Twenty-five basic theorems in situation and world theory

Conclusion The foregoing set of theorems forms an effective foundation for the theory of situations and worlds. All twenty-five theorems seem to be basic, reasonable principles that structure the domains of properties, relations, states of affairs, situations, and worlds in true and philosophically interesting ways. They resolve 15 of the 19 choice points defined in Barwise (1989) (see Notes 22, 27, 31, 32, 35, 36, 39, 43, and 45). Moreover, important axioms and principles stipulated by situation theorists are derived (see Notes 33, 37, and 38). This is convincing evidence that the foregoing constitutes a theory of situations. Note that worlds are just a special kind of situation, and that the basic theorems of world theory, which were derived in previous work, can still be derived in this situation-theoretic setting. So there seems to be no fundamental incompatibility between situations and worlds — they may peacably coexist in the foundations of metaphysics. The theory may therefore reconcile two research programs that appeared to be heading off in different directions. And we must remind the reader that the general metaphysical principles underlying our theory were not designed with the application to situation theory in mind. This suggests that the general theory and the underlying distinction have explanatory power, for they seem to relate and systematize apparently unrelated phenomena.This research was conducted at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). I would like to thank John Perry for generously supporting my research both at CSLI and in the Philosophy Department at Stanford. I would also like to thank Bernard Linsky, Chris Menzel, Harry Deutsch and Tony Anderson for many worthwhile and interesting suggestions for improving the paper. An earlier version of the paper, more narrowly focused on situation theory, has appeared in Zalta (1991).     

Chronic Stress as a Mediator of Acute Stress: The Case of Hurricane Hugo1

This study explored one mechanism through which acute disaster stress (injury, life threat, property damage, loss) may produce lasting psychological distress (depression, anxiety, somatization, hostility). More specifically, the study examined the mediating roles of seven domains of chronic stress (marital, parental, filial, financial, occupational, ecological, physical) within a sample of 930 disaster victims and controls. The results provided strong support for the hypothesis that chronic stress mediates the long-term effects of acute disaster stress on psychological distress. The main effects of loss, though limited in strength, were completely explained by victims’ higher financial, marital, filial, and physical stress. The effects of injury, though quite strong, were largely mediated by these same domains of chronic stress. Likewise, the effects of life threat were largely mediated by all these domains plus ecological stress. A mediational model was not appropriate for understanding the consequences of property damage because it did not exhibit a main effect on psychological distress.     

Proximal and Distal Predictors of Homophobia: Framing the Multivariate Roots of Outgroup Rejection1

A proximal-distal theoretical framework was developed to examine the multivariate roots of homophobia. Using data from a sample of 288 undergraduates who had participated in a computer-assisted panel study over a three-year period, the effects on homophobia of distal and proximal family factors (e. g., parental education and family environment), distal and proximal individual factors (e. g., personality constructs and current beliefs), and proximal individual-situational factors (e. g., acquaintance with homosexuals) were tested in regression analyses. Both analyses employing sets of variables varying in proximity to the homophobic attitude and hierarchical regression employing variables contributing significantly in each set supported the proposed framework. All sets predicted significantly when regressed separately on homophobia; the sets containing the distal factors contributed most weakly, and the sets containing the proximal factors contributed most strongly. In hierarchical regression analysis, this pattern maintained such that the incremental increase in r² decreased with the addition of each more distal set, with the most distal factors failing to contribute significantly to the prediction. The importance of study findings for attitude change efforts is discussed.     

Effects of differences between stimuli, responses, and reinforcer rates on conditional discrimination performance

In a discrete-trial conditional discrimination procedure, 4 pigeons obtained food reinforcers by pecking a key with a short latency on trials signaled by one stimulus and by pecking the same key with a long latency on trials signaled by a second stimulus. The physical difference between the two stimuli and the temporal separation between the latency values required for reinforcement were varied factorially over four sets of conditions, and the ratio of reinforcer rates for short and long latencies was varied within each set of conditions. Stimulus discrimination varied directly with both stimulus and response differences and was unaffected by the reinforcer ratio. Sensitivity to reinforcement, estimated by generalized-matching-law fits to the data within each set of conditions, varied directly with the response difference but inversely with the stimulus difference arranged between sets of conditions. Because variations in stimulus differences, response differences, and reinforcer differences did not have equivalent effects, these findings question the functional equivalence of the three terms of the discriminated operant: antecedent stimuli, behavior, and consequences.     

