bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ReConceiving Masculinity: Imagining Men’s Reproductive Bodies in Law
Authors: Sheldon Sally
Published: March 2003

It is not just women’s bodies which can pose risks to the foetus but also those of men, with the quality of sperm playing an important role in foetal health. This article assesses why male antenatal behaviour has received such scant attention. It focuses on the regulation of liability for congenital disability and foetal protection legislation and policies, in order to uncover the received understandings of male and female reproductivity which have informed the law in this area. It argues that these understandings are predicated upon a particular vision of men’s and women’s bodies and of a gendered division of labour following the birth of a child.
Compliance Professionalism and Regulatory Community: The Australian Trade Practices Regime
Authors: Parker Christine
Published: March 2003

Contemporary state governance relies increasingly on regulatory strategies encouraging self‐regulation and compliance for corporate regulation. This paper examines the conditions in which such strategies might be effective by reference to the Australian trade practices regime. The paper argues that regulators will only use compliance strategies effectively when (i) a community of compliance professionals with both professional integrity and commercial ‘street’ credibility exists to make compliance come alive in everyday corporate activities, and (ii) regulators invest in meta‐evaluation of compliance professionals’ activities.
Policing with Contempt: The Degrading of Truth and Denial of Justice in the Aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster
Authors: Scraton Phil
Published: March 2003

The Hillsborough disaster happened at a premier United Kingdom soccer stadium in April 1989 claiming the lives of ninety‐six men, women, and children. Over the next decade there followed a Home Office inquiry, a criminal investigation, compensation hearings as far as the House of Lords, the longest inquests in recent history, a judicial review, a judicial scrutiny, and private prosecutions. Media coverage has remained intense and there has been persistent parliamentary debate. Despite the evidence amassed, much of it undisclosed, the legal argument and official discourse, the bereaved and survivors remain deeply concerned that the ‘truth’ of Hillsborough has been suppressed and reconstructed.

This paper considers Hillsborough and its long‐term aftermath in the context of a theoretical discussion of the reconstitution and registration of ‘truth’ within social democracies when state institutions stand accused. It adopts a critical analysis drawing on human rights discourse in discussing how ‘regimes of truth’ operate to protect and sustain the interests of the ‘powerful’. In examining the formal legal processes and their outcomes regarding Hillsborough, the paper demonstrates how they were manipulated to degrade the truth and deny justice to the bereaved. In revealing the procedural and structural inadequacies of these processes, the paper raises fundamental questions about the legal and political accountability of the police. Finally, it discusses alternative forms, informed by a human rights agenda, through which ‘truth’ can be acknowledged and institutionalized injustices reconciled.
Why a Jury Trial is More Like a Movie Than a Novel
Authors: Meyer Phil
Published: March 2003

This essay is concerned to note the way in which successful trial advocacy seems to stem from the ability to convert legal discourse into a story form. These stories need to be ones with which a jury is familiar. These increasingly come from visual media, particularly film. It looks in detail at one trial where this process of relating a defence to the jury employed the structure of a Mafia film. The essay concludes by examining the reasons why the nature of the novel differs significantly from that of the film and how in the novel‐to‐film adaptation process a certain simplification is bound to occur.
‘I’ve lost the plot’: an everyday story of legal aid lawyers
Authors: Sommerlad Hilary
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the impact on a specific group of solicitors in the United Kingdom of recent changes in the delivery of legal services. These changes are seen as a form of the New Public Management (NPM), and the paper explores the proposition that NPM is producing a public sector characterized by high output but low morale, through an analysis of qualitative data from a group of ‘political’ legal aid practitioners. The data is seen to support the high‐output/low‐morale thesis, and the paper argues that one effect therefore of legal aid reform may be to damage the ‘political’ lawyer’s project of empowering the client and countering social injustice.
How Does an Inquiry Inquire? A Brief Note on the Working Methods of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
Authors: Maclean Mavis
Published: March 2003

This paper draws on the author's experience as a panel member for the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry into the care of children receiving complex cardiac services at the BRI between 1984 and 1995 to describe the process of inquiry and to reflect on recent moves towards a more managed court system, in both civil and criminal jurisdictions. We may begin to question the traditional sharp distinction between adversarial and inquisitorial court processes and to consider the similarities as well as the differences.
A Model of the Strength and Appropriateness of Argumentation in Organizational Contexts
Authors: Sillince John A. A.
Published: March 2003

