The future of the national laboratories

The end of the Cold War has called into question the activities of the national laboratories and, more generally, the level of support now given to federal intramural research in the United States. This paper seeks to analyze the potential role of the laboratories, with particular attention to the possibility, on the one hand, of integrating private technology development into the laboratory's menu of activities and, on the other hand, of outsourcing traditional mission activities. We review the economic efficiency arguments for intramural research and the political conditions that are likely to constrain the activities of the laboratories, and analyze the early history of programs intended to promote new technology via cooperative agreements between the laboratories and private industry. Our analysis suggests that the laboratories are likely to shrink considerably in size, and that the federal government faces a significant problem in deciding how to organize a downsizing of the federal research establishment.     

Psychology in Canada: The future is not the past.

Discusses forces that have shaped Canadian psychology's history and discusses its current status and future from the perspective of challenges to the unity of the discipline and profession. Canadian psychology faces reduced financial resources, expanding markets, and consumerism. Canadian psychology consists of several psychologies which, with their attendant push toward multiple perspective and organizations, reflect diversity in psychology. Diversity should be accepted and used for mutual gain, rather than taken as a sign of failure. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of interactional semantic patterns on the interpretation of noun–noun compounds.

The CARIN theory (C. L. Gagné & E. J. Shoben, 1997) proposes that people use statistical knowledge about the relations with which modifiers are typically used to facilitate the interpretation of modifier–noun combinations. However, research on semantic patterns in compounding has suggested that regularities tend to be associated with pairings of semantic categories, rather than individual concepts (e.g., P. Maguire, E. J. Wisniewski, & G. Storms, in press; B. Warren, 1978). In the present study, the authors investigated whether people are sensitive to interactional semantic patterns in compounding. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the influence of a given modifier on ease of interpretation varies depending on the semantic category of the head. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the relation preference of the head noun influences ease of interpretation when the semantic category of the modifier is compatible with that preference. In light of these findings, the authors suggest that people are sensitive to how different semantic categories tend to be paired in combination and that this information is used to facilitate the interpretation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The adjective check list as a personality assessment technique with children: Validity of the scales.

Adjective Check List (ACL) ratings of personality characteristics were made by the mothers of 52 pairs of grade-school twin girls. The 24 ACL scales were factor analyzed, yielding 3 factors named extroversion-introversion, social desirability, and personality traits associated with intelligence. The factors were found to be similar to those extracted from other personality tests. In addition to the ACL, the TAT, the Vineland Social Maturity Scale, the Fels Behavior Scales, 2 WISC subtests, the Goodenough drawings, an experimental Toys game, an activity interview, and background information were scored for the sample. The ACL scales correlated systematically with both direct and indirect measures of the twins' behavior, lending confidence in the validity of the ACL scales for a population of young children. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sentence-composition effect: Processing of complex sentences depends on the configuration of common noun phrases versus unusual noun phrases.

In 2 experiments, the authors used an eye tracking while reading methodology to examine how different configurations of common noun phrases versus unusual noun phrases (NPs) influenced the difference in processing difficulty between sentences containing object- and subject-extracted relative clauses. Results showed that processing difficulty was reduced when the head NP was unusual relative to the embedded NP, as manipulated by lexical frequency. When both NPs were common or both were unusual, results showed strong effects of both commonness and sentence structure, but no interaction. In contrast, when 1 NP was common and the other was unusual, results showed the critical interaction. These results provide evidence for a sentence-composition effect analogous to the list-composition effect that has been well documented in memory research, in which the pattern of recall for common versus unusual items is different, depending on whether items are studied in a pure or mixed list context. This work represents an important step in integrating the list-memory and sentence-processing literatures and provides additional support for the usefulness of studying complex sentence processing from the perspective of memory-based models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Errors as a function of noun concreteness.

Conducted 2 experiments to investigate the effects of stimulus and response noun concreteness in paired-associate learning. In Exp. I, error-success protocols were examined with the aid of a 2-stage Markov model. 64 undergraduates and spouses served as Ss. The 2 stages of the model have been interpreted in terms of storage and retrieval processes. In Exp. II, the production, retrieval, and decoding of mediators were examined. 15 undergraduates served as Ss. The model analysis indicated that the primary effect of noun concreteness, whether manipulated in the stimulus or response terms, was on the retrieval process. The data from Exp. II were consistent with this conclusion, in that concreteness affected the retrieval and decoding of mediators rather than the number of mediators generated. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation and lexical priming during the interpretation of noun–noun combinations.

