Showing papers by "University of Oregon published in 1982"

Adapting to Environmental Jolts

Abstract: This paper examines organizational adaptations to an environmental jolt -- a sudden and unprecedented event (in this case, a doctors' strike) that created a natural experiment within a group of hospitals Although adaptations were diverse and appeared anomalous, they are elucidated by considering the hospitals' antecedent strategies, structures, ideologies, and stockpiles of slack resources Assessments of the primacy of the antecedents suggest that ideological and strategic variables are better predictors of adaptations to jolts than are structural variables or measures of organizational slack Although abrupt changes in environments are commonly thought to jeopardize organizations, environmental jolts are found to be ambiguous events that offer propitious opportunities for organizational learning, administrative drama, and introducing unrelated changes

Primary structure of the human Met- and Leu-enkephalin precursor and its mRNA

Abstract: The nucleotide sequence of a complete cDNA copy of enkephalin precursor mRNA from human phaeochromocytoma is reported The corresponding amino acid sequence shows that the precursor is 267 amino acids long and contains six interspersed Met-enkephalin sequences and one Leu-enkephalin sequence Five of the seven enkephalins are flanked on both sides by pairs of basic amino acid residues The precursors does not contain the sequences of the opioid peptides, dynorphin, alpha-neo-endorphin or beta-endorphin

Perception of Out-Group Homogeneity and Levels of Social Categorization: Memory for the Subordinate Attributes of In-Group and Out-Group Members

Abstract: Four experiments were conducted to explore the hypothesis that in-group members perceive their own group as more variegated and complex than do out-group members (the out-group homogeneity principle). The first three experiments were designed to demonstrate this effect in a symmetric manner for both parties of the in-group-out-group dichotomy, and the fourth experiment tested one particular theoretical account of this phenomenon. In Experiments 1 and 2, men and women subjects estimated the proportion of men or women who would endorse a variety of personality/attitude items. The items were constructed to vary on the dimensions of stereotypic meaning (masculinity-femininity) and social desirability (favorable-unfavorable). It was predicted and found that outgroup members viewed a group as endorsing more stereotypic and fewer counterstereotypic items than, did in-group members. These findings were interpreted as support for the out-group homogeneity principle, and it was argued that since this effect was general across items varying in social desirability, the phenomenon was independent of traditional ethnocentrism effects. Experiment 3 asked members of three campus sororities to directly judge the degree of intragroup similarity for their own group and two other groups. Again, each group judged its own members to be more dissimilar to one another than did out-group judges. In Experiment 4 a theory was proposed suggesting that different "levels of social categorization" are used to encode in-group and out-group members' behavior and that this process could account for the perception of out-group homogeneity. It was predicted and found that men and women were more likely to remember the subordinate attributes of an in-group member than of an out-group member, which provides some evidence for the theoretical model.

Neural systems control of spatial orienting.

Abstract: A peripheral visual cue in an empty field (1) often summons head or eyes, or both, (2) improves efficiency at the cued position while attention is directed to it, even without overt movements, and (3) reduces processing efficiency at the cued position once attention is withdrawn. We have studied the time course and the effects of mid-brain and cortical damage on these components of orienting. The facilitation arises from shifts in covert attention. In cases of mid-brain degeneration due to progressive supranuclear palsy, saccadic movements were abolished, while covert orienting still occurs. However, covert orienting was found to be delayed in directions in which eye movements were most affected, suggesting a role for mid-brain pathways in covert orienting. Parietal lesions can cause massive loss in detection contralateral to the lesion. This is especially true when attention has been directed to the opposite side. These findings relate aspects of covert orienting of attention to neural control systems.

Cumulative Development of Attentional Theory.

