An observational case study of failure in social problem-solving

An observationally based assessment of social problem-solving skill was contrasted with more traditional testing methods. A preschool child with low social success was chosen for a demonstration profile analysis. The relative frequencies of the social goals, strategies, and targets shown by this child during free play were plotted in relation to that of his same-sex peer group. Parallel profiles of his relative success with specific goals, strategies, and targets were also constructed and compared to relevant group means and standard deviations. Specific social problem-solving strengths and weaknesses were identified from these profiles, using both intra- and interindividual analyses. The benefits and limitations of this approach for measurement and treatment of social problem-solving deficits were discussed.     

The social behavior of depressed children: An observational study

Few investigations have examined directly the psychosocial functioning of depressed children. In the present study, 20 depressed and 20 nondepressed fourth-and fifth-grade children were observed in free play during their recess period at school, and their self-perceptions were assessed in subsequent individual sessions. The 10 boys and 10 girls in each group were selected according to their scores on both the Child Depression Inventory and the Peer Nomination Inventory of Depression. Analyses conducted on the eight categories of behavioral observations revealed significant differences between the social behavior of the depressed and the nondepressed children. Although the depressed children made more overtures for social contact than did the nondepressed children and were approached by other children more frequently, they spent more time alone and engaged in a higher frequency of negative interactions with their peers. Consistent with these results, the depressed children's responses to the Self-Perception Profile for Children indicated that they experienced themselves as less socially competent in general, as well as less competent across several specific domains of functioning. These findings are discussed as they relate to developmental processes, theories of adult depression, and recent studies on socially isolated children, and directions for future research in this area are offered.This research was supported in part by Grants MA-8574 from the Medical Research Council of Canada and OMHF No. 923-85/87 from the Ontario Mental health Foundation to the second author.     

The Observer: A software system for collection and analysis of observational data

The Observer is a general-purpose software package for event recording and data analysis in behavioral research. It allows any IBM-type personal computer to serve as an event recorder. In addition, The Observer can generate dedicated event-recording programs for several types of non-IBM-compatible portable and hand-held computers and transfer files between the PC and such computers. The user specifies options through menus. The configuration can be either used directly for event recording on the PC or passed on to a program generator that creates a program to collect data on a hand-held computer. Observational data from either type of computer can be analyzed by the program. Event-recording configurations can be tailored to many different experimental designs. Keys can be designated as events, and modifiers can be used to indicate the limits of an event. The program allows grouping of events in classes and distinction between mutually exclusive versus nonexclusive events and duration events versus frequency events. Timing of events is accurate to 0.1 sec. An on-line electronic notepad permits notes to be made during an observation session. The program also includes on-line error correction. User comments as well as independent variables can be stored together with the observational data. During data analysis, the user can select the level of analysis and the type of output file. The Observer calculates frequency of occurrence and duration for classes of events, individual events, or combinations of events. For analysis of concurrence, one can select the number of nesting levels and the order of nesting. Output can be generated in the form of sorted event sequence files, text report files, and tabular ASCII files. The results can be exported to spreadsheet and statistical programs.     

Lebenswelt structures of Galilean physics: The case of Galileo's pendulum

The aim of this paper is to give a self-reflective account of the building of Galileo's pendulum in order to discover what were the practical contingencies of building and using the pendulum for demonstrating the law of isochronism. In doing this, the unique Lebenswelt structures of Galilean physics are explicated through the ethnomethodological concepts developed by Harold Garfinkel. The presupposition is that the practical logic of Galilean physics is embedded in the instruments themselves. In building the pendulum and recovering its original use, Galilean physics becomes for ethnomethodologists a first-hand practical discovery. This is not a reconstruction of the mind of the historical Galileo but, rather, an explication of Galileo's practical perspective on the instrument as an intersubjective and interchangeable standpoint available for ethnomethodological analysis. This enables us to study historical facts from the standpoint of the practical logic of the original practice with a pedagogical eye for the instructive reproducibility of science.I would like to thank Mike Lynch, Eric Livingston, Jim MacLachlan, and Shelley Schweizer-Bjelic for their comments     

Dialectic and argument in philosophy: A case study of Hegel's phenomenological preface

This article examines two problems: the role of argument in philosophy, vis-àÏs other philosophical activities; and the nature of argument in philosophy, vis-à-vis argument in other fields. The examination proceeds by reference to the notion of dialectic, which is regarded by some as offering an alternative to argument, and by reference to Hegel's Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit, which explicitly discusses these very issues. The latter is reconstructed as the argument that philosophy is dialectical in part because it is pluralistic, conceptual, concrete, self-reflective, spiritual, systematic, negative, and self-referential, and in part because it sublimates the opposition between truth and falsity, method and result, change and permanence, form and content, and subject and predicate.     

State-of-the-Art: The Structure of Argumentation

In this paper, a survey is presented of the main approaches to the structure of argumentation. The paper starts with a historical overview of the distinctions between various types of argument structure. Next, the main definitions given in the various approaches are discussed as well as the methods that are proposed to deal with doubtful cases.     

The role of reinforcement contingencies in chronic alcoholism: An experimental analysis of one case

investigators have questioned chronic alcoholics and round that some of them have returned to normal social drinking (Davies, 1962; Lemere, 1953; Nørvig and Nielsen, 1956; Selzer and Holloway. 1957; and Shea, 1954). These findings would seem inconsistent with such notions as loss of control or craving as the basis of compulsive drinking. Moreover, antecedents and consequences of these explanatory constructs, have not been elucidated. The purpose of this research was to make an intensive study of a single subject to see if specific conditions could be identified under which a chronic alcoholic's drinking could be controlled, in a setting in which environmental variables could be systematically varied and drinking behavior documented.     

