"This is Simply What I Do"

Wittgenstein's discussion of rule‐following is widely regarded to have identified what Kripke called “the most radical and original sceptical problem that philosophy has seen to date”. But does it? This paper examines the problem in the light of Charles Peirce's distinctive scientific hierarchy. Peirce identifies a phenomenological inquiry which is prior to both logic and metaphysics, whose role is to identify the most fundamental philosophical categories. His third category, particularly salient in this context. pertains to general predication. Rule‐following scepticism, the paper suggests, results from running together two questions: “How is it that I can project rules?”, and, “What is it for a given usage of a rule to be right?”. In Peircean terms the former question, concerning the irreducibility of general predication (to singular reference), must be answered in phenomenology, while the latter, concerning the difference between true and false predication, is answered in logic. A failure to appreciate this distinction, it is argued, has led philosophers to focus exclusively on Wittgenstein's famous public account of rule‐following rightness, thus overlooking a private, phenomenological dimension to Wittgenstein's remarks on following a rule which gives the lie to Kripke's reading of him as a sceptic.     

The association between intimacy goals and plans for initiating dating relationships

This research examines the association between the strength of an individual’s intimacy goals in dating and preferences for dating partners, relationship initiation strategies, and contexts in which to pursue dating. Two studies demonstrate that intimacy goal strength positively corresponds with preferring partners who have strong intimacy and are warm and open, similar in attitudes and interests, and securely attached. The strength of intimacy goals also positively corresponds with the perceived use and effectiveness of emotional involvement as a strategy for initiating dating and negatively with meeting potential partners at campus parties. Data collected at a 4‐month follow‐up indicate that a stronger focus on intimacy goals is associated with entering a dating relationship for men, but not for women.     

Do Health Care Workplaces Affect Treatment Environments?

Previous research has demonstrated that characteristics of the health care workplace influence staff outcomes such as morale and burnout, but the potential effect of health care workplaces on the treatment environment has been little studied. Building on a model proposed by Schaefer and Moos (1993), we propose that the workplace factors of supervisory work environment (e.g. support from supervisors, managerial control) and programme philosophical orientation (e.g. disease model of addiction, psychosocial learning model of addiction) predict four treatment environment elements: patient autonomy, staff control, staff sensitivity, and patient alienation. Multiple regression analysis of data drawn from a survey (response rate = 86%) of 327 staff members at 15 Veterans Affairs (VA) inpatient substance abuse treatment programmes revealed that greater managerial control over staff predicted greater patient alienation, lower staff sensitivity towards patients, and greater staff control over patients. Stronger disease model programme orientations predicted less patient alienation and greater staff sensitivity, whereas stronger psychosocial model programme orientations predicted less staff control. These results suggest that health care workplaces may influence treatment environments. Implications for further research and practice are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phonemic Processes in Children's Listening and Reading Comprehension

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role of phonemic activation in children's listening and reading comprehension. Phonemically confusing stories were presented in a listening comprehension task to kindergarten and second-grade children and in a reading comprehension task to second-grade children only. Rhymes induced phonemic confusion more consistently than did alliteratives in both the listening and reading tasks at both grade levels, suggesting that rhyme is inherently more confusing than alliteration, and furthermore, that phonemic information is activated in similar ways when children listen and when they read silently. Children's reading skill was also assessed to examine a possible relationship between reading skill and phonemic sensitivity, but no significant interactions between children's reading skill and their sensitivity to phonemic confusion were found in the reading task. In the listening task, all groups showed phonemic confusion in gist recall scores, but prereaders were less likely than readers to exhibit susceptibility to phonemic confusion in verbatim recall scores.     

Adverse work experiences and marital outcomes in middle years: Role of self‐esteem

This study assesses the decade‐long influence of adverse work experiences on husbands' and wives' problem‐solving behaviors and marital quality through self‐esteem using structural equation modeling with a sample of 308 dual‐earning couples. Analyses controlled for earlier marital quality, allowing for assessment of the residual change in marital quality over 10 years. Adverse work experiences directly affected marital quality and indirectly affected decreases in marital quality through lower self‐esteem; lastly, individuals' self‐esteem was positively related to increased problem‐solving behaviors. In addition, there was a crossover association, with wives' and husbands' self‐esteem influencing one another's problem‐solving behaviors. These results contribute to a deeper understanding about the processes responsible for the detrimental impact of adverse work experiences.     

Relationship experiences and change in attachment characteristics of young adults: The role of relationship breakups and conflict avoidance

This study examined whether close relationship experiences predict change in individuals’attachment Characteristics. Partners from 301 dating couples each rated their attachment characteristics and their conflict avoidance. Five months later 184 women and 138 men reported whether their relationships were intact or broken‐up, and they rated their attachment characteristics again. Women became less secure after a breakup and more secure after remaining together. There was a similar result for men who initially had insecure attachment characteristics. Additionally, women low in conflict avoidance became more secure over time, and those high in conflict avoidance became less secure. For men whose relationships remained intact, conflict avoidance was not related to change in attachment characteristics. For men whose relationships ended, however, initial conflict avoidance predicted increased attachment security. These results extend previous research on the stability of attachment characteristics by exploring predictors of change.     

EMPLOYEE HEALTH BY DESIGN: USING EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT TEAMS IN ERGONOMIC JOB REDESIGN

An innovative, team-based, ergonomic job redesign effort in a large Midwest organization is described. Joint management-labor teams composed of representatives from each department of the plant were formed and trained in team-building and ergonomic principles. These teams prioritized jobs for ergonomic redesign and developed and implemented solutions. Sources of data for this redesign process included: a physical symptom survey, OSHA logs for cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), observations, videotapes, and employee interviews about their jobs, tools, and pain experienced at work. Ergonomic changes at the plant resulted in significant reductions in the number and severity of CTDs, lost production time, and restricted duty days. Recommendations based on experiences with this ergonomic intervention are made for HRM practitioners.