Introduction

I introduce the topic of this special issue of Synthese, and give an overview of the articles collected here.     

Introduction

This is an Introduction to the special issue of Metaphilosophy entitled Philosophy as a Way of Life, giving a brief account of the genesis of the project, an overview of the topic, and a summary of the topics covered in the issue.     

Anxiety sensitivity and its impact on pain experiences and conditions: A state of the art

This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy devoted to the topic of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and its impact on pain experiences and conditions. We provide a historical overview of relevant cognitive behavioural models of chronic pain, summarize recent models incorporating the AS construct, and introduce the papers in the special issue. These papers are organized into two sets – basic laboratory‐based investigations and relatively more applied studies. We attempt to highlight some of the most important findings from each of these investigations and studies, in turn. Then, we consider several important conclusions derived from the set of special issue papers and the implications of these for the practice of cognitive‐behavioural interventions with pain populations. Finally, we make several suggestions for directions for future investigations in this burgeoning area of cognitive behavioural research and practice.     

Behavior analytic contributions to public health and telehealth

The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis is launching a special series on the topics of public health and telehealth. The special series begins with the articles in this issue and will continue for the next 2 to 3 issues with an open submission window until September 1, 2020. Behavior analysis has much to offer with respect to public health and much to gain from continued and expanded use of telehealth. This paper outlines the importance of these topics in the current crisis and in our ongoing evolution as a field. The historical literature in behavior analysis is reviewed for each topic along with suggestions for future research. The articles from the special series will be combined with historical contributions from JABA into a virtual issue. We encourage continued submissions on these topics even after the special series is completed as future papers will also be incorporated into the special issue.     

‘Bildung’ and Intercultural Understanding: A Dialogical Approach

In this introduction to the special issue on Bildung and dialogical self theory (DST), I explain why the notion of Bildung warrants elaboration in a special issue of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology. The concept of Bildung—for some, too apolitical and individualistic—gains significance by relating it to intercultural understanding as a prime challenge for plural societies in which cultural and religious diversity easily leads to confrontation and even violent conflict. The special issue offers an interdisciplinary discussion of the relevance of DST for this topic, of Bildung and humanism, and of the practice of intercultural adult education. In three articles, arguments for dialogical self as a prerequisite for intercultural adult education are placed within the broader context of pivotal discussions conducted within psychology, philosophy, and religious studies on the subject of our globalizing world.     

Extending Corporate Social Responsibility Research to the Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior Domains: A Look to the Future

Although issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become an important topic of research, there have been few studies on this topic conducted in the fields of human resource (HR) management and organizational behavior (OB). To address this gap, we edited a special issue of Personnel Psychology that explicitly focuses attention on CSR in the HR/OB domains. In this introductory editorial, we synthesize and extend the four articles published in the special issue. We also address issues relating to the conceptualization and measurement of CSR, the application of microlevel theories to CSR, and the practical and methodological implications of research in this domain. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research linking CSR with some of the most frequently studied topics in HR/OB. We propose that a focus on HR/OB will improve our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of CSR and also benefit HR/OB in terms of bridging the science–practice and micro–macro gaps.     

Bridging the Gap Between the Science and Practice of Psychology in Organizations: State of the Practice Reflections

This special issue of the Journal of Business and Psychology focuses on the linkage between the science and practice of psychology in applied organizational settings. The purpose of this special edition is to (a) cover current hot topics and cutting edge practice areas in HR and/or the psychology of organizations, and (b) raise compelling research issues and ideas for researchers to pursue, with an overall goal of helping bridge the science to practice gap. Each of the 14 articles included in this special issue were selected because they focus on some critical aspect of an important topic in applied organizational settings for which there is either limited, contradictory, or very little formal research in the literature. Key themes include: employee engagement, ensuring sustained behavior change through feedback and coaching, the impact of emerging technologies such as social networking sites on HR practices, and talent management and retention among others.     

Methods in Sales Research: Scaling and Measurement Section: A Time for Change

The Fall 1991 issue of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management announced the establishment of the special topic section “Scaling and Measurement”. The primary purpose of the section was “.to provide an authoritative centralized source for dissemination of information related to measurement and scaling issues germane to personal selling and sales management research.”     

