Hegel and Sellars on the Unity of Things

ABSTRACT

I have claimed previously that Hegel and Sellars are both, in the end, monistic visionaries, though with radically different visions of the grand unity of things. In this paper I explain and defend that claim. Section one differentiates several kinds of monism; section two discusses Hegel’s vision of the underlying unity of thing, while section three does the same for Sellars. The compare-and-contrast assignment is brought to completion in section four.     

Observer Influences on Fathers and Mothers: An Experimental Manipulation of the Structure and Function of Parent – Infant Conversation

From studies over the past 20 years four contrasting hypotheses can be made about the nature of parent–infant communication: (1) mothers and fathers display similar skills to their infants and do not exert a differential influence on their development; (2) fathers are less sympathetic to their infants' level of development and therefore inadvertently stretch the child's development more than mothers; (3) both parents differentially socialize their sons' and daughters' early communicative skills; (4) any apparent differences between parents reflect their expectations about being observed. To examine these hypotheses together, this experiment records the communication of 10 mother–infant and 10 father–infant dyads in two conditions: when an observer was present or absent. The analysis revealed two patterns. Firstly, in keeping with most research on parent–child communication, mothers and fathers both simplified their speech to their infants in similar ways. Secondly, both the structure and function of parental communication showed differences between the two conditions and many of these differences were moderated by interactions between condition and sex of parent or child. The data thus provide more support for the first and fourth hypotheses cited above. It is suggested that analyses of parent–infant interaction should move away from simple assumptions about parental ‘influences’ upon children's development to consider the subtleties of different parental styles in different settings.     

Capacity increase and chunking in the development of short-term memory

The possibility of an age-related increase in the capacity of the short-term store was examined in two short-term memory experiments, and an M-operator model was proposed to account for the data. In the first experiment, lists of 8, 10, and 12 consonants were presented to 10-, 12-, and 14-year-olds. Despite the fact that the amount of chunking was monitored and kept constant across ages, there was a definite developmental increase in short-term memory performance. The size of the increase corresponded to the prediction of Pascual-Leone's M-operator theory. An M-operator model was proposed to account for the relation between performance level and list length at each age, as well as the developmental increase. Predictions of adult performance were tested in a second experiment. Together the two experiments show that an important part of short-term memory development can be explained as a growth in short-term store capacity.     

英语素质教育三维促进模式实验研究

本研究是在深入了解贵州省普通初中英语课堂教学的基础上,针对其英语教学中存在的主要问题。构建了英语素质教育三维促进模式,并运用此模式进行实验。实验结果表明：三维促进模式对提高学生的英语语言能力有促进作用。     

On realizable biorders and the biorder dimension of a relation

The paper discusses the mathematical foundations of a technique of multidimensional scaling, generalizing Guttman scaling, in which the structure of the embedding space relies only on ordinal concepts. An empirical relation is represented as an intersection of a minimal number (called bidimension) of Guttman relations. Fairly complete results are given for the cases of bidimensions 1 and 2. In the general case, the main results are based on the equivalence between the bidimension and the dimension of a certain partial order. A characterization of the bidimension as the chromatic number of some hypergraph is also provided.     

Enhancing Program Quality in a National Sample of After‐school Settings: The Role of Youth–Staff Interactions and Staff/Organizational Functioning

Using multilevel data from the national evaluation of Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), this study examined associations among programmatic structures, workplace and workforce characteristics, and relational practices of program staff as they relate to young people's ratings of their experience attending local clubs. The sample included 57,710 members and 5,231 staff members at 740 BGCA sites throughout the United States. Staff relational practices—including establishing caring relationships, setting high expectations, positive behavior management, encouraging youth input and agency, and cultural sensitivity—explained associations between staffing and organizational functioning and youths’ perceptions of the quality of their clubs. Findings suggest a central role of staff relational practices in establishing conditions that youth experience positively, and that staffing and organizational processes, including community engagement and teamwork and efficiency can be viewed as foundations for establishing a culture of positive adult‐youth interaction, which in turn can contribute to the promotion of positive youth development. Further, identification with the experiences of youth had a direct association with youths’ perceptions of club quality. These results underscore the importance of staff workforce development initiatives as key to improving youth experiences in after‐school programs.     

Internal Realism and the Problem of Religious Diversity

This article applies Hilary Putnam’s theory of internal realism to the issue of religious plurality. The result of this application – ‘internalist pluralism’ – constitutes a paradigm shift within the Philosophy of Religion. Moreover, internalist pluralism succeeds in avoiding the major difficulties faced by John Hick’s famous theory of religious pluralism, which views God, or ‘the Real,’ as the noumenon lying behind diverse religious phenomena. In side-stepping the difficulties besetting Hick’s revolutionary Kantian approach, without succumbing to William Alston’s critique of conceptual-scheme dependence, internalist pluralism provides a solution to significant theoretical problems, while doing so in a manner that is respectful of cultural diversity and religious sensitivities.

社区老年人的生活质量与心理健康:SEM研究

在Lawton理论框架以及先前研究基础上,进一步对上海社区老年人生活质量与心理健康进行研究。采用结构方程建模的方法对老年人健康生活质量(QHL)、客观生活环境质量(QOE)与心理健康(PWB)的理论构念及其相互关系的理论模型予以实证研究。结果表明,该模型与社区老人测评数据(N=262)的拟合度良好,证明QHL对PWB具有显著正面影响,QOE与QHL显著相关且直接或间接地正面影响PWB。研究表明良好身体健康状况、行为调适能力以及家庭一社区养老环境对促进老人心理健康具有重要意义。     

The Presuppositions of Religious Pluralism and the Need for Natural Theology

In ‘The Presuppositions of Religious Pluralism and the Need for Natural Theology’ I argue that there are four important presuppositions behind John Hick’s form of religious pluralism that successfully support it against what I call fideistic exclusivism. These are i) the ought/can principle, ii) the universality of religious experience, iii) the universality of redemptive change, and iv) a view of how God (the Eternal) would do things. I then argue that if these are more fully developed they support a different kind of exclusivism, what I call rational exclusivism, and become defeaters for pluralism. In order to explain rational exclusivism and its dependence on these presuppositions I consider philosophers J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, and Alvin Plantinga, who offer arguments for their forms of exclusivism but I maintain that they continue to rely on fideism at important points. I then give an example of how knowledge of the Eternal can be achieved.

