitive enhancers: Comment on Smith and Farah (2011).

Smith and Farah (2011) provided a thought-provoking and perhaps deliberately provocative literature review of the use of stimulants to improve cognitive functioning in humans. They addressed the apparently increasing willingness of individuals mostly in the United States to use stimulants for this purpose and then summarized published literature that explores whether stimulants actually improve specific aspects of neurocognitive function. Although calling for more research, they tentatively concluded that stimulants indeed may be “smart pills” for some people under certain circumstances. This comment emphasizes that they never actually defined the desired qualities of a smart pill, seemed to accept the unproven axiom that slight improvements in specific tests constitute meaningful enhancement of intelligence, and failed to consider the possible costs to individuals and to society of promoting the use of this class of medications for such a purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contingent attentional capture: A reply to Yantis (1993).

The authors (1992) recently proposed that involuntary shifts of spatial attention, even those elicited by abrupt visual onsets, are contingent on variable internal control settings. S. Yantis (1993) argues that the results of J. Jonides and Yantis (1988) significantly challenge this hypothesis and that the paradigm of C. L. Folk et al (1992) is inappropriate for investigating stimulus-driven attentional capture. Yantis's concerns are addressed, and it is concluded that the contingent involuntary orienting hypothesis in fact provides a unified and parsimonious account of the data on attentional capture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mystery and meaning: A reply to Green (2000).

In "George A. Miller, Language, and the Computer Metaphor of Mind" (see record 1999-00168-003), the author sought to explain how and why Miller invested the computer metaphor of mind with such strongly revolutionary, antibehaviorist meanings. In reply, C. Green (see record 2000-07174-004) has argued that the answer to this question has to do with the importance of mental representation to the cognitivists. In response, the author argues that, though mental representation was an important issue to cognitivists, there were several other factors of equal or greater importance: specifically, the fascination of Miller and his cohort with language and communication, their frustration with the narrowness of the disciplinary vision of the behaviorists, and their involvement in a different experimental program than that of mainstream behaviorists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ego re-revisited: A reply to Frank (2007).

G. Frank (see record 2007-16468-011), in response to the current author's original paper (see record 2005-08806-004), maintained that if psychoanalysts are to renew their interest in an archaic concept like the ego, 3 criticisms must be addressed: reification of the ego, the problem of impersonality, and the problem of the ego's evolution from the id. The author addresses these criticisms directly and from within the context of an updated view of the ego as rooted in contemporary biological and psychological science. He also comments on the place of the psychoanalytic ego in the postmodern era. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In defense of reasoning: A reply to Greene (1992).

Responds to S. B. Greene's (see record 1992-15270-001) argument that assertions of the form "None of the A are in the same place as some of the C" are difficult for Ss to generate and that this explains the results of multiply quantified reasoning without having to invoke mental models or deductive reasoning by P. N. Johnson-Laird et al (see record 1990-03501-001). This article shows (1) that the phenomenon fails to explain most of the principal results; (2) that, far from undermining the theory of mental models, it can actually be explained by the theory; and (3) that the best available account of the results is that Ss both reason and rely on mental models to do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assertions of therapeutic excess: A reply to Mills (2005).

Mills (see record 2005-04819-001) suggests that the tradition of relational psychoanalysis may hold an inherent risk of "therapeutic excess" which leads to unprofessional behavior. In his critique, Mills constructs an argument based upon a series of unsubstantiated claims which wrongly conclude that a particular theory in psychoanalysis can lead to a particular type of behavior, in this case, of the unethical type. This discussion attempts to clarify the errors in reasoning which this critique contains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pancultural self-enhancement reloaded: A meta-analytic reply to Heine (2005).

C. Sedikides, L. Gaertner, and Y. Toguchi (2003; see record 2002-08440-007) reported findings favoring the universality of self-enhancement. S. J. Heine (2005; see record 2005-13803-005) challenged the authors' research on evidential and logical grounds. In response, the authors carried out 2 meta-analytic investigations. The results backed the C. Sedikides et al. (2003) theory and findings. Both Westerners and Easterners self-enhanced tactically. Westerners self-enhanced on attributes relevant to the cultural ideal of individualism, whereas Easterners self-enhanced on attributes relevant to the cultural ideal of collectivism (in both cases, because of the personal importance of the ideal). Self-enhancement motivation is universal, although its manifestations are strategically sensitive to cultural context. The authors respond to other aspects of Heine's critique by discussing why researchers should empirically validate the comparison dimension (individualistic vs. collectivistic) and defending why the better-than-average effect is a valid measure of self-enhancement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the validity of ape-human comparisons: A reply to Boesch (2007).

