Response to Requests for Abortion: The Influence of Guilt and Knowledge1

Participants who varied in their levels of sex guilt and sexual knowledge indicated the extent of their approval for abortion in response to 10 case histories of abortion applicants. The case histories were varied in terms of the circumstances under which conception had occurred. Sex guilt was significantly related to abortion decisions while sexual knowledge registered little effect. Low sex guilt students were more favorable toward abortion requests than were high sex guilt students, but both groups were more favorable toward abortion when conception was the result of failure of a contraceptive method than when it was due to the applicant's inconsistent use of the method. In addition, high sex guilt students' abortion decisions were significantly influenced by the relationship of the applicant to her coital partner. When the relationship was “steady,” they approved the request, whereas abortion was denied to the applicant who conceived with a casual partner. The results were discussed within the context of the debate over the morality of abortion and the problem of unwanted adolescent pregnancy. It was suggested that sex guilt may play a larger role in these issues than has been previously recognized, and that presenting the “facts” (sexual knowledge) may have little impact in abortion related decisions.     

Short-Term Suicide Awareness Curriculum

ABSTRACT: The present study attempted to determine the effectiveness of a suicide awareness curriculum and to assess two methods of presenting the information. It was hypothesized that students receiving instruction via lectures and handouts would score significantly higher than students who only received handouts. Dependent variables included the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory (SIRI), the Knowledge of Suicide Test (KOST), the Suicide Prevention Questionnaire (SPQ), and specific suicide-related vignettes. There was a significant main effect for treatment. Univariate analyses demonstrated significant treatment effects for all dependent measures. Two orthogonal contrasts demonstrated significant differences on the KOST and the vignettes, suggesting that the lectures were instrumental in the increased performance on those tasks.     

Abortion attitudes among Catholic college students.

The present study has explored the abortion attitudes of 200 students attending a midwestern liberal arts college affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. The main findings were as follows: 1. Catholics in general tend to be more conservative in this area than Protestants. 2. There were no statistically significant differences between urban and rural residents and between single and engaged subjects. On the other hand, females, social science majors, and those having no plans for graduate studies were significantly more conservative than males, natural science majors, and those planning to do graduate work, respectively. 3. Abortion scores were correlated negatively and significantly with religious services attended, amount of Catholic education, and, to a limited extent, father's occupation, but nonsignificantly with age, number of siblings, birth order, college rank, parental education, and mother's occupation.     

Orienting to guilty knowledge

The Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT; Lykken, 1959) assesses whether suspects conceal information about a crime ( “guilty knowledge”). Previous studies have demonstrated larger physiological reactions to guilty knowledge compared to unknown information. In three experiments, we investigated whether guilty knowledge also demands attention. During an alleged polygraph examination, participants were presented with to‐be‐detected pictures ( “guilty knowledge”), nonsignificant, familiar pictures ( “mere knowledge”), and previously unseen pictures ( “neutral information”) for 250 ms in a modified dot probe task. In all three experiments, probe responses were slower on guilty knowledge trials as compared to the neutral trials. Results are discussed in terms of an information‐processing view on orienting to guilty knowledge.     

The role of trainee knowledge structures in aviation team environments

The importance of having well-developed knowledge structures to enhance complex team performance has been recently indicated in the training effectiveness literature. This work tested that proposition within an aviation team training setting. Results suggested that aviation team training improved the knowledge structures of those participants who received the training. Knowledge structure data also provided information related to the training that was not available from more traditional measures of learning. Finally, results obtained from the knowledge structure measures were consistent with performance results, suggesting that knowledge structure measures are a potentially valid predictor of performance.     

Asynchrony in Attitudes Toward Abortion and Gay Rights: The Challenge to Values Alignment

Political commentators tend to assume that Americans who share a particular religious affiliation think similarly about values issues and that values questions are aligned. Although religious affiliation is a strong predictor of attitudes toward abortion and gay rights, there is differentiation within denominational subgroups with respect to both; for example, while majorities of mainline Protestants and Catholics favor gay marriage, many of their respective co‐religionists do not. Further, aggregate survey data shows asynchrony in within‐group attitudes on abortion and gay rights; for example, whereas Hispanic Catholics are more likely to support gay marriage than legal abortion, black Protestants are more likely to support legal abortion than gay marriage. Abortion and gay equality are discrete issues and give rise to divergent attitudes based on the lived reality of different ethnoreligious groups. These findings challenge the utility of the construct of the “values voter,” and underscore that abortion and gay rights should be recognized as separate public policy domains.     