Mapping the Social World of Classrooms: A Multi‐Level,Multi‐Reporter Approach to Social Processes and Behavioral Engagement

Understanding the social context of classrooms has been a central goal of research focused on the promotion of academic development. Building on the current literature on classroom social settings and guided by a risk and protection framework, this study examines the unique and combined contribution of individual relationships and quality of classroom interactions on behavioral engagement among low‐income Latino students in kindergarten to fifth grade (N = 111). Findings indicate that individual relationships with teachers and peers and classroom quality, each independently predicted behavioral engagement. Moreover, high‐quality classrooms buffered the negative influence of students’ difficulties in individual relationships on behavioral engagement. Findings illuminate the need to consider multiple layers of social classroom relationships and interactions and suggest the potential benefit of targeting classroom quality as a mechanism for improving behavioral engagement in urban elementary schools.     

Some effects of the Edinburgh Masker on stuttering during oral reading and spontaneous speech

This study assessed the effect of a voice-activated masking unit, known as the Edinburgh Masker, on the speech of four stutterers during oral reading and spontaneous speech. The results show that one stutterer reduced stuttering almost completely whenever the masker was activated. Two subjects showed either marginal or temporary reductions of stuttering during one speaking condition but showed no change in the other condition. The other subject reduced stuttering only during spontaneous speech. No reduction in stuttering was associated with reduced speech rate. A perceptual analysis procedure conducted to assess for altered speech quality during masking conditions found changes in speech quality were evident in two subjects. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Coparenting Profiles in the Context of Mexican‐Origin Teen Pregnancy: Links to Mother–Daughter Relationship Quality and Adjustment

The current study explored the multifaceted nature of the mother–adolescent coparental relationship with data from 167 Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers and their own mothers at 10 months post childbirth. Profiles of mother–adolescent coparenting were created with latent profile analysis using adolescents’ reports of three dimensions of coparenting (communication, involvement, and conflict). Four profiles were identified: (a) Harmonious Coparents (equal involvement, high communication, low conflict); (b) Harmonious‐Adolescent Primary (adolescent is more involved than mother, high communication, low conflict); (c) Conflictual Coparents (equal involvement, high communication, high conflict); and (d) Conflictual‐Adolescent Primary (adolescent is more involved than mother, moderate communication, high conflict). Families characterized by high mother–daughter conflict and psychological control prior to childbirth were more likely to belong in the Conflictual Coparents profile. In addition, adolescents’ and mothers’ depressive symptoms and parenting efficacy after childbirth were linked to profile membership, such that the Harmonious‐Adolescent Primary profile reported the most positive adjustment patterns, whereas profiles with high coparental conflict (i.e., Conflictual Coparenting and Conflictual‐Adolescent Primary profiles) showed the least positive adjustment patterns. Discussion considers the applied implications of identifying precursors to healthy and problematic mother–daughter coparenting for families of adolescent mothers in the early years of parenting.     

Measuring the impact on relatives of caring for people with Alzheimer's disease: Quality of life,burden and well-being

Abstract

This study compared key correlates of caregiver stress in 50 Alzheimer's disease patients and their primary caregivers. in relation to three outcome measures - perceived burden, psychological well-being, and quality of life (QoL). These were evaluated using the Zarit Burden Interview. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30), and Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual QoL (SEIQoL-DW) respectively. Informal social support was evaluated on Vaux's Social Support Appraisal Scale. Patients' cognitive. functional, and behavioural status were rated on Mini-Mental State Examination, Blessed-Roth Dementia Scale. and Baumgarten Dementia Behaviour Disturbance Scale respectively. Standardised multiple regression analysis was used to compare the outcome measures. In this model burden was highly related to behaviour disturbance. and also to social support (adjusted R² = 0.45). Well-being was significantly related to behaviour disturbance, and also to functional status (adjusted R² = 0.40). With regard to QoL the model performed poorly as most of the variance in QoL was not accounted for by the model (adjusted R² = 0.14). These findings highlight differences in factors determining caregiver QoL. burden and well-being.     

Orthodox–Reformed Dialogue and the Ecumenical Recovery of Theosis

Agreement about theosis in Orthodox–Reformed dialogues played a small but strategic role in the ecumenical recovery of the patristic doctrine of deification and its emergence as a locus of Reformed theology. Ecumenical dialogue helped dispel the idea that theosis is a distinctively Orthodox doctrine incompatible with the Western tradition. This idea was first propounded in the 19th century by Albrecht Ritschl, Ferdinand Kattenbusch, Adolf von Harnack, and others associated with the Ritschlian school. It was later appropriated by émigré Orthodox scholars. Orthodox–Reformed dialogue helped correct this and other misconceptions about theosis. This began informally in correspondence between Thomas F. Torrance and Georges Florovsky and continued in formal dialogue meetings. Orthodox–Reformed dialogue also highlighted patristic ways of thinking about salvation that were not then prominent in Reformed theology. However, as the Reformed participants consulted the works of John Calvin, they realized that he shared those patristic ways of thinking. Today, Reformed theologians are eager contributors to the ecumenical recovery of theosis. They increasingly discuss theosis as a doctrine native to the Reformed tradition.