Diagnostic sex-role bias: how can we measure it?

Summary: A new instrument was designed to measure sex-role bias towards children. The instrument, the Chasen Diagnostic Sex-Role Bias Scale, is composed of case histories focusing on the "somewhat unhealthy" aspects of two main factors of behavior: activity (composed of independence and aggression); and passivity (composed of dependence and nonaggression). Validity and reliability coefficients were reported as well as a formula by which to use the scale to diagnose individual bias, in addition to group bias. In using the scale on a national sample of school psychologists, it was determined that differences in Diagnostic Sex-Role Bias scores exist, as do wide variations about what is considered healthy and unhealthy behavior among girls and boys.     

Information pick-up by infants: what is it, and how can we tell?

Young infants spend the better portion of their 1st year merely looking around, and what they notice can have critical cognitive consequences. Although looking measures are commonly used to predict what information infants pick up about objects and/or their relationship to other objects, these predictions are often ambiguous. Ultimately, that knowledge can be unambiguously revealed only by giving infants an opportunity to directly act on or use it.     

Unification: What is it,how do we Reach and why do we Want it?

This article has three aims. The first is to give a partial explication of the concept of unification. My explication will be partial because I confine myself to unification of particular events, because I do not consider events of a quantitative nature, and discuss only deductive cases. The second aim is to analyze how unification can be reached. My third aim is to show that unification is an intellectual benefit. Instead of being an intellectual benefit unification could be an intellectual harm, i.e., a state of mind we should try to avoid by all means. By calling unification an intellectual benefit, we claim that this form of understanding has an intrinsic value for us. I argue that unification really has this alleged intrinsic value. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Psychological universals: what are they and how can we know?

Psychological universals, or core mental attributes shared by humans everywhere, are a foundational postulate of psychology, yet explicit analysis of how to identify such universals is lacking. This article offers a conceptual and methodological framework to guide the investigation of genuine universals through empirical analysis of psychological patterns across cultures. Issues of cross-cultural generalizability of psychological processes and 3 cross-cultural research strategies to probe universals are considered. Four distinct levels of hierarchically organized universals are possible: From strongest to weakest claims for universality, they are accessibility universals, functional universals, existential universals, and nonuniversals. Finally, universals are examined in relation to the questions of levels of analysis, evolutionary explanations of psychological processes, and management of cross-cultural relations.     

Juvenile homicide in America: how can we stop the killing?

Juvenile homicide remains a serious problem in the U.S., despite recent decreases in the juvenile arresr rate for murder. Reflecting on her clinical experiences evaluating 90 adolescent murderers, the author identifies 15 factors that appear to have contributed to the escalation in juvenile homicide beginning in the mid-198os. These factors can be grouped into five categories: situational factors (child abuse and neglect, and the absence of positive male role models), societal influences (the crisis in leadership and lack of heroes, and witnessing violence), resource availability (access to guns, involvement in alcohol and drugs, and poverty and lack of resources), personality characteristics (low self-esteem, the inability to deal with strong feelings, boredom, poor judgement, and prejuduce and hatred), and their cumulative effects (little or nothing to lose and the biological connection). Strategies to reduce juvenile violence are addressing using parents, schools, communities, government leaders, the media and individuals. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Epistemic closure under deductive inference: what is it and can we afford it?

The idea that knowledge can be extended by inference from what is known seems highly plausible. Yet, as shown by familiar preface paradox and lottery-type cases, the possibility of aggregating uncertainty casts doubt on its tenability. We show that these considerations go much further than previously recognized and significantly restrict the kinds of closure ordinary theories of knowledge can endorse. Meeting the challenge of uncertainty aggregation requires either the restriction of knowledge-extending inferences to single premises, or eliminating epistemic uncertainty in known premises. The first strategy, while effective, retains little of the original idea—conclusions even of modus ponens inferences from known premises are not always known. We then look at the second strategy, inspecting the most elaborate and promising attempt to secure the epistemic role of basic inferences, namely Timothy Williamson’s safety theory of knowledge. We argue that while it indeed has the merit of allowing basic inferences such as modus ponens to extend knowledge, Williamson’s theory faces formidable difficulties. These difficulties, moreover, arise from the very feature responsible for its virtue- the infallibilism of knowledge.     

