An "Unpsychologist" Says Bravo: Comment.

Comments on the article by S. J. Gross (see record 1979-26957-001) that indicates a specious association between licensing and the competence of practitioners. The current author finds pleasure in having his previously unsubstantiated opinions confirmed by objective analyses, even when the facts themselves are unpleasant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elementary Subtraction.

Four experiments examined performance on the 100 "basic facts" of subtraction and found a discontinuous "stair step" function for reaction times and errors beginning with 11 - n facts. Participants' immediate retrospective reports of nonretrieval showed the same pattern in Experiment 3. The degree to which elementary subtraction depends on working memory (WM) was examined in a dual-task paradigm in Experiment 4. The reconstructive processing used with larger basic facts was strongly associated with greater WM disruption, as evidenced by errors in the secondary task: this was especially the case for participants with lower WM spans. The results support the R. S. Siegler and E. Jenkins (1989) distribution of associations model, although discriminating among the alternative solution processes appears to be a serious challenge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What Mahoney "knows."

Criticizes M. J. Mahoney (see record 1990-03226-001) for presenting facts about and arguments against behavior analysis (BAN) as though they were context free. This is ironic in light of his own wrongly placed criticism of BAN for being objectivist in epistemology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to Ellis and McGuire: "Cost sharing and the demand for ambulatory mental health services".

Refutes R. P. Ellis and T. G. McGuire's (see record 1985-28860-001) argument that the results previously reported by the present authors (see record 1985-28870-001) support the proposition that mental health services exhibit greater response to insurance than do medical services from both logical and empirical perspectives. It is argued that Ellis and McGuire focused only on certain results when drawing their conclusions and that this deletion of facts presents a false picture of support for their argument. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The place of facts in a world of values: Subject and object in a postmodern world": Errata.

Reports an error in the original article by R. J. Smith (Journal of Philosophical and Theoretical Psychology, 2001[Fall], 21[2], 153-172). On pages 160, 161, 166, and 167 the subject to object relationship was reported at "S/O". The corrected representation is "S?O". (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2002-10964-004.) The value-fact or subject-object split (S-O) recently defended by H. H. Kendler (1999) as necessary for a scientific psychology to establish facts, was rejected by Gestalt psychology as reducing the person to object status. The Gestalt solution correlating principles of perceptual organization with corresponding features of the object world (S/O) has however answered poorly to the vast cultural differences found in values. Communal/dialectical psychology in agreement with a postmodern worldview, treats facts as intrinsically value-laden social constructions mediated by a society's particular social relations (S?O) Examples of fact ambiguity are illustrated, and S?O is recommended as ontologically preferable for psychology as social science and for turn-of-the-millenium psycho-ecology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fact retrieval in younger and older adults: The role of mental models.

Using a fan effect paradigm, three experiments tested whether younger and older adults differ in the retrieval of integrated and nonintegrated facts, where integration refers to the development of a mental model. Earlier work by G. A. Radvansky and R. T. Zacks (see record 1992-04153-001) had found that as long as facts can be integrated into a single mental model, young adults show no increase in retrieval time or error rates as the size of the subset of related facts increases (i.e., no fan effect). The present studies show a similar pattern for older adults. By contrast, and in confirmation of our previous findings on age differences and the fan effect (L. D. Gerard et al; see record 1991-32781-001), older adults show an exaggerated fan effect, at least in their error rates, on subsets of related facts not easily integrated into a single mental model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The three faces of Evelyn: A case report. IV. A postscript to "The three faces of Evelyn".

In his contributions to this series of articles, and more extensively in his forthcoming book, Jeans stresses the fact that multiple personalities (rather than the classic three) seem to be the rule rather than the exception. This was clearly the case for Evelyn, but also for Eve. Unlike the two semantic differential testings (several months apart) of each personality in the well-known "Three Faces of Eve" case, in the present case the patient took the semantic differential test at only one time in each of her three personalities, and this close to the termination of therapy. Taking into account the constraints on validity checking implied by the above, we decided on a multiple strategy: first, to ask the ex-patient herself about the facts of her life as she recalled them; second, to ask Jeans to react explicitly to a list of questions about specifics in our interpretation of the semantic-differential-based blind analysis. Even in clinical cases of multiple personality, like those of Eve and Evelyn, it appears that there is a real personality that is aware of all of its roles. It is only the roles that are dissociative with respect to each other, presumably because, affectively, they are deeply incongruent with each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cattell replies to Becker's "comments."

A reply to comments made by Becker (see record 1962-03097-001) regarding R. B. Cattel's original article (see record 1962-03095-001). The positive conceptual and experimental contributions of my paper appearing since his comments, he either misses or ignores, since they show: (a) that it was impossible for him to reach any intelligible conclusion on the theory without recognizing and developing the necessary corrections for attenuation and perturbation, and (b) that the facts which he says I must and do recognize are those chosen by Becker from experiments with older techniques. Science moves on, and the new facts which I present from technically more advanced designs show that the same factor simultaneously loads on the hypothesized markers for both the rating and the questionnaire factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of School violence: Fears versus facts.