Treatment Interventions for Perfectionism—A Cognitive Perspective: Introduction to the Special Issue

The current article provides an overview of the papers included in this special issue and includes a discussion of key issues pertaining to psychological treatments for perfectionism. We describe and review two new treatment intervention studies in this special issue that focus on perfectionism in university students as well as other contemporary research on the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat perfectionists. While the significant reductions in levels of perfectionism as a result of treatment are noteworthy, we caution that perfectionism is a relatively enduring trait; thus, some perfectionists will remain treatment resistant and overall levels of perfectionism may remain relatively high even when significant improvements are realized. Moreover, we discuss the established tendency for perfectionism to be associated with residual symptoms of distress following treatment. As part of our discussion of the other articles in this special issue, we highlight cognitive factors of likely significance in the treatment of perfectionism, including the ruminative response style, the tendency to experience perfectionistic automatic thoughts, and the role of core irrational beliefs in the development of perfectionism. These articles underscore the need to consider key cognitive factors that are central to dysfunctional forms of perfectionism. This special issue on perfectionism is the third special issue on this topic to appear in the Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy under the editorialship of Windy Dryden. We are very grateful for the continuing opportunity in this journal to explore issues related to the cognitive and treatment aspects of perfectionism.     

VIOLENCE,MEMORY, AND THE DYNAMICS OF TRANSNATIONAL YOUTH FORMATIONS

This editorial introduces and contextualizes five scholarly papers on ‘Violence, Memory, and the Dynamics of Transnational Youth Formations.’ The topic of this special issue is conceptually organized around theories of postcolonial and diasporic citizenship and probes the extent to which these theories have shaped the discursive field of ‘youth formations’. We outline how an emerging scholarly field on youth cultures, youth activism and youth political organizations has responded to the new challenges of globalization and transnational mobilization. As experiences and memories of violence give shape to these mobilizations as well as the social imaginations characterizing youth movements, this special issue takes an interest in drawing connections between different youth formations. In establishing such a comparative lens, we contribute to ongoing discussions in Sikh Studies on youth issues in relation to violence, discrimination and transnational mobilization.     

Introduction: Attaining a New Stage

The current issue of The Journal of Adult Development addresses one of the threads of adult development, namely stage and stage change. There are four major forms of adult developmental study that can be identified: positive adult development, directionless change, stasis, and decline. The first of the four forms, positive adult developmental processes, is divided into at least six areas of study: hierarchical complexity (orders, stages), knowledge, experience, expertise, wisdom, and spirituality. The topic of this special issue, stage and stage change, is therefore part of the study of positive adult developmental processes. Finally, the manner in which these topics are studied both in this special issue and elsewhere can be characterized in terms of three broad classifications (Commons & Bresette, 2000, Commons & Miller, 1998) for the acquisition of knowledge and the verification of truth in general. These classifications include analytic, experiential, and empirical means to reach truth.     

Aging and Autobiographical Memory: The Long and Bumpy Road

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue of Journal of Adult Development that deals with the topic of aging and autobiographical memory. Methodological issues, empirical findings, and theoretical frameworks that bear on older adults' autobiographical recall are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on an examination of the factors that underlie the offset of infantile amnesia and the reminiscence bump. An integrative approach to the study of aging and autobiographical memory is proposed that brings together paradigms from experimental psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and neuroimaging.     

The Fourth Revolution: Philosophical Foundations and Technological Implications

This article introduces this special issue of Knowledge, Technology and Policy. It also explains why Luciano Floridi’s Philosophy of Technology is chosen as the topic of the special issue.     

