An Enlightened Revolt: on the Philosophy of Nicholas Maxwell

This paper is a reaction to the book “Science and the Pursuit of Wisdom”, whose central concern is the philosophy of Nicholas Maxwell. I distinguish and discuss three concerns in Maxwell’s philosophy. The first is his critique of standard empiricism (SE) in the philosophy of science, the second his defense of aim-oriented rationality (AOR), and the third his philosophy of mind. I point at some problematic aspects of Maxwell’s rebuttal of SE and of his philosophy of mind and argue in favor of AOR.     

Behaviour in group situations: An integrative model

As in other areas of research we have in small group research classical studies with a paradigmatic character. These separated studies define the basic knowledge. But what is necessary is to combine these classical studies and to construct a theoretical concept which shows the similarities and dissimilarities between them. This is the main intention of the paper. The theoretical concept tries to reconstruct the now classical data from a model with normative and in formational components. Both king of components are integrated hierarchically with the normative elements as antecedent variables and the weights of the information integration as dependent variables. With the help of the model it is possible to reconstruct data in such different areas as, e.g. social facilitation, autokinetic effect, Asch conformity studies, Milgram conformity studies, equity theory studies, prisoner's dilemma. As predictions research in the choice-shift and the wage negotiation are presented. Finally, the connection with the research in social cognition is established by a reconstruction of classical study from the aspiration level and the dissonance theory.     

T groups: An essential model in the training of group therapists

This paper argues for the T group (training group) model as the preferred experiential aspect of training in group psychotherapy. The rationale for preferring the T group model centers around aspects of: 1) contractual clarity; 2) the management of the learning regression; 3) the effectiveness of the T group as a professional holding environment; and 4) the development of a professional identity as a group therapist. Some difficulties with the model are also noted, and some case examples are offered to illustrate various aspects of the work within the T group model.     

The resident researcher: An alternative career model centered on community

Considers the potential benefits and costs of an alternative career model for community researchers, one in which professionals specialize in the community where they live. By virtue of their local familiarity, resident researchers can make more informed judgments about research problems and methods. They can employ longitudinal designs to assess change and be available to assist in interpretation and implementation of research. Potential costs include the possibility of provincialism, unintended researcher effects, ethical dilemmas, the need to cultivate community relations, and role conflicts. Interdisciplinary training programs and research field stations can contribute to the development of the resident researcher role. Researchers in the community can help generate grass roots support for social science research. We acknowledge Louise Shedd Barker's helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article.     

Test of a Level of Aspiration model of group decision making: Non-obvious group preference reversal due to an irrelevant alternative

We conducted two experiments that investigated a non-obvious prediction of a Level of Aspiration (LOA) model of group decision making. In both experiments, groups chose among three alternatives, A, B, and C, with C always being least preferred by all of the group members. In each experiment, by manipulating the nature of alternative C, we created two conditions differing in whether only A or only B was acceptable to all members. In support of the LOA model, groups tended to choose the alternative acceptable to all members, even when (Experiment 2) a majority of members most preferred a different alternative. Implications of the results for the LOA model are discussed in the context of social choice theory.     

Toward a cultural neuropsychology: An alternative view and a preliminary model

Any integrated theory of mind and behavior must address the dynamic interaction between neurobiological and sociocultural systems as possible causes for human action. Newer findings within the behavioral neurosciences have pointed to the brain's exceptional plasticity and flexibility and suggest that one's surroundings, including one's cultural environment, may directly influence the way the human nervous system becomes organized. In this paper, a preliminary connectionist model of culture-brain interaction is proposed in an effort to illustrate the possible contribution of cultural factors to the development of the individual human brain.     

An experiential group model for psychotherapy supervision

This article presents an experiential group model of supervision constructed for both group and individual therapy presentations, emphasizing concepts from object relations theory and group-as-a-whole dynamics. It focuses on intrapsychic, interpersonal, and systems processes, and stresses the group aspect of the supervisory process. Its central thesis is that material presented in a group supervisory setting stimulates conscious and unconscious parallel processes in group members. Through here-and-now responses, associations, and interactions among the supervisory members, countertransference issues that have eluded the presenter can make themselves known and be worked through on emotional as well as cognitive levels. Selected excerpts from supervisory sessions demonstrate various attributes and strengths of the model.     

An integrated model of group treatment for cancer patients

Considerable evidence suggests that group interventions are a valuable resource for cancer patients, but few conceptual frameworks are available to guide decisions about which approaches might be most useful for which patients at what phases of illness. This article presents an integrative treatment model for group services. It describes different group interventions geared toward patients at different phases of illness to accommodate the shifting needs and concerns that evolve over the course of the disease. Recommendations are offered concerning further research and model development.     