Argumentation within organizations depends for its effectiveness upon the context. The model presented seeks to identify the three ways in which an arguer can become more persuasive. The first way uses the fact that many of the dimensions of argument strength (familiarity, evidence, simplicity, etc) are not appropriate in particular organizational contexts, so that within each context the arguer must select a particular combination of appropriate dimensions. The second way uses the fact that each context has its own rhetorical requirements and gives rise to its own appropriate rhetorical form which triggers a myth‐like association. The third way uses the fact that the four elements of context (arguer, audience, topic and setting) must be skilfully integrated together, especially with regard to showing empathy for the audience, balancing contradictory elements (such as promises and warnings) in the same argument in order to minimize the simplifying effect of rhetoric, and remaining tactically flexible enough to switch positions.
HRM as Hologram: A Polemic
Authors: Keenoy Tom
Published: March 2003

The polemical argument developed in this paper is an attempt to analyse the ‘problem’ of HRM and suggest a way forward. The ‘problem’ is identified in terms of the intrinsic conceptual‐theoretic, empirical, representative and institutional ambiguities which characterize the discourses and practices of HRM. It is argued that these stem from the epistemological limitations of modernist methodologies employed to ‘identify’ and ‘fix’ HRM. The proposed ‘solution’ involves visualizing the phenomenal forms taken by HRM through the metaphor of the hologram and re‐understanding HRM from a holographic perspective. This permits the well‐known ‘contradictions’ to dissolve and HRM is reconstituted as a complex holistic process refracting the politico‐managerial changes attendant on ‘globalization’
Initial Environmental Conditions and Technological Change
Authors: Zyglidopoulos Stelios
Published: March 2003

This paper provides a theoretical link between the initial environmental conditions surrounding a firm's birth and first few years of operations and its process of technological change. The main argument is that initial environmental conditions influence the technological trajectories of business firms. Four mechanisms through which this influence is carried out are technological paradigm, dominant logic, organizational structure, and configuration. These mechanisms act as carriers of initial influences and constrain the future technological developments, restricting thus the possible technological trajectories a firm can follow. This paper discusses the above mechanisms and a number of propositions concerning the kind of influence different initial environmental conditions have on technological change. The paper concludes with implications for further research.
Project Team Communication in Financial Service Innovation
Authors: Lievens A. , Moenaert R. K.
Published: March 2003

We examine the role of communication during the innovation process of new financial services from an information processing perspective. A contingency framework is developed on the role of communication and its impact on new financial services success. In order to assess the unique nature of the services context of this study, this framework also depicts the moderating impact of the specific services characteristics (intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability) on project communication during the innovation process. Project team communication is conceptualized by three types of communication: (1) intra‐project communication, (2) extra‐project communication involving (i) organizational liaisons, which refer to the transfer of intra‐organizational communication by project members and (ii) gatekeepers of information, which refer to the transfer of extra‐organizational information by customer‐contact personnel. The relationship between project team communication and the reduction of innovative uncertainty on new financial service success is examined. Our contingency model implies that managers have to recognize the critical communication roles that project members and frontline employees may fulfill. The communication flows mediated by these individuals foster the uncertainty reduction during the innovation process. Moreover, financial service innovation management should conceive the service characteristics as sources of task uncertainty, as they may lower project communication effectiveness, i.e. the reduction of innovative uncertainty. Following the managerial implications of our model, we finally formulate directions for future research.
Porter’s Competitive Advantage Of Nations: Time For The Final Judgement?
Authors: Davies Howard , Ellis Paul
Published: March 2003

Porter’s (1990) Competitive Advantage of Nations (CAN) was heralded on publication as a book which could build a bridge between the theoretical literatures in strategic management and international economics, and provide the basis for improved national policies on ‘competitiveness’. This review of CAN draws on papers written since its publication to show that while it was enormously rich in its range and scope it fell far short of the claims made for it. That failure arose from a number of sources. Most fundamentally, there were elisions with respect to the object of the analysis which meant that explanations for productivity at national level became confused with explanations for industry level success in gaining market share. Second, there were fundamental misunderstandings of the factors which determine trade, particularly with respect to the principle of comparative advantage. Third, there were flaws in the methodology and mode of reasoning. Finally, the assertions which form the heart of CAN have been refuted. Sustained prosperity may be achieved without a nation becoming ‘innovation‐driven’, strong ‘diamonds’ are not in place in the home bases of many internationally successful industries and inward foreign direct investment does not indicate a lack of ‘competitiveness’ or low national productivity. Policy‐makers are left with a ‘laundry list’ on which to base simple SWOT‐type analyses of their economies, but there is no reliable guide to policy. Developing countries in particular are inadvertently encouraged to pursue policies which might be harmful. Porter generalized inappropriately from the American experience, while confusing competition at industry level with trade at national level. CAN’s failure suggests that academicians of international business would be well advised to revisit the elementary economics of trade and growth before venturing too boldly into the field of policy.
Managers’ Perceptions of Criteria of Organizational Effectiveness
Authors: Walton Eric J. , Dawson Sarah
Published: March 2003

