Addiction and Self‐Deception: A Method for Self‐Control?

Neil Levy argues that while addicts who believe they are not addicts are self‐deceived, addicts who believe they are addicts are just as self‐deceived. Such persons accept a false belief that their addictive behaviour involves a loss of control. This paper examines two implications of Levy's discussion: that accurate self‐knowledge may be particularly difficult for addicts; and that an addict's self‐deceived belief that they cannot control themselves may aid their attempts at self‐control. I argue that the self‐deceived beliefs of addicts in denial and of self‐described addicts differ in kind. Unlike the self‐deception of an addict in denial, that of the self‐described addict allows them to acknowledge their behaviour. As such, it may aid an addict to develop more self‐control. A paradoxical implication is that this self‐deception may allow an addict more self‐knowledge.     

SIMULATION-BASED ASSESSMENT OF MANAGERIAL COMPETENCE: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

Prior work based on complexity theory has attempted, with some success, to predict general and managerial performance in complex, uncertain, and fluid task settings. The present paper evaluates a quasi-experimental simulation technique that was specifically designed to measure the impact of individual differences in a number of managerial styles (including a style reflecting cognitive complexity) on executive performance. Twenty simulation-based measures were tested for reliability and validity. On the basis of the data obtained from two separate samples, it was concluded that this quasi-experimental simulation technology may be useful for assessing a number of managerial styles that are not currently tapped by other measurement methods. Research results reported in this paper, as well as results obtained in other concurrent efforts, are summarized.     

PROJECT A VALIDITY RESULTS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PREDICTOR AND CRITERION DOMAINS

A predictor battery of cognitive ability, perceptual-psychomotor ability, temperament/personality, interest, and job outcome preference measures was administered to enlisted soldiers in nine Army jobs. These measures were summarized in terms of 24 composite scores. The relationships between the predictor composite scores and five components of job performance were analyzed. Scores from the cognitive and perceptual-psychomotor ability tests provided the best prediction of job-specific and general task proficiency, while the temperament/personality composites were the best predictors of giving extra effort, supporting peers, and exhibiting personal discipline. Composite scores derived from the interest inventory were correlated more highly with task proficiency than with demonstrating effort and peer support. In particular, vocational interests were among the best predictors of task proficiency in combat jobs. The results suggest that the Army can improve the prediction of job performance by adding non-cognitive predictors to its present battery of predictor tests.     

Edith Stein's Philosophy of Woman and of Women's Education

Edith Stein, Husserl's brilliant student and assistant, devoted ten years of her life to teaching in a girls’ secondary school, during which time she gave a series of lectures on educational reform and the appropriate education to be provided to girls. She grounds her answer to these questions in a philosophical account of the nature of woman. She argues that men and women share some universally human character’ istics, but that they have separate and distinct natures. Her awareness of the rich variety of different personality types and specific differences among individuals allows her to hold an essentialist view of the nature of woman without either stereotyping individual women or assuming that woman's nature is in any way inferior to man's.     

The Role of the Family Therapist in Divorce: Benevolent Healer or Agent of Social Change?

Essay Review of:
The Dynamics of Divorce: A Life Cycle Perspective , F. W. Kaslow and L. L. Schwartz, New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1987.
Divorced Families: A Multidisciplinary Developmental View , C. R. Ahrons and R. H. Rodgers, New York: W. W. Norton, 1987.
The Difficult Divorce: Therapy for Children and Families , M. B. Isaacs, B. Montalvo, and D. Abelson, New York: Basic Books, 1986.