In Search of True Causes:

The present investigation sought to obtain empirical data that either directly supports or refutes the popular assumption that communication is an essential element of effective decision making. Specifically, it reports three phases of study that attempt to determine whether the variance in group decision making is best accounted for by noninteraction or interaction sources. Phase 1 examines the relationship among group member ability, communication opportunity, and decision performance. Phase 2 examines the relationship among group member ability, qualities of group communication, and decision performance. Phase 3 examines the relationship among fulfillment of communication functions requisite to decision-making efficacy, group member ability, and decision performance. In Phase 1, a strong independent main effect for communication opportunity was found; whereas in Phase 2 we discovered classification and explanatory effects for three facets of interaction quality—“evaluation of task-relevant issues,”“goal-directed communication,” and “idea development”—and in Phase 3 no classification or explanatory effects for either of the communication functions examined was found. Open channels of communication and high quality task-oriented discussion that focused on issue evaluation and task accomplishment facilitated group performance in light of the effects of group potential.     

Data In Search Of A Principle: A Review Of Relational Frame Theory: A Post-Skinnerian Count Of Human Language And Cognition.

Responding to derived relations among stimuli and events is the subject of an accelerating research program that represents one of the major behavior analytic approaches to complex behavior. Relational Frame Theory: A Post‐Skinnerian Account of Human Language and Cognition (Hayes, Barnes‐Holmes, & Roche, 2001) offers a conceptual framework for this work and explores its implications for verbal behavior and a variety of other domains of complex human behavior. The authors dismiss Skinner's interpretation of verbal behavior as unproductive and conceptually flawed and suggest a new definition and a new paradigm for the investigation of verbal phenomena. I found the empirical phenomena important but the conceptual discussion incomplete. A new principle of behavior is promised, but critical features of this principle are not offered. In the absence of an explicit principle, the theory itself is difficult to evaluate. Counterexamples suggest a role for mediating behavior, perhaps covert, thus raising the question whether a new principle is needed at all. The performance of subjects in relational frame experiments may be a mosaic of elementary behavioral units, some of which are verbal. If so, verbal behavior underlies relational behavior; it is not defined by it. I defend Skinner's definition of verbal behavior and argue that an account of relational behavior must be integrated with Skinner's analysis; it will not replace it.     

The Judgement-Stroke As A Truth-Operator: A New Interpretation Of The Logical Form Of Sentences In Frege''s Scientific Language

The syntax of Frege's scientific language iscommonly taken to be characterized by two oddities:the representation of the intended illocutionary roleof sentences by a special sign, the judgement-stroke,and the treatment of sentences as a species ofsingular terms. In this paper, an alternative view isdefended. The main theses are: (i) the syntax ofFrege's scientific language aims at an explication ofthe logical form of judgements; (ii) thejudgement-stroke is, therefore, a truth-operator, nota pragmatic operator; (iii) in Frege's first system,` ' expresses that the circumstance is a fact, and in his second system that thetruth-value - is the True; (iv) in bothsystems, the judgement-stroke is construed as a signsui generis, not as a genuine predicate; (v) itscounterpart in natural language is the syntactic ``formof assertoric sentences', not the (redundant)truth-predicate; (vi) neither in Frege's first nor inhis second system sentences are treated as singular terms.     

In Search of Authenticity: A Heideggerian Quest

Martin Heidegger's conception of authentic resoluteness gives us a picture of life as an unfolding story aimed at a fulfillment of a specific sort. Such resoluteness provides a focus and continuity to a life that can help an individual find meaning and order during times of personal difficulties. This phenomenology of an attempt to live an authentic life gives an image of how such a personal quest might be worked out. In this article, I talk about how Heidegger's concept of authenticity has affected my life ever since I learned about it from lectures and secondary sources in 1961. The narrative conception of life as a story adding up to something is an idea that has helped me through difficult times, and I continue to embrace it to this day.     

Consultation: A New Strategy For CETA

Program changes inherent in the CETA concept have markedly decreased the effectiveness of previous program management and liaison strategies. Some reasons for this decrease and a new set of skills for working at the interface between prime sponsors and subcontractors and/or the regional offices are presented. These skills, formulated within a consultation model and based on solid behavioral strategies, are one way to increase CETA program effectiveness.     

Career Interest Search: A Prototype,Computer-Assisted Occupational Interest Inventory for Functionally Illiterate Adults

The central focus of this study was to develop a prototype occupational interest inventory for academically disadvantaged or functionally illiterate adults and to develop a microcomputer version of the prototype.     

In Search of the Self: A Positron Emission Tomography Study

Abstract—Previous work using positron emission tomography (PET) has shown that memory encoding processes are associated with preferential activation of left frontal regions of the brain, whereas retrieval processes are associated predominantly with right frontal activations. One possible reason for the asymmetry is that episodic retrieval necessarily involves reference to the self, and the self-concept may be represented (at least partially) in right frontal regions. Accordingly, the present study investigated the possibility that encoding of self-related material might also activate right frontal areas. Eight right-handed volunteers judged trait adjectives under four separate PET scan conditions: (a) relevance to self, (b) relevance to a well-known public figure, (c) social desirability, and (d) number of syllables. The results showed that self-related encoding yielded left frontal activations similar to those associated with other types of semantic encoding, but also specific activations in the right frontal lobe. It is concluded that the concept of self involves both general schematic structures and further specific components involved in episodic memory retrieval.     

