SACRIFICIAL AGAPE AND GROUP SELECTION IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

Human altruistic behavior has received a great deal of scientific attention over the past forty years. Altruistic‐like behaviors found among insects and animals have illumined certain human behaviors, and the revival of interest in group selection has focused attention on how sacrificial altruism, although not adaptive for individuals, can be adaptive for groups. Curiously, at the same time that sociobiology has placed greater emphasis on the value of sacrificial altruism, Protestant ethics in America has moved away from it. While Roman Catholic ethics has a longstanding tradition emphasizing an ordering of love, placing love of self second only to love for God, Protestant ethics in America has adopted a similar stance only recently, replacing a strong sacrificial ethic with one focusing on mutual regard for self and others. If sociobiology is correct about the significance of sacrificial altruistic behaviors for the survival of communities, this shift away from sacrificial agape by American Christianity may cut the community off from important resources for the development of a global ethic crucial for the survival of that faith community and humankind itself.     

告别中医中药

从文化进步的角度看,中医中药没有寻求到自我进步的道路,约束了人们对病理和生理的理解;从尊重科学的角度看,中医中药既缺乏经验基础又缺乏逻辑基础;从维护生物多样性的角度看,中医中药在倡导不科学施治的同时,破坏了生物的多样性;从人道主义的角度看,中医中药蕴含着装腔作势的医理解释,推行毒物、异物、污物入药。因此,我们有充分的理由告别中医中药。     

THE SCHOLAR-OFFICIAL AS A MODEL FOR ETHICS

Ignorance has its advantages. When philosophy has a comparative dimension, for instance, and a philosopher from one culture considers a philosophy from another, the philosophy attains a life of its own somewhat freed from its cultural context. In this circumstance the philosopher's ignorance of the cultural ground and consequences of the ideas allows an unusual freedom for appropriating the ideas to new contexts.     

Probabilistic constraint satisfaction at the lexical/phonetic interface: evidence for gradient effects of within-category VOT on lexical access

Research in speech perception has been dominated by a search for invariant properties of the signal that correlate with lexical and sublexical categories. We argue that this search for invariance has led researchers to ignore the perceptual consequences of systematic variation within such categories and that sensitivity to this variation may provide an important source of information for integrating information over time in speech perception. Data from a study manipulating VOT continua in words using an eye-movement paradigm indicate that lexical access shows graded sensitivity to within-category variation in VOT and that this sensitivity has a duration sufficient to be useful for information integration. These data support a model in which the perceptual system integrates information from multiple sources and from the surrounding temporal context using probabilistic cue-weighting mechanisms.     

Theft reduction in a grocery store through product identification and graphing of losses for employees

Shoplifting and employee theft constitute a major problem for retailers. Previous research has described techniques for effectively reducing either type of theft but has not addressed the problem of thefts of unspecified origin. In a grocery store we evaluated the effect of identifying for employees frequently stolen products from three groups of items and graphing, twice weekly in the lunchroom, losses for the separate groups. After the products were identified and losses graphed, thefts from the three groups dropped from eight per day to two per day.     

Implications of Contemporary Social Science for the Field of Guidance

Since the mid-19th century, a dominant trend in the social sciences has been the development of a rigorous technique for devising predictive models of empirical social systems. Central to this development has been the assumption that unexplained variation is simply error in a given model, rather than the generally held view that human beings have a special capacity for acting independently of the universe of empirioals. The increasing predictive accuracy resulting from this axiom of determinism has, in turn, tended to stimulate the interest of applied fields. A predictable side-effect of such interest, however, appears to be an intra-field re-examination of its own philosophical foundations. It is suggested that the field of guidance has reached this juncture, that the resulting internal conflict has emerged, and that the strategic value of prediction will insure a continued transition from an art to an applied science.     

A Meta-model of Access Control in a Fibred Security Language

The issue of representing access control requirements continues to demand significant attention. The focus of researchers has traditionally been on developing particular access control models and policy specification languages for particular applications. However, this approach has resulted in an unnecessary surfeit of models and languages. In contrast, we describe a general access control model and a logic-based specification language from which both existing and novel access control models may be derived as particular cases and from which several approaches can be developed for domain-specific applications. We will argue that our general framework has a number of specific attractions and an implication of our work is to encourage a methodological shift from a study of the particulars of access control to its generalities.     

