Psychology and mental health: An enduring partnership.

Discusses the relationship between psychology and the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH's) funding of research in the behavioral sciences and the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness. It is pointed out that, despite the fears of biological reductionism, the NIMH is determined to maintain a balanced program across the broad spectrum of its efforts. The funding of current research efforts in a variety of areas is outlined. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A paper chromatographic procedure for separating 1-mono-, 1,3-di-, and triglycerides,cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters

Summary A reproducible paper chromatographic procedure has been developed for resolving a mixture consisting of 1-mono-, 1,3-di-, and triglycerides, cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters. The separation is accomplished, using silicic acid impregnated glass fiber filter paper as the chromatographic medium and various ethyl ether-isooctane mixtures as the solvent systems. A reagent consisting of 1:1 concentrated sulfuric acid: water has been introduced for visualizing the lipides on the chromatogram and for distinguishing between glycerides and cholesterol-containing lipides. Unsaturation in the fatty acid moiety of the mono-, di-, and triglycerides had no detectable effect on the R_f values of these substances. Fatty acid chain length did not affect the R_f of the cholesteryl esters with the solvent systems studied. Increasing the percentage ethyl ether in the solvent system caused an increase in the R_f values of each lipide not moving at the solvent front. This work was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research.     

Studies in efficiency: Muscle-action patterns in reaction time as related to GSR conditioning.

A significant interaction between degree of efficiency in reaction time and in meeting task requirements in the GSR conditioning situation was found, such that efficient Ss tended to take longer to reach criterion under instructions to relax, while there was no difference between the groups when the requirement was to solve a problem. Under the relax instructions the correlation of right- to left-arm tension with trials to successive CRs was .60; under problem instructions it was -.04. Taken together with the previous studies, these results are interpreted as support for the method of analysis implied by the concept of efficiency. They prepare the way for further tests of the hypothesis that efficiency will be related to degrees of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In-line interferometer for direction-sensitive displacement measurements by optical feedback detection

We demonstrate a compact in-line interferometer for direction-sensitive displacement measurement by optical feedback detection with a semiconductor laser (SL) light source. Two reflected beams from a semitransparent reference mirror and a reflecting test object interfere in the SL medium, causing a variation in its output power. The reference mirror is located between the SL output facet and the test object. The performance of the interferometer is investigated numerically and experimentally to determine its optimal operating conditions. We have verified the operating conditions where the behavior of the SL output power profile could indicate accurately the displacement magnitude and direction of the moving test object. The profile behavior is robust against variations in optical feedback and scale of the interferometer configuration.     

Psychological correlates of blood pressure.

As a physiological measure of emotion, blood pressure has been relatively neglected in recent years. This review considers 3 questions: Do certain stimuli produce replicable changes in blood pressure? Do cognitive states influence blood pressure reactivity? Is there a causative relationship between personality and high blood pressure? Available research indicates that the 1st 2 questions can be answered affirmatively, though there are a number of methodological problems yet to be resolved. No direct evidence is available for the 3rd question and tangential studies offer conflicting results. (78 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Third-party payment and national health insurance: An update on psychology's efforts toward inclusion.

The interprofessional rivalry between psychologists and psychiatrists is currently focused on the inclusion of psychologists as primary service providers in existing third-party reimbursement programs and national health insurance. Included is an examination of both sides' basic arguments regarding training and competence and of clinical psychology's progress in its quest for parity under the national health insurance umbrella. Stumbling blocks contributing to the current malaise are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mathematical Analysis of Average Response Values for Nonstationary Data

Quantitative results are derived for the accuracy to be associated with average response computations on a wide class of nonstationary physical data as a function of underlying signal and noise properties and the sample size used by the average response computer. Input and output SNR's are defined in terms of these quantities. Statistical confidence bands are determined for both arbitrary probability distributions and for Gaussian probability distributions, which indicate how closely a measured sample mean value approximates the true mean value at any time.