On the So-Called War on Terrorism

Abstract: Since the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, the country has embarked on a so‐called war on terrorism. This essay argues that so‐called war on terrorism has used the pretext of responding to terrorist attacks in the U.S. in September 2001 to wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have objectives other than stamping out terrorism. It further argues that war requires a moral justification that cannot be provided for either the war in Afghanistan or the war in Iraq.     

关于所谓的基督教危机

L．科拉科夫斯基（1927--2009）,东欧新马克思主义的代表人物、波兰著名的哲学家,西方哲学史专家。对古希腊哲学、中世纪哲学、欧洲大陆哲学、德国古典哲学、人本主义、实证主义、分析哲学,现象学都十分熟悉,并撰写了许多相关领域的论文,多部论著还被翻译成数十种文字,在西方哲学界影响很大,其宗教批判理论更是极富创见性。本文中,针对学界普遍关注的所谓基督教危机问题,科拉科夫斯基给出了自己的答案。在他看来,基于基督教最原初的主旨和最本真的意义,今天任何对于基督教正在发生危机并走向穷途末路的断言都是轻率和不负责任的。     

Social Cognition and the So-Called Conjunction Fallacy

The so-called ‘conjunction effect’, in which participants incorrectly assert that an instance from the conjunction of two sets is more probable than an instance from one of the two conjoining sets alone, has been a source of debate as to whether it is a genuine fallacy of individual thinking or not. We argue that reasoning about individuals follows a different process than reasoning about sets. 35 participants took part in 3 tasks: a) one involving blocks of different sizes and colours designed to evoke set-based reasoning, b) one where a particular block was ‘individuated’ by stating that it represented a particular person, and c) the original Tversky and Kahneman (Psychological Review 90(4):293–315, 1983) ‘Linda’ problem. As predicted, set-based reasoning was significantly more prevalent for the blocks task than for the other two tasks. Participants’ reasons for their choices suggest that some individuals correctly use set-based logic in one task and a social reasoning process for the other tasks.     

Effects of Perceived Group Effectiveness and Group Role on Attributions of Group Performance1

Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy completed a questionnaire describing their experiences in Cadet Basic Training (CBT) and Cadet Field Training (CFT). Analyses of variance examined the impact of Group Role (Leader vs. Follower) and Perceived Group Effectiveness (High vs. Low) on group member perceptions of the extent to which each of six factors affected group performance. Significant main effects for Perceived Effectiveness were interpreted in terms of the egodefensive bias. Role main effects indicated that leaders tended to make stronger dispositional attributions than did followers. There were no signifcant Group Role × Perceived Effectiveness interaction effects. Findings support, in part, hypotheses concerning the operation of an attributional bias within the leader-member relationship.     

Group Effects on Individual Learning Achievement

This study focuses on the impact of the social context of a class on student behaviour, in particular, the effects of pupil-pupil interaction on learning achievement. Two major functions of reference groups are distinguished: a normative and a comparative function. The normative function deals with norm setting and enforcing norms. The comparative function is merely a standard of comparison for the individual. This study deals with the question as to what extent contextual effects at classroom level can be accounted for by these two types of reference processes. The development of mathematical achievement of some 3,600 students in Year 8 (11 or 12 years of age) in about 200 primary schools in the Netherlands was followed. Students were asked to rate their classmates on two/three-point scales: a comparative scale and a normative scale. It appears that both the comparative and the normative reference structure of classes have substantial effects on individual achievement. The effect of the normative reference group, however, is by far the strongest.     

Testing Specific Hypotheses Concerning Latent Group Differences in Multi-group Covariance Structure Analysis with Structured Means

This article concerns multi-group covariance structure analysis with structured means. The traditional latent selection model is formulated as a special case of phenotypic selection, that is, selection based not on latent variables, but on observed variables. This formulation has the advantage that it enables one to test very specific hypotheses concerning selection on latent variables. Illustrations are given using simulated and real data.     

Levels of Analysis and Effects: Clarifying Group Influence and Climate by Separating Individual and Group Effects

This article addresses conceptual and methodological levels of analysis issues in research on work group and organizational settings. Using organizational climate data, it provides a detailed example of the use of a recent data analysis model (Kenny & La Voie, 1985) which separates individual and group effects. The reanalysis of an earlier study of organizational climate influences on three dependent variables (Giamartino & Wandersman, 1983) revealed that several important relationships between climate dimensions and the dependent variables were masked in the earlier study. Implications for potential misinterpretations within existing group and organizational research are drawn and suggestions for addressing theoretical and measurement problems involving climate research are offered.     

Assessing Specific Effects of Inpatient Group Psychotherapy

Abstract

This article will examine how the psychoanalytic idea of containing can be used in group therapy to form a conceptual bridge such that the group dynamics are not simplistically reduced to individual dynamics, nor that the individual is lost in the “group–as–a–whole” concept. I take the concept of “containing” as versatile in the sense that Bion (1970) meant it to be—that is, the psychological phenomenon of containment is manifest at various system levels: intrapsychic, interpersonal, group, and societal. This article will explore how far this “bridging concept” can be pursued to understand groups theoretically. The article will review various forms of containing, following Bion’s ideas, and in particular a therapeutic, or flexible, form in contrast to rigid and fragile forms.     

