Dialogues with the dead

Serious work in history of philosophy requires doing something very difficult: conducting a hypothetical dialogue with dead philosophers. Is it worth devoting to it the time and energy required to do it well? Yes. Quite apart from the intrinsic interest of understanding the past, making progress toward solving philosophical problems requires a good grasp of the range of possible solutions to those problems and of the arguments which motivate alternative positions, a grasp we can only have if we understand well philosophy's past. Philosophers who concentrate too much on the present are apt to assume too simple a view of alternative theories and of important philosophical arguments. Ryle and Austin offer instructive examples of how it is possible to go wrong by ignoring or misrepresenting historical figures.     

Relevant logic and the theory of information

This paper provides an interpretation of the Routley-Meyer semantics for a weak negation-free relevant logic using Israel and Perry's theory of information. In particular, Routley and Meyer's ternary accessibility relation is given an interpretation in information-theoretic terms.I am indebted to Max Cresswell for invariable conversations relating to the topic and encouraging me to provide a philosophical explanation of the ternary semantics for relevant logic and to Errol Martin also for useful discussions and encouragement. I am also grateful to Greg Restall who made his work available to me while I was finishing this project. While working on this project, I was supported by a grant from the Centre for Information Science Research at The Australian National University. I am grateful to John Slaney and Michael McRobbie for securing this grant. I gave an earlier version of this paper to the Basser School of Computer Science at the University of Sydney and to the philosophy department at Victoria University of Wellington. I thank all those in attendance especially John Bacon, Norman Foo, Abhaya Nayak, Kim Sterelny, and James Maclaurin.     

Career counselling: A process in process

Career counselling, career guidance, and career interventions are terms in the process of evolution. Historical and contemporary factors in the US experience that have changed and expanded the needs for career counselling and related career interventions are discussed. For many work-adjustment problems, in particular, there is a growing acknowledgement that career and personal counselling must fuse. Where this fusion occurs, on a continuum from choice, indecision, and situational concerns to change, indecisiveness, and personal concerns, is analysed.     

The effects of essential fatty acid supplementation by efamol in hyperactive children

Thirty-one children, selected for marked inattention and overactivity, were studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of essential fatty acid (EFA) supplementation. Subjects received the active treatment and placebo conditions for 4 weeks each and were assessed on a variety of cognitive, motor, and standardized rating scale measures. EFA supplementation (evening primrose oil; Efamol®) resulted in significantly lower levels of palmitoleic acid (a nonessential fatty acid) and higher concentrations of dihomogammalinolenic acid, an EFA previously found to be deficient in some hyperactive children. Supplementation was also associated with significant changes on two performance tasks and with significant improvement to parent ratings on the subscales designated as Attention Problem and Motor Excess of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. However, a variety of eight other psychomotor performance tests and two standardized teacher rating scales failed to indicate treatment effects. When the experimentwise probability level was set at.05, only 2 of 42 variables showed treatment effects. Baseline EFA concentrations appeared to be unrelated to treatment response. It was concluded that EFA supplementation, as employed here, produces minimal or no improvements in hyperactive children selected without regard to baseline EFA concentrations.This study was supported by grants from Efamol Research Inc., and the Medical Research Council of New Zeland. We thank Messers. Patrick Flynn and Mark Norwood for carrying out the statistical analyses.     

Premarital sexual intercourse among single college students: A discriminant analysis

This study assesses the relative importance of interpersonal psychological variables in the prediction of the number of premarital sexual partners of single college students. Using data from a sample of 466 college students from a large mid-Atlantic university, various discriminant functions were formulated and used to predict a student's premarital sexual partners group membership. A virgin group, a monogamous group, a moderate partners group, and a extensive partners group were identified. The variables selected by the computer for inclusion in the functions are of theoretical importance. Males and females differed in the sets of weighted variables chosen by the computer to enter the discriminant functions. Different functions were found to best discriminate the virgin group from the monogamous group, the moderate partners group, and the extensive partners group, especially for males. When subjects were reclassified using the discriminant functions, the predictive accuracies were significantly increased above chance in 14 instances of reclassification. The data support the view that male and female single college students are moving toward an equal standard with regard to premarital intercourse behavior. However, the interpersonal psychological correlates of sexual intercourse appear to be quite different for males and females. Male variation along the power or dominance dimension of Leary's Interpersonal Adjective Checklist was most reflective of their sexual partners group, while females were best discriminated using variables related to the affiliation or affection dimension. A three-stage theory of normative change is formulated to explain the existing data.     

A running wheel tachometer

A photocell-actuated tachometer for running wheels is described. The number of counts generated per revolution of the wheel is a function of the number of trip wires inserted in the hub of the wheel axle. The circuit is presented in configurations that actuate relay contact closures and as a direct driver of TTL logic.     

Secondary school curriculum and career behavior in young adults

As part of a larger longitudinal study of the effects of secondary school characteristics on career behavior in young adulthood, this paper presents findings obtained from 1007 males and females who graduated from high school in academic or vocational curricula 6 or 8 years ago. Criterion behavior included the completion of career development tasks in the exploration and establishment life stages as measured by the Adult Form of the Career Development Inventory, certainty about immediate occupational plans, and satisfaction with occupational goals and progress toward meeting them. Significant differences were found in the pattern of career development by curriculum but not by sex, in certainty by curriculum and sex, and in satisfaction by neither curriculum nor sex. The implications for a stage theory of career development are discussed.     

The Marital Communication Rating Schedule: An instrument for clinical assessment

The Marital Communication Rating Schedule (MCRaS) is presented as an observationally based clinical rating system for assessing verbal behavior in marital communication. Data from 35 response display discussions lasting from 20 to 30 min each, which took place between 11 married couples, were used to examine aspects of the reliability and validity of the instrument. Three raters made independent ratings of 37 MCRaS categories for each husband and wife for each discussion period. Reliability among the raters was shown to be high when calculated within one scale point. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing MCRaS ratings for four categories with observationally based validation criteria independently coded and measured. Results indicated that for three categories — negative statements, overgeneralizations, and amount of talk — ratings produced results that were similar to those yielded by laborious coding of audiotapes. For one category, opinions requested, a relationship between the ratings and coded data was not found. The validation results were discussed in terms of possible differences in the basis of ratings for the categories subjected to validation. Although further research is needed, it was concluded that MCRaS has many of the desirable qualities needed in a clinically useful, observationally based rating system.This investigation was conducted in connection with the Sociobehavioral Research Project at The University of Michigan when Joyce Borkin and Claude L. Walter were affiliated with the project.