Research,policy, and the federal role in prevention initiatives for children

With the ability and the funds to implement programs on a national level, federal policy is a potentially potent tool in primary prevention. Despite the U.S. government's history of ambivalence toward intervening in child rearing and limited national support for primary prevention, several initiatives have been implemented for children and families with some measure of success. The successes, however, are mitigated by limitations of the initiatives themselves and by the inconclusive nature of much of the evaluation data. This review of 5 federal policy-based initiatives for children and families provides the backdrop for discussing aspects of federal prevention program design, implementation, policy, and research.     

Preparation for marriage: Beyond the classroom

Abstract

The frustrated sexual needs of the “aging” population have been largely neglected in the professional literature. This bespecially true of the female population, leading the individual post-menopausal woman to believe that she is abnormal in desiring and experiencing sex. The problem must be faced. That sex can be used for relational a d recreational purposes is a historically new concept, which must extend to the older woman as well. The post-menopausal client must be helped to see sexuality at her age as healthy both physically and psychologically.     

Agnostic empiricism versus scientific realism: Belief in truth matters

This paper aims to defend scientific realism against two versions of agnostic empiricism: a naive agnostic position, which suggests that the only rational option is to remain agnostic as to the truth of theoretical assertions, and van Fraassen's more sophisticated agnostic empiricism - which may be called "Hypercritical Empiricism". It first argues that given semantic realism, naive agnostic empiricism cannot be maintained: there is no relevant epistemic difference between theoretical assertions and observational ones. It then focuses on van Fraassen's more sophisticated alternative to scientific realism and suggests that an attitude towards science which involves less than aiming at theoretical truth and believing in theories would be, in some concrete respect that empiricists should recognize, worse off than the recommended realist attitude. To this end, the paper develops the so-called conjunction argument into a diachronic argument for scientific realism.     

Compelling evidence of the need for corporate work/life balance initiatives: results from a national survey of stressful life‐events

The difficulties faced by U.S. workers trying to balance excessive work and life/family demands have been the subject of significant discussion in corporate America. Failure to achieve balance can lead to a variety of serious negative consequences for both individuals and organizations, including higher stress levels, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity.     

Empirical analysis of the implementation of cordon pricing: Potential impacts on travel behaviour and policy implications

The main goal of this study is to investigate the feasibility of implementing cordon pricing as a mitigation policy to curb traffic congestion in Abu Dhabi Island. Two research objectives are identified to address the research goal. First, this study examines the impact of cordon pricing on commuters’ travel behaviour based on their socio-economic characteristics. Second, this study investigates commuters’ willingness to pay to escape congestion on the roads of the city of Abu Dhabi. A stated preference survey was used to gather data, and the analysis was based on 6054 responses. Multinomial logit modelling, chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA were used to assess the impact of cordon pricing on commuters. The results of this study show that the respondents have a slight intention to reduce their auto use by driving less or changing to other modes of transportation. Toll charges are found to be an important factor that would trigger some income groups to change their travel behaviour because of the additional burden and cost to their daily trips.     

Education and preparation for marriage: New approaches

The crisis in marriage suggests a need to move from a remedial to a preventive approach in dealing with marital failure. The profound change marriage is undergoing indicates a transition from a hierarchical, institutional form to the companionship form described by Burgess thirty years ago. The new style is difficult and requires special preparation. A shift from the knowledge-oriented approaches to marriage preparation characteristic of previous efforts is desirable. Primary attention should be given to personal and interpersonal dynamics and the facilitation of behavior change. Five procedures are described to facilitate the realization of this goal.     

Notes on the theology of marriage

The theology of marriage has tended to focus on the establishment and the dissolution of marriages. This is a mistake, for it leaves us with little notion of the day-to-day married life appropriate to our Christian convictions. This situation is the result of two confusions, one about the concepts of love and marriage and one about the interpretative framework in which marriage is understood. In this light five types of marriage theologies are discussed. The claim is made that a theology which sees marriage as a member of the category of special relations, with its central interpretative metaphor, fidelity, not only brings out the proper moral significance of marriage but also offers the most theologically appropriate formulation.Mr. Bondi is a Dissertation Fellow writing on Fidelity and Agape: Special Relations in Christian Ethics in the Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.     

