Through Thick and Thin: Validity and Reflective Judgment

The application of “thick” ethical concepts is best understood as a process of reflective rather than deductive judgment. Taking the form “B is as X as A,” where X is a thick ethical concept and A and B are narrative wholes unified through X (for example, “Those who hid Jews from the Nazis were as brave as Achilles”), reflective judgment opens thick ethical concepts to transformation. Though interpretive, such reflective judgment may still be able to provide validity without recourse to “thin,” purportedly context‐neutral terms.     

Understanding and Counseling Self‐Mutilation in Female Adolescents and Young Adults

This article examines the syndrome of self‐mutilation with specific attention given to self‐mutilation in female adolescents and young adults. Causes, symptoms, types, definitions, and treatments are discussed. Included is an explanation of the lexical and conceptual confusion that accompanies self‐mutilation. Implications and recommendations for counselors are addressed.     

Structure and Content: The Relationship Between Reflective Judgment and Laypeople's Viewpoints

A neglected research area involving the relationship between structure and content in thinking is explored in this study. Fifty-nine adults participated in initial (1986–88) and follow-up (1993–94) interviews on Reflective Judgment (RJ) dilemmas devised by Kitchener and King. An earlier study by A.-M. Pirttilä-Backman and A. Kajanne (2001) showed that Reflective Judgment mean scores were higher in the second interview round than those in the first. One of the Kitchener and King dilemmas on food additives was investigated further. In another study using the same data, A. Kajanne and A.-M. Pirttilä-Backman (1996) presented 4 categories of standpoints (Harmful, Safe, Both, and Neither) on food additives that were apparent in both interviews. A shift from the more clear-cut (Harmful and Safe) to the more moderate (Both and Neither) standpoints was detected between the 2 studies. The results of these two studies are utilized here in investigating the connection between form and content in thinking. In both interviews the mean stage scores on Reflective Judgment differed according to the standpoint taken. Stages 4 and 5 formed a dividing line: those under this line chose one of the clear-cut standpoints more often than those above it. Some contents were independent of the stage scores, but others were closely linked to them.     

The Scandal of Reason: A Critical Theory of Political Judgment

Abstract

Carruthers argues that knowledge of our own propositional attitudes is achieved by the same mechanism used to attain knowledge of other people’s minds. This seems incompatible with ‘privileged access’ – the idea that we have more reliable beliefs about our own mental states, regardless of the mechanism. At one point Carruthers seems to suggest he may be able to maintain privileged access, because we have additional sensory information in our own case. We raise a number of worries for this suggestion, concluding that Carruthers’s new theory cannot clearly preserve the superior reliability of our beliefs about our own attitudes.     

Transforming and Redescribing Critical Thinking: Constructive Thinking

The author describes a published symposium which debated “Is Critical Thinking Biased?” The symposium meant to address concerns about critical thinking that are being expressed by feminist and postmodern scholars. However, through the author's critique, and the symposium respondent's, we learn the participants ended up begging the question of bias. The author maintains that the belief that critical thinking is “unbiased” is based on an assumption that knowers can be separated from what is known. She argues that critical thinking is a tool which has no life of its own, it only has meaning and purpose when fallible, biased people use it (weak sense bias). She challenges the idea of a transcendental epistemological perspective, thus all knowledge is provisional and perspectival (strong sense bias). The author begins to redescribe a transformed critical thinking as constructive thinking.     

Shyness Clinic: A Social Development Program for Adolescents and Young Adults

Shyness clinic groups were offered in a university counseling center for adolescents and young adults experiencing discomfort and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Thirty-four students went through a preassessment and screening procedure. Twenty-three participated fully in the program. The first part of the program focused on anxiety management; the second on assertiveness in social relationships; and the third on development of conversational skills. According to results on preprogram and postprogram self-report inventories, written feedback from participants, and observations of the group leaders, participants improved in social skills and ability to manage anxiety.     

Understanding Gerotranscendence in Older Adults: A New Perspective for Counselors

The author describes gerotranscendence as a process that occurs when older adults shift from a rational focus on the present‐day, material world to a more universal and transcendent perspective. Accompanying this shift is a desire to move toward the end of life with a sense of integrity and acceptance of one's choices. By gaining an understanding of gerotranscendence, counselors can better meet the needs of their aging clients. Using existing gerotranscendence literature as a guideline, suggestions are made for appropriate counseling interventions.     

Analogy Counterarguments: A Taxonomy for Critical Thinking

The presentation of analogical arguments in the critical thinking literature fails to reflect cognitive research on analogy. Part of the problem is that these treatments of analogy do not address counterarguments, an important aspect of the analysis of analogical argumentation. In this paper, I present a taxonomy of four counterarguments, false analogy, misanalogy, disanalogy, and counteranalogy, analyzed along two dimensions, orientation and effect. The counterarguments are treated in the framework of the multiconstraint theory of analogy (Holyoak and Thagard, 1995). This framework is also extended to account for the evidence brought to light by the consideration of counterarguments. The result is a psychologically motivated treatment of analogical arguments that will be useful both for critical and pedagogical purposes.     