Mother Knows Best: Pregnancy,Applied Ethics,and Epistemically Transformative Experiences

L.A. Paul argues that interesting issues for rational choice theory are raised by epistemically transformative experiences: experiences which provide access to knowledge that could not be known without the experience. Consideration of the epistemic effects of pregnancy has important implications for our understanding of epistemically transformative experiences and for debate about the ethics of abortion and applied ethics more generally. Pregnancy is epistemically transformative both in Paul’s narrow sense and in a wider sense: those who have not been pregnant face significant barriers to acquiring the knowledge made accessible through pregnancy. This knowledge is crucial for engaging with the ethics of abortion. The epistemically transformative_WIDE nature of pregnancy may require us to use new methods to try to partially grasp what pregnancy is like, such as, for example, significant engagement with narrative literature. Because pregnancy is also epistemically transformative in a narrow sense, we need to work out how to engage in ethical reasoning when relevant knowledge is not fully accessible to all. This argument has implications beyond the debate about abortion. Philosophers in many areas of applied ethics will need to work out how to respond appropriately to epistemically transformative experiences.     

Genetic Testing Likelihood: The Impact of Abortion Views and Quality of Life Information on Women’s Decisions

Little is known about factors predicting the likelihood of choosing genetic testing in college aged women versus older women, including knowledge of quality of life (QOL) associated with a disorder. Using vignettes with female college students (Experiment 1: n = 257, mean age = 19.70 yrs) and female faculty/staff/alumni (Experiment 2: n _nulliparous = 83, mean age = 30.20 yrs; n _mothers = 53, mean age = 33.77 yrs), we examined the contribution of multiple factors to predicting genetic testing likelihood for cystic fibrosis. We investigated malleable situational factors (style of genetic risk presentation and providing QOL information including physical and social aspects) and stable dispositional factors (abortion views). Parity (i.e., prior births) was more influential in women’s genetic testing likelihood than was age. Greater acceptability of abortion for oneself and self-assessed knowledge following QOL information were predictors of higher testing likelihood for college students. Greater acceptability of abortion for another person was a predictor for nulliparous women. Abortion views moderated the effect of predictors for nulliparous women and mothers. Findings encourage genetic counselors to utilize QOL information to promote informed decision making through genetic testing.     

The Guilty Knowledge Test and the modified Stroop task in detection of deception: an exploratory study

The current study tested whether a simple Stroop paradigm can be used to detect deceptive behavior. 40 university students (34 women), half of whom committed a mock crime, were administered a Guilty Knowledge Test and modified Stroop task to detect guilt or innocence. The Guilty Knowledge Test is a well-known psychophysiological detection method, which consists of multiple-choice questions about details of the crime while skin conductance is recorded. Subjects possessing guilty knowledge are expected to show enhanced differential responses to the relevant stimuli. The modified Stroop task required color-naming of colored words related to the mock crime or an irrelevant crime. Each version of the Stroop task was presented in story form. Subjects possessing guilty knowledge were expected to produce larger reaction times to the relevant version relative to the irrelevant version. The test correctly identified 100% of innocent participants and 78% of guilty participants. In contrast, Stroop interference. i.e., reaction times for irrelevant crime details subtracted from those for mock crime details, did not differentiate between the two groups, suggesting that the story form of the Stroop paradigm is not suitable for lie detection.     

Everyday cognition and mortality: performance differences and predictive utility of the Everyday Cognition Battery

In this article, the authors examine the relationship between everyday cognition and mortality. Data were initially collected in 1996-1997 from 171 community-dwelling older people ranging in age from 60 to 92 years old (M = 74 years, SD = 7.38). Participants completed the Everyday Cognition Battery (ECB; J. C. Allaire & M. Marsiske, 1999, 2002) as well as basic cognitive ability tests. Results indicated that participants who died since testing (n = 56) had performed significantly worse than did still-living participants on all measures. Additionally, performance on the ECB Knowledge Test was a significant predictor of death even after controlling for basic cognitive abilities, demographics, and self-rated health.     

