Rhetorical Analysis Within a Pragma-Dialectical Framework

The paper reacts against the strict separation between dialectical and rhetorical approaches to argumentation and argues that argumentative discourse can be analyzed and evaluated more adequately if the two are systematically combined. Such an integrated approach makes it possible to show how the opportunities available in each of the dialectical stages of a critical discussion have been used strategically to further the rhetorical aims of the speaker or writer. The approach is illustrated with the help of an analysis of an `advertorial' published by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.     

Neurocognitive performance of 5- and 6-year-old children who met criteria for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder at 18 months follow-up: results from a prospective population study

The aim of this prospective study was to examine whether neurocognitive performance of children aged 5–6 years distinguished children who were later diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or borderline ADHD from children without ADHD after adjustment for behavioral measures and to examine the influence of comorbid psychopathology. Out of a general population of 1,317 children, 366 children were selected on the basis of their scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Eighteen months later, the parents were interviewed using a standardized child psychiatric interview: 33 children were classified as ADHD and 75 children as borderline ADHD, and there were 258 children without ADHD. Children with rated ADHD were significantly impaired on measures of visuomotor ability and working memory compared to children without ADHD after adjustment for CBCL results. The performance of borderline ADHD children was in between that of children with and without ADHD. In addition, 4 groups of children were analyzed: 9 ADHD, 24 ADHD with comorbid oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD), 59 ODD/CD, and 274 controls. Children with rated comorbid ADHD and ODD/CD performed significantly worse on these tasks compared to children with rated ODD/CD and control children while they did not differ from ADHD children. Our results imply that neurocognitive measures can contribute to the early identification of ADHD with and without comorbid ODD/CD.     

Expert Advice and Argumentation: Some Remarks on the Work of Douglas Walton

Appeal to expert judgement has become a wide-spread and unavoidable element in public debates in modern society. The many and fundamental argumentative complications that they raise have not received proportional attention in argumentation studies so far. A prominent exception is a recent book by Douglas Walton, devoted entirely to arguments involving expert opinion (Walton, 1997). Confronting some examples from the field of Science and Society with Walton's earlier work, the need can be traced for a more elaborate and sophisticated treatment of the many issues involved, particularly for the model of information seeking dialogue and the treatment of source reasoning. With these issues as points of reference, it is examined in what way this challenge has been taken up in the new book. A few further additions are suggested.     

Work and Individual Determinants of Intrinsic Work Motivation, Emotional Exhaustion, and Turnover Intention: A Multi-Sample Analysis

This study tested the influence of personal characteristics on a pattern of specific relationships between work characteristics and psychological outcomes. The study hypotheses were: (1) Growth Need Strength has a direct effect on intrinsic work motivation and moderates the relationship between task characteristics and intrinsic work motivation; (2) Negative Affectivity has a direct effect on emotional exhaustion and moderates the relationships between workload and social support on the one hand and emotional exhaustion on the other; and (3) Upward Striving has a direct effect on turnover intention and moderates the relationship between unmet career expectations and turnover intention. These hypotheses were tested in two samples (bank employees and teachers) using Multi-Sample Analysis. The results showed that, generally, personal characteristics had a direct effect on the outcomes as hypothesized. We only found one moderating effect: Upward Striving moderated the relationship between unmet career expectations and turnover intention.     

Career writing: Creative,expressive and reflective approaches to narrative identity formation in students in higher education

This study investigates whether creative, expressive, and reflective writing contributes to the formation of a narrative career identity that offers students in higher education a sense of meaning and direction. The contents of writing done by students who participated in 2 two-day writing courses before and after work placements and of a control group were compared. Employers were also asked to evaluate students' performance. Writing samples were analyzed using the Linguistic Index Word Count program and an instrument based on Dialogical Self Theory. Work-placement self-reports were gathered, examined, and used as anecdotal evidence presented in the form of case studies. The results show that career writing can promote the development of career identity and holds promise as a narrative career guidance approach.     

Gambling primates: reactions to a modified Iowa Gambling Task in humans,chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys

Humans will, at times, act against their own economic self-interest, for example, in gambling situations. To explore the evolutionary roots of this behavior, we modified a traditional human gambling task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), for use with chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys and humans. We expanded the traditional task to include two additional payoff structures to fully elucidate the ways in which these primate species respond to differing reward distributions versus overall quantities of rewards, a component often missing in the existing literature. We found that while all three species respond as typical humans do in the standard IGT payoff structure, species and individual differences emerge in our new payoff structures. Specifically, when variance avoidance and reward maximization conflicted, roughly equivalent numbers of apes maximized their rewards and avoided variance, indicating that the traditional payoff structure of the IGT is insufficient to disentangle these competing strategies. Capuchin monkeys showed little consistency in their choices. To determine whether this was a true species difference or an effect of task presentation, we replicated the experiment but increased the intertrial interval. In this case, several capuchin monkeys followed a reward maximization strategy, while chimpanzees retained the same strategy they had used previously. This suggests that individual differences in strategies for interacting with variance and reward maximization are present in apes, but not in capuchin monkeys. The primate gambling task presented here is a useful methodology for disentangling strategies of variance avoidance and reward maximization.     

Testing times: careers market policies and practices in England and the Netherlands

Careers work is a very political business. Since the early 1990s, successive governments in England and the Netherlands have persistently challenged those working in the careers sector to demonstrate the educational, social and economic value and impact of their work. In this context, the marketisation of career guidance policies and practices has expanded, with a growing assumption that market-based goods and services ensure greater responsiveness to consumer choice and offer better and/or more innovative services for lower prices. In this article, we do not intend to give a comparison of trends in England and the Netherlands. We only examine the impact of market principles applied to career guidance provision in both countries. Findings indicate such provision for young people is on a steady decline. Lessons learned from these two nations indicate that a market for quality career services does not exist in schools and colleges. As a result, marketisation and privatisation of career services have led to an impoverished and fragmented supply of services. Greater attention by governments in career guidance policies for young people (and adults) is necessary to reduce the widening gap between ‘the haves and have nots’ in society. Failure to reduce labour market mismatch through new forms of careers dialogue is not only damaging and costly for individuals, families and employers, but for the taxpayer too.     

A Short-term Psychodynamic Supportive Psychotherapy for Adolescents with Depressive Disorders: A New Approach

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in both adolescents and adults. In this article, we introduce Short-term Psychodynamic Supportive Psychotherapy (SPSP) for adolescents, a relatively new form of psychodynamic therapy for depression that has been studied in a range of randomized controlled trials with adult patients. SPSP emphasizes the relational aetiology and significance of depression and is characterized by a supportive attitude which focuses more on working in the here-and-now relational patterns rather than interpreting transference manifestations. The supportive attitude of the therapist is advocated to engage the adolescent in the therapeutic relationship and to foster his or her innate developmental capacities by attending to previously unaddressed developmental needs. The developmental perspective’s interest in defense styles and stagnation resulting from problems in past and current relationships opens up opportunities for acquiring insight and change. The focus on relational functioning makes it a promising approach for adolescents because they can implement any positive change immediately in their actual environment, immersed as they are in many new and varied relationships.