Developmental trends in free classification: Evidence for a new conceptualization of perceptual development

Two studies are reported to explore the hypothesis that young children perceive integrally some stimuli that older children perceive separably. In both, kinder-garteners, second graders, and fifth graders (approximately 5, 8, and 11 years old) are required to classify sets of stimuli that vary in size and brightness. Triads are used in Experiment 1 and tetrads are used in Experiment 2. Also, in Experiment 2, second classifications, judgments of which classification is “best,” and verbal justifications for classifications are obtained. The general finding is that the kinder-garten data systematically implicate integrality of size and brightness while the fifth-grade data systematically implicate separability of size and brightness. The second-grade data are more ambiguous. Issues related to refining the developmental hypothesis and to extending its supportive data base are considered in a final discussion.     

生态环境哲学之思:趋向、性质与意旨

如果说,哲学是关于人与世界关系之思的话,生态环境哲学则是在人类面对日益严重的生态环境危机这一当代生存困境而引发的关于人与自然生态环境关系之思.人与自然生态环境的关系是生态环境哲学之思的基本问题和内容展开.     

Faust and the new idolaters: Reflections on shirk

We are accustomed to hearing that modern secularized humanity rejects the sovereignty of God in favour of inferior, purely human powers and realities. Yet this new idolatory (shirk) is typically unintentional. It is not identical in character to the intentional idolatry of a Faust who consciously repudiates God for the sake of a purely natural or human ideal. There are minimal conditions for (successfully) committing the sin of idolatry; and the central one is potentially conscious belief in the true divinity. Can one meaningfully accuse the modern rejector of idolatry, given that he rejects the very outlook presupposed by the accusation?     

Introduction: Reflections on mothering and on reexperiencing the early relationship experience

As President of the World Association for Infant Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines the Editor has invited me to introduce this issue, which continues with papers from the Stockholm Congress. Advances in developmental biology and medical genetics make it clear that the future of psychiatric and mental health research will be centered in preventive intervention. This prospect highlights the need for more knowledge about environmental/individual interactions. The caregiving relationship experience is a crucial aspect of these interactions and frames the later development of strength or disorder. Several papers in this issue focus on the caregiving experience and provide me an opportunity to offer some reflections on the nature of experiencing and reexperiencing. Propositions that seem important include the following: The experience of caregiving involves a reexperiencing of earlier represented relationships; reexperiencing in this sense involves other past relationships that had a similar role relationship context; reexperiencing involves a dynamic interplay on both sides of a represented role relationship (that is, self and other interacting); early formative relationships are apt to be represented as affective prototypes such that reexperiencing occurs mainly without conscious awareness. Understanding such affective representations can guide infant psychiatry as it opens new opportunities for brief interventions. These can benefit infants and caregivers through the medium of the infant-caregiver relationship experience. Activating formative aspects of that experience can promote health and the strengths of individuality and provide a buffer against illness and self-defeating attitudes.     

Reflections on the researcher-participant relationship and the ethics of dialogue

Research concerned with human beings is always an interference of some kind, thus posing ethical dilemmas that need justification of procedures and methodologies. It is especially true in social work when facing mostly sensitive populations and sensitive issues. In the process of conducting a research on the emotional life histories of Israeli men who batter their partners, some serious ethical questions were evoked such as (a) Did the participants really give their consent? (b) What are the limits of the researcher-participants relationship and who decides them? (c) For whom is the study beneficial? and (d) To what degree did the methodology fit with the participants? In this article, I discuss the Socratic idea of truth revealed through dialogue and the idea of reciprocity that was developed in Buber's (1949) ethics of dialogue and Habermas' (1990) communicative ethics. The 3 essential conclusions drawn from the ethical questions raised and the discussion of the thinkers that are mentioned previously are (a) dialogical methodology is ethically justified; (b) dynamic interactions give a more holistic perspective of the human nature, thus enriching the field; and (c) through dialogical methodology both researcher and participant profit from growth of knowledge, which is a key for empowerment and change.     

Smoking research: basic research, intervention, prevention, and new trends

Smoking is a behavior that is influenced by a variety of factors that cut across methodologies, disciplines, and content areas within health psychology. The present article is designed to show the diversity and richness of smoking research by examining smoking from four perspective: basic laboratory research, intervention, prevention and deterrence, and new directions in smoking research. Methodologies that were derived from such varied sources as psychopharmacology, behavioral pharmacology, behavior therapy, clinical psychology, public health and health promotion, and social and developmental psychology have been used to study the smoking problem. The subject populations in these investigations ranged from animal models, to the individual smoker attempting to quit, to communities involved in health promotion and public health approaches. Future research should seek to provide new and improved examples of interdisciplinary research within the field of health psychology to multidisciplinary approaches from the basic and applied sciences.     