This research explores managerial perceptions of organizational effectiveness and whether they have similarities with perceptions of academics, and with the competing values model of organizational effectiveness (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983). The results suggest that the same values organize the patterning of effectiveness criteria in a cohesion‐based solution for managers and academics. Yet, this cohesion model has inadequate explanatory power for managers’ perceptions and shows no relationship with either their experience or organizational preferences. In contrast, a conflict‐based solution provides adequate explanatory power for managers and relates to their experience and to organizational preferences. If managers play any part in influencing effectiveness in organizations, then incorporating their views into models of organizational effectiveness is therefore likely to improve our understanding of organizational functioning.
Coping and Defense Mechanisms: What's the Difference?
Authors: Cramer Phebe
Published: March 2003

Defense mechanisms and coping strategies are discussed as two different types of adaptational processes. They may be clearly differentiated on the basis of the psychological processes involved, but not on the basis of their relation to outcome measures. Criteria that critically differentiate between defense and coping processes include the conscious/unconscious status and the intentional/nonintentional nature of the processes. Criteria based on the dispositional or situational status of the process, and on the conceptualization of the processes as hierarchical, are found to be more a matter of emphasis than of critical difference. A criterion that attempts to differentiate between defense and coping processes on the basis of their relation to psychological or physical health is found to be without support once the bias in self‐report outcome measures is recognized.
Personality Traits in Late Adolescence Predict Mental Disorders in Early Adulthood: A Perspective‐Epidemiological Study
Authors: Krueger Robert F.
Published: March 2003

Prospective relations between personality traits and mental disorders were assessed in a longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort of young men and women from Dunedin, New Zealand. Personality traits were assessed via self‐report questionnaire at age 18, and mental disorders were assessed via diagnostic interview at both ages 18 and 21. High “negative emotionality” (a propensity to experience aversive affective states) at age 18 was linked with affective, anxiety, substance dependence, and antisocial personality disorders at age 21 when corresponding mental disorders at age 18 were controlled. Low “constraint” (difficulty inhibiting the expression of affect and impulse) at age 18 was linked with substance dependence and antisocial personality disorders at age 21 when corresponding mental disorders at age 18 were controlled. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development and treatment of mental disorders in young adulthood.
Cross‐Setting Consistency in Early Adolescent Psychopathology: Deviant Friendships and Problem Behavior Sequelae
Authors: Dishion Thomas J.
Published: March 2003

This study examines adult reports of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology at home and school in a sample of 224 high‐risk adolescent boys and girls (average age 12 years). Four groups of young adolescents were defined, based on the consistency of the teacher and parent Child Behavior Checklist reports: normal, internalizing, externalizing only, and comorbid. Group comparisons revealed the comorbid and externalizing groups were more engaged in a deviant peer group and were observed in higher levels of deviancy training with their friends, compared to other young adolescent groups. In general, elevated levels of arrest, drug use, and sexual promiscuity were associated with cross‐setting consistency in externalizing disorders. Comorbid youth, however, showed the highest levels of sexual promiscuity in middle adolescence, compared to all other groups. These findings are consistent with a developmental account of adolescent maladjustment and suggest that emotional disturbance in early adolescence might exacerbate youth vulnerability, especially to deviancy training within friendships.
Personality Development and Growth in Women Across 30 Years: Three Perspectives
Authors: Roberts Brent W. , Helson Ravenna , Klohnen Eva C.
Published: March 2003

This article addressesthree questions about personality development in a 30‐year longitudinal study of women (N = 78): (1) To what extent did the women maintain the same position inrelation to each other on personality characteristics over the 30 years, and what broad factorswere related to the amount of change in their rank order? (2) Did the sample as a whole increaseor decrease over time on indices of personality growth, and did they change in ways distinctive towomen? (3) Were experiential factors associated with individual differences in the amount ofchange? Results showed that personality was quite consistent while also showing that timeinterval was positively related to rank‐order change and age was negatively related to rank‐orderchange. Over the period from age 21 to age 52, the women increased on measures ofnorm‐orientation and complexity and showed changes on measures of Dominance andFemininity/Masculinity consistent with the hypothesis that changing sex roles would lead toincreases in Dominance and increases, then decreases, in Femininity/Masculinity. A third set ofresults showed that changes in Dominance and Femininity/Masculinity were associated with lifecircumstances such as marital tension, divorce, and participation in the paid labor force. Theimplications of the findings for personality development and growth are discussed.
Human Nature and Culture: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective
Authors: Buss David M.
Published: March 2003

