Toward a decolonial global ethics

This paper argues that decolonial theory can offer a distinctive and valuable ethical lens. Decolonial perspectives give rise to an ethics that is fundamentally global but distinct from, and critical of, moral cosmopolitanism. Decolonial ethics shares with cosmopolitanism a refusal to circumscribe normative commitments on the basis of existing political and cultural boundaries. It differs from cosmopolitanism, though, by virtue of its rejection of the individualism and universalism of cosmopolitan thought. Where cosmopolitan approaches tend to articulate abstract principles developed from within a particular Western tradition, decolonial approaches reject abstract global designs in favour of inter-cultural dialogue amongst multiple people(s), including peoples who deem collective and non-human entities to be of fundamental moral importance. In addition, decolonial global ethics rejects universality in favour of ‘pluriversality’.     

Toward an animal model of type A behavior

Time estimation and dominance tests were used to differentiate the behavior of Mongolian gerbils to be analogous to Type A and Type B human behavior. Preliminary classification of animals as "Type A" or "B" was based upon differential performance on DRL 20-sec and DRL 60-sec reinforcement schedules. To retain their preliminary classification, Type A and Type B animals were required to be dominant and subordinate, respectively, in matches with each of three same-sex animals of opposite behavioral classification. Following classification, breeding pairs were constituted and classification procedures were repeated with two succeeding generations. Animals that exhibited Type A timing "won" significantly more dominance matches than did Type B animals. Incidence rates of Type A and Type B behavior in the two selectively bred generations were significantly greater than frequencies in the original stock generation. The usefulness of the present animal model for investigating the association of Type A behavior with coronary heart disease is discussed.     

Toward an expanded vision of clinical ethics education: from the individual to the institution

This paper advances a new paradigm in clinical ethics education that not only emphasizes development of individual clinicians' skills, but also focuses on the institutional context within which health care professionals work. This approach has been applied to the goal of improving the care provided to critically and terminally ill adults. The model has been adopted by about thirty hospitals and nursing homes; additional institutions will soon join the program, entitled Decisions Near the End of Life. Here, we describe the history and rationale for this approach, its goals, pedagogical assumptions, and design.     

The competent community: Toward a vital reformulation of professional ethics

Psychologists are ethically obligated to ensure their own competence. When problems of professional competence occur, psychologists must take appropriate steps to regain competence while protecting those they serve. Yet conceptualizations of the competence obligation are thoroughly intertwined with Western ideals of individualism and a model of the person as self-contained, self-controlled, and perpetually rational. Research in health care, education, and multicultural and social psychology raise serious doubts about psychologists' capacity for consistently accurate self-assessments of competence. To address this problem, the authors advocate that education, training, professional ethics standards, and credentialing criteria be infused with a robust communitarian ethos and a culturally pervasive ethic of care. The authors propose a shift in discourse about competence to incorporate both competent individuals and competent communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Walden two: The morality of anarchy

The utopian label is often pinned on calls for comprehensive change as a means of dismissing them from serious consideration.... [S]ocial orders come and go, and those who indulge in utopian thinking may be more prepared for... the inevitability of widespread societal transformation.... Keeping utopia in mind can prevent our settling for minor reforms when more significant change might be possible. (Fox, 1985, p. 55)When... I called myself a benign anarchist... someone said that that was not like the dictatorship of Walden Two. But Walden Two was anarchistic.... The functions delegated to [authority figures] in the world at large were performed by the people themselves through face-to-face commendation and censure. (Skinner, 1983, p. 426, emphasis his)The issue for anarchists is not whether there should be structure or order, but what kind there should be and what its sources ought to be. The individual or group which has sufficient liberty to be self-regulating will have the highest degree of order; the imposition of order from above and outside induces resentment and rebellion where it does not encourage childlike dependence and impotence, and so becomes a force for disorder. (Barclay, 1982, p. 17).     

Toward an appropriate baseline for measures of eye movement behavior during reading

In empirical studies of human eye movement behavior during reading, it is common to compute various summary measures from the data, but these measures are typically not evaluated with respect to corresponding measures of baseline performance. The authors present a method for deriving an appropriate baseline by mapping the actual behavior to a random perturbation of the text being read, and they find surprising similarities between the baseline and the empirical data. The practical message from these findings is that the importance of a particular factor in explaining either empirical or simulated eye movement patterns should be evaluated using an appropriate baseline. In addition to this methodological point, the authors suggest that eye movement behavior in reading may be constrained by the properties of an eye-guidance system that has adapted to the coarse-grained statistical properties of written language.     

Toward a virtue-based normative ethics for the health professions

Virtue is the most perdurable concept in the history of ethics, which is understandable given the ineradicability of the moral agent in the events of the moral life. Historically, virtue enjoyed normative force as long as the philosophical anthropology and the metaphysics of the good that grounded virtue were viable. That grounding has eroded in both general and medical ethics. If virtue is to be restored to a normative status, its philosophical underpinnings must be reconstructed. Such reconstruction seems unlikely in general ethics, where the possibility of agreement on the good for humans is remote. However, it is a realistic possibility in the professional ethics fo the health professions where agreement on the telos of the healing relationship is more likely to arise. Nevertheless, virtue-based ethics must be related conceptually and normatively to other ethical theories in a comprehensive moral philosophy of the health professions. If he really does think there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our house, let us count our spoons. Samuel Johnson     

Toward a theory of verbal behavior

This paper is a reply to an accompanying set of six commentaries by Sidman; Hayes and Barnes; Schusterman, Kastak, and Reichmuth; Tonneau and Sokolowski; Lowenkron; and Moerk. Those commentaries were prompted by our article “On the Origins of Naming and Other Symbolic Behavior” (1996), which was, in turn, followed by 26 commentaries and a reply. In the course of the present reply, we further develop the naming account to embrace more complex verbal relations such as same, different, more, and less. We also examine what we see as the lack of conceptual coherence in equivalence theories, including relational frame theory, and the disparities between these accounts and the findings from empirical research.     

Toward the globalization of behavior analysis

Globalization could facilitate the long-term growth of behavior analysis, and although progress has been made, much yet needs to be done. Given the scarcity of resources, it is suggested that we draw from successes in the development of behavior analysis and establish behavioral programs around the world that embrace research, education, and practice as a focus of systematic globalization efforts. The strategy would require the implementation of cultural contingencies that support initiation and long-term program expansion. For program initiation, contingencies are needed to place pioneer behavior analysts in university units that would be unlikely to start a behavioral program otherwise. The task of these pioneers would be to build a critical mass that would multiply behavior-analytic repertoires, obtain research funding, conduct publishable research, and establish applied settings. For long-term program development, the field should expand internationally as it continues building the infrastructure needed to accelerate the demand for behavioral programs in higher education, scholarly work in behavior analysis, behavior analysts in existing jobs, and behavioral technology in the market place.     

Toward an empirical taxonomy of suicide ideation: a cluster analysis of the youth risk behavior survey

In this study we examined adolescent risk behaviors, giving special attention to suicide ideation. Cluster analysis was used to classify adolescents (N = 2,730) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Six clusters of adolescent risk behavior were identified. Although each risk cluster was distinct, some clusters shared overlapping risk behaviors. Suicide ideation was central to two clusters: the Silent Suicide cluster and the Multiple Risk cluster. The findings demonstrate that suicide ideation is both a unique risk behavior for some adolescents and part of a generalized risk syndrome for other adolescents. A multiple subgroup framework is recommended for understanding adolescent risk behaviors.