Defending Double Effect

According to the doctrine of double effect(DDE), there is a morally significantdifference between harm that is intended andharm that is merely foreseen and not intended.It is not difficult to explain why it is bad tointend harm as an end (you have a ``badattitude' toward that harm) but it is hard toexplain why it is bad to intend harm as a meansto some good end. If you intend harm as a meansto some good end, you need not have a ``badattitude' toward it. I distinguish two ways inwhich you can treat something that is yourchosen means to your ends. You can pursue yourends directly, and treat X as a mere means thatyou pursue for the sake of your end. Or you canpursue your ends indirectly, and treat X as a``plan-relative end' that you pursue for its ownsake. I argue that much of the time we pursueour ends indirectly, and treat our means asplan-relative ends. There are significantanalogies between intending harm as an end, andintending harm as a plan-relative end. So,under certain circumstances, it is morallyworse to intend harm as a means or an end thanto foresee bringing about the same amount of harm.     

Desirability of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory Items for Women and Men: A Comparison Between African Americans and European Americans

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a widely used instrument for measuring gender role perceptions, but questions have been raised regarding whether its items reflect contemporary views on gender. A recent study (Holt & Ellis, 1998) revalidated all but 2 of the 40 adjectives included in the masculine and feminine BSRI indices for a predominantly European American undergraduate sample in a rural Southern town. We examined whether European Americans in a different geographical area and 2 samples of African Americans would show similar findings. Study participants were recruited in undergraduate management courses in 2 universities and included 62 European American women, 69 European American men, 40 African American women, and 31 African American men in a large Northeastern city and 56 African American women and 33 African American men in a small Southern city. Findings indicated that European American men in the urban Northeast and African American men in the South gave the most traditional ratings, whereas European American women in the urban Northeast expressed the most liberal views. European American women considered only 4 of the 40 BSRI items to be differentially desirable for women and men, a considerable departure from the findings of Holt and Ellis (1998) as well as Bem (1974).     

On Being Holier-Than-Thou or Humbler-Than-Thee: A Social-Psychological Perspective on Religiousness and Humility

This research examined the association between religiousness and humility. Participants in Studies 1 and 2 completed measures of religiousness, socially desirable responding, and their own and other people's adherence to biblical commandments. Participants in Study 2 also rated how characteristic nonreligious positive and negative trait terms were of the self and others. Humility was operationalized as the magnitude of difference between individuals' evaluations of self and other. Overvaluing the self in relation to others or undervaluing others in relation to the self was considered evidence of less humility. Participants rated the self to be more adherent to biblical commandments than others (the holier-than-thou effect) and rated the self to be more positive and less negative than others (the self-other bias). In both studies, intrinsic religiousness was associated with an increase in the tendency to rate the self as more adherent to biblical commandments than others. Quest was associated with a slight decrease in the magnitude of the holier-than-thou effect. Religious motivations did not account for unique variation in the general self-other bias. Irrespective of motivations for being religious, however, highly religious people (i.e., upper thirds on general religiousness and religious fundamentalism) more so than less religious people (i.e., lower thirds on general religiousness and religious fundamentalism) rated the self to be better on nonreligious attributes than others.     

Reciprocal effects between academic self-concept, self-esteem, achievement, and attainment over seven adolescent years: unidimensional and multidimensional perspectives of self-concept

In their influential review, Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, and Vohs (2003) concluded that self-esteem--the global component of self-concept--has no effect on subsequent academic performance. In contrast, Marsh and Craven's (2006) review of reciprocal effects models from an explicitly multidimensional perspective demonstrated that academic self-concept and achievement are both a cause and an effect of each other. Ironically, both reviews cited classic Youth in Transition studies in support of their respective claims. In definitive tests of these counter claims, the authors reanalyze these data-including self-esteem (emphasized by Baumeister et al.), academic self-concept (emphasized by Marsh & Craven), and postsecondary educational attainment-using stronger statistical methods based on five waves of data (grade 10 through 5 years after graduation; N=2,213). Integrating apparently discrepant findings under a common theoretical framework based on a multidimensional perspective, academic self-concept had consistent reciprocal effects with both achievement and educational attainment, whereas self-esteem had almost none.     

