The Political Egalitarian’s Dilemma

Political egalitarianism is at the core of most normative conceptions of democratic legitimacy. It finds its minimal expression in the “one person one vote” formula. In the literature on deliberative democracy, political equality is typically interpreted in a more demanding sense, but different interpretations of what political equality requires can be identified. In this paper I shall argue that the attempt to specify political equality in deliberative democracy is affected by a dilemma. I shall illustrate the political egalitarian’s dilemma by a hypothetical choice between two informational bases for political equality: Rawlsian primary goods and Amartya Sen’s capability approach. The political egalitarian’s dilemma reveals a clash between the requirement of ensuring equal possibilities to participate in the democratic process and the requirement of subjecting substantive judgments to deliberative evaluation. As such, the dilemma is a variant of the procedure vs. substance dilemma that is well-known in democratic theory. While it has sometimes been argued that deliberative democracy solves the tension between procedure and substance, the political egalitarian’s dilemma shows that this tension continues within deliberative democracy.

Prosociality and reciprocity in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Animal Cognition - Some moral behaviours, often regarded as reflecting high cognitive abilities (such as empathy, cooperation, targeted helping) are known to only be present in very few species,...     

“It's Like Power to Move”: Black Students’ Psychosocial Experiences in Black Studies Courses at a Predominantly White Institution

This study examined Black students’ experiences in culture‐centered courses that focused on the historical and contemporary experiences of Blacks in America and across the African diaspora. Using a qualitative approach, the authors investigated the perceptions of how Black Studies courses shaped the psychosocial experiences and identity development of Black students (N = 24) at a predominantly White institution. Data from semistructured focus group interviews revealed several themes, including psychological empowerment, self‐determination, counterspaces, and community perpetuity. The authors suggest ways counselors and educators can support Black students’ psychosocial development and provide outreach to diverse student populations. Este estudio examinó las experiencias de estudiantes negros en cursos centrados en la cultura que se enfocaron en las experiencias históricas y contemporáneas de personas negras en Estados Unidos y a lo largo de la diáspora africana. Usando un enfoque cualitativo, los autores investigaron las percepciones sobre cómo los cursos de Cultura Negra dieron forma a las experiencias psicosociales y al desarrollo de la identidad de estudiantes negros (N = 24) en una institución predominantemente blanca. Los datos obtenidos de entrevistas semiestructuradas en grupos de enfoque revelaron varios temas que incluyen el empoderamiento psicológico, la autodeterminación, los espacios seguros y la perpetuidad de la comunidad. Los autores sugieren distintas formas en las que los consejeros y educadores pueden apoyar el desarrollo psicosocial de los estudiantes negros y proporcionar un acercamiento a poblaciones diversas de estudiantes.     

Formation of prismatic loop alignments in crystals deformed in single slip

In γ-TiAl deformed at room temperature in single slip, prismatic loops ar often organized in a staircase-like configuration, called strings whose generation by cross-slip is facilitated by the dislocation tendency to form screw locks as described recently by Grégori and Veyssière. The present letter is aimed at showing that strings may be encountered in virtually any crystal provided that the two impinging dislocations exhibit significantly different velocities. The crossslip annihilation mechanism of crossed dislocations considered by Tetelman is revisited and shown to evolve into a configuration significantly distinct from that originally predicted.     

Investigation of eating and deviant behaviors in bodybuilders according to their competitive engagement

ABSTRACT

This study investigated eating and deviant behaviors in bodybuilders according to their competitive engagement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 bodybuilders of different skill levels. Results revealed that dietary strategies and deviations (e.g., disordered eating, doping use, addictive training) developed with competitive commitment. Bodybuilders who intend to engage in competition are in a critical period for the development of deviant behaviors, in relation with increasing drive for muscularity and performance, and coaching pressure. These findings extend the existing literature on deviant behaviors in bodybuilding by providing better insight in the dynamics of development of disordered eating and associated behaviors.     

BACS: The Brussels Artificial Character Sets for studies in cognitive psychology and neuroscience

Written symbols such as letters have been used extensively in cognitive psychology, whether to understand their contributions to written word recognition or to examine the processes involved in other mental functions. Sometimes, however, researchers want to manipulate letters while removing their associated characteristics. A powerful solution to do so is to use new characters, devised to be highly similar to letters, but without the associated sound or name. Given the growing use of artificial characters in experimental paradigms, the aim of the present study was to make available the Brussels Artificial Character Sets (BACS): two full, strictly controlled, and portable sets of artificial characters for a broad range of experimental situations.     

