ARE WE CLOSER TO FREE MARKET EUGENICS? THE CRISPR CONTROVERSY

Might the 2018 birth of two designer babies in China write the opening paragraph for the next chapter in the history of eugenics? The worldwide scientific community has tacitly put a moratorium on human clinical application of CRISPR gene editing, waiting until unknown risks can become known. But this ethical agreement has been breached, and calls are now being heard for more rigorous regulations. Perhaps religious and spiritual leaders can join the bioethical chant: the yellow light of caution is flashing.     

FROM EVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS TO CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION: ARE WE IN CONTROL?

This article discusses implicit assumptions in the conference theme to understand the complexity involved in trying to gain control of globalization, in particular: (1) We, (2) being in control (not only in cybernetic way) and (3) globalization. I introduce distinctions between single conscious agents, systems of conscious agents, and emergent we, as a collective entity understood as a Collective Being (a complex, multidimensional society to be studied with multiple, systemic knowledge) that has collective consciousness. The focus is the issue of being in control. This issue is understood as the ability to design and manage emergent processes of development.     

WHOM TO BLAME FOR THE CHARGE OF SECULARIZATION?

Abstract. In the last century science and technology have been viewed as guilty of contributing to the modern secularization process and also to a crisis in religion. The extent of this influence is less clear today: while technology is stronger, and an easy target for any kind of social and cultural criticism, science seems weaker than it used to. The aim of this commentary is to examine in a critical way the arguments for and against scientific and technological involvement in the crisis religion faces today. In the end, a revision of the future of religion is called into question, especially in the light of a more “technological theology.”     

IS SOCIAL VALIDITY WHAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN? ARGUMENT FOR A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

It is argued that neither the term social nor the term validity is best to identify the processes used or the results obtained in questioning consumers about the goals set, procedures employed, or outcomes achieved in habilitative programming. The term consumer satisfaction acknowledges the fact that it is essentially a collection of consumer opinions. The underlying intent of the process might be called habilitative validation, a name that seems to better guide our validation efforts. More important, in carefully considering consumer satisfaction assessment, it becomes clear that not only does consumer satisfaction itself need to be validated, but also that more objective methods can be used for assessing habilitative validity. However, legitimate uses still remain for consumer satisfaction measurement, as long as we do not mistake it for strong evidence of the habilitative validity of our goals, procedures, or outcomes.     

THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR WHAT'S IN IT FOR US?

When we publish behavioral research, we are not allowed to communicate the thrill, the poetry, or the exhilaration that are outcomes of the discovery process. Yet, these are among our most potent reinforcers. Explicit recognition of the emotional accompaniments to research could help attract students into the experimental analysis of behavior.     

WHAT HAS RACE GOT TO DO WITH IT? UNRAVELING THE ROLE OF RACIOETHNICITY IN JOB SEEKERS' REACTIONS TO SITE VISITS

Racioethnic minorities have constituted a substantial portion of new labor market entrants in the past decade ( Fullerton & Toossi, 2001 ). Yet, the recruitment literature has not attended to issues of racioethnicity, and more specifically, how racioethnic groups may differ in the factors used to determine job acceptance intentions after site visits. This article aims to rectify that omission by providing a theoretical model explaining how organizational and surrounding community attributes differentially affect the decision-making process of minority and majority group job applicants. Several individual difference moderators (i.e., racioethnic identity, social dominance orientation, other-group orientation, and perceived job opportunities) also are discussed in terms of their potential influence on job acceptance intentions. The article concludes with coverage of relevant research and practical implications of the racioethnic model of site visit reactions.     

ARE THEORIES OF PERCEPTION NECESSARY? A REVIEW OF GIBSON'S THE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO VISUAL PERCEPTION

Representational theories of perception postulate an isolated and autonomous "subject" set apart from its real environment, and then go on to invoke processes of mental representation, construction, or hypothesizing to explain how perception can nevertheless take place. Although James Gibson's most conspicuous contribution has been to challenge representational theory, his ultimate concern was the cognitivism which now prevails in psychology. He was convinced that the so-called cognitive revolution merely perpetuates, and even promotes, many of psychology's oldest mistakes. This review article considers Gibson's final statement of his "ecological" alternative to cognitivism (Gibson, 1979). It is intended not as a complete account of Gibson's alternative, however, but primarily as an appreciation of his critical contribution. Gibson's sustained attempt to counter representational theory served not only to reveal the variety of arguments used in support of this theory, but also to expose the questionable metaphysical assumptions upon which they rest. In concentrating upon Gibson's criticisms of representational theory, therefore, this paper aims to emphasize the point of his alternative scheme and to explain some of the important concerns shared by Gibson's ecological approach and operant psychology.     

THE CONTRIBUTION OF WORLD JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTS FOR JEWS IN MOROCCO (1956–1961)

The history of the Jewish community during the early years of Moroccan independence is a story of continuous and constant worries regarding an unclear future—as well as fears of possible impending disaster. During this period, the Jewish community was forced to deal with several critical questions, the answers to which would ultimately determine the future of Moroccan Jewry, as well as the future of individual Jews in the community. While the struggle for independence had been waged without much involvement on the part of the Jewish community, the removal of the yoke of colonialism presented each Moroccan Jew with various options, and the choice to be made between them was a fateful one—whether to seek personal and communal success within a democratic progressive country or to escape from the country out of fear of a possible disaster.     