An alternative to the search for single polymorphisms: toward molecular personality scales for the five-factor model

There is growing evidence that personality traits are affected by many genes, all of which have very small effects. As an alternative to the largely unsuccessful search for individual polymorphisms associated with personality traits, the authors identified large sets of potentially related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and summed them to form molecular personality scales (MPSs) with from 4 to 2,497 SNPs. Scales were derived from two thirds of a large (N = 3,972) sample of individuals from Sardinia who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and were assessed in a genomewide association scan. When MPSs were correlated with the phenotype in the remaining one third of the sample, very small but significant associations were found for 4 of the 5e personality factors when the longest scales were examined. These data suggest that MPSs for Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (but not Extraversion) contain genetic information that can be refined in future studies, and the procedures described here should be applicable to other quantitative traits.     

The IPIP–HEXACO scales: An alternative, public-domain measure of the personality constructs in the HEXACO model

Recently, Lee and Ashton (2004) described the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI), a new instrument designed to assess the six dimensions observed in lexical studies of personality structure of various languages. Here, we describe the development of an alternative measure of the HEXACO factors and their facets, using the items of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). The scales of the resulting IPIP–HEXACO inventory showed satisfactory psychometric properties, as assessed by internal-consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant correlations with the original HEXACO-PI scales, and factor structure. We discuss the potential usefulness of the new IPIP–HEXACO inventory and its strengths and limitations.     

Verbal probabilities: An alternative approach

Previous studies of verbal probabilities have tried to place expressions like a chance, possible, and certain on 0–1 numerical probability scales. We ask instead, out of a range of outcomes, which outcome a verbal probability suggests. When, for instance, a sample of laptop batteries lasts from 1.5 to 3.5 hours, what is a certain and what is a possible duration? Experiment 1 showed that speakers associate certain with low values and possible with (unlikely) high or maximal values. In Experiment 2, this methodology was applied to several positive and negative verbal probability phrases, showing a preference for high rather than low or middle values in a distribution. Experiment 3 showed that such maxima are not universally described by large numbers. For instance, maximum speed is often described in terms of a small number of time units. What can (possibly) happen is accordingly sometimes described with very low and sometimes with very high values, depending upon focus of interest. Finally, participants in Experiment 4 were given the role of hearers rather than speakers and were asked to infer outcome ranges from verbal probabilities. Hearers appeared to be partly aware of speakers' tendencies to describe outcomes at the top of the range.     

Behavioural coherence in violent group activity: An interpersonal model of sexually violent gang behaviour

This study provides an analysis of offender‐victim interactions in 223 cases of sexual violence committed in gangs. Cases were derived from archival sources such as law reports. A multivariate analysis revealed four interpersonal themes (dominance, submission, co‐operation, and hostility) previously identified in studies of lone sexual assault [Alison and Stein, Vicious Circles: Accounts of stranger sexual assault reflect abusive variants of conventional interactions. J Forensic Psychiatry 12:515–538, 2001]. These themes have also been identified in many other forms of human relating [Wiggins, An informal history of the interpersonal circumplex tradition. J Pers Assess 66:217–233, 1996] and conform to a structure known as the interpersonal circumplex. The circumplex has previously been used to conceptualise the relationships between individuals in terms of dynamic interactions that are mutually influencing. Thus, dominance elicits submission and submission elicits dominance. Each interpersonal style could be further subdivided according to the use of either verbally or physically abusive strategies. Point‐Biserial correlations with other aspects of the offence (e.g., mobility of the group, post‐offence treatment of the victim) provided additional support for these conceptually different themes and demonstrated that gang rape represents a distorted and violent form of interpersonal relating. Further, this dynamic interaction emerges not just at an individual level, but at a group level, suggesting that the thematic concepts underpinning the interpersonal circumplex can be extended to group activity and sexually aggressive behaviour. Aggr. Behav. 30:449–468, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Ordinal data: An alternative distribution

To date, virtually all techniques appropriate for ordinal data are based on the uniform probability distribution over the permutations. In this paper we introduce and examine an alternative probability model for the distribution of ordinal data. Preliminary to deriving the expectations of Spearman's rho and Kendall's tau under this model, we show how to compute certain conditional expectations of rho and tau under the uniform distribution. The alternative probability model is then applied to ordinal test theory, and the calculation of true scores and test reliability are discussed.