Preemployment screening procedures: How human resource managers perceive them

A survey of Human Resource practitioners' perceptions of pre-employment screening procedures was conducted. The results indicated differences between tests in terms of perceived accuracy and offensiveness, as well as other attributes. Regression analyses suggested that beliefs about validity, the number of other companies using these procedures, perceived offensiveness of the test, and ease in passing the test were important factors in the willingness to use a particular test. Conversely, perceptions regarding the discriminatory impact of the test and the cost of using the test generally were not related to willingness to use the test. Limitations of this study, which was primarily exploratory, are noted.     

Agricultural policy and strategic investment in information technology

In this article the perspective shifts to the “upstream” end of the agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS). Because knowledge policy and strategic decision-making are not the prerogative of the public sector, organizations such as cooperative unions and multinational companies are included. After considering the influence of the changing environment on the nature of the AKIS, the role of knowledge management and policy in the emerging knowledge and information market is examined. Special attention is given to public and private R&D. The article then looks where information technology (IT) fits in and what considerations determine strategic investment in IT projects and sustained services. Some of the European experiences with this strategic investment are evaluated.     

Extrasensory perception,near-death experiences,and the limits of scientific knowledge

If mental state can influence the external world, or if alternate dimensions of reality are accessible only in certain mental states, then important aspects of the universe are unknowable with current scientific tools. Near-death studies suggest that both those conditions may occur. Thus the exploration of NDE-like phenomena requires a radically new scientific paradigm.     

Poverty,state, and the family: A challenge for family therapy

Much family therapy writing has focused on work with discrete presenting problems in circumscribed clinical practice settings. This paper takes a broader focus of poor families which do not fit easily into the one-hour therapy schedule, in the context of the powerful forces of politics and economics. If the prevailing political attitudes and economic realities are ignored, direct practice with families may fail to meet them at their point of experience. Examples of political views, and therapeutic and research thinking which do not pay attention to these aspects, are used to highlight the author's point of view.     

Limiting the role of the family in discontinuation of life sustaining treatment

In matters of discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment, traditional role of the family to speak on behalf of the incompetent patient is questionable. We explore the reasons why physicians perceive patient autonomy to be transferrable to family members. Principle of patient autonomy may not suffice when futile treatment is demanded and may serve to erode the ethical integrity of medical profession. An enhanced role for bioethics committees is proposed when physicians propose to discontinue life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient or their families.     

Body proportions as information for age and cuteness: Animals in illustrated children’s books

Growth systematically changes the body proportions of both humans and animals so that the ratio of head height to body height decreases with age. Prior studies have demonstrated that body proportions provide effective information for age perception. To test the proposal that illustrators incorporate this information into their drawings, measurements were made of the head and body heights of 100 pairs of animals appearing in children’s picture books. In 93 pairs, the animal intended to be perceived as older had a smaller head-to-body ratio than did the younger animal. Ratings collected for 25 of these pairs showed that both perceived age and cuteness are significantly correlated with body proportions. The magnitudes of the correlations were only modest, suggesting that other aspects of the drawings influenced perceived age and cuteness. In addition, observers reported that body proportions are only one of a variety of factors influencing age and cuteness perception. As has been found in other studies, perceived age and cuteness were negatively correlated.     

Neuropsychological analysis of some dynamic aspects of the sexual drive in men and women

IN PREVIOUS WORKS the author has proposed the conception of an affect-behavioral system as the neuropsychological basis of fundamental emotions and drives. It consists of ten subsystems (SS) integrated with relations of reciprocal induction and facilitation. The SSs are: (1) SS of flight, (2) SS of aggression, (3) SS of socially channeled attack, (4) SS of mutual aid, (5) SS of autoaggression, (6) SS of food taking, (7) SS of inhibition of food taking, (8) SS of vomiting, (9) SS of sexual contacts, and (10) SS of inhibition of sexual contacts. To the activity of the different SSs correspond fundamental emotions and drives. Thus, to the activity of the SS of flight corresponds fear; to the activity of the SS of aggression, socially uncultivated anger; to the activity of the SS of sexual contacts, sexual drive; and so forth. In the paper, appropriate observations are analyzed. They reveal that the activity of the SSs of flight and vomiting can inhibit reciprocally the sexual drive; whereas, the activity of the SSs of socially channeled attack, of mutual help, and of aggression can facilitate it. The activity of the SS of autoaggression is two-sided: According to the personality structure and the situation, it can inhibit or facilitate the sexual drive.     

One-gun-a-month: Measuring public opinion concerning a gun control initiative

State lawmakers in Virginia recently approved a measure to limit to one the number of handguns a person can purchase within a thirty day period. In the months preceding the law's approval, a survey was conducted to measure the level of public support for the proposed initiative. The results of the survey were provided to lawmakers and other high level government officials in an effort to provide policymakers with objective data for gauging support (or non-support) for the proposal. Past public opinion polls which have measured attitudes concerning gun control reveal differences in the levels of support with regard to such factors as individual gun ownership and region of residence. The following research reveals the sentiment of one State's citizenry toward a specific handgun control measure by focusing on how responses varied across selected sub-groups within the sample.