Personality psychology is the broadest of all psychological subdisciplines in that it seeks a conceptually integrated understanding of both human nature and important individual differences. Cultural differences pose a unique set of problems for any comprehensive theory of personality—how can they be reconciled with universals of human nature on the one hand and within‐cultural variation on the other? Evolutionary psychology provides one set of conceptual tools by which this conceptual integration can be made. It requires jettisoning the false but still‐pervasive dichotomy of culture versus biology, acknowledging a universal human nature, and recognizing that the human mind contains many complex psychological mechanisms that are selectively activated, depending on cultural contexts. Culture rests on a foundation of evolved psychological mechanisms and cannot be understood without those mechanisms.
Predicting Geotechnical Parameters of Sands from CPT Measurements Using Neural Networks
Authors: Hsein Juang C. , Lu Ping C. , Chen Caroline J.
Published: March 2003

Predicting sand parameters such as Dr, K0, and OCR from CPT measurements is an important and challenging task for the geotechnical engineer. In the present study, a system of neural networks is developed for predicting these parameters based on CPT measurements. The proposed system uses backpropagation neural networks for function approximation and probabilistic neural networks for classification. By strategically combining both types of networks, the proposed system is able to predict accurately Dr, K0, and OCR of sands from CPT measurements and other soil parameters. Details on the development of the proposed system are presented, along with comparisons of the results obtained by this system with existing methods.
Integration of General Sparse Matrix and Parallel Computing Technologies for Large–Scale Structural Analysis
Authors: Hsieh Shang–Hsien , Yang Yuan–Sen , Hsu Po–Yao
Published: March 2003

Both general sparse matrix and parallel computing technologies are integrated in this study as a finite element solution of large–scale structural problems in a PC cluster environment. The general sparse matrix technique is first employed to reduce execution time and storage requirements for solving the simultaneous equilibrium equations in finite element analysis. To further reduce the time required for large–scale structural analyses, two parallel processing approaches for sharing computational workloads among collaborating processors are then investigated. One approach adopts a publicly available parallel equation solver, called SPOOLES, to directly solve the sparse finite element equations, while the other employs a parallel substructure method for the finite element solution. This work focuses more on integrating the general sparse matrix technique and the parallel substructure method for large–scale finite element solutions. Additionally, numerical studies have been conducted on several large–scale structural analyses using a PC cluster to investigate the effectiveness of the general sparse matrix and parallel computing technologies in reducing time and storage requirements in large–scale finite element structural analyses.
Public Reasons and the ‘Private Language’
Authors: Norman Richard
Published: March 2003

The author defends his version of the parallel which can be drawn between Wittgenstein’s ‘private language’ argument and the argument that practical reasons must necessarily be public reasons. This position is compared and contrasted with recent attempts by Christine Korsgaard and Ken O’Day to formulate a ‘public reasons’ argument. The position is defended against the criticism that it cannt account for the practical force of reasons. Finally it is argued that, although the claim that the reasons must be ‘public’ is not to be confused with the claim that reasons must be ‘other‐regarding’, the former claim does help to remove certain obstacles to the idea of other‐regarding reasons.
The Value in Friendship
Authors: Long Roderick T.
Published: March 2003

Why do we value friendship? No explanation that appeals to values external to friendship will be a satisfactory answer to this question.
An Empirical Comparison of the Performance of Classical Power Indices
Authors: Leech Dennis
Published: March 2003

Power indices are general measures of the relative a priori voting power of individual members of a voting body. They are useful for both positive and normative analysis of voting bodies particularly those using weighted voting. This paper applies new algorithms for computing the rival Shapley-Shubik and Banzhaf indices for large voting bodies to shareholder voting power in a cross section of British companies. Each company is a separate voting body and there is much variation in ownership between them resulting in different power structures. Because the data are incomplete, both finite and ‘oceanic’ games of shareholder voting are analysed. The indices are appraised, using reasonable criteria, from the literature on corporate control. The results are unfavourable to the Shapley-Shubik index and suggest that the Banzhaf index much better reflects the variations in the power of shareholders between companies as the weights of shareholder blocs vary.
Efficiency in Politics: Competing Economic Approaches
Authors: Vanhuysse Pieter
Published: March 2003

The article reviews four recent economic books on efficiency in democracy. Special emphasis is given to two ambitious competing approaches: Mancur Olson's theory of encompassing interests and Donald Wittman's Myth of Democratic Failure. It is argued that the thesis that democracy should generally be presumed to be efficient is problematic in several respects. Sweeping conclusions are reached by virtue of a superficial application of economic analogies, which abstracts away many crucial characteristics of democratic politics, such as information imperfections, weak incentive structures, and collective action failures. The basic explanation for efficient outcomes may have more to do with the size of rulers' stakes in the economy than with voluntary Coasean bargaining.
Non-Governmental Organizations and Governmentality: ‘Consuming’ Biodiversity and Indigenous People in the Philippines
Authors: Bryant Raymond L.
Published: March 2003

