The Undecided Student—How Different Is He?

Students who were undecided about a vocational choice were compared in two studies with those who were decided. In the first study comparing decided and undecided college freshmen, only chance differences were found for men and women. The second study demonstrated no differences between decided and undecided college-bound high school students on academic aptitude and high school grades. Undecided students were found to be less vocationally oriented and more intellectually oriented. Reasons for these findings are discussed and some reinterpretations of student indecision are given.     

How Should We Study Generational ‘Changes’—Or Should We? A Critical Examination of the Evidence for ‘Generation Me’

In this essay, we discuss some of the issues that are involved when making inferences about birth cohorts and we describe some of our work that has caused us to question the strength of the evidence for so-called 'Generation Me' effects. In particular, we describe our analyses from the Monitoring the Future project using self-esteem and respond to criticisms of our work. At this point, we believe that there is insufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the personalities and self-beliefs of today's young people are dramatically different from previous generations of American youth.     

Wittgenstein's Temple: Or How Cool Is Philosophy?

How should we understand Wittgenstein's comment in 1929 that his ‘ideal’ was ‘a certain coolness’? Does it have the implication for the practice of philosophy that is suggested by the late Dewi Phillips? Wittgenstein's use of the metaphor of a temple in relation to the passions is curiously reminiscent in its structure of Rilke's first sonnet to Orpheus. In Zettel a similar preoccupation seems to be manifested in the long and unexpected passage that Wittgenstein copies out from Plato, a passage which is juxtaposed to the famous remark that the philosopher is the citizen of no community of ideas.     

“How Many Partners Is Too Many?” Shaping Perceptions of Personal Vulnerability1

The effectiveness of interventions that directly inform people of the risks posed by their own behavior is frequently undermined by people's ability to defend themselves against unwanted information. In response to this difficulty, an alternative approach to shaping people's perceptions of personal vulnerability in which people remained unaware of the intervention was tested. As part of a survey on sexual issues, college undergraduates reported the total number of sexual partners they had had on a response scale that systematically framed their sexual behavior as being either above average or below average. Participants in the 2 conditions reported the same absolute number of sexual partners. However, those who received a response scale that implied they had had more partners than the average student reported greater concern about their sexual behavior than did those who received a scale that implied they had had fewer partners than average. The implications of this approach for influencing perceptions of personal risk are discussed.     

The Logic of the Development of Feminism; or,Is MacKinnon to Feminism as Parmenides Is to Greek Philosophy?

Catharine MacKinnon's investigation of the role of sexuality in the subordination of women is a logical culmination of radical feminist thought. If this is correct, the position of her work relative to radical feminism is analogous to the place Parmenides's work occupied in ancient Greek philosophy. Critics of MacKinnon's work have missed their target completely and must engage her work in a different way if feminist theory is to progress past its current stalemated malaise.     

Family Therapy for the Historian?— The Case of William James

Family therapists disagree over the utility of historical reconstruction for treatment. Following either a behavioral or a psychoanalytic paradigm, theorists insist that history is irrelevant or essential to the treatment process. This paper demonstrates how a variety of family therapy concepts were used in his historical research into the life of the family of William James, the American psychologist and philosopher (1842–1910). This is offered as evidence both that family theory has a contribution to make to the writing of history and that the historical process is important to family therapy. It is suggested that clinical actuality calls forth interventions within both paradigms, often by the same therapist with the same family. The alternatives need not be mutually exclusive, though theory-building is clarified by talking as if the therapist were confronted by an either/or choice.     

The Course of Post‐Crisis Suicidal Symptoms: How and for Whom Is Suicide “Cathartic”?

