More Thinking About Gender: Reply

Patricia Elliot distorts my work, in summarizing my position as one of advocating a revaluing of feminine qualities. After clarifying my position, I flesh out in greater detail my argument that complete gender neutrality is neither necessary nor sufficient for a non-sexist society. The argument focuses on gender as a cognitive category and on the crucial question of “how do we get there from here.”     

Similarity and preference judgments of musical stimuli

Two experiments were performed comparing similarity (technical-structural) and preference personal-affective) judgments of jazz improvizations (Experiment 1) and of classical, pop-rock, and jazz music (Experiment 2). A multidimensional scaling paradigm (INDSCAL) was used for pairwise comparisons of the 12 musical pieces in each experiment. Each 2 minute piece was subdivided into 10 second segments in order to reduce fatigue or boredom and provide better sampling across comparison trials. In general, similarity dimensions reflected greater agreement among the subjects that did preference dimensions and were hierarchically ordered. The dominant dimensions for both similarity and preference judgments of jazz improvizations were: Tempo, Dominant Instrument (Horns-guitar), and Articulation. The dominant dimensions for similarity judgments involving all three genres were: Classical-Contemporary, Jazz-Rock, and Tempo. The dominant dimensions for preference judments were: Rock-Classical, Jazz-Classical, and Tempo. In general, the preference judgments of musically sophisticated subjects were less constrained by salient dimensions.     

The Revolution in Counseling: A Sociological Perspective

Revolution, from a sociological perspective, requires more than a full acceptance of behavioral techniques and applications by counselors. What the behaviorists have contributed is not a revolutionary stance but a newly coherent set of strategies for dealing with client problems. It is still the client who is encouraged to acquire behaviors more consistent with the immediate social milieu rather than the reverse—It is easier to fit the individual into the existing social order than to confront and change the social order. A revolution would entail taking on society as the client, and then developing and applying efficacious change strategies to social structures.     

A Three‐Pronged Approach for Overcoming Design Fixation

Earthquakes, lightning, and history‐changing ideas are classic examples of powerful, unpredictable forces of nature. These sorts of phenomena have been difficult to explain and predict, an often frustrating fact as humans try to understand and control the significant influences in our lives. Historically, such phenomena have been attributed to supernatural sources, such as the Muses or various deities. And yet, as scientific inquiry continues to focus on such problems, we begin to make progress, albeit incremental, in comprehending such unpredictable occurrences. Earthquakes and lightning serve as analogies for the phenomenon referred to as insight. As such, these analogies may help us better understand where ideas come from; in each case, the rare, and potentially powerful phenomenon occurs unexpectedly, yet, as we learn more, it becomes better understood. Lightning is an electrical phenomenon, caused by particles colliding, and building up large electrical fields in the clouds. Earthquakes occur at the edges of tectonic plates, as the Earth releases its heat. Thus, we may begin to understand what causes insight, even though we cannot as yet predict specific occurrences of new insights. Analogies may not provide fully developed solutions to problems, but they can help us restructure our thinking about certain problems. Problem restructuring is especially appropriate when fixation obstructs problem solving. In this paper, we will explain a few of the fundamentals about human insight experiences, particularly in relation to what have been termed incubation effects. Putting a fixated problem aside can be helpful, and new ideas encountered during fixation can sometimes trigger new insights, particularly if useful analogies help resolve fixation. How does one overcome the counterproductive effects of fixation? We suggest a three‐pronged approach to this problem: 1. Forgetting fixation, 2. Redefining problems, and 3. Using clues or hints to provoke new ideas. We will explain each of these ideas, in brief, after providing a background for insight, incubation, and fixation.     

Some Implications of Denominational Heterogeneity and Church Attendance for Alcohol Consumption Among Hispanics

This article evaluates complementary perspectives on the relationship between religion and alcohol among Hispanics. In particular, it examines whether religion may be related to alcohol consumption through two mechanisms, one deriving primarily from doctrinally specific norms, and the other a denominationally independent effect of social integration. The basic premise is that these mechanisms may operate in relative independence. Thus, the article argues that in a fully specified model, variations in alcohol use that are associated with prohibitive norms can be distinguished from those that are associated with membership in a religious community (irrespective of its alcohol norms). The former effect is unique to members of Protestant denominations that object to the use of alcohol; the latter also accrues to the Catholics. A separate, exploratory analysis looks at whether these effects differ by gender. The results indicate that both mechanisms reduce the likelihood of alcohol consumption, but that the doctrinally specific normative one is more powerful. Furthermore, it appears that alcohol-use norms are more salient for men than for women, although the findings are not as robust as expected.     

Formal and informal referent groups: an exploration of novices and experts in maternity services

Different social groups place varying emphasis on the importance of referent input. While referent groups are recognised as having a significant influence on purchase behaviour, attitude formation and information processing, the extent to which referent groups are a determinant in decision making is yet to be fully explored. Considering novice and expert users of the maternity services, this paper focuses on the significance of referent groups for women during the maternity process. This research produced interesting results, not least that novice and expert users, resident in lower ACORN areas are dependent on informal referent groups while novice users, resident in higher ACORN areas, are influenced by formal referent groups when making decisions regarding their care. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.