Statistical problems in the evaluation of army tests

The introduction of psychological tests for personnel selection in the British forces has given rise to several novel problems in statistical procedure. The solutions proposed are in the main extensions of devices already familiar in educational psychology. The more important are: (i) where the criterion yields a threefold classification only, a method of triserial correlation or of biserial correlation assuming point-distributions for the extremes; (ii) where the data on which validation has to be based are drawn from a selected sample, a simplified form of Pearson's equations to correct for selection; (iii) where the best line of demarcation has to be deduced from theoretical rather than practical considerations, a formula based on the principle of minimal discrepancy.     

中西形而上学的异通发微

中国传统哲学属于境界形态的形而上学 ,它与西方的自亚里士多德以来的实体形态的形而上学不同。亚氏的形而上学是由对是的逻辑分析开始的 ,即由对逻辑命题的分析而寻找不变的实体存在。亚氏的思维方式对西方文化产生了深远的影响。中国传统哲学则不然 ,它是由“省身”、“尽心、知性、知天”、“思诚”、“静观”、“玄览”、觉悟而去认识世界的本体 ,这种形而上学固然是境界形态的。至于现代 ,西方哲学出现了转向 ,存在主义者海德格尔对存在 (是 )作了新的诠释 ,海氏的诠释在某种意义上与中国传统哲学有契合之处 ,这从一个侧面说明了中国传统哲学所潜含的现代意义。     

Electron diffraction patterns from the Al–Mn decagonal phase

Abstract

The variety of electron diffraction patterns arising from the decagonal phase has been explored using a stereographic analysis for generating the important zone axes as intersection points corresponding to important relvectors. An indexing scheme employing a set of five vectors and an orthogonal vector has been followed. A systematic tilting from the decagonal axis to one of the twofold axes has been adopted to generate a set of experimental diffraction patterns corresponding to the expected patterns from the stereographic analysis with excellent agreement.     

生存质量与心律失常非药物治疗

生存质量的概念在９０年代广泛应用于临床,作为评价某一药物或某一治疗方法的手段之一。在心律失常的非药物治疗领域,正是引入了生存质量这一概念才使起搏器从单纯维持生命进展到双腔和／或频率应答。才改进生存质量,亦使快速性心律失常从手术治疗走向消融治疗。对高水平生存质量的追求是医患双方共同的目的。     

HAWKING ON GOD AND PHYSICAL THEORY

Abstract. When queried about his objectives, the celebrated theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has replied, “My goal is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.” In this essay, I comment on what Hawking has to say about the role of God in the understanding he seeks. I draw from his popular writings and pronouncements, since both are peppered with references to God and with statements about what God can and cannot do. In particular, I focus on his most recent collection of essays intended for a general audience. I argue that the theological implications Hawking has drawn from his cosmological models are shallow and that the narrow naturalistic path he has taken is inadequate to the large task he has set for himself.     

What is “theory of mind”? Concepts,cognitive processes and individual differences

Research on “theory of mind” has traditionally focused on a narrow participant group (preschool children) using a narrow range of experimental tasks (most notably, false-belief tasks). Recent work has greatly expanded the age range of human participants tested to include human infants, older children, and adults, has devised new tasks, and has adopted methods from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. However, theoretical work has not kept pace with these changes, with the result that studies using one kind of method or participant group often inherit assumptions about the nature of theory of mind from other research, with little regard for whether these assumptions are appropriate. I argue that three distinct approaches to thinking about theory of mind are already implicit in research practice, and that future work, whether with infants, children, or adults, will benefit from articulating these approaches more clearly and following their different implications for what theory of mind is and how it should be studied.     

What is "theory of mind"? Concepts, cognitive processes and individual differences

Research on "theory of mind" has traditionally focused on a narrow participant group (preschool children) using a narrow range of experimental tasks (most notably, false-belief tasks). Recent work has greatly expanded the age range of human participants tested to include human infants, older children, and adults, has devised new tasks, and has adopted methods from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. However, theoretical work has not kept pace with these changes, with the result that studies using one kind of method or participant group often inherit assumptions about the nature of theory of mind from other research, with little regard for whether these assumptions are appropriate. I argue that three distinct approaches to thinking about theory of mind are already implicit in research practice, and that future work, whether with infants, children, or adults, will benefit from articulating these approaches more clearly and following their different implications for what theory of mind is and how it should be studied.     

