The expressed social attitudes of leading psychologists.

The hypothesis "that psychologists can be divided into two broad groups according to their theoretical and practical interests, and that these groups can also be distinguished along a continuum of toughmindedness and tendermindedness" is examined. A modification of a Public Opinion Inventory developed by Eysenck "… was mailed to each of 52 well-known psychologists" previously dichotomized on the basis of their professional contributions. After factor analysis of returned inventories, instead "… of finding our leading psychologists falling into two groups, we find that they range themselves nicely along a single factor… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

No. 1 EAX Maintainability

The importance and objectives of maintainability to a telephone switching system are reviewed. Design approaches involving system structure, components, application software, and maintenance software are discussed. The basic elements of the system's maintainability: malfunction detection, retry, unit isolation, system recovery, fault localization, repair, and preventative maintenance are described. The layout of the repair manual is also presented.     

Factor analysis of reported minor personal mishaps.

"A factor analysis was performed on the intercorrelations between the responses of 1000 university students, most of whom were Arabs, to 38 statements about accidents and minor mishaps. A general factor was found to run through all the statements indicating that individuals who admit to having accidents in one situation also indicate that they have been involved in accidents in other situations. Such a finding does not contradict the notion of 'accident proneness' and suggests the possibility that some minor accidents and mishaps might be predictive of subsequent major accidents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Iterative Spike Separation Technique

A spike separation technique which combines data processing methods with extracellular probing techniques to allow simultaneous observation of multiple neural events is presented. A preparation, the locust ventral cord, allows spike separation. Experimental results and simulation indicate the usefulness of the method for this preparation. A feature of the data processing method allows the experimenter to direct the machine classification by an initial classification. Subsequently, the machine returns an indication of the quality of classification, allowing a reclassification or termination.     

Translating behavioral research into practical terms for alcoholism.

Practical aspects of behavioral research are considered at three levels. At the theoretical level, behavior analysis emphasizes transactional interpersonal determinants of behavior in contrast to traditional intrapsychic determinants. At the actual level, rules and procedures for behavior analysis and modification have been developed. At the potential level behavioral research on "experimental alcoholism," schedules of reinforcement and the discriminative properties of punishment suggest new ways of looking at the problem of alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey on the intended purposes and perceived utility of preoperative cardiology consultations

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists, such as MK801, delay the development of morphine tolerance. Magnesium, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist, reduces postoperative morphine requirements. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of intrathecal co-administration of magnesium sulfate with morphine on antinociceptive potentiation, tolerance, and naloxone-induced withdrawal signs. Magnesium sulfate (40-60 microg/h) co-administration for 7 days, similar to MK801 (10 nmol/h), prevented the decline in antinociceptive response compared with morphine (20 nmol/h). Magnesium sulfate (60 microg/h) produced no antinociception, but co-infused with morphine (1 nmol/h), it resulted in potentiated antinociception compared with morphine throughout the 7-day period. Probe morphine doses after 7-day infusions demonstrated a significantly greater 50% effective dose value for morphine 1 nmol/h (109.7 nmol) compared with saline (10.9 nmol), magnesium sulfate 60 microg/h (10.9 nmol), and magnesium sulfate 60 microg/h plus morphine 1 nmol/h (11.2 nmol), which indicates that magnesium had delayed morphine tolerance. Morphine withdrawal signs after naloxone administration were not altered by the co-infusion of magnesium sulfate. Cerebrospinal fluid magnesium levels after intrathecal magnesium sulfate (60 microg/h) for 2 days increased from 17.0 +/- 1.0 microg/mL to 41.4 +/- 23.6 microg/mL, although serum levels were unchanged. This study demonstrates antinociceptive potentiation and delay in the development of morphine tolerance by the intrathecal coinfusion of magnesium sulfate and morphine in the rat. Implications: The addition of magnesium sulfate, an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, to morphine in an intrathecal infusion provided better analgesia than morphine alone in normal rats. These results suggest that intrathecal administration of magnesium sulfate may be a useful adjunct to spinal morphine analgesia.     

Behavior therapy and behavior modification.

Behavior therapy and behavior modification are contrasted according to the psychological paradigm in which each belongs. Behavior therapy is located within the traditional S-O-R (stimulus-organism-response) paradigm which stresses "action" or "interaction" explanations of behavior, because its objective is to effect a cure of an individual's abnormal behavior by modifying the state of the individual alone. Behavior modification is located within a newly developed S-R-SR (stimulus-response-reinforcement) paradigm which stresses "transaction" explanations of behavior, because its objective is not to cure an individual but to arrange response-reinforcement contingencies which alter the individual's transactions with his environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Plain Ol' Superstition.

Comments on the article by John Oliver Cook (see record 1964-03363-001) on superstitions in the Skinnerian. The current author discusses Skinnerian superstitions, in particular two that may turn out to be important: Schedules of reinforcement are examples of intermittent reinforcement, and cumulative records are indicators of response probability via response rate. Another frequently held superstition about reinforcement theory is that the law of reinforcement is all there is to the prediction and control of behavior. Cook has exhibited at least one superstition common in the psychological community: Scientific theories are testable in miniature real-life situations. There is plenty of evidence apart from Cook's (cf. Bandura, 1962; Berkowitz, 1964) that there are situations in which humans do not need to be trained as though they were pigeons or rats, but this does not necessarily mean that these situations cannot be analyzed in terms of principles derived from the simpler organisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)