Advancing the dialogue between inner and outer empiricism: A comment on O’Nualláin

In a recent contribution to New Ideas in Psychology, Seán O’Nualláin draws out a distinction between inner and outer empiricism, and suggests that consciousness research can benefit from analysis in both directions, that is, via the exploration of facts and relations that facilitate a third-person understanding of consciousness (by reference to an analysis of the structures, processes, and functions of the brain) and via the direct exploration of conscious experience itself, both in terms of its computational (content filled) and non-computational (content empty) aspects. In positing a substrate of subjectivity independent of the contents of consciousness (and, more specifically, a state of “nothingness”), Ò’Nualláin follows a long tradition deeply rooted in mythical, religious, and esoteric schools of belief and practice. Although there is considerable debate amongst philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists as to whether or not a non-computational view of consciousness is viable, O’Nualláin accepts that such a possibility does exist. Further, he suggests that a dialogue between the inner and outer empiricists will be fruitful. In this comment I, critique Ò’Nualláin's initial thoughts on the subject and draw out a series of useful distinctions that will help to advance the dialogue between inner and outer empiricism. Critical amongst these distinctions is explicit reference to (1) ontological and epistemological interdependencies in consciousness research, and (2) states of consciousness that describe the transition from “mindfulness” through “nothingness” to “no-mind”.     

Goals need implementation intentions: The model of action phases tested in the applied setting of continuing education

In the present study, the model of action phases (Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987) was applied to the area of continuing education. A subsample of 136 East German participants in the larger study "Active Actions in a Radical Change Situation" rated the expected value of further education, indicated whether they had taken a decision to continue their education (goal intention) and whether they were planning goal-directed actions (implementation intention). Two years later, it was ascertained whether participants had initiated vocational retraining. Findings support the core assumptions of the model. Postdecisional participants endorsed the positive aspects of further education more strongly (implemental mindset) than predecisional participants, who looked at its pros and cons impartially (deliberative mindset). Second, participants were more successful in initiating vocational retraining when they had a goal intention that was additionally furnished with an implementation intention. Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical and practical implications of the distinction between goal setting and goal implementation.     

Fight the power: the limits of empiricism and the costs of positivistic rigor

A summary of the influence of positivistic philosophy and empiricism on the field of psychology is followed by a critique of the empirical method. The dialectic process is advocated as an alternative method of inquiry. The main advantage of the dialectic method is that it is open to any logical argument, including empirical hypotheses, but unlike empiricism, it does not automatically reject arguments that are not based on observable data. Evolutionary and moral psychology are discussed as examples of important fields of study that could benefit from types of arguments that frequently do not conform to the empirical standards of systematic observation and falsifiability of hypotheses. A dialectic method is shown to be a suitable perspective for those fields of research, because it allows for logical arguments that are not empirical and because it fosters a functionalist perspective, which is indispensable for both evolutionary and moral theories. It is suggested that all psychologists may gain from adopting a dialectic approach, rather than restricting themselves to empirical arguments alone.     

Attributions in marriage: review and critique

The prevailing behavioral account of marriage must be expanded to include covert processes. This article therefore examines the attributions or explanations that spouses make for marital events. A review indicates that dissatisfied spouses, compared with satisfied spouses, make attributions for the partner's behavior that cast it in a negative light. Experimental, clinical outcome, and longitudinal data suggest further that attributions may influence marital satisfaction. Rival hypotheses for these findings are examined. Because continued empirical development in this domain depends on conceptual progress, a framework is presented that integrates attributions, behavior, and marital satisfaction. This framework points to several topics that require systematic study, and specific hypotheses are offered for research on these topics. It is concluded that the promising start made toward understanding marital attributions holds considerable potential for enriching behavioral conceptions of marriage.     

Naive empiricism and dogmatism in confidence research: a critical examination of the hard-easy effect

Two robust phenomena in research on confidence in one's general knowledge are the overconfidence phenomenon and the hard-easy effect. In this article, the authors propose that the hard-easy effect has been interpreted with insufficient attention to the scale-end effects, the linear dependency, and the regression effects in data and that the continued adherence to the idea of a "cognitive overconfidence bias" is mediated by selective attention to particular data sets. A quantitative review of studies with 2-alternative general knowledge items demonstrates that, contrary to widespread belief, there is (a) very little support for a cognitive-processing bias in these data; (b) a difference between representative and selected item samples that is not reducible to the difference in difficulty; and (c) near elimination of the hard-easy effect when there is control for scale-end effects and linear dependency.