Joint Effects of Group Efficacy and Gender Diversity on Group Cohesion and Performance

Cette étude s'intéresse aux facteurs de l'efficience de groupe et à la conjonction de l'efficience de groupe et de la mixité sur las relation entre l'efficience et les résultats du groupe. On a constitué 45 groupes d'étudiants de 1° cycle ( N = 260) devant réaliser en classe deux projets en commun. Il est apparu que la performance antérieure et l'auto-efficience étaient toutes deux positivement corrélées à l'efficience de groupe. De plus, l'interaction de la mixité et de l'efficience de groupe entretenait une liaison positive avec l'efficacité de groupe (qualité du projet et cohésion du groupe). En particulier, la mixité facilitait la relation entre l'efficacité et l'efficience de groupe. Une discussion porte sur les implications de cette recherche.
This study examined the sources of group efficacy and the joint roles of group efficacy and gender diversity on the relationship between group efficacy and group outcomes. We used 45 project groups (260 undergraduate students) designed to complete two in-class group projects. We found that past performance and self-efficacy were both positively related to group efficacy. Further, the interaction of gender diversity and group efficacy was positively related to group effectiveness (project grade and group cohesion). Specifically, mixed gender groups facilitated the relationship between group efficacy and group effectiveness. Implications of the study are discussed.     

The Effects of Group Discussion on Eyewitness Accuracy

Previous research on group performance in judgmental tasks reveals that groups are rarely inferior, and often superior, to the average individual. The present study examined whether this pattern of results extends to the accuracy of eyewitness reports of a crime. It was found that group discussion led to accounts that were significantly more accurate than the average individual. A requirement to reach a unanimous decision did not alter any of the effects of group discussion. Group superiority was especially clear in terms of the completeness of the reports and in estimations of the duration of the incident. The discussion considered the implications of the present results for the current practice of prohibiting group discussion as an aid to the preparation of testimony.     

Effects of Behavioral Group Therapy on chronic Pain

Abstract

Benign chronic pain is frequently reported among rehabilitation patients. The present study investigates a behavioral treatment model used with 3 consecutive groups of 8 chronic pain outpatients. The behavioral strategy used was to identify specific pain behaviors such as verbal expression of pain, consumption of analgesics and inactivity and to teach the patient to modify these patterns. The treatment was provided by a rehabilitation team and included contingency management of pain behaviors, applied relaxation and social skills training. Results showed significant 6 month follow-up reductions in the expression of pain, analgesics intake and level of rest for the group as a whole subsequent to intervention. In addition, two thirds of the group were engaged in formal pre-occupational training at follow-up.     

Group and Interpersonal Effects in International Computer-Mediated Collaboration

Drawing on two recent theories, this article proposes interaction hypotheses involving the joint effects of salient group versus individual identity and long-term versus short-term group membership on the social, interpersonal, and intellectual responses of group members collaborating via computer-mediated communication. Participants from institutions in two countries used computer-mediated communication under various conditions. Results indicate that some conditions of computer-mediated communication use by geographically dispersed partners render effects systematically superior to those obtained in other mediated conditions and greater or lesser than effects obtained through face-to-face interaction.     

Group Decision as a Technique for Obtaining Compliance: Some Added Considerations Concerning How Altruism Leads to Callousness

Bennett (1955) reported that a critical condition for producing Lewin's (1958) classic group discussion-decision effect (is., high compliance with a request from an authority figure) was a group consensus strongly favoring compliance. This finding prompted investigation of variables potentially affecting such a consensus. A first study found that group consensus is significantly less likely to favor compliance if subjects are allowed to make a majority rather than an individual decision. Group size had no significant effects on decision-making. A second study replicated this effect and investigated several explanations for it. These results suggest that, at least when compliance is not in the subjects' best interest, the Lewinian group discussion-decision effect will be less likely to be found if a majority decision role is followed as opposed to an individual decision rule. The implication of these data for social engineering is discussed.     

Group Learning Curves: The Effects of Turnover and Task Complexity on Group Performance1

This study examined the effects of turnover and task complexity on group performance. Two hundred and forty subjects arranged into three-person groups performed a production-type task for six experimental periods. The design was a 2 (Turnover vs. No Turnover) × 2 (Simple vs. Complex Task) × 2 (Male vs. Female) × 6 (Periods) factorial with repeated measures on the last factor. The analysis revealed that group performance improved markedly as groups gained experience with the task. Groups which did not experience turnover (closed groups) produced significantly more products than did groups which experienced turnover (open groups). The superior performance of closed over open groups was amplified over periods. Groups produced more of the simple than of the complex product, and this difference was also amplified over periods. The gap in the performance of closed versus open groups increased over periods, and the increase in the gap was greater for the simple than for the complex task. The lesser impact of turnover on the complex task is consistent with an innovation hypothesis, according to which increases in the production of complex tasks are due more to innovation than to repetition. Supportive analyses of innovation data are reported.