Ignoring biased feedback: Membership in a stigmatized group as a moderator of mnemic neglect

A personal history of being the target of biased negative evaluation may lead individuals to habitually divert attention from negative feedback when it is possible to do so. Two studies tested for the first time the hypothesis that people belonging to a stigmatized group (Black students on a predominantly White campus) will, relative to non-stigmatized people, be more likely to engage in mnemic neglect—that is, they will reveal a greater tendency to insulate themselves from the effects of negative self-relevant feedback by means of motivated forgetting. The results of Study 1 supported that hypothesis. In Study 2, priming the concept of egalitarianism reduced the tendency of Black participants to engage in higher levels of mnemic neglect, consistent with the idea that the higher observed levels of mnemic neglect among stigmatized individuals derives from expecting biased, discriminatory responses from other people.     

An Expectancy/Value Perspective on the Demotivating Effects of Prejudice

This study examined whether expecting prejudice is demotivating. Women were led to believe they were being evaluated for a co‐manager position. They were randomly assigned to receive information that the evaluator held negative attitudes toward women or that he did not. We hypothesized that compared to women led to believe that the evaluator was unprejudiced, women led to believe the evaluator was prejudiced would: (a) have lower expectations for being chosen as co‐manager; (b) place less value on being chosen as co‐manager; and (c) be less motivated to perform a task that would influence selection as co‐manager. We predicted that the effect of prejudice on motivation would be mediated by expectations and valuing of success. Results were consistent with predictions.     

Positive and negative instructions in symbolic paired comparisons with the months of the year

Summary We investigated the semantic interpretation of positive (MORE THAN) and negative (LESS THAN) instructions in a symbolic paired comparison task with an overlearned and finite series of stimuli. French-speaking subjects were asked to indicate which member of month pairs occurred PLUS TOT (earlier), PLUS TARD (later), MOINS TOT (less early), or MOINS TARD (less late) in the year. In Experiment 1, the sign of the comparative instruction (MORE vs. LESS) was kept constant, while its attribute (EARLY vs. LATE) varied. In Experiment 2, the attribute of the instruction was kept constant, while its sign varied. The main results indicate that (1) negative instructions (with adverb LESS) yielded longer response latencies than positive ones (with adverb MORE); this difference was particularly salient on the first experimental session but, on subsequent sessions, it was reduced in Experiment 1 and neutralized in Experiment 2; (2) a symbolic-distance effect was observed on response latency and response accuracy with the four forms of the comparative instruction; (3) violations of monotonicity were noted in the symbolic-distance effect when June was used as a reference month in the analysis; (4) the serial-position effect had the form of a double-bowed curve with three stable anchor points around January, June, and December; and (5) the pattern of semantic-congruity effect with negative instructions was the exact reversal of that obtained with positive instructions; that is, if the month pairs occurred early in the year, response latencies were shorter with the instruction less late than with less early, whereas if the month pairs occurred late in the year response latencies were shorter with instruction "less early than with less late. The theoretical implications of these results for Banks' Semantic-coding model and Holyoak's Reference-point model are discussed.     

Motor coordination dynamics underlying graphic motion in 7- to 11-year-old children

Using concepts and tools of a dynamical system approach in order to understand motor coordination underlying graphomotor skills, the aim of the current study was to establish whether the basic coordination dynamics found in adults is already established in children at elementary school, when handwriting is trained and eventually acquired. In the study, 45 children and 9 adults volunteered to copy two series of 13 ellipsoid shapes. These shapes were generated by manipulating the relative phase between 0° and 180° of two orthogonal oscillators in two orientations. Findings showed that although children from an early age onward and adults reproduced straight lines precisely (i.e., 0° and 180°), the former drew ellipsoid shapes in a less eccentric fashion than the latter (i.e., ～90° in all children rather than ～60° and 120° in adults). This tendency to write in a rounder fashion persists until 11 years of age, suggesting that the coordination dynamics underlying graphomotor skills and tentatively shaping the coordinated activity involved in adult handwriting appears only later, probably due to increasing constraints on speed.