![]() ![]() The cases are presented in random order, and the judges spend little time on each one, an average of 6 minutes. They spend entire days reviewing applications for parole. The unwitting participants in the study were eight parole judges in Israel. “A disturbing demonstration of depletion effects in judgment was recently reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Apgar test is still used every day in every delivery room.” Applying Apgar’s score, the staff in delivery rooms finally had consistent standards for determining which babies were in trouble, and the formula is credited for an important contribution to reducing infant mortality. A baby with a score of 4 or below was probably bluish, flaccid, passive, with a slow or weak pulse-in need of immediate intervention. A baby with a total score of 8 or above was likely to be pink, squirming, crying, grimacing, with a pulse of 100 or more-in good shape. Realizing that she might have made a breakthrough that any delivery room could implement, Apgar began rating infants by this rule one minute after they were born. “You would do it like this.” Apgar jotted down five variables (heart rate, respiration, reflex, muscle tone, and color) and three scores (0, 1, or 2, depending on the robustness of each sign). ![]() Apgar would make a systematic assessment of a newborn. “One day over breakfast, a medical resident asked how Dr. ![]()
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