Abstract: This article describes current work in selective attention within a framework derived from important findings extending back over a century. The contributions of Danders, Helmholtz, Pavlov, Sokolov, and Wundt, for example, are deeply embedded in current methods for studying selectivity. The cumulative nature of work on attention is not widely appreciated, in part because of a failure to recognize that the methods used in current studies arose in empirical findings of the past and also because attention is a concept that can be studied at many levels. There is evidence that findings at the level of performance, subjective experience, and neural systems can be linked, even though they are not yet reducible to a single theory. Studies to date reveal some properties of a complex neural mechanism involved in our awareness of a stimulus. The time course of operation of this mechanism can be studied objectively and shown to be related both to changes in performance and to subjective experience. This attentional mechanism is involved in the skilled performance of daily life, but many other systems are also important in determining the degree to which natural tasks can be time shared. The goal of every science is a cumulative development of its theoretical structure so that a larger part of its subject matter is explicable in terms of simpler principles. This traditional view of science has been challenged in psychology from many sources. One argument has been that it is better to view psychology in terms of shifting paradigms (Kuhn, 1962). It often seems to be accepted, almost as a matter of course, that in psychology no cumulative development will take place. A different challenge to the view of psychology as a cumulative science is the notion that nothing new is discovered while the views of Helmholtz, Wundt, or some other elder of the field are being reworked, with no apparent gain in either insight or scope. These two challenges to the cumulative nature of psychological theory are persuasive, but they are hot consistent. If we shift from paradigm to paradigm, it seems puzzling that the current paradigm would so exactly mirror that of 100 years ago. On the other hand, if the solutions of 100 years ago remain, what has happened to paradigm shifts? Another criticism that has been applied to the 168 • FEBRUARY 1982 • AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST study of attention is that psychological theories are sterile, in that they do not illuminate important natural behavior or provide a perspective on the nature of mind (Neisser, 1976). The contention in this article is that one can see emerging from psychological research in the area of attention a cumulative development of theoretical concepts that rely on principles, some over 100 years old, that are now elaborated in ways that were essentially unavailable to earlier researchers. Moreover, taken as a whole these ideas do provide insight into the skills of daily life. If this contention is correct, why is it that the cumulative development of psychological theories of attention arfe so obscure, even to/ researchers in the field? I believe that several facts about the nature of psychological inquiry make its cumulative development obscure even to those who read the psychological literature. The first difficulty in perceiving the cumulative nature of theories arises because much work in psychology is fueled by tests between complex theoretical views that differ in only subtle ways. These theories often have common assumptions, but similarities between them that amount to a common core of agreed principles are overlooked. The view of experiments as tests among competing, wellspecified theories can be contrasted with the more cumulative theoretical approach outlined by Broadbent (1958): The proper road for progress then is to set up theories which are not at first detailed, although they must be capable of disproof. As research advances the theory will become continually more detailed, until one reaches the stage at which further advance is made by giving exact values to constants previously left unspecified in equaThis article was presented as a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award address at the meeting of the' American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, September 1981. This work was supported by a series of National Science Foundation grants to the University of Oregon. I am most grateful to the many students and colleagues who have contributed to this work, and to Mary R'othbart for assistance in writing it. Requests for reprints should be sent to Michael I. Posner, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Or-

The use of the beck depression inventory with adolescents

Abstract: Despite numerous theoretical and anecdotal reports of depression in adolescence, and the potential destructiveness of this disorder in this age group, little empirical work has been done. This study presents data on administration of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to an adolescent sample (N= 568). Factor analysis and interitem and itemscale correlations of the BDI suggested that this questionnaire can be used with this population. The mean BDI score for the sample was slightly higher than that obtained in general population studies of younger children or adults. However, only 5% reported depression sufficiently high to be classified as severe, a figure similar to that of younger children but somewhat lower than that for adults. No significant differences across age were obtained, although significantly more females than males reported high depression scores.

Behavioral health's challenge to academic, scientific, and professional psychology

