Psychology and United Nations human rights efforts.

The American Psychological Association Council in February 1987 passed a resolution declaring that "the discipline of psychology, and the academic and professional activities of psychologists, are relevant for securing and maintaining human rights" and resolving that "the APA applauds the ongoing efforts of the United Nations to defend and protect human rights and undertakes to recommend the main UN human rights instruments and documents to the attention of its boards, committees, and membership at large." To help to implement this resolution, the present article first provides information about the development of human rights concepts and instruments; treaties and declarations concerning torture are used as examples, and the impact of these international agreements is shown in a recent history-making U.S. legal decision. Second, the article reviews APA human rights policies and actions and offers some conclusions about them. Third, it calls attention to a number of specific international statements of human rights that are relevant to psychology. Fourth, the article suggests some further steps that APA could take to implement its resolution. Finally, it provides references to sources that include the texts of the United Nations' human rights instruments and information about them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of opioid peptides on learning and memory processes in the chick.

Several experiments were conducted to examine the effects of intracranial injection of opioid peptides and antagonists on learning and memory in the chick. Pretraining injection of [leu–5]enkephalin and the selective delta receptor agonist [D-Pen–2,L-Pen–5]enkephalin (DPLPE) into the intermediate medial hyperstriatum ventrale (IMHV) produced impairment. ICI 174,864, a delta-selective antagonist, reversed the impairment produced by either [leu–5]enkephalin or DPLPE, results indicating that delta receptors may play a role in learning in the chick and suggesting that the impairment produced by [leu–5]enkephalin is mediated through delta opioid receptors. β-endorphin produced a naloxone-reversible impairment in performance, which suggests that this impairment is mediated by opioid receptors. Bilateral injection of β-endorphin into the IMHV produced impairment, as did unilateral injection into the right, but not left, IMHV. Only bilateral injections into IMHV of [leu–5]enkephalin were effective. These results suggest that the effects of β-endorphin are centrally mediated whereas the effects of [leu–5]enkephalin may be localized to other brain regions or are peripherally mediated. These initial results suggest that opioids are associated with learning and memory in the chick. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Validity of the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Study with Felons and Delinquents: Comment": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by S. Rosenzweig (Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1963[Dec], Vol 27(6), 535-536). The correct version of the paragraph on p. 535, beginning "In short, the problem..." is provided. (The following abstract of this record originally appeared in 2005-13148-001.) In the recent Brief Report by Mercer and Kyriazis (see record 1965-01813-001) a comparison of a group of physically assaultive prisoners with a group of matched normals on the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration (P-F) Study yielded no significant differences. This result is not an isolated one. Since Mercer and Kyriazis in their brief and cautious conclusion state without further elaboration that their results "underscore the difficulty in relating reported attitudes to overt behavior," it appears worthwhile to note some of the interpretive considerations that underlie this difficulty. The problem of determining the level at which a subject performs on any projective device at a particular time remains crucial and unsolved, not only for the P-F Study but for the entire range of these diagnostic instruments. The P-F has the minor virtue of making this point somewhat more evident than do other projective methods which are more complex and meaningful unless the data also supply a definite context for understanding why the results were negative, i.e., why they were contrary to the explicit or implicit hypothesis under which the work was conducted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Caveat Emptor!

Discusses the motion picture Freud. The author argues that the picture is historically inaccurate; that it gives an utterly distorted conception of psychoanalysis; and that, as cinematic drama, it is third rate. Another current motion picture, To Kill a Mockingbird, is recommended instead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theoretical investigation of gain enhancements in strainedIn0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs MQW lasers via p-doping

We present a systematic theoretical investigation of the influence of p-doping on the gain characteristics of strained In_0.35Ga _0.65As/GaAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) lasers, and compare the results with those obtained experimentally from devices with record 30 GHz modulation bandwidths. Experimentally, the combination of p-doping and strain has been found to lead to only a small increase in the differential gain, ∂g/∂n, but a large decrease in the non-linear gain coefficient, ϵ; this behaviour has been theoretically accounted for by a doping-induced decrease in the intraband relaxation time, τ_in. The theoretical investigations reveal that the assumption of a constant intraband relaxation time is not sufficient to describe the role of p-doping in the above devices, and highlight the importance of utilizing an appropriate lineshape function for the modelling of high speed laser modulation behaviour     

Impedance, modulation response, and equivalent circuit ofultra-high-speed In0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs MQW laserswith p-doping

On-wafer measurements of the frequency-dependent impedance, modulation response, and RIN power spectra of ultra-high-speed p-doped In_0.35Ga_0.65As/GaAs MQW lasers are presented and analyzed. The experimental results are shown to be accurately modeled by an equivalent circuit which accounts for both the carrier transport/capture dynamics and the junction space-charge capacitance. We find that the carrier escape time out of the QW's in our laser structure is much larger. Than the carrier capture time, and therefore the interplay between carrier capture and re-emission is not affecting the high-speed modulation dynamics. On the other hand, the absolute values of both the carrier capture time and the space-charge capacitance still limit the modulation bandwidth     

U.S. psychology and world psychology.

Contends that although US psychology at present occupies a major position in world psychology, the field is growing more rapidly in many other countries. An example of international cooperation in an endeavor that could not be achieved by the psychological community of any single nation (i.e., securing the admission of the International Union of Psychological Science to the International Council of Scientific Unions) is given. A list of suggestions is presented outlining ways in which individual psychologists can take part in international psychological activities. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The Functional Anatomy of Psychotherapy": Comment.

Comments on the article by A. Astin (see record 1962-03183-001) which examined the functional autonomy of psychotherapy. Satire is a fine art but Astin's seriocomic diatribe is only an exercise in cynicism. It is yet to be demonstrated, with adequate outcome controls of course, that cynicism, buttressed on half-truths, benefits anybody. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)