American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards.

A citation, professional biography, photograph, and list of scientific publications are provided for each of the following award recipients: Gordon Willard Allport, Wendell Richard Garner, and Joy Paul Guilford. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Division 14 announces James McKeen Cattell Award.

The Division of Industrial Psychology has announced an annual award ($250.) to be given for the best research design in which basic scientific methods are applied to problems in business and industry. Details concerning submission of designs and judgment criteria are specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wound healing and complementary therapies: a review

A series of five innovative experiments conducted by Wirth et al. which examined the effect of various complementary healing interventions on the reepithelialization rate of full thickness human dermal wounds was assessed as to specific methodological and related factors. The treatment interventions utilized in the series included experimental derivatives of the Therapeutic Touch (TT), Reiki, LeShan, and Intercessory Prayer techniques. The results of the series indicated statistical significance for the initial two experiments and nonsignificance or reverse significance for the remaining three studies. This review article examines the methodological designs of the series of studies, along with the TT practitioners' phenomenologically based journal reports, to provide potential contributing correlative factors for the differential results obtained. These factors include: (1) methodological design restrictions, (2) a transference/inhibitory effect (3) the influence of experimental assistants, (4) healer visualization /imagery techniques, (5) variations in subject populations, and (6) a potential cancellation effect. While the placebo controlled double-blind methodological designs used in the series were as stringent as those used in other fields of scientific inquiry, the overall results of the experiments were inconclusive in establishing the efficacy of the treatment interventions for accelerating the rate of reepithelialization of full thickness dermal wounds.     

Gold Medal and Distinguished Scientific Writing Awards 1957.

The APF's second Gold Medal Award would have been given to Lewis Madison Terman. However, the APF's Board of Trustees "decided against a policy of awarding this medal posthumously and also against naming another award winner in his place this year." The Award for Distinguished Science Writing in the Field of Psychology consisting of a scroll and a check for $500 was awarded to Ernest Havemann. The citation in part read: "For his articles on psychology in Life magazine, January 7, 1957 to February 4, 1957… . Mr. Havemann's series was judged to be outstanding, not only for accuracy, lucidity, and interest, but for truly exceptional grasp of the diversity of modern psychological research and services." A brief biography of Mr. Havemann is presented and also part of his acceptance statement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology on television: Experimental programming.

The opportunity to present a series of psychology programs of a non-telecourse variety was an opportunity to investigate some of the experimental possibilities inherent in the presentation of social psychological content on television. "This paper describes certain aspects of the series: Techniques of presentation, the presentation of potentially controversial subject matter, and the problems involved in the evaluation of the series." One program dramatized social prejudice; another featured a discussion of basic propaganda techniques; still another focussed on worker morale. The experimental programming of social psychology on television "provides further evidence which suggests that educational television not only supplies a challenging experimental medium in social psychology, but also in the process provides a means of communicating significant psychological ideas to a greater representation of the population than has heretofore ever been possible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sequence influence on the organization of meaningless serial stimuli: Economy after all.

This article provides evidence for an extension of structural information theory, a theory which describes perceptual organization formally, into a more general theory of representation that takes the role of organizations obtained earlier into account. In eight experiments, subjects studied series of colored dots. Each series contained 6–8 dots of different colors, and viewing time was between 400 ms and 60 s. In several experimental procedures, subjects recalled the series presented. The experiments systematically varied the economy of the organizations of the series as described by structural information theory as well as a number of aspects of the context in which the series were presented, like order of presentation of a series, order between the series, viewing span, viewing time, and recall procedure. Recall was influenced both by the economy as well as by the context. It is shown how the context influences the relative strength of the most economical organization as compared with rival, local organizations. A structured network model is presented that accounts for the influence of both the economy and the context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cooperative behavior in dyad as a function of reinforcement parameters.

"Reinforcement parameters for a dyadic cooperative situation were defined and varied in a series of three experiments… . Each S was required to perform the simple motor response of turning a small concealed knob in a series of 50 trials. A reinforcing stimulus was delivered to each S separately after each trial… . The degree to which optimal cooperative behavior… developed in these situations, was studied as a dependent variable… . Other experimental parameters were suggested and the implications of these… for analysis were sketched." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye movements of monkeys during discrimination learning: Role of visual scanning.