Abstract: In 1964 President Lyndon Johnson, first threatening and next fully using the power of the federal purse, informed this country's scientific and university professional manpower training communities that federal health-related funds should be used to support fewer basic and theoretical and more applied and practical research and training activities. The 1964 Congress and its successors, and Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, all endorsed this demand that our scientific and teaching institutions refocus their priorities and begin to pay more attention to the human (and the ever-increasing financial) costs associated with the health of our citizens. Before proceeding to discuss these annually escalating financial and human costs and what might be done by psychologists and others to help reduce them, fairness requires that the many legitimate financial costs be excluded from the criticism that follows. Health care in the United States is expensive in part because our citizens, speaking, themselves or through third-party payers, have opted to pay for intensive care and renal dialysis units in hospitals, neonatal heart surgery, computerized axial tomography (CAT) scanners, and many other very costly diagnostic and critical-care life-support services. My criticism is not directed at such defensible costs but instead at the inordinate costs that are associated with preventable health conditions: those associated with smoking and other health risks associated with one's lifestyle. These latter unnecessary costs must be addressed by psychologists and representatives of the other disciplines interested in individual behavior. It became obvious in the 1960s that health expenditures in the United States were growing at a faster rate than the gross national product. This imbalance became increasingly alarming, and it seemed that it might soon become insupportable. Table 1.1 – adapted from Gibson (1979) and Vischi, Jones, Shank, and Lima (1980) – presents some pertinent statistics. For example, in 1950 the $12.7 billion expenditure for health was only 4.5% of that year's gross national product of $284.8 billion, but by 1965 this percentage had increased to 6.2%, and by 1978 it had increased even further to 9.1%. 1 As further revealed in Figure 1.1, a recent projection through the next decade by Rogers (1980), the president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, indicates that by the year 1990 this figure will fall somewhere between 9.1% and 14% of the gross national product. Supporting his view, the most recent data (shown in the last row of Table 1.1) reveal that total health expenditures …

Television's influence on social reality

Abstract: The value of “cultivation analysis” as both a theoretical and analytic framework for the investigation of the effects of television viewing has been questioned. Using commonality analysis as its framework, this study suggests that perceived program realism is a key predictor variable which has been excluded from prior cultivation research.

The molecular basis of DNA–protein recognition inferred from the structure of cro repressor

Abstract: Recognition by cro repressor protein of its specific DNA binding sites appears to occur via multidentate hydrogen bonds between amino acid side chains of the protein and base-pair atoms in the major groove of right-handed B-form DNA. Most of the sequence-specific interactions between cro and DNA, as well as a number of sequence-independent ones, are mediated by a two-alpha-helical unit which appears to be common to many proteins that regulate gene expression.

Brain neurons which project to the spinal cord in young larvae of the zebrafish.

Abstract: A small number of brain neurons project to caudal levels of the spinal cord in the larva of the teleost Brachydanio rerio. These cells were identified in animals 6 days after fertilization by backfilling with horseradish peroxidase following transection of the cord at the level of the cloaca. In preparations with the most labeled cells a total of 30-40 were present on each side of the midline. They were located within three regions of the brainstem: the midbrain nucleus of origin of the medial longitudinal fascicle (mlf), the hindbrain reticular formation, and the hindbrain vestibular nucleus. A total of 15 classes of cells could be distinguished by soma positions, dendritic fields, and axonal pathways. For some of these classes only one or two cells were usually present on each side of the brain. Most of the labeled cells contributed axons to the mlf ipsilateral to the soma; however, the Mauthner cells and three new types of hindbrain reticulospinal reticulospinal cells have decussating axons that enter the contralateral mlf. The observed distribution of labeled reticulospinal cells is similar to that previously described for large reticular cells in adult teleosts and to the system of identified Mauthner and Muller cells in the lamprey.

A Follow-up of Follow Through: The Later Effects of the Direct Instruction Model on Children in Fifth and Sixth Grades:

Abstract: The later effects of the Direct Instruction Follow Through program were assessed at five diverse sites. Low-income fifth and sixth graders who had completed the full 3 years of this first- through third-grade program were tested on the Metropolitan Achievement Test (Intermediate level) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). Results were contrasted with those of children in local comparison groups using analysis of covariance procedures. Results indicated consistently strong, significant effects in WRAT reading scores (decoding), consistent effects in math problem solving and spelling, and moderate effects in most other academic domains. Students appeared to retain the knowledge and problem-solving skills they had mastered in the primary grades. However, without a continuing program, most students demonstrated losses when compared to the standardization sample of the achievement tests. Implications for improved instruction in the intermediate grades were discussed.