In Search of a Conceptualization of Multiple Sclerosis: A Historical Perspective

A thorough understanding of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is necessary to offer individuals informed options for treatment and planning. To assist in this quest, the following historical analysis examined how MS has been conceived from the 14th century through the early 20th century. Primary sources were consulted whenever possible, and many of the original archival materials were accessed by the first author (MB) during an on-site visit to the Rare Book Room of the New York Academy of Medicine. There is a striking similarity between how MS symptoms have presented throughout history compared with the 21st century. Sensorimotor and cognitive sequelae have been observed in patients since the 1800s. Cognitive symptoms were acknowledged in the 1800s, but disregarded in the early 1900s and were not given recognition again until the latter part of the 20th century. If conceptualizations of MS are inaccurate, patients will not be served well. In contrast to the shared symptomatology across time, early conceptualizations of etiology and treatment choices differed dramatically from today, a genuine reflection of the times in which they were created.     

A New Approach To The Identification Of Cognitive Conflicts In The Repertory Grid: An Illustrative Case Study

The concept of cognitive conflicts and its relation to the success of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy are discussed. According to this model of therapy, patients should achieve insight into their conscious as well as unconscious conflicts. Therefore in the present study we assumed that demonstrable cognitive changes would occur over treatment for chronic pain, as measured by Kelly's (1955) Repertory Grid Test. Grids were analyzed with regard to conflicts on the basis of the concept of unbalanced triads. A triad may be described as unbalanced when logical inconsistencies can be demonstrated on the basis of a correlative comparison of three corresponding construct pairs. Construct systems were checked for unbalanced triads by means of a new computer program derived by the authors. A case study serves to demonstrate the possibilities for analysis and interpretation of unbalanced triads offered by this novel method. Results indicate that cognitive restructuring had indeed taken place during therapy and had decreased the relative number of cognitive conflicts.     

Responsibility Attribution For Violence Against Women: A Study Of Chinese Public Service Professionals

This study examined how Chinese public service professionals attributed responsibility to victims and perpetrators of violence against women (VAW). A total of 2,308 Chinese public service professionals in Hong Kong completed questionnaires on attitudes toward women, VAW–related perceptions, and assignment of responsibility to actors in written VAW vignettes. Compared to agency professionals consisting of medical doctors, lawyers, and police officers, communal professionals consisting of psychologists, social workers, and nurses attributed a higher level of responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators. For both professional groups, attitudes toward women and educational attainment were the most salient predictors of responsibility attribution to VAW victims and perpetrators. Perceived VAW effects on victims were also a robust predictor of responsibility attribution to perpetrators. With regard to group differences, gender was predictive of responsibility attribution for communal but not for agency professionals. Except for perpetrator responsibility attribution for agency professionals, age was also predictive of how professionals assigned responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators.     

Deconstructing Hermes: A Critique Of The Hermeneutic Turn In Psychoanalysis

In this brief essay, I attempt to critique some of the philosophical problematics inherent with the hermeneutic turn in psychoanalysis. The proposition that “there are only interpretations of interpretations” leads to an inescapable circularity because interpretation ultimately lacks a referent or criterion for which to anchor meaning. If we follow this proposition through to its logical end, this ultimately collapses into relativism because meaning is relative to its interpretive scheme, which further relies on other interpretative schemata for which there are no definitive definitions, conclusive consensus, or universal laws governing interpretation. How can hermeneutics escape the charge of circularity, infinite regress, disavowal of universals, its tacit relativism, and the failure to provide a consensus or criteria for interpretation? How is psychoanalysis able to philosophically justify interpretative truth claims when they potentially inhere to a recalcitrant subjectivism while claiming to be objectively valuative?     

Invited Essay: A New System Of Politics: Government,Governance, And Political Decision Making In The Twenty-First Century

The present system of politics is based on the centrality of economics. This system is not capable of coming to grips with the problems confronting humanity. A culture-based system of politics is required to do this and prevent ecological disaster. This system would make it possible to reduce the demands human beings are making on the natural environment and situate human welfare, environmental well-being, and the public interest at the core of the political process. The risks of such a system could be reduced through cultural education and improved cultural understanding.     

Networking In Organizations: Developing A Social Practice Perspective For Innovation And Knowledge Sharing In Emerging Work Contexts

This article focuses on the micro-level phenomena related to emergent ways of organizing. It explores how new ways of organizing might be enabled or inhibited through the networking activities and knowledge flows that organizational members engage in within a multinational business organization after the set-up of an innovative Internet business unit. The article considers innovation and networking as social practices mediated in this particular case study through knowledge-sharing activities. This perspective on innovation, networking, and knowledge leads to a conceptualization of organizations that stresses their inherent complexity and their interactive and co-evolving nature with their environments.     

In Search of Meaning: A Preliminary Typology of Gay Male Spiritual Identity Development

Reconciliation of the conflict between religious identity and sexual orientation has been related to a number of psychological challenges (Lease, Horne, & Noffsinger‐Frazier, 2005; Schuck & Liddle, 2001), and little is known about the convergence of spiritual identity, distinctly defined as separate from religious identity, and sexual orientation identity. This qualitative inquiry investigated the process by which 7 Caucasian gay men from a variety of religious backgrounds constructed spiritual identities outside the realm of institutionalized religion. From the findings, the authors hypothesize a typology of spiritual development influenced by religions of origin. Limitations of the study, implications, and future directions in research are also addressed.