McNemar replies to Bass and Angoff.

Replies to comments by A. R. Bass (1976) and W. H. Angoff (1976). McNemar's model (see record 1975-30837-001) will satisfy H. J. Einhorn and Bass's (1971) equal risk model without the need to have a maximum risk probability that is tolerable for the institution. Also, McNemar's model reflects an unbiased expectation of performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reply to McNemar.

Corrections made by the present author (see record 1970-05886-001) for suggested spuriousness in Q. McNemar's (see record 1951-05872-001) formula for determining the validity of a short form of the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale were rejected by McNemar (see record 1974-24264-001) as being based on fallacious reasoning. The present author replies that correlated errors responsible for the spurious correlation given by McNemar's formula affect only the covariance, not the variances, of the full scale and the short form. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altemeyer replies.

Replies to commentary by J. J. Ray (see record 2007-08928-001) regarding the current author's book, Enemies of freedom: Understanding right wing authoritarianism (see record 1988-98419-000). The foremost of Ray's six criticisms is that "insofar as (I have) studied anything at all, (I have) probably studied some form of conservatism." The constructs of "right-wing authoritarianism" and "conservatism" can be defined as one wishes, and one can declare that they are the same thing. I prefer to draw several conceptual distinctions however, perhaps because one brand of "conservatism", especially visible in the United States, resents government authority. Next, Professor Ray quite correctly points out that my explanation of the development of personal authoritarianism ignored genetic possibilities. The twins-studies have caught me completely flat-footed, with my back turned, though I would find evidence for a DNA-based explanation of authoritarianism quite exciting. As for attitudes toward authorities, I suspect they do wobble some during adolescence. However, neither of the two adult studies Professor Ray cites shows "a general attitude toward authority does not exist." If anything, they suggest it does. Professor Ray says the consistency of the RWA Scale only occurs because my item selection procedures have created a distortion of the real world, a world of my own "from which the most disturbing outside information has been rigorously excluded." In fact, the covariation among items mentioning different kinds of authorities goes back to the Berkeley F Scale. Finally, Professor Ray concludes that I am studying some nonpolitical form of conservatism, because the RWA Scale gives "virtually no prediction of right-wing political preference." Data is presented to dispute this allegation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group membership as a predictor variable: A comment on McNemar.

Argues that Q. McNemar's (see record 1975-30837-001) proposal to eliminate unfairness in predictions yielded by regression equations would exacerbate the unfairness of rejecting applicants on the basis of their minority status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Silverman replies to Lasser.

Lasser's (see record 1990-58318-001) concern about the ethics of conducting research in which psychopathology is intensified is fully justified and one that I have spent considerable time reflecting on. There were two relevant references (Footnotes 9 and 14) in the Silverman (1976) article, but to do justice to the ethical issues would have required a lengthy discussion that was not in place in that article. The explicit purpose of the Rubin and Mitchell (1976) article, to which Lasser alludes, was the unintended effects of research procedures on human subjects, while the purpose of the Silverman (1976) article was very different. To set the record straight, as far as our own research is concerned, the following points can be made, each of which has been elaborated on in the past and are now discussed collectively in a single document (Silverman, Note 1): (a) Informed consent is regularly obtained, (b) Pathology intensification brought about by subliminal psychodynamic activation is slight and, with but rare exceptions, very fleeting. Note that pathology-intensifying stimuli are presented only in a single session. It is only pathology-reducing stimuli, which are given for therapeutic purposes, that are presented over a period of time, (c) Extensive debriefings are regularly carried out at the end of each experiment, one part of which involves revealing the content of stimuli to the subjects. This, we have found, further lessens the possibility of any lingering negative effects, (d) In the rare instances where there are indications that there may be such effects, clinical interviews are conducted and further appropriate action taken, if necessary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quinn McNemar (1900–1986).

Quinn McNemar, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Statistics, and Education at Stanford University, with his primary base in the Department of Psychology, died on July 3, 1986. Born on February 20, 1900, he was 86 at the time of his death. He had retired at the age of 65 after long years of service at Stanford and spent an additional five years as Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Texas, Austin. He then returned to reside again in Palo Alto until his death. His widow, Olga, who had a PhD in psychology from Columbia University, was long associated with him in his professional work and survived him after their marriage of 55 years. His status as a psychologist was recognized by his election to the presidency of the American Psychological Association to serve in the year 1963-1964. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "equal-risk" model: A comment on McNemar.

Comments on Q. McNemar's (see record 1975-30837-001) suggested procedure for eliminating unfairness in personnel selection with respect to population subgroups and considers legal questions regarding civil rights and Equal Employment Opportunity considerations. McNemar misunderstood the purpose of the procedure advocated by H. J. Einhorn and A. R. Bass's (1971) equal risk model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brewster smith replies to James MacKay.

Replies to J. MacKay's commentary (see record 1990-58561-001) on the author's original article (see record 1979-25020-001) that examines selfhood as the criterial features of the human condition from 3 perspectives: evolutionary or phylogenetic, cross-cultural and transhistorical, and developmental or ontogenetic. The current author notes that MacKay's comments on the assets of age, actual and potential, are in tune with what he believes is our emerging understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supports crisis phone services: Lester replies.

