Simulated work experience: how realistic should it be?

One hundred 10th grade non-college-bound students were randomly assigned to receive two alternative types of materials: (a) experimental—an Electronic Technician Kit which required students to use an actual ammeter in solving problems representative of that occupation; and (b) control—a kit virtually identical with the experimental treatment except that no meter was provided. The experimental subjects reported more enjoyment, wanted more information about an electronic technician career, wrote more questions about careers, and signed up to take more additional career kits than did the control subjects. However, the number of measured exploratory activities during the week after the treatments was too small to test for statistical significance.     

Philosophy of Religion or Philosophical Theology?

Books reviewed in this article:
Alvin Plantinga Warranted Christian Belief
Bruce Marshall Trinity and Truth     

Standardized or simple effect size: What should be reported?

It is regarded as best practice for psychologists to report effect size when disseminating quantitative research findings. Reporting of effect size in the psychological literature is patchy – though this may be changing – and when reported it is far from clear that appropriate effect size statistics are employed. This paper considers the practice of reporting point estimates of standardized effect size and explores factors such as reliability, range restriction and differences in design that distort standardized effect size unless suitable corrections are employed. For most purposes simple (unstandardized) effect size is more robust and versatile than standardized effect size. Guidelines for deciding what effect size metric to use and how to report it are outlined. Foremost among these are: (i) a preference for simple effect size over standardized effect size, and (ii) the use of confidence intervals to indicate a plausible range of values the effect might take. Deciding on the appropriate effect size statistic to report always requires careful thought and should be influenced by the goals of the researcher, the context of the research and the potential needs of readers.     

Parental expression of disappointment: should it be a factor in Hoffman's model of parental discipline?

The authors addressed whether parental expression of disappointment should be included as a distinct factor in M. L. Hoffman's well-established typology of parenting styles (induction, love withdrawal, power assertion). Hoffman's 3-factor model, along with a more inclusive 4-factor model (induction, love withdrawal, power assertion, and expressions of disappointment), were respectively evaluated in exploratory factor analyses. The analysis utilized extant data comprised of responses by children (N = 73) and their mothers (N = 67) to an adaptation of M. L. Hoffman and H. D. Saltzstein's parental discipline measure. The findings supported Hoffman's original model. Disappointment may be reducible to love withdrawal or induction, although disappointment may be a more appropriate induction for adolescents.     

Should/Can Philosophy be Ethnic? Varieties of Internationalism in Philosophy

This paper describes the situation of philosophy in Japan with respect to the question of internationalism. For more than a hundred years, Japan took Western culture as its model and European philosophy as the authentic philosophy. This tendency was paradoxically strengthened by the post-war humanism. It gave us Japanese philosophers a clear discipline to work in but cut us off from our own native culture, history, and philosophical traditions. In wishing to recover this loss, I argue that it is necessary to distinguish between two forms of internationalism: humanistic and merely fashionable. The latter in fact derives from domestic reasons.     

Can Philosophy be International?

There is a difference between internationalism in politics and philosophy. This paper takes the position that internationalism is possible in politics but not in philosophy, although it is an objective worth pursuing in both domains.     

Philosophy: what is to be done?

The isolation and professionalization of philosophy is detrimental to it. The most interesting philosophical activity is conducted at the interface of philosophy and other disciplines. Thus philosophy must continue to cross boundaries and avoid fretting about what is and is not philosophy proper.     

The dead donor rule: should we stretch it, bend it, or abandon it?

The dead donor rule--that persons must be dead before their organs are taken--is a central part of the moral framework underlying organ procurement. Efforts to increase the pool of transplantable organs have been forced either to redefine death (e.g., anencephaly) or take advantage of ambiguities in the current definition of death (e.g., the Pittsburgh protocol). Society's growing acceptance of circumstances in which health care professionals can hasten a patient's death also may weaken the symbolic importance of the dead donor rule. We consider the implications of these efforts to continually revise the line between life and death and ask whether it would be preferable to abandon the dead donor rule and rely entirely on informed consent as a safeguard against abuse.     

Traditional Chinese Thought: Philosophy or Religion?

Contemporary theoretical streams in sinology and modern Chinese philosophy have devoted increasing attention to investigating and comparing the substantial and methodological assumptions of the so-called ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ traditions. In spite of the complexity of these problems, the most important methodological condition for arriving at some reasonably valid conclusions will undoubtedly be satisfied if we consciously endeavor to preserve the characteristic structural blocks and observe the specific categorical laws of the cultural contexts being discussed. Whenever sinologists speak of Chinese philosophy, they must inevitably consider the appropriateness of this term. Due to the fact, that the general theory and genuine philosophical aspects of Chinese thought have only rarely been treated by Western scholars, they namely continue to remain quite obscure for the majority of them. Therefore, we must examine the fundamental question (or dilemma) of whether it is possible to speak of traditional Chinese thought as philosophy at all.     

The cocktail party problem: what is it? How can it be solved? And why should animal behaviorists study it?

Animals often use acoustic signals to communicate in groups or social aggregations in which multiple individuals signal within a receiver's hearing range. Consequently, receivers face challenges related to acoustic interference and auditory masking that are not unlike the human cocktail party problem, which refers to the problem of perceiving speech in noisy social settings. Understanding the sensory solutions to the cocktail party problem has been a goal of research on human hearing and speech communication for several decades. Despite a general interest in acoustic signaling in groups, animal behaviorists have devoted comparatively less attention toward understanding how animals solve problems equivalent to the human cocktail party problem. After illustrating how humans and nonhuman animals experience and overcome similar perceptual challenges in cocktail-party-like social environments, this article reviews previous psychophysical and physiological studies of humans and nonhuman animals to describe how the cocktail party problem can be solved. This review also outlines several basic and applied benefits that could result from studies of the cocktail party problem in the context of animal acoustic communication.     

