The phenomena are ubiquitous: But the investigator must look.

Argues that there are 2 related but not identical phenomena involved in Humphreys's and P. A. Mauger and C. A. Kolmodin's debate over the methodologies used in their studies (1968 and 1975, respectively) on predictive validity of GPAs as compared to entrance information (e.g., Scholastic Aptitude Test scores): (a) the quasi-simplex pattern of intercorrelations of independently computed GPAs and (b) the gradient of correlations between aptitude tests and the independent GPAs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Educational uses of tests with disadvantaged students": Addendum.

Responds to criticisms by G. D. Jackson (1975) and by E. M. Bernal (1975) of the report by T. A. Cleary et al (see record 1976-03505-001) on standardized testing with minorities. Support for testing and proper interpretation of test scores is reiterated, since abolishing the use of tests does not abolish the deficits found in some students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative interference effects in recognition and recall.

The results of 3 studies testing whether associative interference occurs in recognition as it does in recall are reported. Associative interference was found as expected in cued recall, but it did not occur in recognition. Rather, in recognition, both the hit rate and the false alarm rate increased under interference conditions so that there was no net change in discrimination. The design of the recognition studies enabled the rejection of displaced backward rehearsals and variance differences in the matching strengths of interference and noninterference pairs as artifactual explanations of the results. The presence of associative interference in recall, but not in recognition, supports the distinction put forward by the global matching models of recognition that there is a fundamental difference between the memory access processes underlying recognition and recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The variation of comfortable temperatures

The factors influencing indoor comfort temperatures are examined and it is found that the thermally neutral temperature depends on the outdoor mean temperature. It is also found that tolerable temperature swings lie between I and 2°C. It is also permissable to allow the temperature to drift gradually over days and weeks.     

To understand regression from parent to offspring, think statistically.

Suggests that incorrect inferences are frequently drawn by psychologists about regression from one generation to another. These appear to be caused by confusion between observations and theory. Regression is basically statistical, and biological regression represents only one possible interpretation of the data. It is suggested that if regression is always conceptualized in the 1st instance as a statistical phenomenon, fewer mistakes will occur. It is recommended that theoretical interpretations should be made only after one is clear about the empirical observations. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Statistical definitions of test validity for minority groups.

Considers the problem of deciding when a selection test is invalid for members of a minority group. There is both a strong empirical and theoretical basis for rejecting the choice of zero correlation between test and criterion as an appropriate null hypothesis. The choice typically requires that the population value of the correlation be higher in the minority group than in the majority group. The direct comparison of correlations in minority and majority samples is recommended. Only when the minority correlation is significantly lower and the confidence limits around that correlation include no useful levels of the relationship, should the correlation be considered essentially zero. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Molybdenum accumulation at ferrite: Austenite interfaces during isothermal transformation of an Fe-0.24 pct C-0.93 pct Mo alloy

A scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) technique was used to measure Mo concentrations at ferrite:austenite (α:γ) interfaces in an Fe-0.24 pct C-0.93 pct Mo alloy partially transformed at 650°C, 630°C, and 610°C. These concentrations were quite small at 650°C, which is just below the bay temperature of the time-temperature-transformation (TTT) curve for the initiation of ferrite formation. There were larger concentrations at 630°C, a temperature at which transformation stasis (incomplete transformation) occurred. Concentrations at 610°C were intermediate between the values observed at 650°C and 630°C. The average accumulation at the latter temperatures increased appreciably as a function of transformation time. After each heat treatment, there was considerable variation in Mo accumulation from one α:γ interface to another and, to a lesser extent, from one region to another along the same interface. These higher Mo concentrations were deduced to have developed largely through volume diffusion of Mo, mainly through ferrite, to interfaces whose ledgewise growth had been interrupted by growth stasis. (Mo₂C precipitation at α:γ boundaries occurred only at the end of growth stasis.) It appears that only a very small amount of Mo segregation is needed, probably at specific interfacial sites, in order to produce growth cessation. Growth kinetics anomalies of this kind continue to provide the best evidence available for the operation of a coupled-solute drag effect. This article is based on a presentation given in the symposium “The Effect of Alloying Elements on the Gamma to Alpha Transformation in Steels,” October 6, 2002, at the TMS Fall Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, under the auspices of the McMaster Centre for Steel Research and the ASM-TMS Phase Transformations Committee.     

Orientation averaging of electron backscattered diffraction data

The use of data averaging to improve the angular precision of electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) maps is discussed. It is shown that orientations may be conveniently and rapidly averaged using the four Euler-symmetric parameters which are coefficients of a quaternion representation. The processing of EBSD data requires the use of an edge preserving filter and a modified Kuwahara filter has been successfully implemented and tested. Three passes of such a filter have been shown to reduce orientation noise by a factor of ∼10. Application of the method to deformed and recovered aluminium alloys has shown that such data processing enables small subgrain misorientation (< 0.5°) to be detected reliably.     

Effects of action relations on the configural coding between objects.

Configural coding is known to take place between the parts of individual objects but has never been shown between separate objects. We provide novel evidence here for configural coding between separate objects through a study of the effects of action relations between objects on extinction. Patients showing visual extinction were presented with pairs of objects that were or were not co-located for action. We first confirmed the reduced extinction effect for objects co-located for action. Consistent with prior results showing that inversion disrupts configural coding, we found that inversion disrupted the benefit for action-related object pairs. This occurred both for objects with a standard canonical orientation (e.g., teapot and teacup) and those without, but where grasping and using the objects was made more difficult by inversion (e.g., spanner and nut). The data suggest that part of the affordance effect may reflect a visuo-motor response to the configural relations between stimuli. Experiment 2 showed that distorting the relative sizes of the objects also reduced the advantage for action-related pairs. We conclude that action-related pairs are processed as configurations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eunomos,a legal document and knowledge management system for the Web to provide relevant,reliable and up-to-date information on the law

This paper describes the Eunomos software, an advanced legal document and knowledge management system, based on legislative XML and ontologies. We describe the challenges of legal research in an increasingly complex, multi-level and multi-lingual world and how the Eunomos software helps users cut through the information overload to get the legal information they need in an organized and structured way and keep track of the state of the relevant law on any given topic. Using NLP tools to semi-automate the lower-skill tasks makes this ambitious project a realistic commercial prospect as it helps keep costs down while at the same time allowing greater coverage. We describe the core system from workflow and technical perspectives, and discuss applications of the system for various user groups.