Least squares estimation in finite Markov processes

The usual least squares estimate of the transitional probability matrix of a finite Markov process is given for the case in which, for each point in time, only the proportions of the sample in each state are known. The purpose of this paper is to give another estimate of this matrix and to investigate the properties of this estimate. It is shown that this estimate is consistent and asymptotically more efficient than the previously considered estimate in a sense defined in this paper.     

Likeness: A Hidden Ingredient in Family Therapy

The purpose of this paper is to show how one can progress from a validated theoretical model to its practical application in family therapy. The model applied in this case is the Likeness Continuum consisting of six degrees of Likeness: symbiosis, sameness, similarity, differentness, oppositeness, and alienation. A formal Task to evaluate this model in family therapy is attached to provide a basis for the evaluation of this model in the laboratory and in the therapy office.     

On Quantitative and Qualitative Parsimony

The distinction between quantitative and qualitative parsimony is supposed to allow David Lewis to dismiss one of the charges against his modal realism: that is, the charge of bloated ontology. The aim of this paper is to undermine Lewis's response to this objection. In order to do this, a distinction between multipliable and nonmultipliable objects is introduced. Based on this it is argued that the acceptance of Lewis's response requires one to believe in modal realism in the first place—that is, one has to believe in the view that the existence of nonactual spatiotemporal worlds does not affect the quality of the ontological commitment. Although the paper focuses on the problem of the metaphysics of possible worlds, this should be regarded merely as a case study. Accordingly, the results of this analysis should find applications in other metaphysical debates as well.     

Individualization and the Challenged Subject

The modern process of individualization takes place both at an institutional and an individual level. The challenge for the subject is to learn to personally manage this task in the context of institutional individualization. In this article, the contribution of social psychology to the analysis of this subject challenge is investigated in terms of the requirements of individualization.     

On Heidegger's Root and Branch Reformulation of the Meaning of Transcendental Philosophy

Over the past decades there has been increasing interest in the idea that Heidegger was a “transcendental philosopher” during the late 1920s. Furthermore, a consensus has started to emerge around the idea that Heidegger must be thought of as a transcendental thinker during this time. For the most part this means to first experience how Heidegger's work inherits this term from Kant or Husserl so that one can then experience how Heidegger creatively adapts this inheritance. The aim of this paper is to show that such an approach is unhelpful. The aim of this paper is instead to show that transcendental philosophy bears a wholly renewed meaning in Heidegger's fundamental ontology and that this meaning must be understood in an intrinsic connection with the fundamental-ontological problem of transcendence. Articulating this connection will show how Heidegger makes transcendental philosophy properly phenomenological.     

The Model of Human Occupation

The Model of Human Occupation is used as a theoretical framework to review literature on the diagnosis of conduct disorder in adolescence. Specific occupational dysfunctions typical of this population are highlighted. A Newspaper Treatment Group based on this model is described focusing on three levels of treatmcnt: exploratory, competence and achievement. The purpose of this group is to facilitate healthy adaptation in this population.     

Theoretical functions in physical science

The aim of this paper is to give an account of theoreticity which captures the preanalytic conception of a theoretical function, which is precise and yet which expresses what is significant about theoretical functions. The point of departure for this account is a recent discussion of the topic by Balzer and Moulines. On the basis of criticism of this discussion and on the basis of an examination of laboratory measurement, an account of theoreticity is proposed.I am grateful to the members of the philosophy seminar at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, to Barbara Davidson and particularly to Wolfgang Balzer and this journal's referee for their comments on earlier versions of this paper.     

Le rôle du contexte d’expression et du statut social des intervenants de santé dans la production d’un discours normatif : le cas de la relation des jeunes à l’alcool

The objective of this research is to show that, under usual conditions of interaction between an agent of health and of its public intervention, the individuals produce a “pro-health” speech which can lead astray this agent, concerning the representation which they have of alcohol. Students, producing verbal associations about this object, were confronted either with an agent of health or with a student, and were speaking either for themselves or as the students would do in general. The results show that the individuals, placed in front of an agent of health and directly implied in the beliefs that they express, tend to adopt the speech wished by this agent. However, this manifest adhesion only appears to be circumstantial, insofar as the speech of the individuals is different when they are expressed vis-a-vis a member of its group and in the name of this one. The implications of these results with regard to the interventions of prevention are discussed.     

The substantive nature of psycholexical personality factors: a comparison across languages

The psycholexical approach to personality structure in American English has led to the Big Five factors. The present study considers whether this result is similar or different in other languages. Instead of placing the usual emphasis on quantitative indices, this study examines the substantive nature of the factors. Six studies in European languages were used to develop a taxonomy of content categories. The English translations of the relevant terms were then classified under this taxonomy. The results support the generality of Big Five Factor III (Conscientiousness). Factors IV (Emotional Stability) and V (Intellect) generally did not cohere. Factors I (Extraversion) and II (Agreeableness) tended to split when this was necessary to produce 5 factors. The analysis was extended to several additional studies.     

The Quantified Relationship

The growth of self-tracking and personal surveillance has given rise to the Quantified Self movement. Members of this movement seek to enhance their personal well-being, productivity, and self-actualization through the tracking and gamification of personal data. The technologies that make this possible can also track and gamify aspects of our interpersonal, romantic relationships. Several authors have begun to challenge the ethical and normative implications of this development. In this article, we build upon this work to provide a detailed ethical analysis of the Quantified Relationship (QR). We identify eight core objections to the QR and subject them to critical scrutiny. We argue that although critics raise legitimate concerns, there are ways in which tracking technologies can be used to support and facilitate good relationships. We thus adopt a stance of cautious openness toward this technology and advocate the development of a research agenda for the positive use of QR technologies.     