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are playing an increasingly important role in the process Foucault called ‘governmentality’. Drawing on the Foucauldian literature, this paper uses a case study of biodiversity conservation as well as indigenous people's ancestral domain in the Philippines to show how two quite different NGO-led conservation agendas nonetheless share a common underlying purpose: persuading indigenous people to internalize state control through self-regulation. Ironically, it is this sort of NGO contribution to the elaboration of government (in the Foucauldian sense) that may turn out be the most significant and lasting contribution that NGOs make to social change.
For a European Constitutional Patriotism
Authors: Lacroix Justine
Published: March 2003

In recent years, two dominant models for understanding the source of common political identities have emerged in the European context: the universalist paradigm of constitutional patriotism and the communitarian paradigm of ‘civic nationalism’. In view of this dichotomy, one could be tempted to think that only a combination of these two positions could deal with the mixed nature of European architecture. The European Union would thus give birth to the appealing synthesis of a ‘cosmopolitan communitarianism’. This choice of a middle way is challenged in this paper. Instead, I argue that the national or communitarian challenge would be better met by the development of constitutional patriotism rather than by a loose compromise. Contrary to what most commentators seem to believe, constitutional patriotism has practical significance, is historically embedded and seeks to promote a shared political culture.
Political Studies and Cultural Studies: A Response to Finlayson and Martin
Authors: Brown Robin
Published: March 2003

Cultural Studies has more to learn from Political Studies than Political Studies had to learn from Cultural Studies. In a recent issue of Politics (Vol 17, No 3), Finlayson and Martin argued that Political Studies should learn from the conceptions of ‘culture’ and ‘politics’ employed in Cultural Studies. This response reviews the development of Cultural Studies in order to elucidate its approach and argues that alternative approaches to the issue of culture are more useful for students of politics than Cultural Studies approaches.
From Old Labour to New Labour: A Comment on Rubinstein
Authors: Driver Stephen , Martell Luke
Published: March 2003

In a critique of our book New Labour, David Rubinstein has argued that we exaggerate the degree of difference between Old and New Labour and underplay the similarities. In this article we agree with many of the continuities that Rubinstein outlines. However, we argue that he himself gives plenty of evidence in favour of our thesis that change has been marked in many policy areas. We argue that we give a good account of the wider social factors that he says accounts for such change. In this article we offer a restatement of the view that New Labour offers a ‘post-Thatcherite’ politics. New Labour breaks both with post-war social democracy and with Thatcherism.
Whither (or Wither) the Euro? Labour and the Single Currency
Authors: Carter Nick
Published: March 2003

New Labour has always claimed consistency in its euro policy, yet its position has undergone significant modification since Blair became party leader: early enthusiasm has given way to uncertainty. Labour's shift is commonly ascribed to political factors. This article argues the primacy of economics. Labour has a better understanding of Europe's importance to Britain than perhaps any post-war administration but, as its euro policy demonstrates, its ‘new’ approach to Europe is substantially a traditional one.
The Lower Visual Search Efficiency for Conjunctions Is Due to Noise and not Serial Attentional Processing
Authors: Eckstein Miguel P.
Published: March 2003

Models of human visual processing start with an initial stage with parallel independent processing of different physical attributes or features (e.g., color, orientation, motion). A second stage in these models is a temporally serial mechanism (visual attention) that combines or binds information across feature dimensions. Evidence for this serial mechanism is based on experimental results for visual search. I conducted a study of visual search accuracy that carefully controlled for low-level effects: physical similarity of target and distractor, element eccentricity, and eye movements. The larger set-size effects in visual search accuracy for briefly flashed conjunction displays, compared with feature displays, are quantitatively predicted by a simple model in which each feature dimension is processed independently with inherent neural noise and information is combined linearly across feature dimensions. The data are not predicted by a temporally serial mechanism or by a hybrid model with temporally serial and noisy processing. The results do not support the idea that a temporally serial mechanism, visual attention, binds information across feature dimensions and show that the conjunction-feature dichotomy is due to the noisy independent processing of features in the human visual system.
Adult's Eyes Trigger Shifts of Visual Attention in Human Infants
Authors: Hood Bruce M. , Willen J. Douglas , Driver Jon
Published: March 2003

