Computer-aided protocol analysis of writing processes

With increased interest in process analysis of writing has come an expanded role for computers. Records of written and verbal protocols are made by capturing keystrokes and speech, playing them back on videotape, and then coding, second by second, the duration, frequency, and effort of various writing subprocesses as they unfold. In this paper we introduce a new approach to analyzing think-aloud and resource allocation protocols in writing research and describe how analyses of them can add to current models of writing.     

Moral education: An act-utilitarian view1

In this essay, I distinguish two significant act-utilitarian theories of moral education: the traditional rule of thumb view and the Harian intuition view. I argue that there are problems with the traditional view and that an act-utilitarian ought to adopt a version of the Harian view. I then explain and respond to a major objection to the intuition view given by Bernard Williams. Williams argues that the system of moral thought which the Harian view advocates we teach is inherently unstable and is certain to undermine itself. I argue that there is reason to expect a great deal of stability in this system.I wish to thank Richard Brandt, William Frankena and R.M. Hare for their conversation on this and other topics and for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I would also like to thank the Association for the Philosophy of Education and the Northwest Philosophy conference for the opportunity to read and discuss versions of the essay.     

The life of order and the order of life: Eric Voegelin on modernity and the problem of philosophical anthropology

This paper was delivered to The Eric Voegelin Society at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, in Atlanta, Georgia, between 31 August–3 September 1989.     

Gender schemas and the salience of gender: Individual differences in nonreversal discrimination learning

Sixty-seven 3–6-year-old children, identified as gender schematic and aschematic, completed a nonreversal discrimination learning task. This task permits examination of children's abilities to attend selectively to particular dimensions of a multidimensional stimulus. Gender typing and size of stimulus were the relevant target dimensions. Gender schematic children required significantly more trials to criterion when the shift was from sex type to size of stimulus, and significantly fewer trials to criterion when the shift was from size to sex type of stimulus, than did aschematic children. Gender aschematic children's performance was relatively unaffected by type of stimulus dimension. Results support predictions of the differential salience of the gender dimension to gender schematic and aschematic children.     

Self-Deception and Moral Responsibility

The self‐deceived are usually held to be moral responsible for their state. I argue that this attribution of responsibility makes sense only against the background of the traditional conception of self‐deception, a conception that is now widely rejected. In its place, a new conception of self‐deception has been articulated, which requires neither intentional action by self‐deceived agents, nor that they posses contradictory beliefs. This new conception has neither need nor place for attributions of moral responsibility to the self‐deceived in paradigmatic cases. Accordingly, we should take the final step toward abandoning the traditional conception, and drop the automatic attribution of responsibility. Self‐deception is simply a kind of mistake, and has no more necessary connection to culpability than have other intellectual errors.     

The Impact of Living with Klinefelter Syndrome: A Qualitative Exploration of Adolescents and Adults

Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) is a common yet significantly underdiagnosed condition with considerable medical, psychological and social implications. Many health care providers lack familiarity with XXY, resulting in medical management challenges and a limited understanding of the personal impact of the condition. Genetic counselors benefit from understanding the challenges adolescents and men with XXY face to effectively address their medical and psychosocial needs. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of living with XXY as an adolescent or an adult. Individuals aged 14 to 75 years with self-reported XXY were recruited from online support networks to complete a web-based survey that included open-ended questions. Open-ended responses were coded and analyzed thematically (n = 169 to 210 for each open-ended question). Over half of respondents to the open-ended questions reported challenges in finding health care providers who are knowledgeable about XXY, with many describing an extensive diagnostic odyssey and relief when receiving a diagnosis. Individuals sought support coping with the challenges they face and acknowledgement of the positive aspects of XXY. Recommendations are made for how genetic counseling can enhance quality of life for individuals living with XXY.     

Parent training for young Norwegian children with ODD and CD problems: Predictors and mediators of treatment outcome

Participants were 121 children, aged 4–8 years referred for conduct problems, and their mothers. A parent training intervention was implemented in two outpatient clinics in Norway. Treatment responders were defined as children scoring below a cut-off on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, a score below an optimal cut-off for children in day-care and school as reported by teachers, in addition to a 30% reduction or greater in observed negative parenting. Self-reported parenting practices were explored as potential mediators. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that high levels of maternal stress, clinical levels of ADHD, and being a girl predicted a poorer outcome in conduct problems at home, while pretreatment clinical levels of ADHD predicted a poorer outcome as perceived by the teachers. Harsh and inconsistent parental disciplining emerged as significant partial mediators of changes in conduct problems, highlighting the importance of altering parenting practices to modify young children's conduct problems.     

Excusing Responsibility for the Inevitable

It is by now well established that the fact that an action or aconsequence was inevitable does not excuse the agent from responsibilityfor it, so long as the counterfactual intervention which ensures thatthe act will take place is not actualized. However, in this paper I demonstrate that there is one exception to this principle: when theagent is aware of the counterfactual intervener and the role she wouldplay in some alternative scenario, she might be excused, despite the fact that in the actual scenario she acts, as we say, of her own freewill. I illustrate this contention by way of a critique of Fischer andRavizza's well-known account of responsibility for consequences.