The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics (second edition). By Romanus Cessario

The call of the Second Vatican Council for the renewal of moral theology has received very divergent responses. This article identifies and compares three such proposals. The underlying presupposition for this analysis is that each proposal begins with a divergent understanding of where the tradition went awry. Hence, the proposed cures ended up irreconcilable. This article seeks to describe ‘as precisely as possible the nature of the confusion and its sources, showing where attention must be directed if a solution is to be discovered.’ ¹ 1 The anonymous referee of the Heythrop Journal.
     

Modal Mereology and Modal Supervenience

David Lewis insists that restrictivist composition must be motivated by and occur due to some intuitive desiderata for a relation R among parts that compose wholes, and insists that a restrictivist??s relation R must be vague. Peter van Inwagen agrees. In this paper, I argue that restrictivists need not use such examples of relation R as a criterion for composition, and any restrictivist should reject a number of related mereological theses. This paper critiques Lewis and van Inwagen (and others) on their respective mereological metaphysics, and offers a Golden Mean between their two opposite extremes. I argue for a novel account of mereology I call Modal Mereology that is an alternative to Classical Mereology. A modal mereologist can be a universalist about the possible composition of wholes from parts and a restrictivist about the actual composition of wholes from parts. I argue that puzzles facing Modal Mereology (e.g., puzzles concerning Cambridge changes and the Problem of the Many, and how to demarcate the actual from the possible) are also faced in similar forms by classical universalists. On my account, restricted composition is rather motivated by and occurs due to a possible whole??s instantiating an actual type. Universalists commonly believe in such types and defend their existence from objections and puzzles. The Modal Mereological restrictivist can similarly defend the existence of such types (adding that such types are the only wholes) from similar objections and puzzles.     

Maternal illusory control predicts socialization strategies and toddler compliance

This study examined the relation between mothers' perception of their capacity for controlling infant crying and a later measure of parent-toddler social interaction-compliance with parental requests. Fifty-seven mothers participated in (a) a laboratory task when their children were 5 months old to assess mothers' perception of control and (b) a toy-cleanup task when their children were 24 months old to assess toddler compliance. Perception-of-control scores on the laboratory task reflected accuracy of perception and ranged from accurate to greatly overestimating control, with an overestimation referred to as an illusion of control. Mothers were categorized into three illusion-of-control groups: low, moderate, and high. Toddlers of mothers in the low and high illusion-of-control groups were more likely to be categorized as highly defiant than were toddlers of mothers in the moderate-illusion group. Mothers with high illusory control were most likely to use a high power-assertion strategy (negative control), and when negotiating, their toddlers' expression of autonomy was most likely to escalate into defiance.     

Assessing African American adolescents' risk for suicide attempts: attachment theory

The threat of separation from a parent theoretically increases the risk of adolescent suicide attempts. The present study evaluated this and other hypothesized risk factors in a sample of adolescent suicide attempters and nonsuicidal controls, using the Psychiatric Consultation Checklist (Lyon, 1987). Stepwise logistic regression was used to predict group membership. It was found that threat of separation from a parental figure, insomnia, neglect, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and failing grades were the strongest predictors of suicide attempt. Ten predictor variables correctly identified 97% of suicide attempters and 86% of nonattempters. Unexpected findings included high levels of truancy, threatening others, and separation from a parent before the age of 12 among nonattempters.     

Genetics of neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex

The development of the cerebral cortex requires large-scale movement of neurons from areas of proliferation to areas of differentiation and adult function in the cortex proper, and the patterns of this neuronal migration are surprisingly complex. The migration of neurons is affected by several naturally occurring genetic defects in humans and mice; identification of the genes responsible for some of these conditions has recently yielded new insights into the mechanisms that regulate migration. Other key genes have been identified via the creation of induced mutations that can also cause dramatic disorders of neuronal migration. However, our understanding of the physiological and biochemical links between these genes is still relatively spotty. A number of molecules have also been studied in mice (Reelin, mDab1, and the VLDL and ApoE2 receptors) that appear to represent part of a coherent signaling pathway that regulates migration, because multiple genes cause an indistinguishable phenotype when mutated. On the other hand, two human genes that cause lissencephaly (LIS1, DCX) encode proteins that have recently been implicated as regulators or microtubule dynamics. This article reviews some of the mutant phenotypes in light of the mechanisms of neuronal migration. MRDD Research Reviews 6:34-40, 2000.     

Severity of Emotional and Behavioral Problems Among Poor and Typical Readers

The purpose of this study was to examine the severity of behavioral and emotional problems among adolescents with poor and typical single word reading ability (N = 188) recruited from public schools and followed for a median of 2.4 years. Youth and parents were repeatedly assessed to obtain information regarding the severity and course of symptoms (depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, aggression, delinquent behaviors, inattention), controlling for demographic variables and diagnosis of ADHD. After adjustment for demographic variables and ADHD, poor readers reported higher levels of depression, trait anxiety, and somatic complaints than typical readers, but there were no differences in reported self-reported delinquent or aggressive behaviors. Parent reports indicated no differences in depression, anxiety or aggression between the two groups but indicated more inattention, somatic complaints, and delinquent behaviors for the poor readers. School and health professionals should carefully assess youth with poor reading for behavioral and emotional symptoms and provide services when indicated.     

Systemic training for healthcare professionals: the Chicago Center For Family Health approach

There has been increasing interest in family-centered, collaborative, biopsychosocial models of care by health and mental health professionals and consumers. This trend has led to growing demand and development of specialized training in family systems approaches to health care. This article describes the Families, Illness, and Collaborative Healthcare programs developed at the University of Chicago affiliate, the Chicago Center for Family Health. The program philosophy is guided by the following principles: a systems orientation focused on the family, a Family Systems Illness Model, a family resilience framework, a family-centered collaborative model of health care, and a social justice and advocacy orientation. Specific training components that implement these principles are described, including intensive certificate and fellowships; workshops, conferences, and institutes; and consultation and training services for community-based organizations. Discussion includes professional networking opportunities, funding challenges, and policy recommendations.     

An analysis of response,direction, and place learning in an open field and T maze

Rats were trained to locate food in a response, direction, or place problem on an open field located at 2 positions. In Experiment 1, both the response and direction groups solved the problem. The place group failed to solve the task in approximately 300 trials. Experiment 2 demonstrated that rats need distinguishable start points to solve a place problem when neither a response nor a direction solution is available. Findings from Experiment 3 suggest that a combination of path traveled and distinct cues help to differentiate start points. Experiment 4 replicated the findings using a T maze. These results suggest "place" solutions are difficult for rats. The data are discussed with respect to conditional learning and modern spatial mapping theory.