Human Cloning in Film: Horror,Ambivalence, Hope

Abstract

Fictional filmic representations of human cloning have shifted in relation to the 1997 announcement of the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep, and since therapeutic human cloning became a scientific practice in the early twentieth century. The operation and detail of these shifts can be seen through an analysis of the films The Island and Aeon Flux . These films provide a site for the examination of how these changes in human cloning from fiction to practice, and from horror to hope, have been represented and imagined, and how these distinctions have operated visually in fiction, and in relation to genre.     

Self-ordered pointing as a test of working memory in typically developing children

The self-ordered pointing test (SOPT; Petrides & Milner, 1982 Petrides, M. and Milner, B. 1982. Deficits on subject-ordered tasks after frontal- and temporal-lobe lesions in man. Neuropsychologia, 20(3): 249–262. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is a test of non-spatial executive working memory requiring the ability to generate and monitor a sequence of responses. Although used with developmental clinical populations there are few normative data against which to compare atypical performance. Typically developing children (5–11 years) and young adults performed two versions of the SOPT, one using pictures of familiar objects and the other hard-to-verbalise abstract designs. Performance improved with age but the children did not reach adult levels of performance. Participants of all ages found the object condition easier than the abstract condition, suggesting that verbal processes are utilised by the SOPT. However, performance on the task was largely independent from verbal and nonverbal cognitive ability. Overall the results suggest that the SOPT is a sensitive measure of executive working memory.     

Sources and Types of Confidence Identified by World Class Sport Performers

This study identified the sources and types of confidence salient to 14 (7 male, 7 female) successful World Class athletes. Nine sources of confidence were identified: Preparation, performance accomplishments, coaching, innate factors, social support, experience, competitive advantage, self-awareness, and trust. A testament to the multi-dimensional nature of sport confidence, six types of sport confidence were also identified: skill execution, achievement, physical factors, psychological factors, superiority to opposition, and tactical awareness. Gender was related to both the sources of confidence and the subsequent types of confidence experienced by the athletes. For example, females placed more importance on good personal performances than males who derived confidence from winning. Results were discussed in the context of previous sport confidence literature and implications for sport psychology and coaching practices were drawn.     

Further Observations on Group Judgments of Lifted Weights

With use of a sample of five kibbutzim and subjects from three cities in Israel, the hypothesis investigated was that the adults in the kibbutz would obtain higher scores than the other subjects in their perceptions of the past and present on the Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. These responses were compared to those of two groups from the United States, Jewish and non-Jewish. The total sample consisted of 160 Ss with 40 Ss in each of the four groups. It was also hypothesized that there would be less discrepancy in the perceptions of the future as compared to the past and present between Israeli and United States Ss. The hypotheses presented were supported by the data.

The kibbutz sample in expressing hopes and aspirations had a significantly higher number of Ss that desired world peace than the other three samples. The Israeli city sample in responding to aspirations had a significantly greater number of responses than the kibbutz for the following categories: having a good job, owning a house, and possessing wealth.

The Israeli city sample compared to the kibbutz had a significantly higher number of responses to a fear of a deterioration in the standard of living. The rank order correlation of the verbal responses indicated that the responses of the American Jewish group were more similar to both Israeli groups than the United States non-Jewish group.     

Aurelius Augustine on Imagination

The evaluation of a person seeking or volunteering information in cooperatively or competitively oriented problem solving groups was investigated in 63 white and black, male and female, high school and college students. It was hypothesized that under cooperative conditions the seeking of information would be evaluated more positively than would the volunteering of information, while under competitive conditions the volunteering of information would be evaluated more positively than would the seeking of information. A highly trained confederate (C) engaged in either the seeking of information or the volunteering of information in four-person problem solving groups in which Ss were either cooperatively or competitively oriented. Ss rated Cs on eight bipolar scales. The results confirmed the hypothesis.     

The biasing effect of personality on self-estimates of cognitive abilities in males and females

In addition to exploring the relationship between psychometric and self-estimated measures of Crystallized Knowledge (Gc) and Visual Processing (Gv), this study investigated whether personality significantly moderated these relationships, thereby influencing the accuracy of the self-estimates. Adult participants (N = 165) completed the Big Five Inventory and self-estimated their levels of Gc and Gv. They were subsequently administered the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II, a group test of cognitive ability. Significant and positive relationships between psychometric Gc and Gv and their respective self-estimates were found. Additionally, investigation of the moderating effects of personality for each gender separately using standard multiple regressions found that females high in Extraversion and males low in Conscientiousness were more prone to overestimating their Gv ability, while males high in Openness provided more accurate estimates of their Gv than those low in Openness. Elucidating the personality traits that distort self-perceptions of intellectual functioning has significant implications for the identification of individuals at risk of harboring inaccurate expectations, leading to the potential for interventions aimed at ameliorating associated deleterious consequences.     

Heart Rate and Affective Reactions to State Self-Objectification as a Function of Gender

The purpose of the present study was to examine heart rate (HR) and affective reactions to state self-objectification as a function of gender. We examined negative affect, positive affect, guilt, and HR at 6-second and 5-minute intervals across baseline, control, high objectification, low objectification, and cologne conditions in men (n = 53) and women (n = 57). Mixed factorial MANOVA results indicated a statistically significant Gender × Condition interaction. Both men and women showed a cardiac orienting response to high versus low objectification. Cardiac stress reactions to objectification were higher among women. Negative affective reactions to objectification were more pervasive across conditions among women.     

Legal Risk in Selection: An Analysis of Processes and Tools

Purpose

This paper reviews a decade of employment litigation to illuminate the most legally dangerous selection devices and employment practices.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A sample (n = 312) of court cases drawn from 10 years of Bloomberg BNA case briefs was analyzed to determine which selection tools (e.g., biographical information blank, interview, cognitive ability test, and psychomotor test) and which selection processes (e.g., violations of the four-fifths rule, administrative inconsistencies, lack of documentation, failure to provide accommodations) are most at risk for litigation for unfair employment practices.

Findings

Results demonstrate that while some selection tools do attract legal scrutiny, dangerous hiring practices such as favoritism against protected classes and improper human resource documentation put employers at far greater risk of suit. When considering cases settled outside of court and those that continued to trial, the data reveal that employers lose employment discrimination cases at a rate nearing 90 % and suffer an average payout of over $1.5 million per case.

Implications

Just as legal challenges once drove the search for selection tools free of adverse impact, the current legal landscape demonstrates the necessity of fair and consistent selection processes. This paper provides evidence of common mistakes in implementing selection systems—mistakes that lead to costly legal battles.

Originality/Value

This paper reduces cumbersome legal records into useful evidence of trends in recent employment law cases. Selection system designers and organizations who implement them will benefit from avoiding the risky hiring practices presented in this paper.