Remedies for discrimination: Race,sex and affirmative action

Discrimination, and its intended remedy in affirmative action, are often discussed as if they operate equivalently for all target groups. However, the specific nature of inter-group relations between racial groups and between gender groups leads to differences both in the experience of racism and sexism and in the requirements for affirmative action programs. This article describes some of the legal differences between race and sex as social constructs, and explores the implications for workplace policies designed to remedy racial and gender-based discrimination. Research results have shown that, among Whites, there is more support for preference toward women than toward ethnic and racial minorities. Such attitudinal differences both reflect the different nature of intergroup relations and point to the different needs for affirmative action policies toward each group.     

Individual differences in perceived pinch force and bite force

Six subjects made cross-modalmatches of pinch force and bite force to an electrocutaneous st4niulus. The electrocutaneous stimulus consisted ofbursts ofpulses, and the intensity ofthe stimulus was varied by changing the number of pulses per burst. All of the individual matching functions were fit well by powerfunctions. The scaling constants and exponents ofthe power functions covaried systematically with the maximum pinch force for 5 of the 6 subjects. The relationship was consistent with the hypothesis that subjects perceive their physical maxima equally, in agreement with Borg’s theory of relative perceived exertion. For both pinch force and bite force functions, the scale factors could be described by a single linear function ofthe exponents, suggesting that all of the matching functions converged at a single point with extreme values.     

Using a personal robot to teach young children.

Seventy-five preschool children were instructed about birds by a human teacher, a moving personal robot, a stationary personal robot, and a tape recorder. How much the children learned and how much attention the children paid were compared for each type of instruction. The children learned when they were taught by the human teacher and when they were taught by the animated and the stationary robots. The children paid more attention to the live teacher and to the moving robot than they did to the stationary robot or to the tape recorder. The difference between the amount of attention the children paid to the animated robot and the amount of attention they paid to the human teacher was not statistically significant.     

Inference to the Best Explanation

The common role of research programs in science and religion is now widely accepted. The next step in the methodology debate is to specify more concretely the shared standards for adequate explanations. The article presents a detailed account of the method of inference to the best explanation and gives examples of how the method can structure the philosophical and theological interaction with science. The resulting approach dispenses with deductive and inductive proofs of religious propositions and limits itself to initially plausible hypotheses that are to be assessed according to their explanatory power. Only when a domain of data and a particular explanatory task have been specified can any serious claim be made that religious theories are equal or superior to their naturalistic alternatives.     

Philosophy of Science: What One Needs to Know

This introduction to the philosophy of science offers an overview of the major concepts and developments in contemporary theories of science. Strengths and weaknesses of deductive, inductive, and falsificationist models of science are considered. The "Received View" in the theory of science is contrasted with Kuhn's paradigms and Feyerabend's "anything goes," leading to an examination of the merits of a research program–based approach. After touching on the sociology of science, postmodernism, and the feminist critique, the article concludes with a summary, in six theses, of the implications for religion/science.     

Contours of equal perceived amplitude and equal perceived frequency for electrocutaneous stimuli

Previous measurements of equal-sensation contours for electrocutaneous stimuli consisting of repeated bursts of biphasic pulses have shown that stimulus frequency has little effect on perceived amplitude, and that stimulus amplitude has no effect on perceived frequency. These earlier contours, however, were measured over a very restricted range of amplitude and frequency or for a single perceived amplitude or perceived frequency. Contours of equal perceived amplitude and equal perceived frequency were measured in the present study for stimuli covering most of the useable range of amplitudes and frequencies: 3–12 dB SL and 4–64 Hz. Eight naive subjects generated contours of equal perceived amplitude at four reference amplitudes via Békésy tracking, and 8 additional subjects generated contours of equal perceived frequency at three reference frequencies. The contours of equal perceived amplitude declined slightly but significantly with increases in stimulus frequency, consistent with previous results. The shape of the contours was also slightly dependent on the amplitude of the reference stimulus. Contours of equal perceived frequency were unaffected by stimulus amplitude on the average, but the contour shape did vary modestly, though erratically, with reference frequency.     

Kenotic Trinitarian Panentheism

Abstract :  The "openness of God" movement has made a bold, even courageous move away from static models of God. Yet, as the articles here by Pinnock and Bracken show, divisions remain that call for mediation. Both sides have failed to see that a closer connection is possible between process and orthodox thought. The framework is panentheism , the belief that the world is in some sense within God, even though God also transcends the world. Process thinkers are right to conceive God even more radically as the "supremely related one," yet mistaken in their belief that creation ex nihilo and trinitarian models of God are thereby excluded.     

Questions and reflections: the use of motivational interviewing microskills in a peer-led brief alcohol intervention for college students

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between peer facilitator adherence to motivational interviewing (MI) microskills and college student drinking behavior. First year students (N=67) took part in a Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) led by peer facilitators trained in MI and BASICS. Participants were assessed pre- and 2 weeks post-intervention on contemplation to change, as well as, pre- and 3 months post- intervention on drinking quantity. Independent coders used the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity scale (MITI, Moyers, Martin, Manuel, & Miller, 2003) to evaluate therapist MI adherence. Peer facilitators met beginning proficiency in MI on scores of empathy, the ratio of MI adherent behaviors to non-adherent behaviors and the ratio of open questions to total questions as defined by the MITI. Results indicated that a higher number of closed questions was related to less contemplation and a higher number of open questions was related to more contemplation post intervention. A higher number of simple reflections was associated with increased drinking at the 3 month assessment, however, complex reflections were found to attenuate the effect of simple reflections on changes in drinking. These findings highlight the importance of competent reflective listening skills and the need for continual training and supervision for peer facilitators.     

Fitting in and feeling fine: conformity and coping motives as mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and problematic drinking.

The present research was conducted to clarify the relationships among social anxiety, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and negative-reinforcement drinking motives among college students. Heavy drinking students (N = 316, 53.80% female) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and drinking motives. Findings indicated that students higher in social anxiety consumed less alcohol but experienced more negative consequences. Moreover, the relationship between social anxiety and negative consequences was mediated by coping and conformity drinking motives in addition to alcohol consumption. In the context of social anxiety, the current research demonstrates the importance of examining problematic drinking as distinct constructs: alcohol consumption and negative consequences. Findings are also discussed in terms of implications for interventions with socially anxious students.     

Live interactive group-specific normative feedback reduces misperceptions and drinking in college students: a randomized cluster trial.

This research evaluated the efficacy of a live and interactive group-specific normative feedback intervention designed to correct misperceptions of alcohol-related group norms and subsequently reduce drinking behavior. Campus organizations (N = 20) containing 1,162 college students were randomly assigned to intervention or assessment-only control conditions. Participants in the intervention condition attended an intervention during their organization's regular standing meeting. Data were gathered in vivo using computerized handheld keypads into which participants entered personal responses to a series of alcohol-related questions assessing perceptions of normative group behavior as well as actual individual behavior. These data were then immediately presented in graphical form to illustrate discrepancies between perceived and actual behavioral group norms. Results indicated that compared with the control group, the intervention group reduced drinking behavior and misperceptions of group norms at 1-month and 2-month follow-ups. Changes in perceived norms mediated the reductions in drinking. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel, technologically advanced, group-based, brief alcohol intervention that can be implemented with entire groups at relatively low cost.