Boesch (2007) criticizes research comparing ape and human cognition on the basis of both internal and external validity. The authors show here that most of those criticisms are not valid because: (i) most threats to internal validity (e.g., conspecific experimenters for humans but not apes) are controlled for experimentally; (ii) externally, there is no empirical evidence that captive apes have fewer cognitive skills than wild apes and indeed some evidence (especially from human-raised apes) that they have more; and (iii) externally, there is no empirical evidence that Western middle-class children have different cognitive skills from other children at very early ages in basic cognitive domains. Although difficult, with appropriate methodological care, experimental cross-species comparisons may be validly made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Substance use and AIDS: A reply to Fisher (1993).

Replies to the comment by D. G. Fisher (see record 1993-39094-001) on the authors' original article (see record 1992-36889-001) concerning the neglect of the substance abuse field by health care practitioners. H. J. Shaffer et al point out that nothing in their original article should be misconstrued as condoning or encouraging the use of psychoactive drugs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confronting health care realities: A reply to Sank (1997).

The author responds to L. I. Sank's (1997) proposal that an effective way to oppose the continuing growth of managed behavioral health care is to lodge professional ethics complaints against licensed behavioral health professionals acting as case managers. The author argues that this is not only a patently ineffective strategy, it also ignores the obvious—that no amount of effort by behavioral health professionals can turn back the clock and reimpose the fee-for-service system apparently favored by a majority of professionals in independent practice. It would behoove psychologists and other mental health professionals, then, to acknowledge the contributions of managed care to clinical and fiscal accountability as well as the problems arising from managed care models and methods of implementation. More important, they should consider what they can do to influence the shape of the service delivery systems of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring white racial identity: A reply to Helms (1997).

This article argues that J. T. Behrens' (see record 84-17563) initial analysis was appropriate and that the simple structure conclusion concerning the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) holds. First, the "possible failures" of the analyses were explicitly addressed in Behrens's article and were not problematic. Second, the complex patterns expected from the WRIAS in light of the complex theory from which it was developed simply do not exist in the data. Furthermore, converging results from the use of classical measurement and latent trait analysis counter arguments concerning the weakness of the traditional approach. Third, the dismissal of the results as irrelevant to convergent and discriminant validity is rejected because the test consists of 5 scales whose interrelations are of primary interest. Implications for counseling research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further tests of dual-process theory: A reply to Yonelinas (1999).

In a preceding article (M. Glanzer, K. Kim, A. Hilford, & J. K. Adams; see record 1999-00904-013), the authors reported the results of testing two predictions of dual-process theory concerning the shape of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC). The theory predicts that item recognition ROCs in standard score form, z-ROCs, will, in general, be concave. It also predicts the degree of concavity that will be present. The two predictions were tested. The theory failed on both. They were tested again in this article: the first prediction with an extended set of data, the second with a new set of predicted concavity measures. The first test found again that contrary to the theory, z-ROCs were not, in general, concave. The second test found again that dual-process theory failed to predict the degree of concavity of specific z-ROCs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hard heads and open minds: A reply to Panksepp (2003).

In the authors' original article (M. S. Blumberg & G. Sokoloff, 2001), they provided evidence that the ultrasonic vocalizations of infant rats are acoustic by-products of a physiological maneuver. In J. Panksepp's (2003) comment, he sidestepped the authors' empirical findings and focused on his concern that their perspective might prevent progress toward his ultimate goal of understanding the neural substrates of emotion in mammals. In this reply, the authors question the reliability of J. Panksepp's strategy for studying emotion on the basis that anthropomorphism has yet to prove itself an effective research tool. In addition, the authors believe that J. Panksepp's anthropomorphic-zoomorphic strategy defeats the goal of building a comparative psychobiology of behavior and cognition that does not reify false distinctions between humans and other animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wethinks the author doth protest too much: A reply to Esterson (2002).

