Humans can monitor actions and compensate for errors. Analysis of the human event-related brain potentials (ERPs) accompanying errors provides evidence for a neural process whose activity is specifically associated with monitoring and compensating for erroneous behavior. This error-related activity is enhanced when subjects strive for accurate performance but is diminished when response speed is emphasized at the expense of accuracy. The activity is also related to attempts to compensate for the erroneous behavior.

We look back on the events surrounding the genesis of our 1993 article on the error-related negativity (ERN), a component of the event-related brain potential that accompanies errors in the performance of speeded-response tasks. Our reminiscences focus on the personal friendships, intellectual influences, and chance occurrences that shaped the article. To put our work in historical context, we consider subsequent trends in neuroimaging, computational modeling, and psychiatry that gave the ERN high visibility and contributed to the longevity of its scientific interest.

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Objective: To assess whether provision of educational leaflets or questions on contraception improves knowledge of contraception in women taking the combined contraceptive pill. Design: Randomisation of women into three groups according to type of educational leaflet on contraceptive information. These groups were subdivided into two on the basis of questions on contraception asked by the doctor or practice nurse. The women were followed up by postal questionnaire 3 months later. Setting: 15 general practices in South and West region. Subjects: 636 women attending check up appointment for repeat prescription of the combined contraceptive pill. Main outcome measures: Knowledge of: factors causing pill failure, subsequent action, emergency contraception, and all the rules (pill rules) that apply to the contraceptive pill. Results: 523 women returned completed questionnaires (response rate 82%). Knowledge of contraception with no intervention was low with only 10 (12%) women knowing all the pill rules. Educational intervention had a highly significant effect on knowledge of: factors causing pill failure (likelihood ratio 2 = 22); subsequent action (21); emergency contraception (24); and all the pill rules (22) (P < 0.01 in all cases). Improvement in knowledge of all the pill rules occurred with provision of the summary leaflet (28% knew all the rules, adjusted odds ratio 4.04, 95% confidence interval 1.68 to 9.75), the Family Planning Association's leaflet (27%, 3.43, 1.45 to 8.09), and asking questions (26%, 3.03, 1.30 to 7.00). Asking questions in addition to provision of leaflets improved knowledge of contraception further for the summary leaflet (39%, 6.81, 2.85 to 16.27) but not for the Family Planning Association leaflet (21%, 2.58, 1.07 to 6.18). Conclusion: Women attending check ups for repeat prescriptions of the contraceptive pill should be provided with educational leaflets on contraception or asked relevant questions to help improve their knowledge of contraception. Asking questions in addition to providing a summary leaflet is time consuming, but results in the most knowledge gained.

This investigation examines over 300 articles in The New York Times from 1993 that concern the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In constructing a critical analysis of The Times's discourse on NAFTA, I begin with an overview of the factors that impact on contemporary media-government relations in the United States (e.g., “information subsidy,” stereotyped narrative forms into which news accounts are typically organized). Thereafter, I demonstrate how the private sector's and Clinton government's emphatic support for the agreement was regularly insinuated into The Times's coverage. Despite “legitimate controversy” that surrounded NAFTA, The Times's sourcing patterns distinctly shaded toward pro-NAFTA sources. Moreover, the Clinton government's “market/democracy” and “economic invasion” appeals for NAFTA became prominent storylines in The Times despite their implausibility. Conversely, The Times's treatment of the NAFTA opposition (most particularly, the opposition of unions and Ross Perot) was harsh and encased within personalized narratives that skirted away from substantive analysis. Given the stakes involved in this complex, high profile, and consequential issue, I conclude by theorizing what The Times's NAFTA discourse implies about journalism and U.S. democracy.