Strengthening the Child‐ and Youth‐Serving Workforce: Surveying the Landscape,Overcoming Challenges

This special issue addresses a neglected but important topic in our field: strengthening the child‐ and youth‐serving workforce. Investing in this workforce should be a national priority because considerable evidence has shown that investments in early childhood education and development, particularly in low‐resource contexts, that are reinforced through skills‐based programs in adolescence and adulthood, have beneficial impacts throughout life. Investing in quality child‐ and youth‐serving programs also has the additional benefit of creating a productive and capable future workforce. The editors and authors of the special issue should be commended for producing the first special issue on this topic in our field or in related fields, one that is long overdue. Articles in this issue survey the landscape of an amorphous and complex area of practice and research and describe key challenges for the field. In this commentary, I offer organizing frameworks to characterize the child‐ and youth‐serving workforce, note emerging issues when addressing specific challenges, and identify areas for future research.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Advances in the Psychology of Workplace Coaching

This article introduces a special issue of Applied Psychology: An International Review that focuses on recent advances in the psychology of workplace coaching. To begin with, we briefly describe the current state of workplace coaching research, and we then outline the aims and objectives that had driven our motivation in editing this special issue. We set out two objectives for this special issue. First, to ensure that each of the contributions started with the relevant theoretical framework, and secondly, that the papers in this special issue utilized rigorous research design and methodology. We then provide an overview of each of the five articles making up the special issue, detailing their respective contributions to advancing workplace coaching research and theory. We conclude with recommendations for future workplace coaching research, building on the contributions in this special issue. We propose scholars should focus on three key areas: future coaching research should adopt a “start with theory” approach; that rigorous research design and methodology is prioritized, specifically in relation to utilizing multiple data sources and increasing the range of objective (hard) data as coaching outcome measures; and for coaching scholars to pay attention to and explore non-significant effects.     

Advancements in Procedural Fidelity Assessment and Intervention: Introduction to the Special Issue

Interest in procedural fidelity has grown rapidly since 1981 as evidenced by the growing numbers of research publications across disciplines on this topic. As a result, the past 30 years of research has yielded a variety of procedures to guide research and practice, which we hope translates into better educational practices and services. Despite our progress, much remains unknown. As an introduction to the special issue on advancements in procedural fidelity, this article will briefly describe the conceptual and definitional issues surrounding this topic, summarize the relevance of procedural fidelity to education and research, and highlight the articles in this issue that address proposed research priorities.     

Flexible representations in visual working memory and interactions with long‐term learning: Commentary on the special issue

This special issue of the British Journal of Psychology brings together cutting edge research on a range of topics in visual working memory (VWM). In this commentary, we attempt to summarize common themes in current VWM research exemplified in this issue. The articles include several reviews of important topics as well as empirical papers covering three main themes. The first concerns the nature of mental representations of memoranda in the commonly used delayed estimation task, where both fine‐grained and broad categorical details appear to be represented, and their susceptibility to interference. The second concerns interactions between VWM representations, both those that produce individuation of representations and those that create an overarching ensemble structure. Finally, the third main topic concerns the use of VWM during visual search and in the learning of repeated configurations in search displays. The work presented here, and other work in the field, points to a rich interplay between representations in VWM but also between VWM and information in long‐term memory. Opportunities for further investigation are highlighted throughout.     

Commentary: The past and present of the future

Recent research on children's thinking about the future has taken multiple directions, many of which are illustrated in the contributions to this special issue. In this commentary the topic is discussed in the context of research on children's understanding of time, and some of the adaptive challenges of thinking about the future are considered. The studies in this issue show the emergence of some components of thinking about the future in early childhood. More research will be needed to illuminate abilities acquired at later ages and the representations and processes underlying humans’ thinking about the future.     

Introduction to the Special Issue

The authors introduce the special issue of the Journal of Counseling & Development on “Integrating the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies Into Practice, Research, and Advocacy.” They first discuss the rationale and importance of the special issue, as well as the transformative opportunities that the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015) have to influence counseling and the broader helping professions. Then they provide an overview the special issue articles and their respective contributions. They conclude by explicating the challenges and opportunities in integrating and implementing the MSJCC into counseling practice, research, and advocacy.     

Challenging the Universality of Job Resources: Why,When, and For Whom Are They Beneficial?

In this paper we introduce the topic of job resources and elaborate on their relevance for research and practice in work psychology. We start out with a brief overview of the historic and current understanding of job resources. Next, we discuss the need for a more nuanced perspective on the effects of job resources and present some ideas on how to move this forward. After these conceptual preliminaries, we introduce the papers in the special issue and conclude with a brief summary of the special issue's key messages.