A single plane method of rotation

The method of rotation described here is applied to one hyperplane at a time. The method seems to be simple and quite effective and it can be applied by a relatively inexperienced computer. The method does not postulate a positive manifold, and hence it is applicable also to bipolar factors.The author wishes to express his indebtedness to the Social Science Research Committee of The University of Chicago for support of the Psychometric Laboratory and these factorial investigations.     

Events,processes, and the time of a killing

The paper proposes a novel solution to the problem of the time of a killing (ToK), which persistently besets theories of act-individuation. The solution proposed claims to expose a crucial wrong-headed assumption in the debate, according to which ToK is essentially a problem of locating some event that corresponds to the killing. The alternative proposal put forward here turns on recognizing a separate category of dynamic occurrents, viz. processes. The paper does not aim to mount a comprehensive defence of process ontology, relying instead on extant defences. The primary aim is rather to put process ontology to work in diagnosing the current state of play over ToK, and indeed in solving it.     

Preventing childhood accidents in the home: Parental behavior to reduce household hazards

The parents of all children between 6 and 18 months in four Norwegian municipalities participated in an investigation to assess to what extent parents take actions to reduce household hazards their children are exposed to, and to identify factors associated with such behaviors. The Health Belief Model was used as a theoretical framework guiding the selection of variables. The results indicate that most parents take considerable action to reduce household hazards. The constructs derived from the Health Belief Model accounted for only a small part of the variance in parental behavior to reduce hazards in the home.     

The Life Principle: a (metaethical) rejection

ABSTRACT  In Respect for Nature Paul W. Taylor argues that there is a moral obligation to respect all living things. I argue that there is no such obligation. Taylor presents three basic premises for his position. The first two are shown to be mistaken but not necessary for Taylor's argument. The third, that being a nonsentient teleological centre of life confers moral significance, while necessary, fails to be rationally compelling. I argue: (1) The relevant concept of teleology as readily applies to inanimate objects as it does to nonsentient life forms. (2) The inanimate–nonsentient distinction (at the relevant molecular level) is founded upon a continuum which offers no basis sufficient to justify The Life Principle. (3) The concept of teleology, as used by Taylor, is too unclear and ill-founded to serve as the basis for a rationally compelling argument.     

Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and Kernberg's theory of personality organization related to adolescents in psychiatric care

75 adolescent psychiatric patients were diagnosed with the perceptual projective test the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and also according to Kernberg's theory of personality organization (PO). The test protocols were scored in respect of 130DMT variables and analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis. The objective was to try to separate the three types of PO, psychotic (PPO), borderline (BPO) and neurotic (NPO) by means of the DMT and also to compare the results with a similar study on adult psychiatric patients. The results showed that it is possible to separate significantly the three groups of PO. The BPO group seemed to be heterogeneous. The results were fairly similar to those obtained with adult psychiatric patients. The overall results supported the concurrent validity of Kernberg's theory of PO and for the DMT as well. The DMT seems to be a useful diagnostic method in respect of adolescent psychiatric patients.     

REJOINDER: Picasso's Guernica Creativity as a Darwinian Process: Definitions,Clarifications, Misconceptions,and Applications

The author responds to four commentaries on Simonton (this issue). The response deals with two sets of issues. First are criticisms of the Darwinian theory of creativity, especially as applied to Picasso's sketches for the Guernica. These criticisms range from the presumed role of associative processes to the essential nature of any Darwinian model. The second set of issues pertains to diverse methodological objections with respect to measurement and data analysis. The author responds to each and every point. The author concludes not only that Picasso's creative process is best described as Darwinian, but also that the Darwinian theory of creativity has been notably strengthened by the current exchange.     

Social entrepreneurship: understanding consumer motives for buying The Big Issue

This paper examines consumer response to a particular social entrepreneurship initiative, The Big Issue. Focusing on consumer motivation, the research explores the utilitarian value of the product as compared to the desire to help the homeless as the primary motivation for purchase. The research found that, although the utilitarian value partly motivated purchase, consumers widely perceived there to be a helping dimension to the exchange. Consumers valued the empowerment goals espoused by The Big Issue and found it rewarding to play a part in the empowerment process. The appearance and manner of The Big Issue vendors influenced consumer reactions to the initiative, indicating a need for careful management of ‘beneficiary portrayal’ in this context.     