童年中晚期攻击的发展轨迹和性别差异：基于母亲报告的分析

采用母亲报告的方法, 对1618名儿童的攻击进行了4年(9岁~12岁)的追踪研究, 分析了童年中晚期攻击的一般发展轨迹、亚组发展轨迹以及性别差异。结果发现：(1)总体上, 童年中晚期儿童的攻击水平随年龄而下降。(2)基于亚组的准参数模型分析表明, 童年中晚期母亲报告的儿童攻击呈现三条不同的发展轨迹, 即无攻击轨迹、低攻击—下降轨迹以及持续高攻击轨迹, 各轨迹组人数比例分别约为68.7%、26.8%、4.5%。持续高攻击轨迹组以及低攻击—下降轨迹组的儿童在童年晚期均面临一定程度的人际适应困难。(3)多项Logit模型以及卡方检验表明, 男生更倾向于归属于攻击轨迹组(高或者低攻击轨迹组), 而女生更倾向于归属于无攻击轨迹组; 但这并不说明高攻击轨迹组中没有女生, 约2%的女生属于高攻击轨迹组。     

The Vanishing Protestant Majority

Since colonial times, the United States has been a majority Protestant nation. But the proportion Protestant in the population has been falling for over a decade, and Protestants are poised to lose their majority status. This decline results from a decline in the intergenerational retention rate for Protestants and from the attrition of Protestants among the youngest cohorts. Shifts in immigration also contribute to the Protestant decline. We also consider the role of an increasing share of people identifying as generic Christians and as inter- or nondenominational.     

Does fun promote learning? The relationship between fun in the workplace and informal learning

Although research has demonstrated that workplace fun has important benefits, we have an incomplete understanding of the role of fun in the learning domain, especially informal learning. To address this need, the present study examined the influence of fun activities and manager support for fun on informal learning among 206 managers. Fun activities were significantly related to overall informal learning, but manager support for fun was not. Examination of the dimensions of informal learning found that manager support for fun was significantly related to learning from oneself, while fun activities were significantly related to learning from others and learning from non-interpersonal sources. Furthermore, a negative interaction between core-self evaluations and fun activities in predicting learning from oneself was found, suggesting that fun may not be beneficial for all individuals. The key practical implication is that organizations should consider fun as a viable strategy to promote informal learning beyond traditional learning supports. At the same time, organizations should consider the personality of their learners to ensure fun has its intended impact.     

School psychology in Scotland

The development of educational psychology in Scotland has proceeded for 60 years from small beginnings in Glasgow to the provision of a psychological service covering the whole country. It comes from the belief in a well-trained teaching profession with a commitment to a public educational system for all children. The service aims to provide a psychological input to all children from birth to age 19. Legislation has given the psychological service a central role in the assessment of children who may have special educational needs and in the monitoring of the special education provided for those children. Training is shared at postgraduate level between services and the universities, with in-service training seen as the responsibility of services. The focus of work is moving from individual assessment and treatment to the consideration of social pressures and the offer of a consultation service to the educational systems.     

Spirituality and Drugs Education: A study in parent/child communication

Drugs education in the UK is in its infancy. Government strategies have highlighted parents as an important aspect of children's drugs education. This paper reports on research that has explored parents' and children's perception of drug issues as well as the experience of communication about drugs within the family. The research has drawn on a number of humanistic theoretical perspectives but rests principally upon George Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology. Data has been collected using focus group discussions with parents and children from 13-15 years old, and a key phase of this work is the use of the self-characterization to facilitate communication between parents and children about drugs and their related issues. The results of the study have highlighted the need for young people to establish a sense of self and to fulfil a meaningful life, which has been identified as being a spiritual need. This paper examines these findings from a range of literature on spirituality and explores spirituality from a Kellyan perspective and develops some clear implications for further lines of research in this area.     

Parental belief and parental engagement: how do they interact?

Previous literature has shown the importance of parental engagement for children’s outcomes; a largely separate body of literature has shown that there are clear effects on children’s outcomes related to parental religion. This article is a literature review of these two fields, with the aim of relating them to each other. The article suggests two possible explanations, behavioural and economic, for the differences in outcomes related to differences in parental engagement arising from differences in religion, but incorporating knowledge from the field of parental engagement. Finally, it sets out a research agenda for the future.