A Wittgensteinian Philosophy of Religion – or A Philosophy of Wittgensteinian Religion?

I evaluate the plausibility of how broadly 'Wittgensteinian' approaches to the philosophy of religion: looking in the first half of the essay at the account such approaches give of the meaning of religious utterances, and in the second half at the account given of the required justification for believing such utterances. As regards the meaning of religious utterances I distinguish weak and strong Wittgensteinian theses, supporting the former but refuting the latter. Turning to Wittgensteinian approaches to the justification of religious beliefs I argue that although some beliefs are 'groundless' in a way that makes them an unquestionable feature of our conceptual landscape, anything as interesting as a religious belief can not be 'groundless' in the relevant sense (of being invulnerable to attack). Finally I argue that only Wittgensteinian approaches can capture the meaning and justificatory requirements of religious beliefs for a minority of 'believers': but that this minority is important.     

Philosophy of medicine — From a medical perspective

In this commentary on the article by Arthur L. Caplan [1] the philosophy of medicine is viewed from a medical perspective. Philosophical studies have a long tradition in medicine, especially during periods of paradigmatic unrest, and they serve the same goal as other medical activities: the prevention and treatment of disease. The medical profession needs the help of professional philosophers in much the same way as it needs the cooperation of basic scientists. Philosophy of medicine may not deserve the status of a philosophical subspecialty or field, but it so closely linked to the main trends of contemporary medical thinking that it must be regarded as an emerging (or reemerging) medical subdiscipline.     

Can applied ethics be effective in health care and should it strive to be?

Drawing upon his work in medical centers, Caplan explores the question of how well ethicists function in hospitals. He asks if their use of the "engineering model" of applied ethics, which emphasizes conceptual clarification, mastery of ethical theory, and impartiality, has made any difference in the way medicine is practiced. Noting that ethicists have been more effective in influencing heatlh policy at the national than at the institutional level, Caplan concludes that they have been less successful in teaching medical ethics, working with health personnel, and helping to formulate hospital policies. He attributes their difficulties primarily to the inadequacies of the engineering model of applied ethics for solving problems in a clinical setting. Caplan cautions ethicists to be aware both of the limitations of the engineering model and of the motives of health personnel in asking for help which may have little to do with resolving moral dilemmas.     

Internet use by the socially fearful: addiction or therapy?

The Internet has often been argued to have adverse psychological consequences, such as depression or anxiety symptoms, among "over-users." The present study offers an alternative understanding, suggesting the Internet may be used as a forum for expanding social networks and consequently enhancing the chance of meaningful relationships, self-confidence, social abilities, and social support. An online sample of 188 people was recruited over the Internet, while paper and pencil tests were administered to an offline sample group of 27 undergraduate university students, who were regular Internet users. Subjects completed the Zung Depression Scale (ZDS), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire?Revised Short Scale (EPQ-R Short), Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) scale, Internet Use Questionnaire (IUQ), and an Internet Effects Questionnaire (IEQ). Results suggested that there was no relationship between time spent online and depression, anxiety, or social fearfulness. Those who primarily used the Internet for online chat believed that the Internet is psychologically beneficial to them, but also believed that frequent Internet users are lonely and that the Internet can be addictive. It is argued that "chat" users who are socially fearful may be using the Internet as a form of low-risk social approach and an opportunity to rehearse social behavior and communication skills, which, may help them improve interaction with offline, face-to-face, social environments.     

Generating leads with sequential persuasion: should sales influence tactics be consistent or complementary?

Firms are becoming increasingly systematic in sales lead generation activities and recognize that multiple interactions are often required to generate leads and to reassure buyers of the benefits of an offering. However, the literature is contradictory regarding what types of persuasive messages should be used across these multiple interactions. This paper investigates what combination of sales influence tactics (SITs) should be used when customers are approached more than once regarding the same offering, that is, sequentially. Should the SITs be consistent (the same), or complementary (different)? Consistent vs. complementary SIT approaches were tested in two field experiments, one with an electronics manufacturer in a single communication channel setting and one with a financial services provider in a cross-channel setting. The results supported our hypothesis and indicated that the use of complementary SITs across interactions, regardless of the order, increases lead conversion.     

Philosophy: What is to be done?––Bleak prospects

Culturally, America is well overdue for a Second Enlightenment, but since the dominant majority of its citizens are regrettably both symbol-minded and star-craving mad, and since the mass media are generally inaccessible to us, the chance that contemporary philosophers could contribute to such a thing, much less help instigate it, is near vanishingly small. As educators, in contrast, we can perhaps make ourselves useful by beginning to clear the extensive muck out of at least some of our students’ minds. In any event, the discipline of philosophy as such is in serious need of renewal, but that, should it unexpectedly happen, will be matter of luck rather than a result of deliberate action.     

What care should be covered?

The answer to the question of what health care services should be covered by a managed care plan is straightforward; the plan should cover whatever the consumer is willing to pay for. From the plan's perspective, the consumer is the payer, that is, the employer who negotiates the plan; not the individual patient whose personal preferences and interests may be quite different. Since managed care organizations contract with payers to arrange for health care services within a defined set of benefits, there is a broader question as well: Within the benefits chosen by the payer, what actually is covered? Criteria for determining "medical necessity," which managed care plans frequently use as the basis for coverage, are discussed.     

To Buy or Not to Buy? Introducing Philosophy of Religion

Books reviewed in this article:
Beverley Clack and Brian R. Clack, The Philosophy of Religion: A Critical Introduction
Brian Davies OP (ed.), Philosophy of Religion: A Guide to the Subject