We investigated suicide "catharsis" as evidenced by decreased suicidality following a suicide attempt. Past research has examined this issue with mixed results (Bronisch, 1992; Davis, 1990; van Praag & Plutchik, 1985). In the present study, we examined Modified Scale for Suicide Ideation (MSSI) scores for 198 suicidal men during suicidal crisis, prior to entry into a treatment study, and again at 1-month and 12-month follow-ups. Patients were divided into ideators, single attempters, and multiple attempters. We found evidence for decreased suicidality, but interpreted it as the gradual action of interpersonal support, rather than as emotional catharsis. Also, multiple attempt status affected the long-term course of post-crisis suicidality.     

Is Hintikka's Logic First-Order?

Jaakko Hintikka has argued that ordinary first-order logic should be replaced byindependence-friendly first-order logic, where essentially branching quantificationcan be represented. One recurring criticism of Hintikka has been that Hintikka'ssupposedly new logic is equivalent to a system of second-order logic, and henceis neither novel nor first-order. A standard reply to this criticism by Hintikka andhis defenders has been to show that given game-theoretic semantics, Hintikka'sbranching quantifiers receive the exact same treatment as the regular first-orderones. We develop a different reply, based around considerations concerning thenature of logic. In particular, we argue that Hintikka's logic is the logic that bestrepresents the language fragment standard first-order logic is meantto represent. Therefore it earns its keep, and is also properly regarded as first-order.     

The Price Is Right—Or Is It? A Reference Point Model of Two-Party Price Negotiations

This paper develops a social cognitive, reference point model of two-party price negotiations. The theoretical focus is on the role that reference points play as a means of calibration in the individual negotiator's decision processes and as a means of social influence in bargaining. Three studies are presented which examine how reference points based on personal preferences and budget constraints (i.e., reservation values) are combined with reference points based on available market information to affect outcomes. These studies support the interpretation that in captive transactions, contextual cues determine the extent to which market information versus reservation values influence outcomes. Certain contextual cues trigger perceptions of low versus high price variance, which in turn, lead negotiators to weight market information more or less heavily in internal processing and bargaining. When perceptions of low price variance are present, market information influences outcomes more than private reservation values. When perceptions of high price variance are present, reservation values tend to be more dominant in determining outcomes.     

Is Default Logic a Reinvention of Inductive-Statistical Reasoning?

Currently there is hardly any connection between philosophy of science and Artificial Intelligence research. We argue that both fields can benefit from each other. As an example of this mutual benefit we discuss the relation between Inductive-Statistical Reasoning and Default Logic. One of the main topics in AI research is the study of common-sense reasoning with incomplete information. Default logic is especially developed to formalise this type of reasoning. We show that there is a striking resemblance between inductive-statistical reasoning and default logic. A central theme in the logical positivist study of inductive-statistical reasoning such as Hempels Criterion of Maximal Specificity turns out to be equally important in default logic. We also discuss to what extent the relevance of the results of Logical Positivism to AI research could contribute to a reevaluation of Logical Positivism in general.     

Is Grit Hurting You? The Dark Side of Psychological Resources in Goal Pursuit

This article presents a study of the curvilinear role of psychological resources during goal striving through an interactive model linking work goal progress to a valued resource. Specifically, we explore the nonlinear relationship of grit with work goal progress. Additionally, we test the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) for this relationship. We hypothesized that an employee’s goal pursuit is not merely contingent on the excessive availability of the selected resources but instead might be an outcome of interaction between personal resources and the environment. Our sample comprises 293 university professors working in the United States who completed questionnaires at two time points. The study findings confirm the curvilinear role of grit in predicting work goal progress. Furthermore, the moderating role of POS on the nonlinear relationship between grit and work goal progress is confirmed to be significant. We discuss the theoretical implications for industry concerning performance and self-regulation based on our findings.     

How Obvious Is It? The Content of Child Sexual Exploitation Websites

Those who distribute child sexual exploitation (CE) material in the public Internet potentially face greater risks of detection. While public distribution is prevalent, little is known about the structure of these websites. We investigate whether websites take steps to hide their purpose, and, if so, what steps are taken? We analyze 634 websites directly or indirectly, via hyperlinks, connected to websites hosting known CE material, and compare our findings to an automated examination of the same websites. We determine whether the initial visual representation is congruent with the underlying structure and content identified in the automated data collection. Implications for understanding cybercriminal processes are discussed.     

