"In the beginning was the 'name' ": Response to Terrace.

Responds to H. S. Terrace's (see record 1986-11457-001) ideas about the development of naming behavior in children and apes. Data are presented that contradict Terrace's findings that nonhuman primates rarely approach anything close to human thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"In the beginning was the 'name' ": Reply to Bernstein and Kent.

Replies to the comments by E. Bernstein (see record 1987-21438-001) and T. C. Kent (see record 1987-21468-001) concerning the present author's (see record 1986-11457-001) ideas about the development of naming behavior in children and apes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In the beginning was the "name."

Contends that in emphasizing the ability to generate sentences as a uniquely human skill, psycholinguists have overlooked an equally important and perhaps more fundamental skill—the ability to refer with names. The same oversight can be attributed to the 1st generation of projects devoted to teaching an ape to use a language. In the absence of referential naming, it is doubtful that syntax would have developed in human languages. Accordingly, students of human language and researchers who seek to establish linguistic skills in nonhuman Ss (e.g., E. S. Savage-Rumbaugh [1981; also see PA, Vol 72:3196] and Savage-Rumbaugh and colleagues [1977, 1978, 1985; also see PA, Vols 63:440, 65:9701, and 66:7332]) should reap dividends by continuing their efforts to examine critically the ontogeny of naming. It is suggested that, at least as much as any other ability, the ability to name has provided a unique impetus to the evolution of human language. (123 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Right-wing authoritarianism."

Canadian scholarship has recently been honoured in that Bob Altemeyer's book, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right wing authoritarianism (see record 1988-98419-000) received the 1988 prize for behavioural science research, awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The book has also received a number of favourable reviews. Ray feels that some comments on the limitations of the book are needed to balance the account, and submits that, in fact, the book is a complete failure as far as achieving what it set out to achieve is concerned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Articulation of values."

This article clarifies several research issues raised in a recent article by Krieshok, Arnold, Kuperman, and Schmitz concerned with repertory grid methodology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Corporal punishment": Comment.

Comments that A. Maurer (see record 1975-00027-001) commits 2 errors in her discussion of the exceedingly complex issues of corporal punishment. One concerns the basic psychological concept of behavior modification. The other error arises from the seemingly simplistic answers she gives to the ethical problems involved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Fagan's "School psychology's dilemma."

Considers the article by T. K. Fagan (see record 1987-02406-001), a comprehensive and revealing analysis. The present author suggests that the time has come for the American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists to agree on a means to implement a coherent set of training models. The present author maintains that the traditional issue of entry level only perpetuates organizational identity and purpose and does not promote the field's professional integrity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Comment on summary report of journal operations": Comment on Roediger.

Comments on an article by H. L. Roediger III (see record 1990-58906-001) concerning the number of subscribers to APA journals. Roediger concluded that most APA members feel no need to keep up with the work in the primary journals. Blackman points out that many people keep up with journals by reading in university and hospital libraries, by sending for reprints of studies abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, and by other literature review methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Psychological research and energy policy."

Comments that some points made by P. C. Stern and G. T. Gardner (see record 1982-01169-001) in their plea for an interdisciplinary approach and for input by psychologists into energy policy are misleading and nonconstructive. These include the deemphasis on simple but energy-efficient life-style changes and the overemphasis on the value of "one-shot" technology purchases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction: In defense of the "artificial."

Much of the analog research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology is accused of being artificial. The present author argues that immediate application of findings is not always a priority. Rather, theoretical understanding may be a legitimate goal, in which validity is not important or meaningful. A preoccupation with immediate application can lead investigators to dismiss important research. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Critelli and Neumann's "The placebo."

Asserts that, in their article on the placebo effect, J. W. Critelli and K. F. Neumann (see record 1984-26517-001) failed to recognize that treatment cannot be of benefit if a patient knows that a treatment is a placebo. Critelli and Neumann's contention that placebo factors (the mere belief that improvement will result from treatment) could legitimately comprise all that is active in psychotherapy is criticized. It is argued that any therapy that succeeds only because of placebo effects will eventually lose credibility. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "The case of William McDougall."