This research indicates that recent exposure to a similar combination (e.g., oil moisturizer or surgery treatment) influences the processing of a subsequent combination (e.g., oil treatment) by increasing the availability of the lexical entries for the modifier and head noun, and by altering the availability of the relation used to link the two nouns. The amount of lexical and relational priming obtained depends on whether the modifier or head noun is common between the prime and target. The head noun prime yields more lexical priming than does the modifier. In contrast, relation priming is obtained only from the modifier prime and this finding is consistent with the CARIN theory (C. L. Gagné and E. J. Shoben, see record 1997-02349-004) but inconsistent with schema-based theories of conceptual combination (e.g., G. L. Murphy, 1988; E. J. Wisniewski, 1996). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The priority of just-identified, recursive models.

Theories often place constraints on causal relationships, and such constraints are often assessed with causal models. Causal models should be recursive and just identified because cause is recursive and is more likely to be just identified than overidentified. A just-identified, recursive model (JIRM) is specified that satisfies both requirements and that can be used to assess a wide range of causal implications in either a norm-referenced or criterion-referenced manner. P. E. Meehl and N. G. Waller (2002) proposed an innovative method for theory appraisal called the delete one-add one (D1 -A1) method, which assesses a relatively narrow range of causal implications, allows nonrecursive models, and is only norm referenced. The JIRM and D1-A1 methods are compared. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among readability, reliability, and validity in a self-report adjective check list.

The relationship between readability, reliability, and validity of a self-report, free-response adjective checklist, the Depression Adjective Check List (DACL), was assessed in adolescent and adult samples. Approximately 80% of the DACL was determined to be at the Grade 8 level by means of E. Dale and J. O'Rourke's (1981) performance-based readability index. Some loss in reliability and validity for adults with Grade 7 reading competency was found, but a smaller loss occurred with adolescents who read at the Grade 7 level. The DACL can be safely designated as being at a Grade 8 reading level. The importance of conducting expanded studies of the relationship between readability, reliability, and validity was discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The selection of determiners in noun phrase production.

Picture-word interference experiments conducted with Italian speakers investigated how determiners are selected in noun phrase (NP) production. Determiner production involves the selection of a noun's syntactic features (mass or count, gender), which specify the type of determiner to be selected, and the subsequent selection of a particular phonological form (e.g., the/a in English). The research focused on the syntactic feature of gender. Results repeatedly failed to replicate the gender-congruity effect in NP production reported with Dutch speakers (longer latencies for target-distractor noun pairs with contrasting as opposed to the same gender). It is proposed that the discrepant results reflect processing differences in lexical access in Italian and Dutch: The selection of determiners in Italian, but not in Dutch, depends on phonological properties of the word that follows it in the NP. Evidence consistent with this explanation was obtained in an experiment in which determiner selection in NP production was hindered by conflicting phonological information in the NP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of individual differences in adjective check list scores.

Genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in Adjective Check List (ACL) scores were estimated in a study of 61 pairs of identical (MZ) and fraternal (DZ) twin girls of grade-school age. Comparisons of the intraclass correlation coefficients of MZ and DZ groups for each of the ACL scales showed genetic contributions to 9 scales and systematic environmental contributions to 7 scales. The proportions of genetic and environmental variance are discussed in the context of other research findings, and the problems of scale validity in this population are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of waiting time and priority setting by means of a national register

To increase access to care for cataract patients in Sweden, it was decided, starting in 1992, that all cataract patients listed for surgery and with priority should have their cataract extraction performed within three months. To evaluate the effect of this waiting time guarantee, a National Cataract Register (NCR) was initiated in late 1991. In 1992, 81% of all cataract extractions performed in Sweden were reported to the NCR; in 1993 this figure was 92%. Reasons for this high participation ratio are discussed. In 1993, 74.4% (range between different clinics, 40-99%) of the patients with priority had their operation performed within three months. Great variation in visual acuity and age was found in patients with priority among the different surgical units.     