A. Esterson (see record 2002-10275-005) responded to the authors' (see record 1999-01068-004) analysis of recent reformulations of Freud's seduction theory and alleged sexual abuse discoveries. Esterson gave several additional examples of the same type of problematic writing the authors discussed in their original article. His commentary is largely a repetition of several already-published arguments, and his numerous criticisms of the article are, in the authors' opinion, without merit. The authors address confusion over inferring abuse from symptoms, treatment of symptoms versus resolution of cases, and fathers as perpetrators of abuse. It is clear that, as long as the topic of child sexual abuse elicits heated debate, so will Freud's seduction theory, but there may be times when one needs to step back to allow a debate to move forward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Arthur A. Lumsdaine (1913–1989).

Arthur Allen Lumsdaine, who died on May 1, 1989, made major contributions to social and educational psychology. He was part of the post-World War II wave of experimental psychologists who moved psychology in new, widely applicable directions. In social psychology, he helped open up the experimental investigation of attitude change. Later in his career, he recognized the potential of teaching machines and programmed instruction and furthered their development. Art was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as of the American Psychological Association (APA). He served as a member of the APA's Board of Scientific Affairs (1967-1970), was President of the Division of Educational Psychology (1968-1969), and was an Associate Editor of Contemporary Psychology for eight years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory conjunctions are alive and well: A reply to Donk (1999).

When presented with a red T and a green O, observers occasionally make conjunction responses and indicate that they saw a green T. These errors have been interpreted as reflecting separable processing stages of feature detection and integration with the illusory conjunctions arising from a failure at the integration stage. Recently, M. Donk (see record 1999-11444-003) asserted that the phenomenon of illusory conjunctions is an artifact. Conjunction reports are actually the result of confusing a nontarget item (O in the example above) for a target item (the letter T) and (correctly) reporting the color associated with the (incorrectly) selected target. The authors demonstrate that although target–nontarget confusion errors are a potential source of conjunction reports, there is a plethora of findings that cannot be accounted for by this confusion model. A review of the literature indicates that in many studies, illusory conjunctions do result from a failure to properly integrate features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Significance tests and deduction: Reply to Folger (1989).

Shows that agreeing with R. Folger's (1989) methodological observations does not mean that it is incorrect to use significance tests. This contention is based on the dynamics of theory corroboration, with reference to which the following distinctions are illustrated, namely, the distinctions between (a) statistical hypothesis testing, theory corroboration, and syllogistic argument, (b) a responsible experimenter and a cynical experimenter, (c) logical validity and methodological correctness, and (d) warranted assertability and truth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting children's responses to ambiguous messages: A reply to Robinson and Whittaker (1985).

Responds to E. J. Robinson and S. J. Whittaker's (see record 1985-25142-001) statement that the present author's (see record 1982-05434-001) interpretation of children's responses to ambiguous referential communications could not have been due to the hypothesized performative bias. It is argued that Robinson and Whittaker did not empirically test the hypothesis and so cannot say that their results contradict it. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gestures and speech, interactions and separations: A reply to McNeill (1985).

Data from aphasiology and from developmental and experimental psychology are reviewed that give evidence for partial separability of the gestural and the verbal systems. According to McNeill (1985), who argued for a shared computational stage at the conceptual level, these cases of dissociation may be accounted for only by assuming separation at the output level. This explanation seems incompatible with other data provided by McNeill that indicate similarities in the surface characteristics of gestures and speech. Thus it is concluded that gestures and speech could also interact on an intermediate level between conceptualization and the output processing or that the shared computational stage must be specified by assuming separate subprocesses that may dissociate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent inhibition and compound conditioning: A reply to Holmes and Harris (2009).

Schmajuk, Lam, and Gray (SLG, 1996) presented a neural network model of classical conditioning that addresses the multiple properties of latent inhibition (LI). According to the model, LI is the result of the decreased attention to the target stimulus during preexposure and testing. Recently, Holmes and Harris (2009) suggested that, although the model was able to describe their experimental results showing that LI to a preexposed stimulus disappears with extended compound conditioning, it could not describe the fact that LI is not affected by a delay following compound conditioning. However, computer simulations demonstrate that the SLG model describes and explains both results. Because the model also explains both the deleterious and the facilitating effects on LI of a delay following simple conditioning, the SLG model seems unique in explaining the complete range of reported effects of temporal delays on LI as well as most of the properties of LI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)