The nonconvergence of factals: A nonmetric common factor analysis

FACTALS is a nonmetric common factor analysis model for multivariate data whose variables may be nominal, ordinal or interval. In FACTALS an Alternating Least Squares algorithm is utilized which is claimed to be monotonically convergent.In this paper it is shown that this algorithm is based upon an erroneous assumption, namely that the least squares loss function (which is in this case a nonscale free loss function) can be transformed into a scalefree loss function. A consequence of this is that monotonical convergence of the algorithm can not be guaranteed.     

An incomplete data approach to the analysis of covariance structures

In this paper, linear structural equation models with latent variables are considered. It is shown how many common models arise from incomplete observation of a relatively simple system. Subclasses of models with conditional independence interpretations are also discussed. Using an incomplete data point of view, the relationships between the incomplete and complete data likelihoods, assuming normality, are highlighted. For computing maximum likelihood estimates, the EM algorithm and alternatives are surveyed. For the alternative algorithms, simplified expressions for computing function values and derivatives are given. Likelihood ratio tests based on complete and incomplete data are related, and an example on using their relationship to improve the fit of a model is given.This research forms part of the author's doctoral thesis and was supported by a Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Award. The author also wishes to acknowledge the support of CSIRO during the preparation of this paper and the referees' comments which led to substantial improvements.     

The psychology of tokenism: An analysis

American society is analyzed as a gender-class system wherein tokenism is defined as a form of interclass mobility. Two role partners, Sponsor and Token, sustain the institution of tokenism: the Token is a member of the deviant class and the Sponsor is a member of the dominant class. The content and functioning of this role partnership are broadly defined. The limitations of tokenism and implications for change in the social system are discussed.     

An analysis of writing in a case of deep dyslexia

In tests of her ability to produce written and spoken language, this deep dyslexic patient produced semantic, visual, and derivational errors, including functor substitutions, and exhibited part-of-speech and abstractness effects in oral reading, oral and written naming, and writing to dictation, but not in repetition of single words and copying from memory. This patient therefore provides confirmation of the hypothesis presented in Nolan and Caramazza (1982) that the defining symptoms of deep dyslexia will be observed in responses to any task which requires lexical mediation. The patient's written responses in all tasks but direct copying were characterized by spelling errors which included transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and additions of letters. A model of writing is proposed which explains these errors in terms of a disruption of a phoneme-grapheme conversion process which normally functions to prevent decay of information from a Graphemic Buffer.     

The importance of problem-driven research: Bringing Wachtel's argument into the present

There is no one best way to do psychological research. Rather, the “best” way depends on the fit to the problem. Research should be problem-driven rather than method-driven. Psychologists sometimes envy certain natural scientists, and over-reward those who do research with a surface structure more like that of research in the natural sciences, leading to sub-optimal progress in the field.     

The use of genetic test information in insurance: The argument from indistinguishability reconsidered

In the bioethical literature, discrimination in insurance on the basis of genetic risk factors detected by genetic testing has been defended and opposed on various ethical grounds. One important argument in favour of the practice is offered by those who believe that it is not possible to distinguish between genetic and non-genetic information, at least not for practical policy purposes such as insurance decision-making. According to the argument from indistinguishability, the use of genetic test information for insurance purposes should be permitted, because genetic test information is no different from non-genetic medical information in any relevant respect, therefore it would be inconsistent to prohibit the former whilst permitting the latter. This paper discusses and defends this argument and suggests a new, more tenable foundation.     

An analysis of competency to stand trial: an integration of case law and clinical knowledge

In the past three decades competency to stand trial has emerged as a central issue in mental health law and forensic psychology. This article combines legal and clinical frameworks for a more integrated understanding of competency to stand trial. The legal framework focuses on Supreme Court decisions beginning with Dusky and reviews several legal theories of competence. The empirical framework is investigated within Grisso's (1986) conceptualization of legal competencies. In addition, the efficacy of specialized forensic assessments is evaluated, including the newly developed MacArthur Structured Assessment of the Competencies of Criminal Defendants (MacSAC-CD). The article concludes with observations of competency as a construct and their implications for forensic practice. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An IRT analysis of motive questionnaires: The Unified Motive Scales

Multiple inventories claiming to assess the same explicit motive (achievement, power, or affiliation) show only mediocre convergent validity. In three studies (N = 1685) the structure, nomological net, and content coverage of multiple existing motive scales was investigated with exploratory factor analyses. The analyses revealed four approach factors (achievement, power, affiliation, and intimacy) and a general avoidance factor with a facet structure. New scales (the Unified Motive Scales; UMS) were developed using IRT, reflecting these underlying dimensions. In comparison to existing questionnaires, the UMS have the highest measurement precision and provide short (six-item) and ultra-short (three-item) scales. In a fourth study (N = 96), the UMS demonstrated incremental validity over existing motive scales with respect to several outcome criteria.     

Behavioural deficiencies of aggressive 8–9 year old boys: An observational study

The nature of aggressive boys' behaviour is examined. Pre-selected matched pairs of aggressive and control boys were observed in a naturalistic setting which facilitated comparison of the way in which recorded behaviours affected their respective peer relationships. A continuous commentary describing the child's interactions with others was recorded simultaneously with the child's speech during school play. These data were transcribed and coded according to activity, social participation, neighbours, and interactions. Individual behavioural items were grouped on the basis of their functional similarity. Marked differences were found between the two groups on certain categories, giving a clear indication of specific deficiencies in the behavioural repertoire of the aggressive boys.