Three experiments explore the role of working memory in motor skill acquisition and performance. Traditional theories postulate that skill acquisition proceeds through stages of knowing, which are initially declarative but later procedural. The reported experiments challenge that view and support an independent, parallel processing model, which predicts that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired separately and that the former does not depend on the availability of working memory, whereas, the latter does. The behaviour of these two processes was manipulated (...) by providing or withholding visual (and auditory) appraisal of outcome feedback. Withholding feedback was predicted to inhibit the use of working memory to appraise success and, thus, prevent the formation of declarative knowledge without affecting the accumulation of procedural knowledge. While the first experiment failed to support these predictions, the second and third experiments demonstrated that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired independently. It is suggested that the availability of working memory is crucial to motor performance only when the learner has come to rely on its use. (shrink)

Objective: To review the principles and practice of the use of conscious sedation for IVF.Design: The pertinent literature was reviewed and recommendations are provided.Result(s): Conscious sedation appears to be the most commonly used method of pain relief for transvaginal retrieval of oocytes. Conscious sedation does not require the presence of an anesthesiologist and can be done in freestanding clinics. Agents commonly used include opioids in combination with benzodiazepines. This combination minimizes pain, decreases anxiety, and provides sedation and some amnesia Adjuvants (...) such as promethazine and hydroxyzine can also be used but often are not needed. Conscious sedation is well tolerated by patients and does not require highly specialized equipment. However, there are specific safeguards that should be followed. Only a few toxicity studies have been performed, but they are reassuring because they have not found significant effects on fertilization or cleavage.Conclusion(s): Conscious sedation appears to be a safe and cost-effective method of providing analgesia and anesthesia for transvaginal retrieval of oocytes. (shrink)

This book attempts to understand the conditions under which men obey in those situations in which there is no obvious return or satisfaction for their obedience. This obedience, it is argued, is based on men's needs to "control" the more remote environment or polity, not to control other men directly. This control is based on an indirect reciprocal relationship between man and the polity. After an initial conceptual clarification of this concept of control, the author goes on to an explanation (...) of methods of control, instruments of control, and response to control. In so doing he argues that the concepts of "control" and "persuasion" are more useful than those of power and authority, as the former are dynamic and concern themselves with reciprocal acts, not static concepts suggesting the possessions of specific things.—S. W. (shrink)

This book is an attempt to examine the concept of "public interest" and show that, while it has no general, unchanging, descriptive meaning applicable to all policy decisions, it does have a non-arbitrary descriptive meaning which can be determined in particular cases. This meaning can be found through "reasoned discourse" which attempts to relate the anticipated effects of a policy to community values. The concept of public interest is, the author argues, neither a vacuous phrase nor a verbal device useful (...) only for propaganda purposes. The author then attempts to see whether "reason" as it appears in "reasoned discourse" mentioned above can carry the burden assigned to it. In a close examination of what "giving reasons" consists of in the absence of a hierarchy of values, the author shows that it amounts to more than an infinite logical regress. The author admits that there remains an arbitrary element in value judgments which is much smaller and capable of more precise definition than is usually thought). In situations of conflict and diversity of values among reasoning men, the dilemma is resolved by the principle of "authority." Authority itself is required to justify its decisions by giving reasons, but precisely what authority is, beyond this giving of reasons based on somewhat arbitrary values, is not examined.—S. W. (shrink)