Increasing Behavioral Skills and Level of Understanding in Adults: A Brief Method Integrating Dennison's Brain Gym & #x00AE; Balance with Piaget's Reflective Processes

A single session intervention was given individually to 4 adults in order to assist them in achieving their personal goals by improving their behavioral skills for achieving the goals and their conceptual understanding of & #x201C;how to & #x201D; attain these goals. The method was based on a brain-ability analysis of understanding & #x201C;conservation & #x201D; on Jean Piaget's conservation tasks combined with Paul and Gail Dennison's Brain Gym & #x201C;balance & #x201D; procedure. My & #x201C;whole brain understanding & #x201D; model (C. A. Wolfsont, 1999, 2000) and M. L. Commons et al.'s Hierarchical Complexity Scoring System manual were used to analyze the verbal protocols (M. L. Commons et al., 1992; Commons, Danaher, & Meaney, 2000). Increases were found in the participants' conceptual understanding and in the complexity of their performance.     

Intuition in Judgment and Decision Making: Extensive Thinking Without Effort

We claim that intuition is capable of quickly processing multiple pieces of information without noticeable cognitive effort. We advocate a component view stating that intuitive processes in judgment and decision making are responsible for information integration and output formation (e.g., preference, choice), whereas analytic thinking mainly guides input formation such as search, generation, and change of information. We present empirical evidence corroborating this notion and show that integration of information and preference formation works without cognitive control and is unconstrained by the amount of encoded information and cognitive capacity. We discuss the implications of our findings for the bounded rationality perspective and the multiple strategy approach to judgment and decision making. Finally we outline a connectionist framework for integrating intuitive and analytic thought processes.     

Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents: A Critical Challenge to Counselors

Meeting the health care needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers has become a public health imperative, and mental health professionals should be prepared for the challenge. The stigma of homosexuality often gives rise to psychosocial problems for adolescents, who are in the process of sexual identity development. The stigma also may complicate delivery of appropriate, ethical, and sound mental health treatment. Suggestions are offered to support healthy development, to assist recovery from stigma, and to avert the disastrous consequences of suicide and AIDS.     

青少年和父母对心理咨询认识的质性研究

用访谈法探讨8个已求助和5个未求助家庭的青少年和父母对心理咨询的认识;比较已求助者和未求助者、青少年和父母对心理咨询认识的差异。结果显示,青少年和父母从6个方面描述心理咨询:功能、形式、适用问题、服务提供者、求助者和效果,各方面提及次数最多的分别是问题解决、谈话法、心理困扰、心理医生、心理有病的人和有帮助;误解包括心理咨询是针对心理有病的人,只有严重问题才需要求助。已求助者比未求助者更了解心理咨询,提及问题解决、心理困扰和有帮助的次数更多。青少年更多认为心理咨询是心理老师处理正常群体的心理困扰;父母更多认为心理咨询是心理医生处理心理疾病。青少年和父母对心理咨询的认识趋于理性和准确,但仍有误解需要澄清。     

The Reflective Scribe: Encouraging Critical Self-Reflection and Professional Development in Pre-Health Education

Much has been said about the formative process that occurs via the “hidden curriculum” of medical education during which many students experience a disconnect between the professional values espoused within the formal curriculum and the implicit values communicated through interactions with peers and mentors. Less attention, however, has been paid to the formation of the future medical self that takes place during students’ premedical years, a time in which many undergraduate students seek out immersive clinical experiences —such as medical scribing— before applying to medical school. Despite the fact that medical scribes undoubtedly are affected by their clinical experiences, scribes are rarely offered opportunities to reflect on them. The authors contend that the developmental processes of medical scribes, especially those who intend on pursuing a career in the health professions, ought to be supported. This can be achieved, at least in part, through engaging in well-designed reflective sessions with other scribes. Encouraging students to reflect on their experiences can help them make sense of troubling events and give voice to the inconsistencies and value conflicts within medical practice that are so often ignored. The authors describe the development of their new Reflective Scribe program and offer suggestions for future directions.     

ICTs and Family Functioning: A Study on Portuguese Families with Adolescents and Emerging Adults

Nowadays, information and communication technologies (ICTs) represent an integral part of contemporary family life, introducing changes in families’ functioning. Positive, negative, and mixed aspects of this influence were identified. The present study intends to understand the relationship between ICTs and family functioning among participants from two different family life cycle stages. A total of 157 Portuguese families (307 participants from 97 families with emerging adult children and 169 from 60 families with adolescents) completed measures about the use of ICTs (an adaptation of SEFT/ETEF©) and family functioning (SCORE-15). The number of ICTs and problems related to their use were higher in families with adolescent children. The use of a higher number of ICTs was related to a better level of family functioning in both family groups. However, according to the multiple regression model, the problematic situations related to ICTs use only seem to predict a worse level of family functioning in families with adolescent children. Also, parents and children of each group differed in the number of ICTs used. Some limitations, implications for family therapy, and future research directions are discussed.     

Predicting Well-Being From Personality in Adolescents and Older Adults

The relationship between personality and well-being is dynamic and therefore should be examined within aging perspective. In study presented here we compared the prediction of well-being from personality in two samples?C223 adolescents attending high-school (16?C19?years; M?=?16.94, SD?=?0.51) and 134 older adults (54?C90?years; M?=?77.20, SD?=?7.39) living in retirement home or at home. Different aspects of well-being were included in the study. Subjective well-being was measured with Index of Well-Being, but also self-esteem and loneliness were included as measures of psychological well-being. Personality (measured with FFPI; Hendriks et al. in Pers Individ Dif 27:307?C325, 1999) significantly predicted indicators of well-being (Self-Esteem, Loneliness and Index of Well-Being) in both samples, with emotional stability and extraversion as most pronounced predictors. Personality explained more variance of well-being in adolescents than in older adults, and more variance in eudaimonic than hedonic aspects of well-being.