Preventive and corrective maintenance of access to knowledge

Access to large portions of our knowledge is unstable, so that recall fluctuates depending upon momentary context. Laboratory interventions can stabilize access for a time, either by preventing the loss of precarious access (preventive maintenance) or by re-establishing lost access (corrective maintenance). This paper describes two methods of measuring the magnitude and duration of such intervention effects. Preventive maintenance effects are measured by the degree and the persistence of asymmetry of up- versus down-fluctuations on successive attempts to recall. The preventive maintenance effect of a single successful recall trial has a half-life in excess of 1 month. The methods are suitable for comparing the effectiveness of various schedules and types of maintenance interventions for a variety of semantic memory content and for diverse subject populations.     

The trouble with Madeleine

I respond to Selinger and Mix (Selinger, E. and Mix, J. 2004. On interactional expertise: Pragmatic and ontological considerations. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 3: 145–163), concentrating on their charges that Collins (Collins, H. M. 2004a. Interactional expertise as a third form of knowledge. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 3: 125–143) underrates the importance of interactional expertise as an expertise sui generis and that the paper fails to analyse the idea of embodiment sufficiently holistically, misleading treating the ‘body’ as no more than the linear sum of its parts. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Karl Jaspers’ account of truth as a way into the discussion of theological truth-claims

This paper presents Karl Jaspers understanding of truth as communication as a framework for reflecting on the nature of truth-claims in Christian theology. Jaspers argues that the fact that we communicate with each other in several different modes implies that the criteria of truth in our discourse must vary in these different modes. In developing this view he distinguishes between four modes of communication: the mode of presenting and defending vital personal interests, the mode of common understanding of the observable world, the mode of developing and operating with ideas of unifying spiritual wholeness, and the mode of authentic personal identity. The formation of this framework draws heavily on Kant. His discussion of the spiritual ideas for example clearly links with Kant regulative ideas of reason. Yet where Kant seems to limit thwese ideas to three: the self, the world and God, Jaspers seems to offer a more open and indefinite view. This becomes important for making a comparison between his account of truth and an account which could accommodate claims of the Christian thelogians.     

Consumers’ Desire towards Current and Prospective Reproductive Genetic Testing

As our knowledge and abilities in molecular genetics continues to expand, so does our ability to detect certain conditions/traits prenatally; however, it is unknown if this increase in scientific ability will be utilized by the consumers of genetic services. Our study gauges the consumers’ opinion towards reproductive testing for diseases and enhancements. Prior to their initial visit with a genetic counselor, patients were asked to participate in a survey. These consumers were asked to indicate traits and conditions for which they would choose reproductive genetic testing. The majority of respondents would elect to have prenatal genetic testing for mental retardation (75%), deafness (54%), blindness (56%), heart disease (52%), and cancer (51%). Our results indicated that 49.3% would choose testing for a condition that resulted in death by 5 years of age, whereas only 41.1%, 24.9%, and 19% would choose testing for conditions that results in death by 20, 40, and 50 years of age, respectively. Most respondents did not desire testing for enhancements (e.g. 13% would choose testing for superior intelligence). Our study suggests that consumers desire more reproductive genetic testing than what is currently offered; however, their selection of tests suggests self-imposed limits on testing.     

Validation Studies on a Measure of Overall Managerial Readiness for the Chinese

The Overall Managerial Readiness (OMR) scale was first developed as a simple measure of managerial potential for the Chinese workforce. OMR purports to predict managerial performance by assessing a person's attitudes and intention to engage in managerial practices. It consists of 28 forced‐choice statements most of which refer to attitudes and behaviors in a work setting. Three studies together showed that OMR was correlated negatively with neuroticism, and positively with conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, and extraversion. Notwithstanding, OMR was distinct from the Big Five, and had incremental predictive power on work performance (Study 3). Besides, OMR alone predicted bank managers' productivity (Study 4). Finally, internal consistency and concurrent validity of a Likert version of OMR was ascertained (Study 5).     

Independent benefits of contact and friendship on attitudes toward homosexuals among authoritarians and highly identified heterosexuals

Although intergroup contact is generally associated with positive intergroup attitudes, little is known about whether individual differences moderate these relations, or how contact might operate among prejudice‐prone individuals. The present investigation explores Person × Contact and Person × Friendship interaction patterns among heterosexual university students. As expected, the positive relations of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and heterosexual identification with prejudice against homosexuals were weakened when participants reported increased contact, more positive contact, direct (personal) friendships, or indirect friendships (i.e., ingroup friends with outgroup friends) with homosexuals. These patterns held after controlling statistically for each person or situation variable. Contact and friendship exerted smaller or negligible effects among low authoritarians or low identifiers. Tests of indirect effects revealed that among high authoritarians or high identifiers, contact and friendship exerted influence on attitudes through group‐level perceptions that homosexuals promote societal values and through increased self–other overlap with gay friends, each otherwise resisted by these individuals. Overall these results suggest that: (a) intergroup contact and intergroup friendship are related but distinct constructs; and (b) past findings underestimate contact effects by collapsing across levels of personal biases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.