What do we owe co-nationals and non-nationals? why the liberal nationalist account fails and how we can do better

Liberal nationalists have been trying to argue that a suitably sanitized version of nationalism—namely, one that respects and embodies liberal values—is not only morally defensible, but also of great moral value, especially on grounds liberals should find very appealing. Although there are plausible aspects to the idea and some compelling arguments are offered in defense of this position, one area still proves to be a point of considerable vulnerability for this project and that is the issue of what, according to the liberal nationalists, we owe both members of our nation, our co-nationals, and what we owe those who are not members of our nation. It is here that we see the project still has some distance to go if a version of liberal nationalism is, indeed, to be morally defensible. In this paper I examine leading liberal nationalist accounts of our obligations to co-nationals and non-nationals. I argue that liberal nationalists have not yet given us an adequate account of our obligations to non-nationals for a number of reasons. For instance, on the issue of the priority we may give co-nationals' interests over non-nationals', the theorists' view show significant tension, they seem to be confused about what their positions entail, the views are unhelpful, ad hoc, or the positions are quite unclear. Liberal nationalists also have a misleading impression that their positions better capture the relation between personal identity and duty, but this turns out to be false. Other defects with their specific projects are highlighted. I go on to offer a more promising method for determining our obligations to non-nationals. Rather than this alternative precluding any scope for nationalism, it actually makes clearer to us how there might be some defensible space for nationalism once our obligations to put in place appropriate institutions and sets of rules have been fulfilled.     

What is episodic memory and how do we use it?

What are the neural and computational principles that give rise to episodic memory? Although memory is probably the most studied topic in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, most research has focused on learning at the micro-level. I outline the limitations of this approach and propose a ‘molar’ approach to tackle episodic memory at the scale of life.     

Narrative inquiry in sport and exercise psychology: What can it mean,and why might we do it?

ObjectivesNarrative inquiry is one form of qualitative research that is burgeoning within the human sciences. However, in sport and exercise psychology little attention has been given to this approach. In this article, we seek to rectify this situation by offering an understanding of what narrative inquiry can be.ResultsIn order to begin to better understand what narrative inquiry as a methodology can be, and gain some theoretical purchase on a difficult field without aiming for a final answer, we first define narrative. Next, a distillation of guiding assumptions and characteristics are offered. Finally, some reasons as to why narratives may be of benefit for the field of sport and exercise psychology are highlighted.ConclusionNarrative inquiry is a useful and important way of theorising and doing research in the domain of sport and exercise psychology. It should not, however, be taken up or practised simply because it is new or fashionable. Informed, principled, and responsible choices must be made by researchers and applied professionals about why and when they might engage with narrative inquiry should they wish to do so.     

Judging relationships between events: how do we do it?

A decade ago, Allan (1993) concluded that associative models provided the best account of data generated in tasks that require human observers to judge the relationship between binary events. In the intervening years, new data have been reported that provide evidence for higher-order processes. Some have argued that these new data pose a serious threat to the viability of the associative account. The purpose of the present paper is to review this evidence and to assess the severity of this threat.     

Rater bias in psychological research: when is it a problem and what can we do about it?

Rater bias is a substantial source of error in psychological research. Bias distorts observed effect sizes beyond the expected level of attenuation due to intrarater error, and the impact of bias is not accurately estimated using conventional methods of correction for attenuation. Using a model based on multivariate generalizability theory, this article illustrates how bias affects research results. The model identifies 4 types of bias that may affect findings in research using observer ratings, including the biases traditionally termed leniency and halo errors. The impact of bias depends on which of 4 classes of rating design is used, and formulas are derived for correcting observed effect sizes for attenuation (due to bias variance) and inflation (due to bias covariance) in each of these classes. The rater bias model suggests procedures for researchers seeking to minimize adverse impact of bias on study findings.     

Adults' beliefs about children and mathematics: how important is it and how do children learn about it?

A series of studies was conducted which focused on US adults' beliefs about the relative importance of acquiring mathematical skills for preschool children and about how children acquire these skills. In Study 1, adults rated general information, reading and social skills as all being more important than mathematical skills. They also claimed that parents have the most influence on preschool children's learning regardless of content area. In Study 2, the parents of kindergarten children also rated reading, general information and social skills as all being more important than mathematics in preparing children for the first grade. The more important parents felt mathematics were, the more they reported engaging in a variety of mathematical-related activities with their children. However, the importance they placed on mathematics was not related to their child's actual mathematical performance. In summary, adults seem to value mathematics less than other skills in preparing young children to enter elementary school. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.