ON LINKING SOCIAL PERFORMANCE WITH SOCIAL COMPETENCE: SOME RELATIONS BETWEEN COMMUNICATIVE STYLE AND ATTRIBUTIONS OF INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND EFFECTIVENESS

This paper attempts to explore the process of impression formation in initial interactions as a function of an individual's communicative style. Specifically, an attempt is made to identify relations between communication style and observers'perceptions of an interactant's interpersonal attractiveness and communicative effectiveness. Current literature pertaining to communicative competence and literature pertaining to communicator style are reviewed, and an attempt is made to demonstrate their interconnectedness. A precise method for the measurement of communicative/interactive style is described. Subsequently, a study designed to empirically assess the relation between style and perceived attractiveness and communicative effectiveness, in which the above measurement system was employed, is also described. The results indicate that there are at least two interactive styles which are related to two types of perceived attractiveness and effectiveness. The implications of the findings and some suggestions for future inquiry in the areas of communicative style and social competence are discussed.     

An Analysis of Early vs. Later Responses on a Divergent Production Task Across Three Time Press Conditions

Traditional assessments of divergent production have employed standard time press conditions of three minutes for measures of fluency, flexibility, and originality. Recent studies have provided evidence that the traditional time press condition may impede both fluency and quality of responses and that differences in divergent production responses have been found under a variety of creative prompting conditions. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of three time press and three creative prompt conditions on early vs. later trial originality scores for three divergent production stimuli. The participants were 91 undergraduate students enrolled in Educational Psychology courses who were randomly assigned to one of six experimental groups. The six groups were counterbalanced across the three vignette tasks in time press requirements and creative prompting. Aggregate differences were found in which there was a higher frequency of originality scores for the latter portions of trials as compared with the early portion of trials for all time press and prompting conditions.     

ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF COHORT,GENDER, AND RACE ON DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING (DIF) IN AN ADAPTIVE TEST DESIGNED FOR MULTI-AGE GROUPS

Differential item functioning (DIF) statistics were computed using items from the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT)-Reading Comprehension subtest for children of the same age group (ages 7 through 12 respectively). The pattern of observed DIF items was determined by comparing each cohort across age groups. Differences related to race and gender were also identified within each cohort. Characteristics of DIF items were identified based on sentence length, vocabulary frequency, and density of a sentence. DIF items were more frequently associated with short sentences than with long sentences. This study explored the potential limitation in the longitudinal use of items in an adaptive test.     

Iraq: A Morally Justified Resort to War

abstract   This paper begins by accepting, for argument's sake, a number of the central criticisms raised regarding the US led war in Iraq. In the remainder of the paper, it is argued that even if these criticisms are assumed to be true, the resort to war was still morally justified, both prospectively and retrospectively. The argument is made within the context of the just war tradition. It is argued that the resort to war met the conditions of sufficient just cause, last resort and proportionality, and that any failings in regards to legitimate authority and right intention do not undermine the morality of that resort. More specifically, the case is made that: humanitarian considerations provided a sufficient just cause, questions of international law do not undermine the moral legitimacy of the US led coalition, and that concerns about the intentions of the US, even if valid, would not impact on moral judgements about the act of resorting to war. In arguing for the last point, it is determined that the right intention condition should not be included among the set of conditions that form the basis of the just war tradition.     

ON "THE GIFT" IN TANNER's THEOLOGY: A PATRISTIC PARABLE

Kathryn Tanner's theology of “the gift” is examined and contrasted with that of John Milbank. To clarify the relation between spiritual and material gifts implied in Tanner's thought, as well as the role of “nature”, the author revisits patristic commentaries on the Lord's Prayer regarding “the gift” of daily bread. Differing interpretations by Origen and Gregory of Nyssa resemble differences obtaining between Tanner and Milbank; Maximus the Confessor's harmonizing reading may provide a way beyond the present impasse and illumine the importance of nature for further discussions of “the gift” in Anglo‐American theology.