Gender,Religiosity, Sexual Activity,Sexual Knowledge,and Attitudes Toward Controversial Aspects of Sexuality

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of gender, religiosity, sexual activity, and sexual knowledge in predicting attitudes toward controversial aspects of sexuality among Turkish university students. Participants were 162 female and 135 male undergraduate students who were recruited on a volunteer basis from an urban state university in Turkey. The SKAT-A Attitude Scale along with background information form, sexual activities inventory, and sexual knowledge scale were administered to the participants. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses revealed that religiosity, particularly attendance to religious services was the most significant predictor in explaining university students’ attitudes toward masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and sexual coercion.     

Abortion among adolescents

In most countries, adolescents' access to abortion is limited by restrictions on legal abortion. Abortion is legal in the United States, but many states require parental consent or notification. Legislation mandating parental consent has been justified by several assumptions, including high risk of psychological harm from abortion, adolescents' inability to make an adequately informed decision, and benefits of parental involvement. Empirical data raise questions about the first 2 assumptions: Studies suggest a relatively low risk associated with abortion, and adolescents seeking abortion appear to make an informed choice. Less is known about effects of parental involvement. The authors review available research and discuss policy debates over parental consent in the United States and the international context.     

中国古代堕胎考略

中国见于史书记载的堕胎行为从汉代就开始了,并且形成三种堕胎技术。唐宋以后,由于人口增长的压力,堕胎在一些地区出现了普遍化倾向,导致堕胎的公开化和职业化。但由于传统重生育、反堕胎观念的存在,堕胎技术一直受到歧视,得不到完善,人们为此付出了长期的血的代价。     

Dimensions of Incompetency: A Factor Analytic Study of the Georgia Court Competency Test

The Georgia Court Competency Test (GCCT) was developed to systematically evaluate knowledge and skills needed to be competent to stand trial. Previous research has identified three factors measured by the GCCT: General Legal Knowledge, Courtroom Layout, and Specific Legal Knowledge. In this study, 125 mentally disordered offenders were examined using the GCCT. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the previously identified model. As a result, the authors advocate modifying the clinical use of the GCCT. Specifically, they suggest employing the GCCT as a checklist to identify potential deficits requiring more comprehensive evaluation.     

The Value of Choice and the Choice to Value: Expanding the Discussion about Fetal Life within Prochoice Advocacy

In this essay, I provide evidence that a new generation of prochoice advocates wishes to move away from defending abortion rights via the view that fetal life has little or no value (for example, as Mary Anne Warren does in her “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”) and toward a more complex view of abortion rights. This newer view simultaneously grants that fetuses are more than simply “clumps of cells,” that they are, to some extent, entities that possess some degree of value, and also that women still have the right to decide whether they wish to continue a pregnancy (for example, as can be found in the writings of Rosalind Hursthouse, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Margaret Olivia Little). Prima facie, this may sound like an impossible task—an instance of “having your cake and eating it too”—but I will show throughout my paper that, and how, such a task can indeed be accomplished.     

认知抑制对艺术创造力的影响:认知风格的调节作用

以114名大学生为被试, 采用Mittenecker指向测验和粘贴画任务考察了认知抑制能力与艺术创造力的关系, 并采用镶嵌图形测验考察了认知风格在其中所起的调节作用。研究结果表明:(1)认知抑制能力与艺术创造力之间呈现负相关, 认知抑制对于个体的创造程度、沟通传播水平和艺术创造综合印象可以起到显著的负向预测作用, 对于个体艺术创造的可爱程度和想象水平可以起到边缘显著的负向预测作用;(2)认知风格在认知抑制能力与艺术创造力的关系中起着调节作用, 主要表现为认知抑制能力对于场依存个体的创造程度、想象水平和沟通传播水平具有显著的预测作用, 对于场独立个体的艺术创造力则不具有预测作用。     

The role of philosophy in the contemporary abortion debate.

Inspired by Patrick Lee's "A Christian Philosopher's View of Recent Directions in the Abortion Debate," this essay raises the question of how effective philosophical arguments can be in determining the moral status of legalized abortion. On one hand, Christian philosophers have been successful in explaining both the humanity and the personhood of the unborn child, as well as exposing the incoherence of those who would deny the unborn child's humanity or personhood. Nevertheless, in order to confront the pro-abortion position in its most radical form, a much more complex philosophical argument must be given. Following thinkers such as Alasdaire MacIntyre, Christian philosophers must articulate and promote a philosophical position according to which morality is conceived in richer terms than the mere respecting of individual rights. The social dimension of human nature must be rediscovered in order that the happiness and welfare of others becomes a desirable goal in and of itself. According to a morality where individual rights is the bottom line (for example, that of Judith Jarvis Thompson), women very well may have the right to "extricate" themselves from their pregnancy even when doing so will result in the death of their child. What must be explained, therefore, is the more profound insight that social morality is equally concerned with obligations to others, including those who are most helpless and unable to speak for themselves.     

