The free speech of each of twelve adult aphasic patients was examined with reference particularly to (1) the distribution of words according to grammatical function, (2) sequential dependencies in form-class usage, and (3) stereotypy in vocabulary. The majority of the aphasic records departed considerably from normal usage (as defined by analysis of twelve control records), with similarity among some patients in the pattern of divergence. The measures used appear to be of particular value in revealing (i) semantic difficulties in word selection and (ii) difficulties in the sequencing of speech that occur along with syntactic losses.
Average achievement test scores of the nation's youth in mathematics and science have declined rather steadily since the early 1960's, and this decline is more marked in the higher grades. The average test scores in mathematics and science of high school seniors who have intended to go to college and major in those fields, however, have been quite stable. These findings may have implications for educational policy.
Female and male admission rates to four graduate programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are compared for 1972–73 and 1973–74. To assess possible sex-related bias in admission, rates are adjusted for applicant qualifications by analysis of covariance and by balancing. Guidelines for choosing between these two techniques are developed. The use of adjustment techniques for these data is shown to be justified in terms of Meehl’s analysis of theex post facto design. Other adjustment procedures, direct and indirect standardization, are critically discussed. The adjusted admission rates reflect, in one case, i.e., for one program and one admission year, a slight advantage for male applicants over females, while in three cases, female applicants were granted a slight advantage over males in admission. In the remaining four cases, there is no evidence that sex of applicant,per se, played a role in admission decisions. Wherever a sex-related advantage is detected, the favored sex is that with the fewer applicants to the program. While the generalization of these results to other programs and other graduate schools is unwarranted, it is appropriate to emphasize the value of applying balancing and/or analysis of covariance to data that may be collected for the purpose of detecting possible discrimination in the selection or evaluation of identifiable population subgroups.
Abstract Applied research in psychology not only has contributed directly to societal advances but often has fostered basic research as well. Prominent examples are the programs directed by Yerkes in World War I to develop the Army Alpha test and several programs in World War II, including The American Soldier that assessed soldiers' attitudes during the war; a program for selecting agents for the Office of Strategic Services; and the Aviation Psychology Program to select and classify applicants for flight training in the Army Air Forces. Highlights of these programs are presented here, with special attention given to by far the largest, the Air Forces program. After World War II, many of the hundreds of psychologist veterans became prominent research psychologists. Most became university professors. Among those who continued to work in applied settings was John Flanagan who had served as Chief of the Army Air Forces Psychology Branch. (After the war, Saul Sells succeeded Flanagan as Head of the Aviation Psychology program.) Flanagan founded the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the earliest mission of which was to select flight personnel for civilian airlines. Another part of the AIR mission was to enhance civilian air safety by assuring the widespread use of Flanagan's critical-incident procedures (or near-accident reports) that now serve to reduce accident rates in a variety of industries as well as in aviation. Acknowledgments I am grateful to William V. Clemans, Janet Elashoff, Samuel Fillenbaum, Robert (Bud) McCallum, Henry W. Riecken, Joe Rodgers and Edward Zigler for their suggested improvements to an earlier draft. Notes 1As civilians, Drs. Edward L. Thorndike, L.L. Thurstone, and George Whipple contributed to the effort. 2Analysts in Hovland's Section included David A. Grant, Arthur Lumsdaine, Nathan Macoby, Frederick Sheffield, and M. Brewster Smith. 3Among many others who were associated with the program are: Major Clyde Coombs and Lt. Col. Marion Richardson (Adjutant General's Office), Hadley Cantril and Frederick Mosteller (Princeton), John Dollard and Irving Janus (Yale), Louis Guttman (Cornell), Philip Hauser (Bureau of the Census), Francis Keppel (Army-Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation), Paul Lazersfeld and Robert Merton (Columbia), and Frank Stanton (CBS). 4They were Arthur Melton, Chairman of Psychology at the University of Missouri; Frank Geldard, Director of the Psychological Laboratory, University of Virginia; J. P. Guilford, Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California; and Paul Horst, Supervisor of Selection Research, Procter and Gamble Company. 5In addition to its editor, Col. Arthur Melton, contributors include Maj. Judson Brown, Lt Col. Meredith Crawford, Maj. Glen Finch, and Capt Moncrieff Smith. 6Its members were John M. Stalnaker (College Entrance Examination Board), George K. Bennett (Psychological Corporation), Leonard Carmichael (National Research Council), Clarence Graham (Brown University), Walter S. Hunter (Brown University), Dael Wolfle (The University of Chicago), and Morris C. Viteles (University of Pennsylvania).
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