Attachment theory: a framework for understanding symptoms and interpersonal relationships in psychosis

We investigated associations between adult attachment, symptoms and interpersonal functioning, including therapeutic relationships in 96 patients with psychosis. Using a prospective design, we also assessed changes in attachment in both psychiatrically unstable and stable groups. We measured attachment using the Psychosis Attachment Measure (PAM) and interpersonal problems and therapeutic relationships were assessed from both psychiatric staff and patient perspectives. Avoidant attachment was associated with positive symptoms, negative symptoms and paranoia. Attachment ratings were relatively stable over time, although changes in attachment anxiety were positively correlated with changes in symptoms. Predicted associations between high levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance and interpersonal problems were supported, and attachment avoidance was associated with difficulties in therapeutic relationships. Findings suggest that adult attachment style is a meaningful individual difference variable in people with psychosis and may be an important predictor of symptoms, interpersonal problems and difficulties in therapeutic relationships over and above severity of illness.     

“What is this Genetics,Anyway?” Understandings of Genetics,Illness Causality and Inheritance Among British Pakistani Users of Genetic Services

Misconceptions about basic genetic concepts and inheritance patterns may be widespread in the general population. This paper investigates understandings of genetics, illness causality and inheritance among British Pakistanis referred to a UK genetics clinic. During participant observation of genetics clinic consultations and semi-structured interviews in Urdu or English in respondents’ homes, we identified an array of environmental, behavioral and spiritual understandings of the causes of medical and intellectual problems. Misconceptions about the location of genetic information in the body and of genetic mechanisms of inheritance were common, reflected the range of everyday theories observed for White British patients and included the belief that a child receives more genetic material from the father than the mother. Despite some participants’ conversational use of genetic terminology, some patients had assimilated genetic information in ways that conflict with genetic theory with potentially serious clinical consequences. Additionally, skepticism of genetic theories of illness reflected a rejection of a dominant discourse of genetic risk that stigmatizes cousin marriages. Patients referred to genetics clinics may not easily surrender their lay or personal theories about the causes of their own or their child’s condition and their understandings of genetic risk. Genetic counselors may need to identify, work with and at times challenge patients’ understandings of illness causality and inheritance.     

Fast pairs: a visual word recognition paradigm for measuring entrenchment, top-down effects, and subjective phenomenology

When word pairs having a familiar order are sequentially flashed on a computer in their non-familiar order, (code zip), observers have a strong phenomenology of seeing them in familiar order (zip code). Reversal errors remained frequent even when participants obtained perceptual experience of reverse-display items by beginning with a block of longer-duration trials. A forced-choice order-detection procedure reduced but did not eliminate reversal errors, showing that "fast pairs" is a robust perceptual illusion. Even adjective + noun pairs (green skirt) showed reversal errors, and reversal errors increased with the log frequency of the word pair, consistent with a strong role for statistical processing at the level of multi-word units.     

Agency,perception, space and subjectivity

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - The goal of this paper is to illuminate the connections between agency, perception, subjectivity, space and the body. Such connections have been the...     

Parenting and toddler self-regulation in low-income families: What does sleep have to do with it?

Toddlerhood is a sensitive period in the development of self-regulation, a set of adaptive skills that are fundamental to mental health and partly shaped by parenting. Healthy sleep is known to be critical for self-regulation; yet, the degree to which child sleep alters interactive child–parent processes remains understudied. This study examines associations between observed parenting and toddler self-regulation, with toddler sleep as a moderator of this association. Toddlers in low-income families (N = 171) and their mothers were videotaped during free play and a self-regulation challenge task; videos were coded for mothers’ behavior and affect (free play) and toddlers’ self-regulation (challenge task). Mothers reported their child's nighttime sleep duration via questionnaire. Results revealed significant Sleep × Maternal Negative Affect and Sleep × Maternal Negative Control interactions. Children who did not experience negative parenting had good self-regulation regardless of their nighttime sleep duration. For children who did experience negative parenting, self-regulation was intact among those who obtained more nighttime sleep, but significantly poorer among children who were getting less nighttime sleep. Thus, among children who were reported to obtain less nighttime sleep, there were more robust associations between negative parenting and poorer self-regulation than among toddlers who were reported to obtain more sleep.     

The function of punishment in the "civil" commitment of sexually violent predators

Two experiments find that support for civil commitment procedures for sexually violent predators is based primarily upon the retributive rather than incapacitative goals of respondents. Two discrete samples composed of students (N = 175) and jury-eligible citizens (N = 200) completed experimental surveys assessing their support or opposition to scenarios in which a sexual predator was to be released after completing his criminal sentence. Respondents were sensitive to likelihood of recidivism only when the initial sentence was sufficiently punitive. When initial sentence was lenient, respondents strongly supported civil commitment without regard to future risk. Results are discussed in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) on the constitutionality of civil commitment laws for sexually violent predators.