In Exps I and II with 7 stumptailed monkeys (Macaca arctoides), Ss were given a series of 2-choice, dot-pattern discrimination reversal problems. Results indicate that the rate of reversal learning was markedly retarded by the experimental condition. The magnitude of the effect was unrelated to the similarity of the uninformative stimulus to the discriminative stimuli. In Exp III, 5 experienced Ss were given a series of discrimination problems without reversals, during half of which the experimental condition was in effect. The results were similar to those of the 1st 2 experiments. In Exp IV (3 experienced Ss), each trial began with uninformative stimuli, which were replaced by the discriminative stimuli when visual scanning occurred. The uninformative stimuli had no clear-cut effect on discrimination learning. Findings indicate that the information provided by above-minimum levels of scanning is not necessary for discrimination learning per se, but it does appear necessary for efficent discrimination learning. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Guessing behavior and autism.

"As a test of predictions derived from Osgood's theory of meaning and Murphy's theory of autism, 4 experiments in guessing behavior were conducted. Adjectives highly correlated with goodness and positive value were selected, and translations of these semantic codes into experimental manipulations were specified… . A random series of 2 profiles was presented to S, each profile being associated with one of the experimental manipulations. Later a different random series of the same 2 profiles was presented, and S was asked to guess the order in which they would appear. Profiles associated with operations reflecting the adjectives near, high, and bright were significantly overguessed while their opposites were underguessed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于多维时间序列形态特征的相似性动态聚类算法

由于时间序列数据具有高维度、动态性等特点,这就导致传统的数据挖掘技术很难有效的对其进行处理,为此,提出了一种基于多维时间序列形态特征的相似性动态聚类算法(similarity dynamical clustering algorithm based on multidimensionalshape features for time series,SDCTS).首先,提取多维时间序列的特征点以实现降维,然后,根据多维时间序列的斜率、长度和幅值变化的形态特征定义了一种新的时间序列相似性度量标准,进而提出无需人为给定聚类个数的多维时间序列动态聚类算法.实验结果表明,与其他算法相比,此算法对时间序列具有良好的聚类效果.     

A proposed test battery and constellations of specific behavioral paradigms to investigate the behavioral phenotypes of transgenic and knockout mice

Behavioral phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice requires rigorous, formal analyses. Well-characterized paradigms can be chosen from the established behavioral neuroscience literature. This review describes (1) a series of neurological and neuropsychological tests which are effectively used as a first screen for behavioral abnormalities in mutant mice, and (2) a series of specific behavioral paradigms, clustered by category. Included are multiple paradigms for each category, including learning and memory, feeding, analgesia, aggression, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and drug abuse models. Examples are given from the experiences of the authors, in applying these experimental designs to transgenic and knockout mice. Extensive references for each behavioral paradigm are provided, to allow new investigators to access the relevant literature on behavioral methodology.     

Active gaze, visual look-ahead, and locomotor control.

The authors examined observers steering through a series of obstacles to determine the role of active gaze in shaping locomotor trajectories. Participants sat on a bicycle trainer integrated with a large field-of-view simulator and steered through a series of slalom gates. Steering behavior was determined by examining the passing distance through gates and the smoothness of trajectory. Gaze monitoring revealed which slalom targets were fixated and for how long. Participants tended to track the most immediate gate until it was about 1.5 s away, at which point gaze switched to the next slalom gate. To probe this gaze pattern, the authors then introduced a number of experimental conditions that placed spatial or temporal constraints on where participants could look and when. These manipulations resulted in systematic steering errors when observers were forced to use unnatural looking patterns, but errors were reduced when peripheral monitoring of obstacles was allowed. A steering model based on active gaze sampling is proposed, informed by the experimental conditions and consistent with observations in free-gaze experiments and with recommendations from real-world high-speed steering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scientific Contribution Awards 1957.

"Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards of the APA were presented to Edward C. Tolman (in absentia), Carl I. Hovland, and Curt P. Richter (in absentia) during special ceremonies at the 1957 APA Annual Meeting. Each recipient was presented, in person or in absentia, with a formal citation of his outstanding scientific contribution to psychology and an honorarium of $1,000." The citation for Edward Chase Tolman read in part: "For the creative and sustained pursuit of a theoretical integration of the multifaceted data of psychology… for forcing theorizing out of the mechanical and peripheral into the center of psychology without the loss of objectivity and discipline; for… his purposive-cognitive theory of learning." The citation for Carl Iver Hovland read in part: "For his original and provocative contributions to the scientific study of persuasive communications and the modification of beliefs and attitudes." The citation for Curt Paul Richter read in part: "For his pioneering investigations of physiological mechanisms affecting behavior." A brief biography and a complete bibliography of his scientific publications is included for each award recipient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to functional data analysis.