Replies to comments by Paul Schoenfeld (see record 2005-09886-003) on Lester's "Role of psychologists in crisis telephone services" (see record 1990-57067-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Planned and post hoc methods for multiple-sample McNemar (1947) tests with missing data.

Pre-post experimental designs with dichotomous dependent variables are encountered frequently in behavioral research. If there is only one group, the McNemar (1947) test can be used to test the hypothesis of no change in parameters. The McNemar test has been extended to cover multiple groups. The problem with these tests is that complete data must be available for all subjects. If post- or pretest data are missing, subjects must be discarded. Ekbohm (1982) provided a solution for the one-group model that has good statistical properties. We extend this method to the multiple-group case. We describe and illustrate procedures for planned and post hoc contrasts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting indirect replies

PROBLEM/CONDITION: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States, and it has increased in importance during the preceding 20 years. Despite its importance, no comprehensive surveillance system has been established that measures asthma trends at the state or local level. REPORTING PERIOD: This report summarizes and reviews national data for specific end-points: self-reported asthma prevalence (1980-1994), asthma office visits (1975-1995), asthma emergency room visits (1992-1995), asthma hospitalizations (1979-1994), and asthma deaths (1960-1995). DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM: The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) annually conducts the National Health Interview Survey, which asks about self-reported asthma in a subset of the sample. NCHS collects physician office visit data with the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, emergency room visit data with the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and hospitalization data with the National Hospital Discharge Survey. NCHS also collects mortality data annually from each state and produces computerized files from these data. We used these datasets to determine self-reported asthma prevalence, asthma office visits, asthma emergency room visits, asthma hospitalizations, and asthma deaths nationwide and in four geographic regions of the United States (i.e., Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). RESULTS: We found an increase in self-reported asthma prevalence rates and asthma death rates in recent years both nationally and regionally. Asthma hospitalization rates have increased in some regions and decreased in others. At the state level, only death data are available for asthma; death rates varied substantially among states within the same region. INTERPRETATION: Both asthma prevalence rates and asthma death rates are increasing nationally. Available surveillance information are inadequate for fully assessing asthma trends at the state or local level. Implementation of better state and local surveillance can increase understanding of this disease and contribute to more effective treatment and prevention strategies.     

Automation of testing procedures: Elwood replies to Moses.

Argues that J. L. Moses' (1969) response to D. L. Elwood's research (see record 1970-03011-001) into automated administration of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) reflects a lack of appreciation of the use of such testing and a reaction against progress in the area of psychological assessment. Results indicated that automated testing was accurate, reliable, time-effective, and well-accepted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Policy on critiques and replies: Psychological Review.

Critiques and replies are by their nature potentially volatile. Occasionally, readers and/or one or both authors involved in critiques and replies end up feeling exploited, even if they are not actually exploited. The purpose of Psychological Review's policy on critiques and replies is fourfold: (a) to treat both authors fairly, (b) to establish contingencies that maximize objective exchanges and minimize affective exchanges, (c) to have appear in the Review only as much as is truly valuable to readers, and (d) to maximize the likelihood that all those involved feel as if they have been treated fairly by the Review. (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)     

More on the identity-equivalence sequence: An update and some replies to Miller.

Responds to S. A. Miller's criticism of the present authors' study on identity and equivalence conservation (see record 1975-31383-001). It is suggested that Miller's criticism is in error as he attempts to propose theoretical explanations for the task, criterion–task, and age–task effects he attacks, thereby implying their existence. It is concluded that analysis has shown, in most studies, these effects to be in the medium-to-large range. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can clients provide valuable feedback to clinicians about their personality interpretations? Greene replies.

Maintains that the criticisms of C. R. Snyder et al (see record 1979-26547-001) in response to the present author's (see record 1978-01956-001) study (1977) overlooked several significant issues that are important in reconceptualizing research on students' acceptance of generalized personality interpretations. These issues are stated explicitly, and their relevance to research in this area is described. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Laudatio: Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Dres. h. c. Heinz H?fner

During the course of a year, there are many healthcare workers nationwide who sustain sharps injuries whilst carrying out their duties. Staff who work in the Accident and Emergency (A & E) units are no different from anyone else in this respect. The emotional cost of such an accident cannot be calculated, whereas the financial costs can. This article aims to show how the cost of an injury to a member of staff can be calculated, thus allowing a manager to assess the financial implications of sharps injuries to their department. In the absence of access to an Occupational Health (OH) department, most A & E units have to respond to sharps injuries to healthcare workers in the hospital. This task must be attended to by the medical staff as well as the nursing staff of the A & E unit. Within the following text the appropriate responses and methods to ensure uniformity of response are discussed. The tables and the calculation figures shown are taken directly from the information held in the St James's University Hospital Trust's OH department. All calculations are based on the middle band of the salary scale for each discipline. Accurate costings for each member of staff injured cannot be shown in this article, but the general principle is laid down and can be easily followed for any situation.