Application of moment methods to the characterization of ribbon cables

A general method for computing the generalized capacitance matrix for a system of cylindrical conductors with cylindrical, dielectric insulations was applied to the case of ribbon (flatpack) cables. Simplifications in the general method were made possible by the symmetry of the cable: the wires lie in a plane, and all wires in the cable are identical as are the center-to-center spacings of adjacent wires. These characteristics were exploited in the adaptation of the general method to the case of ribbon cables and resulted in numerous computational simplifications.     

Married student concerns: Who counsels the married population?

Sampled 1,098 students and spouses on a university campus by a mailed questionnaire. Married Ss reported their greatest concerns were child-rearing problems, personal and vocational concerns, communication and incompatibility problems, and financial concerns. Lesser concerns were in-law conflicts, sexual adjustment, housing, social and recreational activities, and religious or philosophical differences. Wives reported more difficulties and a greater desire to talk to a counselor than their husbands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abstracts and brief notices

Authors of significant articles published elsewhere are invited to submit offprints for abstracting or their own abstracts, which may be in English, French, or German. Special attention should be paid to work appearing in specialized or foreign journals. Guidelines for preparing abstracts are available on request.     

A background interference procedure to increase sensitivity of the Bender-Gestalt Test to organic brain disorder.

A study of the efficacy of a new technique, the background interference procedure (BIP), to measure visuomotor impairment. 30 brain-damaged psychiatric patients, 22 psychotic nonorganic patients, and 34 nonpsychotic, nonorganic psychiatric patients were compared on performance decrements on the Bender-Gestalt Test using standard paper and BIP paper and scored by the Pascal-Suttell method. The results indicated that the brain-damaged patients showed decrements in Bender performance under BIP compared to standard conditions whereas little or no change was shown by other patients. Tentative criteria for screening the brain-damaged among psychiatric patients were formulated and tested on a fresh sample of 65 patients. The results suggest that the BIP is highly sensitive to the effects of brain damage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reassertion of the paradoxical power of tests of significance based on unreliable difference scores.

Points out that the negative relationship between power of tests of significance and the reliability of difference scores involves a continuous function in which zero reliability is the most extreme case. It is not necessary to assume zero true interaction in order to recognize a paradoxical increase in likelihood of significant treatment effects to be associated with low reliability of difference scores on which all calculations are based. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Down's Syndrome (mongolism): The heritable aspects.

Striking technological advances in the study of human chromosomes have revealed an excess of genetic material in the cells of patients with Down's syndrome. Both the trisomic and translation forms of mongolism are discussed, as is the assessment of morbidity risks in relatives of a given patient. The origin of the chromosomal abnormalities, and the mechanisms by which they generate the clinical picture of Down's syndrome, constitute questions for further research. When this etiological enigma is resolved optional management of patients and their relatives will depend, even more than at present, upon the active collaboration of psychologists and psychiatrists with human geneticists. (100 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Eleventh Hour.

Discusses the efforts of the APA Central Office to correct the image of psychology on the network television show The Eleventh Hour. The author objects to APA's policing the image of psychology in entertainment media (not news, nonfiction features, or documentaries). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)