Arbitration: Semi-judicial process or negotiation?

Arbitration is usually described as a semi-judicial, evaluative process, where the parties to a dispute surrender their responsibility for its resolution to a disinterested third party. The arbitrator is expected to listen impartially to the arguments of both sides and, on the basis of the evidence put forward, decide the issue between them. This paper questions the validity of the typical image of arbitration and suggests that a more comprehensive understanding can be developed if it is viewed in the context of different models of negotiation. It is argued that the arbitrator is likely to have at least two contrasting roles: (1) that of manager of the process of concession-convergence, when the issues in dispute are relatively straightforward; and (2) that of joint negotiator with the parties, constructing a framework for a future detailed resolution of the dispute, when the issues are more complex. The parties, on the other hand, are likely to be differentiated according to their previous experience of arbitration. While the more experienced participants may be able to make skilful strategic use of the procedures, the inexperienced are likely to be adversely affected by the evaluative/judicial public image of arbitration.     

Commentary on "Quantifying the value of human life

...In his article, "Quantifying the value of human life for cost accounting of safeguards," L. Eugene Arnold proposes a cost-benefit analysis to address three allocation issues concerning the very expensive program of blood monitoring proposed by Sandoz at the time it placed Clozaril...on the American market....It is important to realize that the use of seemingly value-free procedures to arrive at answers to ethically complex questions does not eliminate the values that underlie the choice of variables to be analyzed. The analyses employed by the author to three ethical questions illustrate this point very well....     

Effect of response practice variables on learning spelling and sight vocabulary

Four experiments were conducted to examine variables associated with response practice as an instructional technique for individuals with intellectual disabilities. In Experiment 1, the effect of the cover component in the "cover write" method was evaluated, as were the comparative effects of written versus oral practice of spelling words by rehabilitation clients. The results showed that the cover procedure generally did not enhance performance over and above that produced by practice alone, and written practice generally was not superior to oral practice. Experiment 2 demonstrated that less response practice (i.e., five times) was as effective as more practice (i.e., 10 and 15 times) for teaching spelling to adolescents with developmental disabilities. Experiments 3 and 4 also showed that even less response practice (i.e., one time) was as effective as more practice (five times), and irrelevant practice following errors was as effective as relevant practice for teaching spelling and sight vocabulary to adolescents with behavior disorders and developmental disabilities, respectively. The findings suggest that a parsimonious procedure of limited response practice and positive reinforcement may be effective for the tasks and populations studied.     

A solution-oriented approach to conflict resolution in a work system

The growing involvement of counsellors in organisational development is addressed by describing the application of a solution-oriented family therapy approach to conflict resolution in a work system. An account of the intervention outlines the system's storying of the problem, the development of new meanings and the identification of solutions. Key concepts in this post-modern approach are linked with the practices employed.     

Tethered insect flight: A system for automated data processing of behavioral events

Flight mills to which flying insects are tethered, and which allow measurement of locomotion in a circular path, are used to measure flight capability in terms of frequency, duration, velocity, and distance. Also, they are adaptable to measurement of physiological processes such as respiration and energy consumption. We describe a flight-mill system with floating magnets and Teflon® bearings in its rotor that minimize frictional drag. Rotation (of the mill rotor) is transduced by interruption of a light beam to a phototransistor, which produces a signal monitored by a specially constructed event recorder. The event recorder temporarily stores the data from each mill and then transmits them in proper format for permanent storage on seven-track magnetic tape. The system allows simultaneous data collection from 18 individual insects and provides a computerized interpretation of their performance. The result is an analysis of all the significant parameters of flight that can be derived by measuring duration, velocity, distance, and frequency.     

Effect of two experimental sets on sleep structure.

The effect of four perceptual sets--First Night in a sleep laboratory, Second Night in a sleep laboratory, Shock Avoidance Night, Reward Night--on the distribution of sleep was examined with 12Ss. Both the shock avoidance and the reward conditions gave results similar to those characteristically found in the First Night Effect, i.e., increases in Stage 0, Stage 1, the latency to Stage 4, the number of Awakenings, and the number of Stage Changes coupled with a decrease in Stage 1-REM. The observed effects, however, were minimal and were interpreted as giving evidence for the sturdiness of the sleep process.     

Perceptual learning in visual category acquisition

The attribute structure of a set of dot patterns was studied by having subjects segment (parse) the dots of each pattern into parts or subunits by drawing circles around groups of dots from each pattern. These parsing data were obtained for subjects who had no prior experience with the patterns and for subjects who had previously learned to identify the patterns as members of one of four categories. Analyses of the parsing data indicated that category learning increased the salience of large subunits that were similar in orientation for patterns that were members of the same category. This evidence for perceptual learning was obtained even when the category training procedure required learning to identify the patterns individually, suggesting that attribute abstraction and item learning are not incompatible. It was also obtained without an increase in overall intersubject agreement. The latter result led us to question the usefulness of intersubject agreement as an index of category knowledge.     

Cognitive dissonance and self-monitoring: A matter of context?

In Study 1, high and low self-monitors wrote counterattitudinal essays. For some, we made it salient that they would be endorsing an opinion contrary to that of their peers. For others, no context was provided. Post-essay attitudes of high, relative to low, self-monitors were more consistent with essay topic after opposing peers. Post-essay attitudes of low and high self-monitors did not differ significantly in the no-context condition. In Study 2, high and low self-monitors wrote counterattitudinal essays in the context of opposing either their peers' beliefs or their own values. Post-essay attitudes of low, relative to high, self-monitors tended to conform more to their essays when they believed that they had written in opposition to their values. When writing in opposition to their peers, however, post-essay attitudes of high and low self-monitors did not differ significantly. We discuss the results in terms of the role that self-concept plays in the initiation of dissonance processesStudy 2 is based on the senior honors thesis of the second author conducted under the supervision of the first author, and both studies were supported by a Faculty Research Grant from Union College to the first author. We would like to thank Alice M. Isen, Mark Snyder, Hugh Foley, and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this article, and Nicole Audette, Amy Goldstein, Suzanne Shaker, and Courtney Shapiro for their assistance in collecting and analyzing data.