The child custody evaluation: Issues and trends

Custody disputes are often the crisis point in the divorcing process and the numbers of contested custody cases are increasing. Mental health professionals are being called upon to provide evaluations of these families more frequently than ever. This article focuses on how to perform child custody evaluations. It touches on the highly troublesome cases where accusations of abuse and alcoholism have been made, and how to convey to attorneys the findings of an evaluation. It begins by reviewing developments in child custody law and concludes by addressing the problems between behavioral sciences and the law in these stressful cases. The presentation of clinical examples provides a view of the decision making process, while addressing the contextual setting for these cases as well.     

Training school psychologists in neuropsychological assessment: Current practices and trends

Directors of school psychology programs at the Master's, sixth-year and doctoral levels were surveyed as to their program's degree of emphasis in neuropsychological screening and assessment. Despite variability according to program level, directors identified a need for training in these areas. This was particularly evident at the doctoral level, where greater flexibility exists in designing a student's program of studies. The results of this survey support the notion that training in neuropsychological screening and assessment techniques is appropriate in the preparation of specialists in the area of school psychology.     

Research in developmental psychology on gender and relationships: Reflections on the past and looking into the future

Recent historical trends and current directions in the study of children's gender and relationships are reviewed using Maccoby and Jacklin's (1974) The Psychology of Sex Differences as a reference point. Since the publication of Maccoby and Jacklin's review, researchers have questioned the extent and the magnitude of gender differences in social behaviour as well as the degree to which parents play a primary role in gender development. More attention is now paid to the impact of gender‐segregated peer groups and other social relationships (e.g., friendships, romantic relationships) as well as cognitive‐motivational and biological processes. Furthermore, the role of the larger social‐structural context is addressed in studies of sexism and gender bias during childhood and adolescence. Recommendations for future research are offered.     

试析新兴宗教及其趋向

新兴宗教是当今社会宗教领域出现的一种新的宗教现象。本文概略论述新兴宗教的产生、社会成因,及其组织形态的发展,着重指出新兴宗教中占大多数的、形形色色的派别组织,规模小,数量繁多,聚散无定,它们的趋向应当引起人们的高度重视。     

The Sheffield Stress on Women Demonstration Project: Summary and Reflections on Evaluation

The Sheffield Stress on Women Project (1992–1995) involved over 30 women's groups. Nearly 500 women took part in the groups, many of whom came with other local women to the Open Day Celebration which concluded the Project. Though the Project was successful within its own frame of reference, it has continued to be difficult to persuade local purchasers to fund these types of interventions for women. Against this background, conflicts and issues relating to the evaluation of the Project are discussed.     

Drive for leanness: assessment and relationship to gender, gender role and objectification

Three components of body image – drive for thinness (DT), drive for muscularity (DM), and drive for leanness (DL) – were assessed in 232 college students. A new measure of DL was developed. Data suggested that the new scale yielded valid and reliable scores. The relationships of gender, gender norm endorsement, and self-objectification to DT, DM, and DL were examined. The surveillance subscale of the OBC Scale was related to DL, DT, and DM in men and to DL and DT in women. Gender norm endorsement, specifically romantic relationships, moderated the relationship of surveillance to DT in women. Gender norm endorsement was directly related to DM and DT in men. DLS appeared to measure a distinct component of body image. Feminine gender role was only related to DT while masculine gender role was related to DL, DT, and DM, raising important questions about the gender differences in body image.     

Bringing the National Security Agency into the Classroom: Ethical Reflections on Academia-Intelligence Agency Partnerships

Science and Engineering Ethics - Academia-intelligence agency collaborations are on the rise for a variety of reasons. These can take many forms, one of which is in the classroom, using students to...     

Prediction and classification in nonlinear data analysis: Something old,something new,something borrowed,something blue

Prediction and classification are two very active areas in modern data analysis. In this paper, prediction with nonlinear optimal scaling transformations of the variables is reviewed, and extended to the use of multiple additive components, much in the spirit of statistical learning techniques that are currently popular, among other areas, in data mining. Also, a classification/clustering method is described that is particularly suitable for analyzing attribute-value data from systems biology (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), and which is able to detect groups of objects that have similar values on small subsets of the attributes.This article is based on the Presidential Address Jacqueline Meulman gave on July 9, 2003 at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society held near Cagliari, Italy on the island of Sardinia.—Editor