Behavioural characteristics of adolescence in young captive european rabbits,oryctolagus cuniculus

The territoriality of young, wild-type European rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus was studied in the laboratory. The experimental procedure was to introduce a strange animal into the pen (“home”) of another rabbit and to record the occurrence of the following forms of behaviour: approach, sniffing, following and chasing, aggression. Altogether 290 rabbits of the following age classes were used - 16 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and 91 to 120 days old, and adult females and males The young rabbits were members of 62 separate litters Thirty tests were carried out for each of 21 age-class combinations giving a total of 630 separate tests each lasting 10 minutes. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using a multivariate parametric approach to paired comparisons The multiple discriminant analysis was used. The results indicated the preparedness of even the youngest rabbits to defend their own territory and the inhibiting effect of strange territory on all rabbits, except the 61–90-day-old subjects referred to as adolescents. The adolescents displayed aggression to younger as well as older rabbits. Within their own age group even a few days seniority of the introduced individual levelled the intensity of aggression of contestants. This behavioural characteristic was not present in the oldest age class (91–120 days old). The results are discussed in relation to information on the behaviour of free-living rabbits. The innate nature of territoriality of the species is emphasised.     

Process dissociation and mixture signal detection theory

The process dissociation procedure was developed in an attempt to separate different processes involved in memory tasks. The procedure naturally lends itself to a formulation within a class of mixture signal detection models. The dual process model is shown to be a special case. The mixture signal detection model is applied to data from a widely analyzed study. The results suggest that a process other than recollection may be involved in the process dissociation procedure.     

An integrative model of clinical-ethical decision making

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of clinical-ethical decision making which will assist the health care professional to arrive at an ethically defensible judgment. The model highlights the integration between ethics and decision making, whereby ethics as a systematic analytic tool bring to bear the positive aspects of the decision making process. The model is composed of three major elements. The ethical component, the decision making component and the contextual component. The latter incorporates the relational aspects between the provider and the patient and the organizational structure. The model suggests that in order to arrive at an ethically, justifiable sound decision one make reference to those three elements.     

Habituation in normal and down's syndrome fetuses

The ability of ten normal and two Down's syndrome fetuses to habituate to a repeated auditory stimulus was assessed. The normal fetuses were assessed on two separate occasions during the final trimester of pregnancy. The number of trials to habituate and latency to respond were recorded. The results demonstrated that all normal fetuses exhibited a decrement in response to repeated presentations of the stimulus, a 250-Hz sine wave. This was the result of habituation and not fatigue since fetuses recovered responding upon presentation of a new (500 Hz) stimulus and habituated faster on re-presentation of the original stimulus. The performance of fetuses remained stable over the two testing periods. The response of the Down's syndrome fetuses was different to that of normal fetuses rarely overlapping indices of habituation exhibited by normal fetuses. The study concludes that habituation may be a powerful tool to examine the behavioural and sensory development of the fetus and may be of use in the antenatal assessment of the existence and severity of neural abnormality.     

Test scores examined with the lexis ratio

The Lexis Ratio is discussed in its application to distributions of test scores where the items of the test can be assumed to be of equal difficulty. The ratio indicates the extent to which inter-individual variation operates as a source of the variance. The concept is related to the Lexis, Bernoulli, and Poisson distributions and illustrated by urn schemata. The Ratio is applied to the scores of 560 university freshmen on theRobinson Reading Test. The relation of the Lexis Ratio to the Kuder-Richardson estimation of reliability is also discussed and the latter authors' case IV is rewritten explicitly in terms of the Ratio.     

How do Finnish pre‐adolescents perceive religion and spirituality?

The purpose of this study is to investigate how Finnish pre‐adolescents perceive religion and spirituality. The participants of the study are 12‐ to 13‐year‐old Grade 6 pupils (N=102). The pupils were asked to give their meanings of religion and spirituality. The data includes over 700 written expressions on the two concepts. The qualitative content analysis of the data produced three dimensions. They were called the institutional dimension, the humanistic dimension, and the supernatural dimension. The students emphasized different dimensions in the data concerning religion compared to the data concerning spirituality. Most of the meanings given to religion belonged to the institutional dimension (68.2%). In the data concerning spirituality most of the meanings belonged to the humanistic dimension (66.2%).     

