GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT GENERALIZATION: HOW A THEORY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT EXPLAINS BOTH GENERALITY AND SPECIFICITY*

Within a skill-theory framework, the traditional opposition between generalization and specificity is resolved. Neither generalization nor specificity is considered the normal state. Instead, they are both phenomena that can be predicted and explained in terms of skill structures and functional mechanisms of development or learning. A person acquires a skill in a specific context and must work to gradually extend it to other contexts. Within a task domain and across related domains, a set of structural transformations predict the order of generalization of the skill. Range of generalization of a given skill at a point in time varies widely across people and situations as a function of specified functional mechanisms. Generalization is maximized when (a) tasks are similar and familiar, (b) the environment provides opportunities for practice and support, (c) the person has had time to consolidate skills at the relevant developmental level, and (d) he or she is intelligent and in an emotional state facilitative of the particular skill. True generalization must be distinguished from optimal-level synchrony, where new capacities emerge across domains as a new developmental level emerges.     

Responses to salivary olfactants in relation to dominance of the degu (Octodon degus)

Large amounts of head sniffing and grooming have been associated with social dominance in the degu. This study examined whether salivary olfactants act as cues which could potentially mediate social dominance in 4 male and 8 female adults. Using salivary samples taken from the buccal cavities of partners of predetermined status, no preferences for dominant or submissive stimuli were evident. Comparison of work with the degu and that with other species was made.     

Epileptic psychosis and nonconvulsive status epilepticus with ictal bradycardia and asystole

Case report of a 35 years old patient, who, without previous history of epilepsy, within two years experienced two long-lasting psychotic episodes due to non-convulsive status epilepticus with complex partial seizures. During the second psychotic episode she developed ictal vegetative phenomena such as profuse sweating, flush, apnoea, and, above all and most alarming, periods of severe bradycardia and asystolia with clinical signs of syncope. Ictal asystolia, though being an uncommon sing of epileptic seizures, may be one cause of sudden unexpected death in epileptics.     

Quantitative EEG analysis of a single dose of psychotropic drugs in healthy probands

In a series of 74 experiments in a double blind study, 25 healthy test persons were medicated with a single dose of Clomipramin, Desipramin, Imipramin, Diazepam, Carbamazepin, Haloperidol, and a placebo. At the end of one hour, and again at the end of three hours, an EEG was made whose frequency analysis revealed significant changes in about half the test persons. The antidepressives induced an increase in the theta waves, the slow alpha waves, and the slow beta waves, and a decrease in the fast alpha waves. The factors influencing the EEG are discussed.     

Self-esteem and institutionalized delinquent offenders: the role of background characteristics.

Some of the delinquency literature sustains the assumption that inept persons doing unworthy things is the self-view held by youth offenders, "Disadvantaged" or "adverse" background characteristics are often assumed to account for low self-esteem among delinquent offenders. However, the implications of control theory suggest that youths having few bonds to people and institutions are relatively "free" to drift into delinquency without serious damage to self-esteem. The hypothesis we examined was derived from the work of control theorists: that self-esteem would be higher for offenders "removed" from conventional ties, lower for those who maintained conventional attachments. Data from 75 male delinquent offenders incarcerated at a correctional youth institution are used in testing this relationship. Our hypothesis received strong support. The implication drawn from these results is that the impact of the correctional process on self-esteem may be far less important than the myriad relationships previously established with people and institutions. These results pertaining to a special category of youth are in keeping with the reported findings on the link between deprivation and self-esteem of general youth populations.     

The Cards that are Dealt You

Various philosophers have argued that in order to be morally responsible, we need to be the "ultimate sources' of our choices and behavior. Although there are different versions of this sort of argument, I identify a "picture' that lies behind them, and I contend that this picture is misleading. Joel Feinberg helpfully suggested that we scale down what might initially be thought to be legitimate demands on "self-creation,' rather than jettison the idea that we are truly and robustly responsible. I follow Feinberg in rejecting various "inflated' demands on "origination,' "initiation,' or ultimate sourcehood.     

Congruence and functions of personal and cultural values: do my values reflect my culture's values?

Two studies are described examining the correlation between self- and culture-referenced values at a culture level (Study 1) and correlation between self- and culture-referenced values and self-reported behavior at an individual level (Study 2). It is found that values related to individual-group relationships (embeddedness) and expression and experience of affective feelings and emotions (affective autonomy) are significantly correlated at a culture level. In Study 2, culture-referenced values are shown to correlate with behaviors attached to social norms, whereas self-rated values are found to correlate with behaviors that are not norm-governed. Implications for measurement of cultural values and cultural and cross-cultural research designs are discussed.