Undercutting and the Ramsey test for conditionals

There is an important class of conditionals whose assertibility conditions are not given by the Ramsey test but by an inductive extension of that test. Such inductive Ramsey conditionals fail to satisfy some of the core properties of plain conditionals. Associated principles of nonmonotonic inference should not be assumed to hold generally if interpretations in terms of induction or appeals to total evidence are not to be ruled out.     

Test Difficulty and Stereotype Threat on the GRE General Test1

This study investigated (a) the ability to minimize or eliminate stereotype threat by reducing the difficulty of items administered via a computer‐adaptive version of the Graduate Record Examinations General Test; and (b) the generalizability of these findings for Black students as well as women, and for verbal as well as quantitative sections of the test. Standard and easier versions of the test, and measures of stereotype threat and possible symptoms or sequelae of stereotype threat were administered to students bound for graduate school or already there. Reducing test difficulty did not have any differential effects on test performance or on explicit indexes of stereotype threat for White and Black students, and for men and women, that were statistically and practically significant. However, such effects did occur for some symptoms or sequelae, mainly for White students and women.     

Novice teachers’ experience of teaching: a dynamic aspect of burnout

This article addresses the question of how novice teachers perceive their work environment and how their perceptions affect burnout. Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to novice teachers at the beginning and at the end of the school year. It was found that (1) novice teachers experienced high levels of burnout as early as the beginning of their first year of teaching; (2) novice teachers’ perception of their work environment at the beginning and at the end of their first year significantly and meaningfully explained their sense burnout; (3) three variables contribute to predicting burnout at the beginning and at the end of the first year of teaching: (a) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from students; (b) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from the public, and (c) lack of collaborative and supportive ambience.     

The Ecclesial Ethics of John Howard Yoder’s Abuse

In the last decade – now that his sexual abuse is no longer deniable – Christian ethicists have had to reconsider John Howard Yoder’s theological contributions in the late twentieth century. This essay considers how the witness of the women who survived his abuse exposes the sexism latent in his development of a framework for moral discernment and community discipline. Yoder designed an ecclesiology that was congruent with his pursuit of unaccountable power over the women he used as subjects for working out his exploitative sexuality. His theological contributions, I argue, cannot be separated from his behavior.     

Depression secondary prevention in primary care

In order to analyse efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of several depression secondary prevention programs, three group interventions were developed in Primary Care Centres: cognitive-behavioral therapy, promotion of one's coping resources therapy (just paying attention to abilities, without training) and social support. The sample was composed by 60 people with from-mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms, who were randomly assigned either to any of the treatments or to a control group (waiting list). Psychopathology, quality of life and attendance to mental health services variables were assessed at pretest, posttest and two follow-up evaluations, 6 and 12 months afterwards. Outcomes: both therapies had more efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency compared to the social support group, and this one was better than the waiting list.     

Dissimilarities as indices of individual perceptual structure

The generality of dissimilarity judgments and of configurations obtained by multidimensional scaling (MDS) as indices of perceptual structure was examined. The Ss made magnitude estimates of dissimilarity of pairs of photos, and MDS configurations were constructed separately for each S. The compatability of dissimilarities (judgments or distances in MDS configurations) with two other tasks Ss performed was then examined. These additional tasks, an “encoding” and a “decoding” task, required the S to first construct a message by making use of a set of four photos and, a week later, to decode the messages. Results obtained were interpreted as indicating a degree of generality of the dissimilarities and supporting a hypothesis of individual differences in perceptual structure for the stimulus set. A “data-purification” hypothesis for MDS was discussed and examined.

     

Evaluation of a break-to-choice chained-schedule intervention for multiply maintained problem behavior

Interventions for multiply maintained problem behavior often involve developing separate treatment conditions to address each function. Although isolating treatment conditions lead to positive outcomes, developing individual treatments for each identified function may be time-consuming. Alternatively, synthesizing treatment procedures may allow for more efficient treatment effects. We extended previous research by evaluating functional communication training (FCT) and chained schedules of reinforcement to treat multiply maintained problem behavior in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. First, we conducted a functional analysis that concluded problem behavior was multiply maintained. Next, we taught functional communication responses (FCRs) and implemented a chained schedule of reinforcement. During the initial link, FCRs for a break resulted in the presentation of a choice menu with the other putative reinforcers in the terminal link. The relevant reinforcer was delivered contingent on the emission of subsequent FCRs. Finally, we systematically schedule thinned to caregiver-informed terminal schedules for each participant. The results of our study demonstrated that FCT, in combination with a sequential compound schedule of reinforcement, effectively decreased multiply maintained problem behavior and increased appropriate alternative responses (FCRs and compliance) even at terminal schedules of reinforcement.