Reviews the book, School violence: Fears versus facts by Dewey G. Cornell (see record 2006-07405-000). This book provides a unique focus on common misperceptions regarding school violence. One of the most notable misperceptions is that school violence is on the rise. This is just one of the misperceptions that Cornell's book addresses. Each chapter of the book begins with a case example and fundamental question about school violence, followed by the presentation of research to answer the question. The book concludes with recommendations for what our schools need to prevent violence. These recommendations follow directly from the content of the book and include specific suggestions about eliminating ineffective programs in favor of empirically based efforts, amending legislation that has led to the adoption of ineffective zero tolerance policies, avoiding sensational news coverage of school violence, and making universal prevention a public health mission. The reviewer notes the importance of making data-based decisions about how to prevent and respond to school violence. In order to do this, it is critical to have knowledge of the facts, and to also be aware of common misperceptions about school violence. This book provides educators, graduate students, and parents with that information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double jeopardy in the interrogation room for youths with mental illness.

Comments on the article by J. Owen-Kostelnik, N. D. Reppucci, and J. R. Meyer (see record 2006-05893-002) which reviewed the issues surrounding the police interrogation of minors. This commentary expands on the review by addressing the mental health status of youths who come into contact with police. It stems from two immutable facts: (a) The prevalence of mental illness among justice-involved youths is alarmingly high, and (b) mental illness by itself is a risk factor for false confession. These two facts place suspected youths in double jeopardy in the interrogation room. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Network interference and number-fact retrieval: Evidence from children's alphaplication": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Network interference and number-fact retrieval: Evidence from children's alphaplication" by D. Jeffrey Graham and Jamie I. Campbell (Canadian Journal of Psychology Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 1992[Mar], Vol 46[1], 65-91). Figure 1 was inadvertently omitted. Reprints of this article, available from the authors, will include this figure. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1992-42555-001.) Investigated the origins of several phenomena of number-fact retrieval by asking 45 children (aged 8 yrs 2 mo to 10 yrs 7 mo) to memorize alphaplication facts (arithmetic-like memory items composed of letters instead of numbers). Ss' performance in the task showed paralleled aspects of simple arithmetic performance. There was a strong performance advantage for tie over nontie problems on both reaction time (RT) and errors. Specific errors frequently involved operand-related answers. Correct RTs and error rates across problems were closely linked. Correct answers to poorly learned problems tended to be the most common error responses. Performance was not as good for problems that were introduced later in the learning sequence. Results support the network-interference approach to number-fact retrieval of J. I. Campbell and D. J. Graham (see record 1986-16912-001). (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compensation of "patient workers."

Comments on G. C. Davison and R. B. Stuart's (see record 1975-30208-001) speculation that some institutional directors may replace patient workers with workers from the outside because of the Wyatt v. Stickney case outlawing institutional peonage. Right to treatment standards set by this case required that patient workers be compensated according to the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognition as intuitive statistics.

Reviews the book, Cognition as intuitive statistics by Gerd Gigerenzer and David J. Murray (see record 1987-97295-000). Psychologists tend to think of their statistical methods simply as neutral tools. The use of a particular statistical technique is not supposed to influence one's psychological theorizing. Methods and theories are entirely different things, just like facts and theories are quite different. These sharp distinctions are generally accepted as articles of faith. They are not empirically based but are part of the philosophical legacy of positivism which continues to have a strong hold on our discipline. According to this philosophy methods and facts are both supposed to be theory-neutral, so that they can be used to test the claims of rival theories. Now, the post-positivist phase in the philosophy of science has been going on for long enough to have had some effect on the rhetoric, if not on the practice, of psychological investigation. In particular, the distinction between theories and facts is not likely to be insisted upon as dogmatically as it was in the heyday of logical positivism. But the parallel distinction between theories and methods has seldom been explicitly questioned in psychology. Gigerenzer and Murray's book goes a long way towards filling this gap. Their thesis is that after psychologists came to take a specific statistical methodology for granted in their research they began to base their theoretical models of human cognition on the psychologists' own statistical practice. Gigerenzer and Murray illustrate their general thesis by drawing on examples from four areas of psychological research: signal detection theory, perception, memory and thinking. In each case they combine a broad historical account with a detailed critical assessment of some contemporary work. The value of such an approach is that it opens up a refreshing new perspective on the research literature in these fields, making visible fundamental assumptions which normally remain hidden. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erratum: "Moral Internalization, Parental Power, and the Nature of Parent-Child Interaction."

Reports an error in the original article by M. L. Hoffman (Developmental Psychology, 1975[Mar], 11[2], 228-239). The sentence beginning on the fifth line in the third paragraph, second column, page 233, should read: "An affectionate, trusting child, for example, may be expected to elicit more inductive and less power-assertive discipline than a less affectionate, less trusting child." (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1975-20841-001.) The following arguments are offered for the view that the frequent correlation between discipline and internalization reflects parental influence: (a) Since parental discipline exerts more constraint on the child than the child exerts on the parent, child attributes like internalization that probably derived from behaviors and inner states associated with compliance are more apt to be consequents than antecedents of discipline. (b) Congenital and other factors that may affect discipline do not negate its effects on internalization. It is also hypothesized that discipline is important because it gives children the experience, necessary for internalization, of achieving balance between expressing and controlling desires. The parent-child relation is conceptualized so as to fit the facts of both everyday interaction and long-term effects, especially on the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The extension of the interference effect to multiplication.