Linking Genetic Counseling Content to Short-Term Outcomes in Individuals at Elevated Breast Cancer Risk

Few studies have linked actual genetic counseling content to short-term outcomes. Using the Self-regulation Model, the impact of cognitive and affective content in genetic counseling on short-term outcomes was studied in individuals at elevated risk of familial breast-ovarian cancer. Surveys assessed dependent variables: distress, perceived risk, and 6 knowledge measures (Meaning of Positive Test; Meaning of Negative Test; Personal Behavior; Practitioner Knowledge; Mechanisms of Cancer Inheritance; Frequency of Inherited Cancer) measured at pre- and post-counseling. Proportion of participant cognitive and affective and counselor cognitive and affective content during sessions (using LIWC software) were predictors in regressions. Knowledge increased for 5 measures and decreased for Personal Behavior, Distress and Perceived Risk. Controlling for age and education, results were significant/marginally significant for three measures. More counselor content was associated with decreases in knowledge of Personal Behavior. More participant and less counselor affective content was associated with gains in Practitioner Knowledge. More counselor cognitive, and interaction of counselor cognitive and affective content, were associated with higher perceived risk. Genetic counselors dominate the content of counseling sessions. Therefore, their content is tied more closely to short term outcomes than participant content. A lack of patient communication in sessions may pose problems for understanding of complex concepts.     

Unplanned pregnancies and abortion counselling. Some thoughts on unconscious motivations

In a climate where the numbers of abortions and repeat abortions are increasing, it is necessary to improve our understanding of the dynamics that motivate the behavior of abortion seekers. While genuine contraceptive failures do exist, many unwanted pregnancies result from unresolved conflicts carried over from the woman's early relationship with her mother. The management of any pregnancy is often accompanied by feelings of ambivalence, and abortion itself is an expression of ambivalence reflecting a previously unconscious wish for a baby and a conscious wish to end the pregnancy. How these issues are handled also reflects the position the woman occupies in her life cycle. Examination of the early mother-child relationship may shed light on what unconscious needs are being expressed through the "acting out" mechanism of repeat abortion. If the mother-child relationship failed to establish an internal representation of a caretaking function, the child will lack the capacity for self-care and may seek abortion as a deliberate mechanism of self harm. Until such conflicts are resolved, abortions may be repeated. The abortion experience may also reflect a desire for a woman to individuate from her mother. Abortion counseling offers women an opportunity to understand and work through the damage resulting from their relationship with their own mothers. One case study, of a 25-year-old undergoing her fifth abortion, provides an example of acting out psychic pain resulting from a damaging maternal relationship. This woman lacked the capacity for self-care and could only tolerate counseling sessions until she overcame the acute vulnerability imposed by her most recent abortion. Another case study, of a 27-year-old seeking counseling after experiencing overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy, provides an example of a woman seeking individuation and unconditional love. This woman used counseling successfully to develop a better understanding of herself and a certainty that she could be loved despite her flaws. Such dynamics do not always inform the abortion experience, but abortion is always a distressing experience, and counseling should always be available. Abortion counselors must come to terms with their own ambivalent feelings and unconscious conflicts in order to serve their clients.     

The consequences of abortion legislation

This article examines the consequences of the 1973 US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion as well as potential implications of proposed legilation aimed at nullifying this decision. In addition to giving women the right to determine their own reproduction, legal abortion had had beneficial health effects for both mothers and infants. The partial reversal of abortion gains due to restrictions on public funding and limitations on how and where abortions can be performed has produced a slight increase in abortion mortality, but the impact has not been dramatic. Moreover, each year since 1973, women have been obtaining abortions earlier in pregnancy. Abortion may be experienced as a loss by the mother, but there is no evidence of serious psychological sequelae. In contrast, a large body of evidence supports the physical, psychological, and social benefits of legal abortion to women, children, and families. However, proponents of the proposed Human Life Amendment place protection of the rights of the fetus over all other considerations. Their antiabortion actions have challenged the medical tradition of privacy and the confidentiality of the doctor-patient relationship. Most supporters of legal abortion would prefer that there be fewer abortions; such a decrease is more likely as a result of better education and contraceptive methods rather than coercion.