Counterfactual Logic and the Necessity of Mathematics

Journal of Philosophical Logic - This paper is concerned with counterfactual logic and its implications for the modal status of mathematical claims. It is most directly a response to an ambitious...     

Various relationships between predatory dominance and aggressive behavior in Pairs of cats

The experiments were performed on adult male cats selected initially as good mousekillers. Cats were tested in pairs and each pair was introduced separately to the experimental compartment. The attitude toward the partner before and during the predatory competition test as well as superiority in catching and killing the mice, considered as an index of dominance, were registered. In the course of experiment five types of relations between the predatory dominance and aggressive behavior were observed. The concept of dominance as an outcome of several factors was discussed. It was concluded that predatory dominance is not based exclusively on aggressive mechanisms, as it may be formed and sustained without overt aggression.     

Defensive reactions of “wild-type” and “Domesticated” wild rats to approach and contact by a threat stimulus

Selective breeding of wild rats over many generations on the basis of low or high defensive threat and attack to human approach and contact has produced highly polarized “domesticated” and “wild-type” animals. Because the selection procedure selectively involves these two defense patterns, and these clearly differ in the two groups, it is of interest to determine if other, nonselected, defensive behaviors to threat stimuli also change. “Domesticated” and “wild-type” rats of the thirty-fifth generation were run in a fear defense test battery (F/DTB) to systematically evaluate defensive behaviors to a variety of present threat stimuli. “Domesticated” rats showed reduced avoidance and slower flight speed to an approaching experimenter, reduced jump/startle response to handelap and dorsal contact, less vocalization and boxing to vibrissae stimulation or to an anesthetized conspecific, and reduced defensiveness to an attempted pickup by the experimenter. These results indicate that selective bi-directional breeding for defensive threat and attack to human approach and contact produces group differences in a variety of defensive behaviors, and in defensiveness to stimuli other than those on which the selection was based. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Can the Family Assessment Device (FAD) Be Used with School Aged Children?

This article examines the usefulness of the Family Assessment Device(FAD) in assessing family functioning with school-aged children (under 12 years of age) compared to children 12 and older and mothers. FAD reports from 194 children with asthma (132 under 12 years; 62 12 years and older) were evaluated in comparison to mothers' FAD reports as well as mothers' reports on two other family functioning measures: the Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE) and the Impact on Family (IOF) scale, both relevant to functioning in families with children with asthma. Although FAD scale reliabilities were lowest in younger children (alpha = 48-.79), good concurrent validity was found with mothers' reports on the three different measures of family functioning. Older childrens' FAD scales showed good reliability (> .70) but poorer agreement with the various maternal measures. With modifications to make items more structured and simplified, the FAD could be tried with younger children, although documentation of improved reliability is needed before more widespread use with school-aged children is advocated. The measure already shows good agreement with maternal report in this younger age group, which likely would be strengthened with improved reliability. FAD reports in older children correlated less well with maternal measures, but may represent nonredundant information on family health from an independent perspective and are worth considering in addition to mothers' perspectives.