Why reliabilism does not permit easy knowledge

Reliabilism furnishes an account of basic knowledge that circumvents the problem of the given. However, reliabilism and other epistemological theories that countenance basic knowledge have been criticized for permitting all-too-easy higher-level knowledge. In this paper, I describe the problem of easy knowledge, look briefly at proposed solutions, and then develop my own. I argue that the easy knowledge problem, as it applies to reliabilism, hinges on a false and too crude understanding of ‘reliable’. With a more plausible conception of ‘reliable’, a simple and elegant solution emerges.     

The Social Construction of Deviance,Conflict and the Criminalization of Midwives,New Orleans: 1940s and 1950s

Midwives in mid-twentieth-century New Orleans went from practicing unhindered to being demonized in the media and targeted by the criminal justice system, thanks to the actions of three concerned groups. After the prosecution of female midwives began and their practice was suppressed, male medical doctors gained control over the provision of abortions in the city as well as the supervision of midwifery. Employing content analysis, we find that the historic record largely supports an interpretation of these events from a conflict theory, a radical feminist, and a social constructionist perspective.     

Guards as Embezzlers: The Consequences of “Nonshareable Problems” in Prison Settings

The purpose of this paper is to examine the pandering activities of pimps and to formulate a critique of the concept of pandering. First, popular perceptions of the phenomenon are described in terms of a case story. Information on preferred recruitment sites (e.g., bus terminals) and standard modes of operation (talk, drugs, and violence) is provided. Next, the results of two exploratory studies are reported. Police perspectives are revealed through a survey of Port Authority police officers. An attempt to generate pandering is carried out by means of participant observation. These studies yield contradictory information, and an attempt to institute a compromise moves the analysis to the question of control, specifically whether prostitutes are victims or volunteers. Upon analysis, the relationships that previously constituted the process of pandering and the activities that usually characterized the pimp's role are reversed. Finally, perspectives on the social construction of the pandering reality are summarized.     

Choice biases in delayed matching-to-sample duration with pigeons: Manipulations of ITI and delayillumination

Two experiments investigated the effects of similarity between intertrial interval (ITI) and delay illumation on the choose-short effect. Different groups of pigeons learned to match 'short' (2 s) and 'long' (6 or 8 s) food samples to green and red test stimuli in a matchingto-sample procedure with a 5-s training delay.Subsequent 10- and 20-s delay tests revealed choose-short effects if the ITI and delay were both illuminated (i.e., group ON-ON), if the ITI and delay were both dark (i.e., group OFF-OFF), and if the ITI was illuminated and the delay was dark (i.e., group ON-OFF). In addition, either a choose-short effect or a chooselong effect was observed if the ITI was dark and the delay was illuminated (i.e., group OFFON). Results are incompatible with the confusion/instructionalfailure viewof the choose-short effect.     

Stranger Danger: The Role of Perpetrator and Context in Moderating Reactions to Sexual Harassment

The majority of research on sexual harassment focuses on achievement contexts where the perpetrator of the harassment is known to the victim. More recent work has begun to explore sexual harassment perpetrated by strangers in public places. The current work sought to bridge the gap between research on sexual harassment in achievement contexts and stranger harassment. In doing so, the current work manipulated factors related to three important distinctions between these topics: the relationship between the perpetrator and victim, the location, and the type of sexually harassing behavior. The current study provides evidence that stranger harassment elicits more negative reactions than harassment from a coworker. Additionally, harasser type interacted with harassment type, with situations involving strangers making physical contact eliciting the most negative reactions. Thus, the current work suggests a need for more research on stranger harassment, as well as on additional factors that may operate differently depending on harasser type.     

The Influence of Television and Film Viewing on Midlife Women's Body Image,Disordered Eating,and Food Choice

A recent trend in screen media is the casting of older women who have bodies that are the shapes and sizes of younger women. These aging beauties can be found in shows such as Cougar Town and Desperate Housewives. It was predicted that heavy viewers of these media would report stronger eating disorder symptomatology, greater body ideal discrepancies, and stricter food choices than light viewers. Participants were 166 midlife women (M: 44.57 years) who completed an online questionnaire that asked about body ideals, disordered eating, food choices, and exposure to aging beauty programming. Results demonstrate that media exposure was associated with stronger reports of disordered eating, greater discrepancies between actual body size and both women's ideal body size as well as perceptions of how others wanted them to look, and stricter food choices when around other people. Ideal self-discrepancies mediate the association between aging beauty media and disordered eating symptomatology. Our study builds on extant work related to media consumption, body concerns, and eating behaviors among a non–college-aged sample.