TEMPORAL CONTROL ON INTERVAL SCHEDULES: WHAT DETERMINES THE POSTREINFORCEMENT PAUSE?

On fixed-interval or response-initiated delay schedules of reinforcement, the average pause following food presentation is proportional to the interfood interval. Moreover, when a number of intervals of different durations occur in a programmed cyclic series, postreinforcement pauses track the changes in interval value. What controls the duration of postreinforcement pauses under these conditions? Staddon, Wynne, and Higa (1991), in their linear waiting model, propose control by the preceding interfood interval. Another possibility is that delay to reinforcement, signaled by a key peck and/or stimulus change, determines the subsequent pause. The experiments reported here examined the role of these two possible time markers by studying the performance of pigeons under a chained cyclic fixed-interval procedure. The data support the linear waiting model, but suggest that more than the immediately preceding interfood interval plays a role in temporal control.     

Three forms of stress in Cambodian adolescent refugees

Sixty-nine Cambodian adolescents and young adults were interviewed to determine their experience as children surviving the Pol Pot regime (1975–1979);their first-year experience of resettlement in this country; and their experience of stressful events during the past year. Current DSM-III-R diagnostic status was also determined. A strong relationship between earlier war trauma, resettlement strain, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was found. In contrast, the strongest relationship with depressive symptoms was found for recent stressful events. These results are discussed in light of current findings from stress and PTSD research.Dr. Clarke is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Division of Child Psychiatry, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon. Dr. Sack is Director of the Division of Child Psychiatry and Principal Investigator of the Khmer Adolescent Project. Brian Goff is a Research Assistant.This project was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health [NIMH] grant #5-RO1-MH42927-02, Dr. William H. Sack, M.D., Principal Investigator.     

Sex Roles, Interpersonal Control, and Depression: Who Can Get Their Way?

This study is one of a series of investigations examining the contribution of sex roles to the development of depression within a learned helplessness framework. Utilizing 143 pairs of undergraduate female participants, the present study explored subjects′ abilities to gain and maintain control in an interpersonal context. Interpersonal control was operationalized as successful persuasion in a two-person discussion task, wherein one participant had hidden instructions to be maximally persuasive in discussing a questionnaire about social behavior. The results indicated that less successful persuasion was associated with increases in depressed mood. Furthermore, women with high masculinity and low femininity were able to gain interpersonal control regardless of the sex role of their partner. The results also suggested that high femininity is associated both with giving up control in interpersonal tasks and with increases in depressed mood when one is faced with the task of exerting interpersonal control. The findings were interpreted in terms of the importance of sex role characteristics in learned helplessness and depression.     

A clinician''s perspective: Comments on identification of stuttering, prevention, and early intervention

I am responding to the Hamre article on the identification and prevention o stuttering and to what was said by those who commented in the recent Special Forum Issue. My discussion will be in terms of my understanding and one of my major career objectives, that of translating reported research and clinical experience in a meaningful and useful way for students and professional clinicians.     

Dynamic spatial performance and general intelligence

A computerized video-game-like dynamic spatial ability measure and a paper-and-pencil group test of intelligence were administered to 94 university students. The purpose of the study was threefold: (a) to evaluate the reliability of the dynamic spatial measure; (b) to investigate the extent to which the dynamic spatial measure is saturated with variance associated with traditional measures of fluid and crystallized intellectual ability; and (c) to explore the possibility that dynamic computer based performance measures define factors that are distinct from those associated with traditional paper-and-pencil measures. The number of times the participant hit a moving target served as the dependent variable for the dynamic spatial measure. Number of hits proved to be correlated with Performance IQ, but was not significantly correlated with Verbal IQ. Maximum likelihood factor analysis revealed that the dynamic spatial measure did not load substantially on a factor of general intellectual ability but provided additional evidence that it is related to a performance component.     

Why Religion Should Be an Integral Part of Public School Education

Studies of classroom climates completed in the 1980s concluded that religion, even broadly defined, is seldom discussed in public schools. This situation is inconsistent with important precedents of our society, and therefore, public schools ought rightly to provide opportunities for students to discuss religion, broadly defined, in a scholarly fashion throughout their normal school routine. This article delineates 10 logical and cultural underpinnings for religious instruction in public schools.