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PSYCOLOQUY   (ISSN 1055-0143)   Fri, 22 Feb 91       Volume 2 : Issue   3
      correction to Psycoloquy v2 #2 Mon, 4 Feb 91
      QUERY: Decision-making under uncertainty
      QUERY: Psychology programs
      QUERY: Sex differences in Handwriting
      QUERY: Psychology Experiments Conducted by Email

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From: "Gordon Becker" <becker@zeus.unomaha.edu>
Subject: correction to Psycoloquy v2 #2 Mon, 4 Feb 91

In the the fourth paragraph of my reply to Stodolsky
(PSYCOLOQUY Mon, 4 Feb 91  Volume 2 : Issue 2 Consensus Journals/Becker)
"Becker" should be changed to "Stodolsky" so that the paragraph reads,

Apparently Stodolsky would like readers to believe that stating his GOAL for
consensus journals PROVES his methods attain that goal, that my
substituting the term "moderator" for his term "mediator" is so distorted
that he need not rebut my specific criticisms, and/or that if the mediator
does NOT know the identity of the referee than the referee is NOT anonymous.
I fail to see the logic in any of these positions.

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From: ggordon@nprdc.navy.mil (Gary Gordon)
Subject: QUERY: Decision-making under uncertainty

I am interested in the cognitive processes (strategies, heuristics, biases)
of decision making under uncertainty and/or severely stressful conditions.
I am particularly interested in judgements made with limitted information and
with harsh time constraints, as might be the case for pilots, radar operators,
and other military personnel.  Any research, articles or expertise is
appreciated.  Thanking you in advance.

------------------------------

From: Klas Brenk <klas.brenk%uni-lj.ac.mail.YU>
Subject: QUERY: Psychology programs

Our psychology department (University of  Ljubljana  -  Slovenia,
Yugoslavia) is in the course of  modernization  of  teaching  and
research programs in all fields of psychology. We have about  200
undergraduate, about 50 graduate students and a faculty of 25. We
are well equipped with computers (Vax cluster, work stations /Sun
Sparc, 486/, PC-s in LAN). Our  library  is  quite  well  stocked
(about 16.000 book units, 64 journals).  At  the  moment  we  are
trying to set up a computer driven  experimental  laboratory  for
basic courses for which we are buying equipment.
We are looking for better connections with psychology departments
outside Yugoslavia. We are interested in  international  research
projects and other  kinds  of  academic  cooperation  in  various
fields of psychology. We would like to adapt  our  curriculum  to
european standards. So right now, we would very much like to  see
your undergraduate and graduate psychology  curriculums.  We  are
also interested in other information about psychology studies  at
your department (e.g. what jobs can be  taken  immediately  after
graduation, what supplementary education must  be  completed  for
other jobs etc.)
Therefore we would appreciate if you'd send us teaching  programs
of your department, group etc. on different levels of studies. If
You are interested, we can send You our curriculum and a list  of
our research projects with names of researchers.
Hope to hear from  you  and  see  you  in  Ljubljana  soon.  With
compliments.
                Klas Brenk

Please, contact us direct:
* e-mail: KLAS.BRENK@UNI-LJ.AC.MAIL.YU
* fax:  +38 61/332-659
       dr. Matija Klas BRENK
       University of Ljubljana
       Department of Psychology
       61 000 LJUBLJANA
       Yugoslavia (later could be SLOVENIA)

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From: J. Hartley <psa04%uk.ac.keele.seq1>
Subject: QUERY: Sex differences in Handwriting

I have just carried out an experiment which indicated that six to
seven year old children could recognise the sex of handwriting by
other children of their age, but were not able to imitate it.
Does anyone know of any experiments on sex differences in
handwriting at this early age, and of any speculations on why the
handwriting of boys should be different from that of girls?
I would appreciate any references on the matter.
Jim Hartley.

------------------------------
From: andrew%calvin.doc.ca (Andrew Patrick)
Subject: Psychology Experiments Conducted by Email

Suppose that a psychologist designs an experiment that is controlled
entirely by a computer. (This is not rare these days, most labs are
either entirely or partially computer-controlled.) Let's say it's an
experiment on memory in which the computer presents a list of words to
remember, then some distracting task for a period of time, and then
allows people to type-in all the words they can recall.

This kind of experiment has probably been running thousands of times
throughout the world. Subjects come into the lab, sit in front of the
computer and read instructions on the screen, and then perform the
experiment. In fact, some schools have networked computers to support
testing groups of subjects in a "computer lab".

Now suppose that the subjects do not come to the lab, but instead
particpate in the experiment remotely using dial-in lines or
international research networks. That is, the psychologist does not set
the computer up in a lab and recruit undergraduate subjects, but
instead sets up the computer on a network and invites people to connect
using "telnet" or a toll-free dial-in line.

What are the ethical implications of such an experiment?

Let's presume that the psychologist writes the program that controls
the experiment such that:

- the subjects are informed about the nature of the study at the beginning.
- they have an opportunity to quit the experiment at any time.
- individual names are not recorded.
- de-briefing information is provided at the conclusion of the procedure.
- the psychologist provides his name, address, and phone number for
  people who are interested in learning more about the study or have
  problems with it.

There are some scientific implications of this kind of experiment,
including being able to control and monitor what the subjects are
actually doing at the other end of the network connection (e.g., are
they writing the words down during the study phase), a peculiar sample
of subjects (only those with network connections or modems), and
subjects participating more than once, but let's assume that the
psychologist is willing to live with those factors.

The question is: Are there any ethical factors that should be
considered in such an experiment? My interest here is not purely
theoretical -- I would like to try running such an experiment.

Andrew Patrick, Ph.D.    Department of Communications, Ottawa, CANADA
andrew@calvin.doc.CA

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                             PSYCOLOQUY
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                              Co-Editors:

(scientific discussion)         (professional/clinical discussion)

    Stevan Harnad          Perry London, Dean,     Cary Cherniss (Assoc Ed.)
Psychology Department  Graduate School of Applied   Graduate School of Applied
Princeton University   and Professional Psychology  and Professional Psychology
                            Rutgers University           Rutgers University

                           Assistant Editors:

     Malcolm Bauer                               John Pizutelli
  Psychology Department                      Psychology Department
  Princeton University                         Rutgers University
End of PSYCOLOQUY Digest
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