Two experiments examined whether infants shift their visual attention in the direction toward which an adult's eyes turn. A computerized modification of previous joint-attention paradigms revealed that infants as young as 3 months attend in the same direction as the eyes of a digitized adult face. This attention shift was indicated by the latency and direction of their orienting to peripheral probes presented after the face was extinguished. A second experiment found a similar influence of direction of perceived gaze, but also that less peripheral orienting occurred if the central face remained visible during presentation of the probe. This may explain why attention shifts triggered by gaze perception have been difficult to observe in infants using previous naturalistic procedures. Our new method reveals both that direction of perceived gaze can be discriminated by young infants and that this perception triggers corresponding shifts of their own attention.
Race and General Cognitive Ability: The Myth of Diminishing Returns to Education
Authors: Myerson Joel , Rank Mark R. , Raines Fredric Q. , Schnitzler Mark A.
Published: March 2003

The impact of education on racial differences in general cognitive ability was assessed using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To control for attrition during the educational process, we compared the scores of individuals who ultimately attained the same level of education but who were tested at different points in their educational careers. Multiple regression analyses revealed that education can have a strong positive effect on cognitive ability in both whites and blacks. Whites benefited more from education than blacks during the high school years, but blacks benefited much more than whites from a college education, substantially narrowing the gap between the races. These findings contradict the hypothesis that racial differences in intelligence are relatively immutable, in part because of the diminishing returns from increases in education.
A Quantitative Trait Locus Associated With Cognitive Ability in Children
Authors: Chorney M.J. , Chorney K. , Seese N. , Owen M.J. , Daniels J. , McGuffin P. , Thompson L.A. , Detterman D.K. , Benbow C. , Lubinski D. , Eley T. , Plomin R.
Published: March 2003

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with general cognitive ability ( g) were investigated for several groups of children selected for very high or for average cognitive functioning. A DNA marker in the gene for insulin-like growth factor-2 receptor (IGF2R) on Chromosome 6 yielded a significantly greater frequency of a particular form of the gene (allele) in a high- g group (.303; average IQ = 136, N = 51) than in a control group (.156; average IQ = 103, N = 51). This association was replicated in an extremely-high- g group (all estimated IQs > 160, N = 52) as compared with an independent control group (average IQ = 101, N = 50), with allelic frequencies of .340 and .169, respectively. Moreover, a high-mathematics-ability group ( N = 62) and a high-verbal-ability group ( N = 51) yielded results that were in the same direction but only marginally significant ( p = .06 and .08, respectively).
Evaluating Word-Reading Models at the Item Level: Matching the Grain of Theory and Data
Authors: Seidenberg Mark S. , Plaut David C.
Published: March 2003

Spieler and Balota (1997) showed that connectionist models of reading account for relatively little item-specific variance. In assessing this finding, it is important to recognize two factors that limit how much variance such models can possibly explain. First, item means are affected by several factors that are not addressed in existing models, including processes involved in recognizing letters and producing articulatory output. These limitations point to important areas for future research but have little bearing on existing theoretical claims. Second, the item data include a substantial amount of error variance that would be inappropriate to model. Issues concerning comparisons between simulation data and human performance are discussed with an emphasis on the importance of evaluating models at a level of specificity (“grain”) appropriate to the theoretical issues being addressed.
Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology: Clerical Errors Corrected but Inferences Unchanged
Authors: Templer Donald I. , Tomeo Marie E.
Published: March 2003

The Yu et al. (1997) study on correlates of mean score on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) contained some clerical errors that are corrected here. The findings and associated inferences are basically the same after making these corrections as they were before. Academically stronger clinical psychology programs have graduates who tend to score higher on the EPPP. An additional analysis using only professional schools revealed that programs approved by the American Psychological Association and those that are not freestanding tend to produce graduates with higher scores.
Does the Gun Pull the Trigger? Automatic Priming Effects of Weapon Pictures and Weapon Names
Authors: Anderson Craig A. , Benjamin Arlin J. , Bartholow Bruce D.
Published: March 2003

More than 30 years ago, Berkowitz and LePage (1967) published the first study demonstrating that the mere presence of a weapon increases aggressive behavior. These results have been replicated in several contexts by several research teams. The standard explanation of this weapons effect on aggressive behavior involves priming; identification of a weapon is believed to automatically increase the accessibility of aggression-related thoughts. Two experiments using a word pronunciation task tested this hypothesis. Both experiments consisted of multiple trials in which a prime stimulus (weapon or nonweapon) was followed by a target word (aggressive or nonaggressive) that was to be read as quickly as possible. The prime stimuli were words in Experiment 1 and pictures in Experiment 2. Both experiments showed that the mere identification of a weapon primes aggression-related thoughts. A process model linking weapons as primes to aggressive behavior is discussed briefly.
Perceiving Real-World Viewpoint Changes
Authors: Simons Daniel J. , Wang Ranxiao Frances
Published: March 2003