Development and Validation of a Vietnamese-Language Depression Rating Scale

Abstract: The authors developed a depression scale in the Vietnamese language that contains culturally consistent items describing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of depressed individuals and items describing common clinical characteristics of depressed Vietnamese patients After pretesting, the preliminary 43-item scale was given to 21 depressed Vietnamese patients and a matched community sample of 44 Fifteen items accounted for 96% of the variance between the two groups and were used as the final form of the Vietnamese Depression Scale A cutoff of 13 points (of a possible 34) identified 91% of the patients and 96% of the community sample

Determinants of parental guidance of children's television viewing for a special subgroup: Mass media scholars

Abstract: This study examines the level and nature of parental guidance regarding revision exercised by mass media scholars. It also focuses On relationship of that guidance to beliefs the scholars here about the effects of television, to characteristics of the scholarship, and to basic demographic information.

Target-detection by the echolocating bat,Eptesicus fuscus

Abstract: The long-range echo-detection capabilities of echolocating bats (Eptesicus fuscus) were studied in a two-choice psychophysical procedure.E. fuscus can detect 4.8 mm diameter spheres at a distance of 2.9 m, and 19.1 mm diameter spheres at a distance of 5.1 m. The threshold of echo-detection corresponds to the distance at which a target returns an echo amplitude in the region of 0 dB SPL. The results demonstrate that the maximum effective range of bat sonar is greater than previously indicated by obstacleavoidance and target-interception tasks.

Prospective study of cosmetic reactions: 1977-1980

Abstract: This prospective study (1977-1980) of cosmetic adverse reactions by eleven dermatologists identified 487 cases of cosmetic-induced dermatitis. Approximately half of the cases were covert in nature. Eighty percent were due to allergic contact dermatitis; the face, eye, and upper arm were the most involved sites. Skin care products, hair preparations (including colors), and facial makeup products were the most commonly involved product categories. Fragrances, preservatives, lanolin and lanolin derivatives, p -phenylenediamine, and propylene glycol were the most commonly identified causative agents. The data may not be representative of the country at large because of the special interests of the dermatologists involved.

Echolocation in bats: the external ear and perception of the vertical positions of targets

Abstract: Echolocating bats (Eptesicus fuscus) can perceive changes of as little as 3 degrees of arc in the vertical angles separating pairs of horizontal rods This acuity depends upon modification of sounds entering the external ear canal by the structures of the external ear Deflection of the tragus degrades the acuity of vertical-angle perception from 3 degrees to about 12 degrees to 14 degrees The pinna-tragus structure produces a strong secondary echo of sounds entering the external ear canal, and the delay of this echo after the time when the sound directly enters the ear canal apparently encodes the vertical direction of a sound source

Information processing models-in search of elementary operations

Abstract: INTRODUCTION History . Taxonomy .. Chapter Organization .. SOURCES OF ELEMENTARY MENTAL OPERATIONS ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... .. Methodology .. Reading and Listening .. Analog Processing .. Motor Control .. Problem Solving .. Summary .. THE COORDINATION OF ELEMENTARY MENTAL OPERATIONS .. Competition for a Common Resource . MUltiple Sources of Processing Capacity . INDIVIDUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN MENTAL OPERATIONS .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Infancy .. Individual Differences . Personality . 478 478 479 481 482 482 484 489 492 494 495 496 496 498

Role of the suprachiasmatic nuclei in the circadian system of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus.

Abstract: The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus are necessary for the persistence of free running circadian activity rhythms in house sparrows. Suprachiasmatic lesions abolish circadian locomotor rhythms in constant darkness. The locomotor activity of lesioned sparrows was analyzed with two different power spectral analysis methods and was found to be arrhythmic. There was a weak correlation between the extent of damage to the SCN and the relative amplitude of the power spectral density in the circadian frequency range. In light-dark cycles (LD 12:12), the locomotor behavior of lesioned sparrows was rhythmic and similar to that of intact birds. However, entrainment was disrupted in SCN-lesioned sparrows exposed to a short photoperiod light cycle (LD 1:24). These results demonstrate that the SCN are crucial for the generation of overt circadian rhythmicity in birds. The fact that SCN lesions abolish circadian rhythms in sparrows and several mammalian species suggests that vertebrate circadian organization may be based on differentially weighted interactions among the pineal, the SCN, and perhaps other brain regions.