Spirituality in Education: Promoting Children's Spiritual Development through Values

This paper reports on research in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick regarding an educational programme, which is based on what are perceived to be universal values. The programme aims to contribute to the spiritual development of children in schools, which is one of the statutory requirements of mainstream school provision in England and Wales. The Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) offers material which seeks to promote ‘human values’. The paper explores what these values are and why they are perceived to be of a universal nature. The focus on values introduces spiritual dimensions which are examined with reference to the educational contexts in which they are conveyed. The contents of the programme and the development from its inception are described. The paper is based on ethnographic data collected in classrooms and other educational environments where the programme has found application.     

The influence of category membership of stimuli on sequential effects in magnitude judgment

The present study addresses the problem of whether range effects and sequential dependencies are affected by stimulus category membership in the same way. Two sets of squares differing in color were presented to subjects. The subjects were asked to judge them according to size, under two instructions. The separation instruction required them to judge each square solely in relation to its own category. The integration instruction required them to ignore category membership. The results indicated that, under the separation instruction, the range effects, as well as the sequence effects, confined themselves to stimuli of the same category. Under the integration instruction, however, the squares were judged in relation to the range of all the stimuli, and sequential effects were independent of the stimulus category. This parallel trend in the category-specific effects of range and preceding stimuli was found for judgments, as well as for reaction times. The findings are discussed with regard to models of sequential effects.     

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY IN AFRICA

The article focuses on the need to make applied psychology more relevant to the realities of Africa. The writer argues that because applied psychology tends to be centro-cultural it has not made much impact in Africa. The writer observes, however, that the crucial factor is the tendency of many African psychologists to apply psychology in disregard of such mediating factors as values. The moderating influence of values on behaviour in applied settings is explored by citing some recent cases. The writer also identifies some underlying factors accounting for why theories and models relevant to African realities have not been developed by African psychologists. Four underlying issues crucial to the development of concepts and models relevant to Africa are outlined. Particular mention is also made of the need to properly market psychology in Africa.     

Habituation in normal and Down's syndrome fetuses.

The ability of ten normal and two Down's syndrome fetuses to habituate to a repeated auditory stimulus was assessed. The normal fetuses were assessed on two separate occasions during the final trimester of pregnancy. The number of trials to habituate and latency to respond were recorded. The results demonstrated that all normal fetuses exhibited a decrement in response to repeated presentations of the stimulus, a 250-Hz sine wave. This was the result of habituation and not fatigue since fetuses recovered responding upon presentation of a new (500 Hz) stimulus and habituated faster on re-presentation of the original stimulus. The performance of fetuses remained stable over the two testing periods. The response of the Down's syndrome fetuses was different to that of normal fetuses rarely overlapping indices of habituation exhibited by normal fetuses. The study concludes that habituation may be a powerful tool to examine the behavioural and sensory development of the fetus and may be of use in the antenatal assessment of the existence and severity of neural abnormality.     

Encouraging counsellor reflection

The evolution of an 'attributes checklist' tool for assisting counsellor development is described. The attributes relate to characteristics of case-notes that indicate evidence of counsellor reflection and consideration of the counselling process. The checklist was initially tested among a sample of 19 counsellors employed by an organisational EAP and was subsequently refined. The final checklist tool was found to be both usable and useful in differentiating 'process' from 'content' notes. The purpose of the checklist tool is not to enable quantitative assessment of counsellor notes, but rather to facilitate counsellor development within a professional supervisory relationship. The findings of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research in this area are made.     

动词隐含因果关系在代词解决中的时间进程的眼动研究

以初中三年级学生为被试,利用Eye-LinkⅡ型眼动仪,探讨动词隐含因果关系在代词解决中的作用及其时间进程。结果表明,动词隐含因果关系在代词解决中起重要作用,其时间进程是一个延缓加工的过程,结果支持了整合假设。同时还发现被试工作记忆容量的大小对代词解决任务产生一定的影响。     

Attentional distribution in visual space

Summary The horizontal extent of the visual attentive field was measured by the use of a two-choice-RT task and compatible and incompatible distractors. The target was a line that inclined either to the left or to the right. Whether or not the subject performed the choice RT was made contingent upon whether two other stimuli presented in the visual display matched or mismatched. The match-mismatch stimuli varied in locations so as to manipulate the relevant visual area (the attended area). The locations of the distractors were also varied. The increase in RT associated with incompatible distractors was found to vary inversely with their distance from the edge of the area attended to and independently of their distance from the target lines. The results were interpreted in terms of an inhibitory field that surrounds the area attended to.