Agrees that R. A. Jones's (see record 1988-03145-001) account of W. McDougall's decline and fall in the field of psychology in terms of the elaboration-likelihood model of R. E. Petty and J. T. Caciappo (1986) is plausible. However, McDougall's negative image surely had more important sources than the mass media. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Discovering imago relationship therapy": Comment.

Comments on the original article by J. J. Zielinski (see record 1999-03629-009) regarding imago relationship therapy. The author argues that the very features that make imago relationship therapy successful (e.g., its thoroughness) also present certain drawbacks. The author notes that imago relationship therapy may only be appropriate for a small, elite population, and therapists who are sufficiently trained in the method may also be relatively few. Slate suggests that further research may be helpful in determining ways in which aspects of this type of therapy may be adapted for other uses, e.g., premarital counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Creativity as a decision": Comment.

Responds to the comments by T. B. Kashdan and F. D. Fincham (see record 2002-12932-014), J. C. Kaufman (see record 2002-12932-016 and J. Raven (see record 2002-12932-015) on the articles that discussed creativity in the April 2001 issue of American Psychologist. The current author does not disagree with any of the comments made. He states that although creative people differ in an astonishing number of ways, there is, in fact, one key attribute that they all possess, an attribute consistent with the original articles in American Psychologist's special section on creativity and consistent with these new commentaries as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Widiger and Rorer's "The responsible psychotherapist."

Contends that T. A. Widiger and L. G. Rorer (see record 1984-29794-001) are vulnerable to the criticism that a misunderstanding occurred because of faulty analysis. The doctrine of informed consent has developed out of the application of the basic legal and ethical practices of citizens in the treatment relationship. It is argued that Widiger and Rorer failed to discuss rights and responsibilities as dialectical processes, juxtaposed ethical and effective therapy, and implied that evidence establishes that one or another therapeutic model is so superior that a defense can be made about setting aside basic rights and responsibilities when a person assumes the role of patient. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Recall, retention, and Ritalin."

E. D. Rie and H. E. Rie (see record 1978-27952-001) concluded that Ritalin enhances story recall after a 2-hr retention interval but not after 2 days and that the lack of difference in later recall argues against a facilitation of scholastic achievement due to Ritalin. The present author argues that the former conclusion is questionable because of inappropriate statistical analyses and because of the effects of confoundings contained in the experimental design. The latter conclusion, it is stated, appears to arise from the misconception of equating achievement with long-term memory independently of amount learned. Achievement is a function of both learning and memory, and the distinction should be maintained in examining Ritalin's effects. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolution and "evolutionary behavorism": Comment.

Comments on W. R. Woodward's (see record 1982-30310-001) article on the discovery of social behaviorism and social learning theory from 1870 through 1980. The article suggests that within several concepts that are related to social behaviorism and social learning theory, the same "discovery" has been made to account for an important part of behavioral variance. This involves a functional feedback model with internal variables and some kind of selection via symbolic processes that are termed "evolutionary." The present author raises concern for Woodward's use of the biological evolutionary theory in this context. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Simonton's "Cross-sectional time-series experiments: Some suggested statistical analyses."

Suggests that the equation on which multiple time-series analysis is based is applicable to more than experimental and control groups that are identical prior to intervention as D. K. Simonton indicated (see record 1978-00178-001). The present article suggests that the equation is also applicable to cases in which comparable though not identical groups are investigated and in which nonequivalent groups are analyzed. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Asch and Witkin's "Studies in space orientation: II."

Comments on an article by S. E. Asch and H. A. Witkin (see PA, Vols 23:48 and 12144) demonstrating the efficacy of a gestalt principle of perceptual organization called the "frame of reference." Asch and Witkin revived interest in this previously neglected principle and investigated its effects using quantitative techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Peer influence on adolescent drug use": Comment.

Comments on K. E. Bauman and S. T. Ennett's (see record 1995-01311-001) article on peer influence on adolescent drug use, examining their arguments in light of experimental evidence of school-based drug prevention programs based on the social influence (SI) model. The argument that the peer or SI model is overrated and the implication that SI-based prevention programs are misguided are unwarranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)