Retinal images vary as observers move through the environment, but observers seem to have little difficulty recognizing objects and scenes across changes in view. Although real-world view changes can be produced both by object rotations (orientation changes) and by observer movements (viewpoint changes), research on recognition across views has relied exclusively on display rotations. However, research on spatial reasoning suggests a possible dissociation between orientation and viewpoint. Here we demonstrate that scene recognition in the real world depends on more than the retinal projection of the visible array; viewpoint changes have little effect on detection of layout changes, but equivalent orientation changes disrupt performance significantly. Findings from our three experiments suggest that scene recognition across view changes relies on a mechanism that updates a viewer-centered representation during observer movements, a mechanism not available for orientation changes. These results link findings from spatial tasks to work on object and scene recognition and highlight the importance of considering the mechanisms underlying recognition in real environments.
Semantic Competition as The Basis of Stroop Interference: Evidence From Color-Word Matching Tasks
Authors: Luo Chun R.
Published: March 2003

A color-word matching task was used to investigate the basis of Stroop interference. Subjects were shown a pair of stimuli: an ink color (e.g., a red bar) and a colored word (e.g., RED printed in red or blue) and decided whether the two items had the same meaning (meaning decisions) or whether they had the same surface color (visual decisions). In Experiment 1, the two stimuli were shown simultaneously, and conflicting visual information of the word (e.g., RED printed in blue, against a red bar) led to interference in meaning decisions, whereas conflicting verbal information (e.g., BLUE printed in red, against a red bar) produced no interference in visual decisions. In Experiment 2, as an increasing time interval was imposed between presentation of the color bar and the colored word, interference in meaning decisions diminished, whereas interference in visual decisions was established. These results suggest that semantic competition, not response competition, is the major source of Stroop and Stroop-like interference.
Promoting Novelty in Vision: Inhibition of Return Modulates Perceptual-Level Processing
Authors: Handy Todd C. , Jha Amishi P. , Mangun George R.
Published: March 2003

To facilitate visual search of complex scenes, information arising from recently attended locations is subject to a selective inhibition in processing known as inhibition of return (IOR). Although the mechanisms of IOR remain unresolved, both motor and perceptual influences have been proposed based on reaction time (RT) studies. Here we report the results of two reflexive cuing studies in which signal detection methodology was employed to directly examine the effects of IOR on perception. IOR was found to be associated with a significant reduction in the accuracy of target discriminations at recently attended locations. Further, these effects of IOR on response accuracy were independent of whether emphasis was placed on the speed of responding. These results provide the first direct evidence that IOR can affect the perceptual quality of visual processing.
A Role for the Human Amygdala in Recognizing Emotional Arousal From Unpleasant Stimuli
Authors: Adolphs Ralph , Russell James A. , Tranel Daniel
Published: March 2003

Functional neuroimaging and lesion-based neuropsychological experiments have demonstrated the human amygdala's role in recognition of certain emotions signaled by sensory stimuli, notably, fear and anger in facial expressions. We examined recognition of two emotional dimensions, arousal and valence, in a rare subject with complete, bilateral damage restricted to the amygdala. Recognition of emotional arousal was impaired for facial expressions, words, and sentences that depicted unpleasant emotions, especially in regard to fear and anger. However, recognition of emotional valence was normal. The findings suggest that the amygdala plays a critical role in knowledge concerning the arousal of negative emotions, a function that may explain the impaired recognition of fear and anger in patients with bilateral amygdala damage, and one that is consistent with the amygdala's role in processing stimuli related to threat and danger.
Young Children Use Letter Names in Learning to Read Words
Authors: Treiman Rebecca , Rodriguez Kira
Published: March 2003

Most theories of reading development claim that young children are logographic, or prealphabetic, readers, unable to take advantage of the systematic links between spellings and sounds that exist in an alphabetic writing system. To test this view, we taught preschool and kindergarten children to pronounce three types of made-up spellings. In the name condition, the name of the word's first letter was heard in the spoken word (e.g., BT for “beet”). In the sound condition, letter-sound cues were present but letter-name cues were not (e.g., BT for “bait”). Neither type of cue was available in the visual condition (e.g., bT for “ham”). Even children who were unable to read any simple words performed better in the name condition than the other two conditions. Thus, children are able to benefit from links between spellings and sounds when these links involve the names of letters.
Functional Neuroanatomy of the Cognitive Process of Mapping During Discourse Comprehension
Authors: Robertson David A. , Gernsbacher Morton Ann , Guidotti Seline J. , Robertson Rachel R.W. , Irwin William , Mock Bryan J. , Campana Mary E.
Published: March 2003