The psychologist of the future: Scientist, professional, or both.

A familiar issue in psychology is the "relation between our science and its applications." As the goal of doctoral training, the present explicit model of the psychologist as the combination scientist-professional is considered. 3 alternative conceptions are considered: (a) to train psychologists exclusively as scientists; (b) exclusively as professionals; (c) to "train two brands, one for scientific work only, the other for professional work only." Each proposal is considered. Criteria proposed "lead me to prefer our present models for training psychologists to any of the alternatives available." Major topic headings are: the scientist-professional conception of the psychologist in practice, alternative conceptions of the psychologist, re-examination of the scientist-professional model, training the scientist-professional, the psychologist of the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Rorschach: Facts, fictions, and future.

A large body of empirical evidence supports the reliability, validity, and utility of the Rorschach. This same evidence reveals that the recent criticisms of the Rorschach are largely without merit. This article systematically addresses several significant Rorschach components: interrater and temporal consistency reliability, normative data and diversity, methodological issues, specific applications in the evaluation of thought disorder and suicide, meta-analyses, incremental validity, clinician judgment, patterns of use, and clinical utility. Strengths and weaknesses of the test are addressed, and research recommendations are made. This information should give the reader both an appreciation for the substantial, but often overlooked, research basis for the Rorschach and an appreciation of the challenges that lie ahead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender processing in first and second languages: The role of noun termination.

In 2 picture-naming and 2 grammaticality judgment experiments, the authors explored how the phonological form of a word, especially its termination, affects gender processing by monolinguals and unbalanced bilinguals speaking German. The results of the 2 experiments with native German speakers yielded no significant differences: The reaction times were statistically identical for items from gender typical, ambiguous, and gender atypical groups. The 2 experiments with English bilinguals who had learned German as a second language (L2), however, provided evidence that the L2 word's termination plays a role in L2 gender processing. Participants were fastest when producing gender-marked noun phrases containing a noun with a gender typical termination and slowest when the noun had a gender atypical termination. Analogous results were obtained in the grammaticality judgment experiment. These findings support the assumption that there is interaction between the levels of phonological encoding and grammatical encoding at least in bilingual processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ethnicity gap: The past, present, and future.

The gap between the growth of ethnic minority groups nationally and the numbers of such groups within psychology is described. Three topics relevant to professional psychology are considered: mental health services, the educational pipeline, and the governance structure within the American Psychological Association. The authors outline past and current data and recommend actions for the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychoanalytic office: Past, present, and future.

The experience of photographing psychoanalysts in their offices has focused attention on the meaning that our work spaces have for us, in our history, presently and speculations about the future. Making the analyst in the analytic environment the subject of study, contextualizes our being and reveals much about the importance of our offices. The fifty-five analysts photographed (as part of an on-going project) were selected to approximate a representative sample of the diversity of practicing psychoanalysts in the early twenty-first century. They were photographed in their offices in the United States, Mexico, South America and Europe and generally welcomed the opportunity to be seen regardless of theoretical orientation. From Sigmund Freud's first psychoanalytic office at Berggasse 19 in Vienna, we have carried forward traditions of filling our surroundings with objects, and of maintaining a precarious hold on the permanence of space. The Jungian term, temenos, indicating a secure continuous containment as applied to our offices, is under siege. Technological advances and the frantic pace of modern life with increasing telephone and more recently Skype sessions, combine to provide opportunities, challenge assumptions and even question the necessity of having a psychoanalytic office. Finding a space where we can belong, with our belongings, may define and predict our future existence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Syntactic processes in the production of noun phrases.

Two picture–word interference experiments investigated syntactic and lexical-semantic processes during the production of Dutch noun phrases of the form article?+?adjective?+?noun or adjective?+?noun. For both types of noun phrases, utterance onset latencies were longer when the distractor word and the target noun had different grammatical gender than when they had the same grammatical gender. Adjective distractors that were semantically related to the target adjectives led to longer utterance onset latencies for noun phrases of the form adjective?+?noun, but not for noun phrases of the form article?+?adjective?+?noun. The results are discussed in the framework of recent models of language production. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)