Investigated the interference effect in the number matching task using multiplication facts. 40 Ss verified the presence of a target number (e.g., 8) in a previously presented cue (e.g., 5 x 8) that was masked after 60 msec. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between cue and target was 100, 120, 220, and 350 msec. Ss were slower to reject targets that were the product of the cue (e.g., 40) than unrelated targets (e.g., 42) at the 100- and 120-msec SOAs. Findings indicate interference effects at these SOAs and support the hypothesis that the cues activated associated numbers resulting in slower latencies for product than unrelated trials. This pattern is consistent with the interference effect found by J. LeFevre et al (see records 76-00346, 79-04985, and 81-43827) using addition facts. The authors conclude that the interference effect previously found with addition facts was due to obligatory activation and not to automatic counting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The tenacity of historical misinformation: Titchener did not invent the Titchener illusion": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by G. Burton ( History of Psychology, 2001[Aug], Vol 4[3], pp. 228-244). In this article, the author asserted that a motivation textbook by R. C. Beck (see record 1979-32908-000) falsely listed a monkey as one of the objects in which L. Albert was tested for generalization of his supposed fear of fuzzy objects. In fact, Beck accurately indicated that the monkey was used during the pretest to determine Albert's preexisting fears; Beck did not claim that the monkey was used during the generalization phase. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2001-07674-002.) Some well-known psychological "facts" are actually false, but dispelling them is difficult. One such false fact is that Titchener introduced the illusion depicting a circle ringed by smaller circles, which appears larger than an equivalent circle surrounded by larger circles. A review of contemporary sources indicates that Ebbinghaus probably introduced this illusion in the 1890s, although not in any explicit publication, and Titchener neither had nor asserted any authorship of this figure. There are also 3 other illusions that are sometimes labeled the Ebbinghaus illusion... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reade and Wertheimer's "A bias in the diagnosis of schizophrenia" revisited.

In a study by W. K. Reade and M. Wertheimer (see record 1977-08943-001), it was found that clinicians placed greater diagnostic emphasis on genetic information when this information accompanied secondary behavioral signs of schizophrenia. In the present study, 1 of 4 fictitious case histories varying primary and secondary signs and genetic background information and a neutral, nonschizophrenic case history were administered to 36 practicing clinicians to judge whether the hypothetical person was schizophrenic. Results show that the schizophrenic case histories received ratings that were greater than or equal to the ratings for the neutral, nonschizophrenic case history. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental model organization.

Previous research (G. A. Radvansky and R. T. Zacks; see record 1992-04153-001) has shown that the fan effect is mediated not by the number of nominal associations paired with a concept but by the number of mental models into which related concepts are organized. Specifically, newly learned "facts" about different objects in one location are integrated into a single mental model and no fan effect is produced, whereas facts about one object in different locations are not integrated and a fan effect is produced. In 6 experiments the authors investigated several factors' influence on location-based organization preferences. No impact on either article type (definite or indefinite) or object transportability was found. However, animate sentence subjects (people) reduced preference for location-based organizations. A clear person-based organization emerged by using locations that typically contain only a single person (e.g., phone booth) to make location-based situations less plausible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On integrating variables and separating facts in the complex relationship between dependency and domestic violence.

Presents a reply by Robert Bornstein to comments from Chronister (see record 2007-14606-021) and Dutton (see record 2007-14606-022) regarding his article, "The complex relationship between dependency and domestic violence: Converging psychological factors and social forces," (see record 2006-11202-003). In addition to raising some important issues regarding the link between dependency and domestic violence, the comments by Chronister and Dutton illustrate the importance of integrating variables and separating facts. Chronister's call for scrutiny of the bidirectional influence between emotional and economic dependency not only enhances our understanding of the dependency-abuse relationship but also points to useful interventions that may reduce the incidence and severity of domestic violence among married and cohabiting couples. Dutton's conflation of gender differences in abuse perpetration rates with the underlying causes of domestic violence tells us little about the state of the discipline but illustrates the importance of separating facts-in this case distinguishing epidemiological data from data that assess directly the intra- and interpersonal dynamics of abuse perpetration and victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing psychology: Making facts and fables for our times.

Contends, based on a constructionist position on epistemology, that scientific knowledge (and knowledge of all kinds) is a construction of the human mind. Meaning is attributed to sensory data in theoretically guided inventions of "facts." At different times and places, facts invented in one theory become different facts in another. In each generation, psychologists have favored variables that serve loyally within the theoretical boundaries of the scientific wisdom of that time. It is argued that favored variables can blind scientists to other theories and other variables that could compete for favor. What makes theories and facts plausible is examined, and a continuum of persuasion, determined by the contexts of the theorists is proposed. Contemporary research on lead exposure and on parent–child interaction are examined as examples of facts that can become different facts in other theories. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)