FROM COLLECTIVISM TO INDIVIDUALISM? THE ACCULTURATION OF GREEK IMMIGRANTS IN AUSTRALIA*

The present study examined whether Greek immigrants in Australia have retained traditional Greek values and behaviours or moved to an integration of these with Anglo-Australian values and behaviours. The sample consisted of Anglo- and Greek-Australian parents and young adolescents and a comparison group of Greeks, resident in Greece. Measures were obtained of values and behaviours considered to be appropriate for family members in the culture. Results showed that Greek-Australians retained the collectivistic values of their Greek culture while Anglo-Australians demonstrated a more individualistic orientation. There was evidence for convergence of Anglo- and Greek-Australian perceptions of appropriate behaviours and thus support for a view that acculturation is more likely to be manifested in behaviours than in core values. Although there were some differences in expressed values and behaviours, overall there was little evidence for a cultural gap between Greek-Australian parents and their adolescents.     

WEB‐BASED AND PAPER‐AND‐PENCIL TESTING OF APPLICANTS IN A PROCTORED SETTING: ARE PERSONALITY,BIODATA, AND SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TESTS COMPARABLE?

This quasi-experimental study compares the equivalence of proctored Web-based tests to paper-and-pencil tests in a selection setting. The predictor battery was composed of measures of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, a biodata form, and a situational judgment test. Three samples were administered the same test items, but differed with respect to context and test format: 425 incumbents completed a paper-and-pencil version, 2,544 applicants completed a paper-and-pencil version, and 2,356 applicants completed an identical Web-based version (although these individuals were not randomly assigned to test format, the job and organization were the same for all samples). The results found effects for both context and test format. Relative to the applicants completing the paper-and-pencil measures, the Web-based measures showed (a) better distributional properties, (b) lower means, (c) more variance, (d) higher internal consistency reliabilities, and (e) stronger intercorrelations. Although the applicant context resulted in higher mean responses than the incumbent context, this difference was about twice as large for the paper-and-pencil test than for the Web-based test. All such differences were greater for personality measures than for biodata and situational judgment tests. Overall, these results suggest that proctored Web-based testing has some positive benefits relative to paper-and-pencil measures, and we identify several implications of these findings for research and practice.     

ARE PERSONS WITH NERVOUS HABITS NERVOUS? A PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF HABIT FUNCTION IN A NONREFERRED POPULATION

In this study, 44 individuals were exposed to three conditions (anxiety, bored, and neutral) while being covertly videotaped. The videotapes were then scored for the occurrence of five classes of habits including hair, face, and object manipulation; object mouthing; and repetitive movement of the limbs. Results showed that hair and face manipulation increased during the anxiety condition, whereas object manipulation increased in the bored condition. The implications of this research are discussed.     

ARE SCIENCE AND HUMANISM SUITED TO ENTER THE ANCIENT QUEST OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY? A RESPONSE TO LLUÍS OVIEDO

This response reverses the title of Lluís Oviedo's essay (2006) while retaining the structure. In the pendulum swing between science and humanism, theology finds its uniqueness not in refuting either but in subverting them: subverting the scientific quest for certainty without denying its pursuit, and subverting the humanist quest for the unique dignity of the human by reducing it to the most despoiled creature, yet finding in it the presence of the divine. Theological pursuit is about reason and its limits, about brokenness and glory in it. Yet the engagement is unavoidable, for without the scientific pursuit of certainty, incompleteness could never be established; without the humanist search for the uniqueness of the human, its admixed and impure character would not be recognized. The concept of hybridity tries to convey that and is presented in three instantiations: the conflation of the human with machine (cyborg), of humans and other animals (oncomouse), and of the human and the divine. Following these ontological cases of hybridity, at the epistemological level theology becomes hybrid “science” in search of the mythos in the midst of logos, and conversely it is hybrid humanism, for it locates God in the greatest depravity of mammalian existence.     

SHALL WE DANCE? MUSIC AS A PORT OF ENTRANCE TO MATERNAL–INFANT INTERSUBJECTIVITY IN A CONTEXT OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSION

The present study introduces the concept of a mother–infant group therapy that makes use of music, singing, and moving to establish maternal–infant intersubjectivity. It was conducted in a residential mother–baby unit for mothers with postnatal depression and their infants over a 5‐week period. Maternal–infant intersubjectivity of four dyads in relation to the group dynamics were microanalyzed for Sessions 1 and 5. We made within‐session (i.e., beginning–middle–end) and between‐session (Session 1 vs. Session 5) comparisons for the number of intersubjectivity moments (ISMs), total time of intersubjectivity (IST), and the mean duration of ISMs on a dyadic (i.e., own mother/infant involved) and a nondyadic level (i.e., own mother/infant not involved). In addition, three ISM levels (degree of group contribution) were distinguished. The results indicated a significant increase of ISMs/IST from Session 1 to Session 5. Within‐session analyses showed that ISMs/IST significantly decreased through Session 1 and remained stable throughout Session 5. Intersubjectivity occurred mainly on ISM Level 1 during Session 1 and on ISM Level 3 during Session 5, suggesting increased dyadic autonomy and self‐efficacy. The results are discussed in relation to the musical characteristics of mother–infant dyads, music improvisation techniques, group processes, and intersubjective development.     

WHICH PSYCHOLOGISTS PROMINENT IN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS CENTURY MADE LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS TO PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY?

Abstract— The autobiographies in the last five volumes of A History of Psychology in Autobiography , Volumes IV to VIII, published between the years 1952 and 1989, represent psychologists sufficiently along in their careers to have been selected by committees of their peers to be invited to prepare their autobiographies. They all had met some criteria of eminence. With the autobiographies available, and additional information about the writers, since most continued active beyond the time the autobiographies were written, an effort has been made to specify the enduring contributions of a few of these psychologists, chosen somewhat arbitrarily to represent a limited number of specialty areas. In spite of its limitations, this review points up the value of autobiographies as sources of information about the development of scientific ideas that can supplement the more formal presentations in technical books and articles.