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions involved in the process of mapping coherent discourse onto a developing mental representation. We manipulated discourse coherence by presenting sentences with definite articles (which lead to more coherent discourse) or indefinite articles (which lead to less coherent discourse). Comprehending connected discourse, compared with reading unrelated sentences, produced more neural activity in the right than left hemisphere of the frontal lobe. Thus, the right hemisphere of the frontal lobe is involved in some of the processes underlying mapping. In contrast, left-hemisphere structures were associated with lower-level processes in reading (such as word recognition and syntactic processing). Our results demonstrate the utility of using fMRI to investigate the neural substrates of higher-level cognitive processes such as discourse comprehension.
Neighborhood Deprivation Affects Children's Mental Health: Environmental Risks Identified in a Genetic Design
Authors: Caspi Avshalom , Taylor Alan , Moffitt Terrie E. , Plomin Robert
Published: March 2003

The possibility that neighborhood conditions affect children's development has captured much attention because of its implications for prevention. But does growing up in deprived neighborhoods matter above and beyond a genetic liability to behavior problems, if genetically vulnerable families tend to concentrate in poor neighborhoods? A nationwide study of 2-year-old twins shows that children in deprived neighborhoods were at increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems over and above any genetic liability. Environmental factors shared by members of a family accounted for 20% of the population variation in children's behavior problems, and neighborhood deprivation accounted for 5% of this family-wide environmental effect. The results suggest that the link between poor neighborhoods and children's mental health may be a true environmental effect, and demonstrate that genetic designs are environmentally informative and can be used to identify modifiable risk factors for promoting child health.
Birds of a Feather Flock Conjointly (?): Rhyme as Reason in Aphorisms
Authors: McGlone Matthew S. , Tofighbakhsh Jessica
Published: March 2003

We explored the role that poetic form can play in people's perceptions of the accuracy of aphorisms as descriptions of human behavior. Participants judged the ostensible accuracy of unfamiliar aphorisms presented in their textually surviving form or a semantically equivalent modified form. Extant rhyming aphorisms in their original form (e.g., “What sobriety conceals, alcohol reveals”) were judged to be more accurate than modified versions that did not preserve rhyme (“What sobriety conceals, alcohol unmasks”). However, the perceived truth advantage of rhyming aphorisms over their modified forms was attenuated when people were cautioned to distinguish aphorisms' poetic qualities from their semantic content. Our results suggest that rhyme, like repetition, affords statements an enhancement in processing fluency that can be misattributed to heightened conviction about their truthfulness.
Excessive Reassurance Seeking: Delineating a Risk Factor Involved in the Development of Depressive Symptoms
Authors: Joiner Thomas E. , Metalsky Gerald I.
Published: March 2003

Six studies investigated (a) the construct validity of reassurance seeking and (b) reassurance seeking as a specific vulnerability factor for depressive symptoms. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that reassurance seeking is a reasonably cohesive, replicable, and valid construct, discernible from related interpersonal variables. Study 3 demonstrated that reassurance seeking displayed diagnostic specificity to depression, whereas other interpersonal variables did not, in a sample of clinically diagnosed participants. Study 4 prospectively assessed a group of initially symptom-free participants, and showed that those who developed future depressive symptoms (as compared with those who remained symptom-free) obtained elevated reassurance-seeking scores at baseline, when all participants were symptom-free, but did not obtain elevated scores on other interpersonal variables. Studies 5 and 6 indicate that reassurance seeking predicts future depressive reactions to stress. Taken together, the six studies support the construct validity of reassurance seeking, as well as its potential role as a specific vulnerability factor for depression.
Interviewing Witnesses: Forced Confabulation and Confirmatory Feedback Increase False Memories
Authors: Zaragoza Maria S. , Payment Kristie E. , Ackil Jennifer K. , Drivdahl Sarah B. , Beck Melissa
Published: March 2003

In two experiments, adults who witnessed a videotaped event subsequently engaged in face-to-face interviews during which they were forced to confabulate information about the events they had seen. The interviewer selectively reinforced some of the participants' confabulated responses by providing confirmatory feedback (e.g., “Yes, _______is the correct answer”) and provided neutral (uninformative) feedback for the remaining confabulated responses (e.g., “O.K._______”). One week later, participants developed false memories for the events they had earlier confabulated knowingly. However, confirmatory feedback increased false memory for forcibly confabulated events, increased confidence in those false memories, and increased the likelihood that participants would freely report the confabulated events 1 to 2 months later. The results illustrate the powerful role of social-motivational factors in promoting the development of false memories.