Human S-cone electroretinograms obtained by silent substitution stimulation

YesWe used triple silent substitution stimuli to characterize human S-cone electroretinograms (ERGs) in normal trichromats. Short-wavelength-cone (S-cone) ERGs were found to have different morphological features and temporal frequency response characteristics compared to ERGs derived from L-cones, M-cones, and rod photoreceptors in normal participants. Furthermore, in two cases of retinal pathology, blue cone monochromatism (BCM) and enhanced S-cone syndrome (ESCS), S-cone ERGs elicited by our stimuli were preserved and enhanced, respectively. The results from both normal and pathological retinae demonstrate that triple silent substitution stimuli can be used to generate ERGs that provide an assay of human S-cone function.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (KR1317/13-1); Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (01DN14009

Explorations using computer simulation to comprehend thematic apperceptive measurement of motivation

The new theory of motivation by Atkinson and Birch (1970), based on conceptual analysis of a change in activity, has been programmed to allow computer simulation of effects of differences in motivation on the stream of operant behavior. Simulation of conditions that exist when people who differ in strength of achievement motive write imaginative stories in response to a sequence of pictures shows that construct validity does not require internal consistency as traditionally supposed. The theoretically deduced differences in total time spent imagining achieving (instead of something else) can postdict input differences in motive strength (i.e., construct validity) even when there is little or no internal consistency reliability as indicated by Cronbach's (1951) alpha computed from theoretically deduced time spent imagining achievement in response to particular pictures. This general point has already been amply documented in 25 years of productive empirical research using TAT n Achievement. Now a definitive theoretical refutation of the repeated psychometric criticism of the method is provided. Those who have been moved “to dispel fantasies about fantasy-based measures of achievement motivation” (Entwistle, 1972) are invited, instead, to examine the shallow theoretical foudation of our traditional myths of measurement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45359/1/11031_2005_Article_BF00997578.pd

Simultaneous adaptation of two features in a bidimensional speech series

PR#1 Support: Department of Health, Education and Welfare, U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health, Grant No. NH-24027-0