A Critique of the Constitutive Role of Truthlikeness in the Similarity Approach

The similarity approach stands as a significant attempt to defend scientific realism from the attack of the pessimistic meta-induction. The strategy behind the similarity approach is to shift from an absolute notion of truth to the more flexible one of truthlikeness. Nonetheless, some authors are not satisfied with this attempt to defend realism and find that the notion of truthlikeness is not fully convincing. The aim of this paper is to analyze and understand the reasons of this dissatisfaction. Our thesis is that the dissatisfaction with the notion of truthlikeness concerns the double role that this notion plays within the similarity approach: This notion plays both a regulative role in the conception of theories and a constitutive one in their selection.     

On a Supposed Solution to the Reinhold/Sidgwick Problem in Kant's Metaphysics of Morals

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the suggestion that Kant offers a solution to the Reinhold/Sidgwick Problem in his Metaphysics of Morals. The problem, briefly, is about how Kant can hold moral evil to be imputable when he also seems to hold that freedom is found only in moral actions. After providing a new formulation of this problem under the title ‘Objection R/S’ and describing the popular strategy for addressing it through reference to this text, the paper recounts some of the history relevant to interpreting the passage in question. The paper then argues that this strategy is not supported by the text and indeed proves to be contrary to other arguments that are central to Kant's moral thought. The closing section briefly considers other possible ways of addressing the Objection R/S.     

Neuropsychological Assessment of Mental Capacity

The assessment of mental capacity to assist legal determinations of competency is potentially a growth area for neuropsychology, although to date neuropsychologists have published relatively little in this area. In this paper a systematic review of methods used to assess capacity is presented, including coverage of specialized tests and interviews used for this purpose. A neuropsychological model for conducting capacity assessments is proposed. This model involves comprehensive assessment of a wide range of cognitive abilities as well as assessment of specific skills and knowledge related to the type of capacity being assessed. The purpose of proposing this model is to stimulate further discussion and debate about the contribution neuropsychologists might make in this area.     

Are we losing our mind?

The individual mind of the patient, and how it works, are the central topics of this plenary address. In psychoanalysis we are always dealing with a mind--a mind with its own particular structure--and this is a fact of singular importance in how we listen to, understand, and communicate with patients. Techniques geared to this view are presented. The author reflects on and challenges some contrasting current views of psychoanalysis as primarily coconstructed or as a relational matrix. Technique according to this view highlights the analyst's subjectivity and actions as central to treatment.     

The contract as a counseling technique

The contract system has been successfully employed in recent years as a method of conducting individual academic study. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how an adaptation of this system may be used to provide an innovative approach not only to counseling but also to other segments of the school guidance program. Besides providing a logical, self-directed approach to problem solving, the contract system forces the student to assume responsibility for his own behavior. The rewards and punishments inherent in this system are only those the individual metes out to himself.     

Referring Sex Offenders for Psychosexual Evaluation: A Review

The authors of this article provide guidance to counselors who are referred identified and alleged sex offenders for psychosexual evaluations. The article reviews the critical legal, ethical, and clinical issues that counselors should consider when responding to these referral requests. Counselors can also use this article to educate referral sources about the indications and limitations of evaluations of this population.     

Content development and initial psychometric analysis of the problematic hypersexuality scale

The purpose of this investigation was to develop an instrument to screen for the presence of problematic hypersexuality in a nonclinical sample of 357 adults residing in the United States. The problematic hypersexuality scale (PHS) was the product of this investigation and was designed to address the limitations of existing measures for this construct and gather psychometric evidence to support the intended uses of and claims drawn from this instrument. Empirical evidence for the use of the PHS as a screener was founded through factor analytic procedures, Rasch modeling, and the use of item response theory.     

An individual approach to psychotherapy with psychotic patients

In this paper I attempt to explore particular aspects of the therapeutic process, especially the unusual way in which the therapy of this 11-year-old girl, referred for possible or potential anorexia nervosa, came to a sudden end. The oedipal configuration provides a useful theoretical framework in which to consider the course and vicissitudes of treatment. The restoration of a link between the child and her father allowed a distance to be created between mother and daughter. The meaning of this is considered both in terms of external events and clinically within the transference relationship.     

Realism Detranscendentalized

John McDowell claims to find in Wittgenstein an approach to semantic notions which occupies a middle ground between antirealism and extreme forms of realism. The article sketches a proposal as to how to construe McDowell's Wittgensteinian position. The proposal exploits McDowell's suggestion that the position could be characterised as a combination of empirical realism and transcendental idealism concerning the status of semantic facts. The article argues that this combination is made possible by the fact that, when we attempt to characterise our own linguistic practices, the practice that we are trying to characterise is the very same practice that is supposed to yield the characterisation. One consequence of this is that commitment to antirealist principles requires embracing realism at the empirical level. Nevertheless, the contrast between this position and extreme realism remains problematic. The article ends by considering two proposals as to how this contrast could be rendered intelligble.     

Panic and posttraumatic stress disorder: implications for culture, risk, and treatment

The articles in this special series reflect productive cross-fertilization between the fields of panic disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. The purpose of this commentary is to elucidate the implications of this research for the broader themes of culture, risk factors, and treatment.