Psychologists and behavioural scientists are increasingly collecting data that are drawn from continuous underlying processes. We describe a set of quantitative methods, Functional Data Analysis (FDA), which can answer a number of questions that traditional statistical approaches cannot. These methods are applicable for analyzing many datasets that are common in experimental psychology, including time series data, repeated measures, and data distributed over time or space as in neuroimaging experiments. The primary advantage of FDA is that it allows the researcher to ask questions about when in a time series differences may exist between two or more sets of observations. We discuss functional correlations, principal components, the derivatives of functional curves, and analysis of variances models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two-stimulus--two choice paradigm for psychophysics: range-frequency model and adaptation level theory in comparison

The predictions provided by the range-frequency model and the adaptation-level theory were compared in respect of size judgments in an averbal two-category experiment. Squares of different sizes were presented in two different frequency distributions. After a two stimulus-two choice training, in which the subjects (N = 64) learned to which of the two response categories a relative small or large square belonged, a generalization context-series test followed. The two test series represented the two different frequency distributions used (the arithmetic mean was either smaller or larger than the median or midpoint). The percentage of large responses was registered. Furthermore, to investigate which experimental design would be appropriate for this research paradigm, the study was carried out using both a between-subjects and a within-subjects design. For the two experimental designs, the results pointed to a confirmation of the predictions provided by the adaptation-level theory (D. R. Thomas, 1993) but not the range-frequency model (Parducci, 1983, 1995).     

Distinguished scientific contribution awards: 1959.

A citation, a biography, a list of scientific publications, and a photograph of each award recipient are presented for Leon Festinger, Donald Benjamin Lindsley, and Neal Elgar Miller. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internships for doctoral training in clinical psychology approved by the American Psychological Association.

"On the recommendation of the Committee on Evaluation, the Education and Training Board with the concurrence of the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association has approved the internships for doctoral training in clinical psychology which are offered… " by various agencies listed (see 25: 6647). "All of these agencies provide supervised experience in the three activities of diagnostic work, psychotherapy, and research… ." The "list is complete for those agencies which had been evaluated by November 1, 1957… . The list… includes only independent agencies, that is, those agencies accepting interns from more than one university." The 45 institutions listed are in 23 states and the District of Columbia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Own attitude as an anchor in equal-appearing intervals.

"An experiment was performed to test four alternative interpretations of the influence of judges' attitudes on equal-appearing interval scale values. The experimental design involved manipulation of the item series as well as judges' attitudes… . perceptual vigilance and assimilation-contrast, can account for the obtained main effect due to judges' attitudes… . adaptation level, can account for that effect, as well as the observed effect due to item series. Only… variable series, can account for both main effects and the significant interaction… between judge's attitudes and item series." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus significance and bilateral SCRs to potentially phobic pictures.

Conducted 2 experiments with 39 nonphobic undergraduates, 26 in Exp I and 13 in Exp II. Potentially phobic slides of snakes and spiders and neutral pictures of flowers and mushrooms were presented. Bilateral skin conductance responses (SCRs) were obtained during an initial habituation series of slide presentations that were followed by a series in which the participants rated the slides on a 7-point evaluative semantic differential scale ranging from unpleasant (1) to pleasant (7). A final slide series occurred in the absence of ratings. Type of slide did not evoke different SCRs during habituation. Significantly larger mean SCRs occurred to the pictures of snakes and spiders than to the neutral pictures during the rating series in both experiments and in the final nonrating slide presentation in Exp I. Results contradict the view that differential conditioning of SCRs to potentially phobic slides represents biological preparedness and offers an experimental analogue of clinical phobias. Instead, an interpretation is offered in terms of the evocation of orienting reflexes potentiated by their signal value. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science and television.

The "program that has only incidental visual support is certainly one of the most conspicuous and continuing failures of educational television." The major characteristic of the series "Focus on Behavior," a series of 10 30-minute films produced for National Educational Television under the auspices of APA "is the consistent presentation of experimental psychology by showing people doing things rather than by telling what has been done, giving conclusions, and then illustrating these through supporting visual demonstrations or examples." The "series represents a major step forward in the presentation of science." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)