The darkroom of the mind — what does neuropsychology now tell us about brands?

How does a brand live and die in the memory? Where does the concept of a relationship with a brand fit into mental activity? What are thoughts, emotions and feelings and do people have them about brands in any meaningful way? What should one think about such concepts as consciousness and the unconscious in relation to brands and brand messages? Is the way in which managers of brands codify them a reflection of reality? These are only some of the fundamental questions that should concern professionals involved with organisations and brands. This paper draws on scientific discoveries about the human brain to build on the empirical knowledge that leaders in organisations, marketers, academics and researchers have gained about brands over the last five decades. The first part of the paper highlights the inconsistencies that occur between what is found in the development and evaluation of brand strategy and what happens in ‘real life’. It suggests that the newly merged disciplines of neuroscience and cognitive psychology (called neuropsychology) offer the scientific basis for understanding how human beings create, store, recall and relate to brands in everyday life. The second part explains some of the most relevant neuropsychological discoveries about the brain in terms of the implications for brand marketing. The topics covered are: brain functions and structure; consciousness and the unconscious; memory and language. The paper concludes by thinking about the current practise of qualitative research and how it matches up to the findings of the new science. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Do fears summate?—III

The primary purpose of this investigation was to learn whether fears summate. Thirty Ss who reported and displayed fear in response to a snake and to a spider were shown each stimulus separately and then both stimuli simultaneously, in order to see if their fear responses would summate. They did, overall; however, if Stimulus 1 provoked greater fear than Stimulus 2, the simultaneous presentation of both stimuli was followed by a subtraction. Summation occurred when the second stimulus produced a larger fear response than the first stimulus, and the two were then presented simultaneously.     

The Counselor—An Agent of What Change?

Goals in counseling must be clarified before the means of obtaining them can be determined. Success or failure can only be evaluated if these goals are stated in observable behavioral terms. The goals must be directly related to the problem or problems stated by the client. It is the initial responsibility of the counselor to help the client clarify these problems and subsequent behavioral goals through such means as discussion of the feelings of the client and the facts surrounding specific problem situations, and possibly through observation and psychometric evaluation. If the defined goals are within the bounds of the counselor's ethical standards as well as those of his profession, then means can be identified to bring about problem solution.     

Is Moving Gendered? The Effects of Residential Mobility on the Psychological Well-Being of Men and Women

To reexamine the negative psychological effects of residential mobility, secondary analyses were conducted using a representative sample. Mobility had significant effects on depression, after controlling for social class, marital status, gender, and employment. In separate analyses by gender, the mobility effect was significant for women only. The “exposure” hypothesis, that women experience more stress, was partially supported: housework, children, and career sacrifices predicted depression, but did not account for the mobility effect. The “vulnerability” hypothesis, that women respond differently to stressors, was partly supported: weak social ties affected women more than men, but did not account for mobility effects. It appears that moving may contribute to gender differences in depression.     

“… And How About Now?”: Effects of Item Redundancy on Contextualized Self‐Reports of Personality

A common method of studying cross-situational variation in personality involves asking people to describe their behavior in several different contexts. Although this approach is intuitively appealing, it introduces a great deal of redundancy into the measurement process and may affect the interpretation of contextualized self-reports. Specifically, when participants are asked the same questions repeatedly in a single questionnaire, they may be compelled to focus on how their behavior is different. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally manipulating the number of contexts that were included in a measure of role-related personality. In 2 experiments (Study 1 N=377, Study 2 N=524), we found that multiple-role questionnaires produced greater variation in trait levels across roles, larger differences between general and role-specific ratings, and weaker correlations between general and role-specific ratings than single-role questionnaires. These findings illustrate how the measurement process can have an effect on the variability of responses to contextualized self-reports.