“Strong objectivity”: A response to the new objectivity question

Where the old “objectivity question” asked, “Objectivity or relativism: which side are you on?”, the new one refuses this choice, seeking instead to bypass widely recognized problems with the conceptual framework that restricts the choices to these two. It asks, “How can the notion of objectivity be updated and made useful for contemporary knowledge-seeking projects?” One response to this question is the “strong objectivity” program that draws on feminist standpoint epistemology to provide a kind of logic of discovery for maximizing our ability to block “might makes right” in the sciences. It does so by delinking the neutrality ideal from standards for maximizing objectivity, since neutrality is now widely recognized as not only not necessary, not only not helpful, but, worst of all, an obstacle to maximizing objectivity when knowledge-distorting interests and values have constituted a research project. Strong objectivity provides a method for correcting this kind of situation. However, standpoint approaches have their own limitations which are quite different from the misreadings of them upon which most critics have tended to focus. Unfortunately, historically limited epistemologies and philosophies of science are all we get to choose from at this moment in history.     

On objectivity and subjectivity in statistical inference: A response to Mayo

In this paper we respond to the article An Objective Theory of Statistical Testing by D. G. Mayo (1983). We argue that the theory of testing developed by Mayo, NPT*, is neither novel nor objective. We also respond to the claims made by Mayo against Bayesian theory.     

Contextual variation and objectivity in olfactory perception

Synthese - According to Smell Objectivism, the smells we perceive in olfactory experience are objective and independent of perceivers, their experiences, and their perceptual systems. Variations in...     

Subjectivity and objectivity in analytic listening.

Analysts use the concepts of subjectivity and intersubjectivity to support many different technical recommendations; this represents a misuse of theory. The dichotomy between subjectivity and objectivity is a false one. Arguing against the notion of objectivity, analysts conflate it with the idealized notion of pure objectivity and then eliminate various technical devices in its name. One cannot have a concept of subjectivity without a concept of objectivity, or an intersubjective perspective that does not include some agreed-upon concept of objectivity. The simplest definition of objectivity is a directional one. Objectivity is the perception or experience of the external; subjectivity is the perception or experience of the internal. Subjectivity and objectivity are both necessary pathways to knowledge and are dependent on each other. Any form of looking or listening does to some extent preclude another, but to speak solely from a subjective or an objective perspective represents a regression in thinking to a form of naive objectivism or naive subjectivism. Clinical examples illustrate how the forming and testing of hypotheses require the cooperation of both subjective and objective listening.     

On subjectivity and objectivity in psychoanalysis.

Epistemological subjectivism has found its way into psychoanalysis along several theoretical and clinical paths. It has developed out of the clinical interest in transference and countertransference and, in particular, from the broadly generalized definition of countertransference now popular. The clinically necessary attention to analyst-analysand interaction has been turned into interactionism or intersubjectivism and a denial of epistemological subject-object differentiation. These perspectives transform a clinical focus on the here and now of the analytic relation into the determination of the past by the present and a teleological reversal of causality. Once this reversal is made, narrative in the analytic situation becomes the co-creation of the analysand's past by the present analyst-analysand relation. Psychoanalysis, on this view, can at best substitute a coherent, novelistic account for the life history of a person. Some of the problems of subjectivism are examined here with a view to restoring to psychoanalysis the epistemology of science and common sense.     

Introduction: striving for objectivity in space

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - In this special issue, we put together papers that explore the theme “objectivity, space, and mind” from various angles. In the introduction...     

Probability and objectivity in deterministic and indeterministic situations

This paper pursues the question, “To what extent does the propensity approach to probability contribute to plausible solutions to various anomalies which occur in quantum mechanics?” The position I shall defend is that of the three interpretations — the frequency, the subjective, and the propensity — only the third accommodates the possibility, in principle, of providing a realistic interpretation of ontic indeterminism. If these considerations are correct, then they lend support to Popper's contention that the propensity construction tends to remove (at least some of) the mystery from quantum phenomena.     

Transforming three-way arrays to maximal simplicity

Transforming the core array in Tucker three-way component analysis to simplicity is an intriguing way of revealing structures in between standard Tucker three-way PCA, where the core array is unconstrained, and CANDECOMP/PARAFAC, where the core array has a generalized diagonal form. For certain classes of arrays, transformations to simplicity, that is, transformations that produce a large number of zeros, can be obtained explicitly by solving sets of linear equations. The present paper extends these results. First, a method is offered to simplifyJ ×J × 2 arrays. Next, it is shown that the transformation that simplifies anI ×J ×K array can be used to also simplify the (complementary) arrays of order (JK −I) ×J ×K, of orderI × (IK −J) ×K and of orderI ×J × (IJ −K). Finally, the question of what constitutes the maximal simplicity for arrays (the maximal number of zero elements) will be considered. It is shown that cases of extreme simplicity, considered in the past, are, in fact, cases of maximal simplicity.     

Clinical strategies to promote compliance

Abstract

This article focuses on the need for effective client management throughout the therapeutic process. The appropriate and astute use of clinical strategies can promote client compliance with treatment and counteract the possibility of client dissatisfactions and ethical/legal complaints. This article offers a systemic explanation of compliance, identifies five major clinical strategies to foster treatment adherence, and discusses the need for clinical judgments that fulfill ethical/legal obligations while promoting quality care.     

Daily supportive equity in close relationships

Receiving support in committed relationships has frequently been associated with negative psychological outcomes in the recipient, such as increased distress. The authors hypothesized that these negative effects could be offset by support recipients' reciprocation of support, that is, by creating a sense of supportive equity. To investigate this hypothesis, the authors obtained daily reports of mood and of received and given emotional support from both partners in 85 couples throughout a 4-week period. Reciprocity in support transactions was associated with higher levels of positive mood and lower levels of negative mood. In line with previous research, receiving support without reciprocation was associated with increases in negative mood. Giving support, regardless of receipt, was associated with a decrease in negative mood.     

Beyond objectivity: The performance impact of the perceived ability to learn and solve problems

The purpose of this research was to develop and provide initial validation evidence for the performance impact of a measure of an individual's perceived ability to learn and solve problems (PALS). Building on the self-efficacy literature and the importance of learning and problem solving, the fundamental premise of this research was that PALS would significantly explain employee performance. In addition to demonstrating that PALS represented a distinct construct, PALS was a significant predictor of performance for managerial and entry-level employees in two different organizational contexts. Moreover, PALS explained additional variance in performance beyond general mental ability, personality, and similar constructs related to learning and problem solving.     

Equality ratio equity,general linear equity and framing effects in judgments of allocation divisions

It is argued here that there is not necessarily a contradiction between the general linear and equal ratio approaches to equity, and the two may be integrated to make more precise predictions. It was hypothesized that, (a) equity is best represented by a limited equal ratio rule; (b) the more a linear distribution systematically deviates from equal input/outcome ratios, the more unfair it will be judged, but (c) subjects will prefer a distribution that accords with a general linear formula in certain cases where an equal ratio distribution of available outcomes would actually infringe a preeminent or established equal ratio distribution. Four studies are presented, the results of which seem broadly to support these ideas. However, the results also suggest that equity judgments can be strongly influenced by framing effects.