A new kind of friendship - An essay on Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife

This paper discusses the second volume of Pullman's trilogy in which the quests of the two children to establish the nature of their link to parental objects intersect across time and space. They enter an imaginary world on their journey, and we observe their relationship develop into one of friendship and psychological interdependence. There is a shift from dominant persecutory anxieties towards depressive concern, alongside an increasing capacity to differentiate between hubris and courage, and to depend on the protection and love of surrogate parental figures. Cet article explore le deuxième tome de la trilogie de P. Pullman, dans lequel il décrit l'entrecroisement dans le temps et dans l'espace de la quête menée par chacun des deux enfants pour comprendre la nature de sa relation à ses objets parentaux. Au cours de leur voyage, ils entrent dans un monde imaginaire; nous voyons comment leur relation se mue en amitié et en dépendance psychologique réciproque. Les angoisses persécutrices, auparavant prédominantes, se transforment en souci dépressif pour l'autre; en méme temps, ayant acquis une capacité de plus en plus affinée à distinguer entre orgueil prétentieux et courage véritable, ils se montrent davantage aptes à s'en remettre à la protection et à l'amour de figures parentales de substitution. Questo articolo discute il secondo volume della trilogia di Pullman, nel quale la ricerca di due bambini per scoprire la natura del loro legame con le figure genitoriali si interseca nel tempo e nello spazio. Essi entrano in un mondo immaginario nel loro viaggio e noi osserviamo lo svilupparsi della loro relazione di amicizia e interdipendenza psicologica. Si vede uno spostamento dalle ansie persecutorie dominanti verso un tipo di preoccupazione depressiva, e allo stesso tempo una crescente capacita' di differenziare l'arroganza dal coraggio ed essere dipendenti dalla protezione e amore di figure parentali sostitutive. Dieser Artikel diskutiert den zweiten Band der Pullman Trilogie, in der die Suche der zwei Kinder, die Art ihrer Verbindung zu elterlichen Objekten zu etablieren, sich über Zeit und Raum erstreckt. Sie betreten auf ihrer Reise eine imaginäre Welt und wir beobachten, wie sich ihre Beziehung zu der einer Freundschaft und psychologischen gegenseitigen Abhängigkeit entwickelt. Es findet eine Veränderung von den dominierenden Verfolgungsängsten zu depressiven Sorgen statt, gleichzeitig mit einer wachsenden Fähigkeit, zwischen Anmassung und Mut zu unterscheiden und vom Schutz und der Liebe von Ersatzelternfiguren abzuhängen.     

How to be a Normative Expressivist1

Abstract. Expressivism can make space for normative objectivity by treating normative stances as pro or con attitudes that can be correct or incorrect. And it can answer the logical challenges that bedevil it by treating a simple normative assertion not merely as an expression of a normative stance, but as an expression of the endorsement of a proposition that is true if and only if that normative stance is correct. Although this position has superficial similarities to normative realism, it does full justice to the core expressivist thesis that, at bottom, a normative assertion expresses a normative stance rather than a factual belief.     

False Memories,Negative Affects,and Psychic Reality: The Role of Extra‐Clinical Data in Psychoanalysis1

Psychoanalysis as a treatment originated in the idea that neurosis is related to the ways in which individual psychic reality departs from actuality. Psychic reality includes memories, beliefs and their associated affects and fantasies connected with an individual's experience of the inner and outer world. The psychoanalytic determination of what meaningful memories or beliefs are inaccurate, distorted or false ordinarily relies upon principles of intra‐clinical validation. By itself, however, intra‐clinical validation is subject to limitations and pitfalls that conviction alone about what is actual cannot circumvent. Despite this fact, there are remarkably few analytic case reports demonstrating false or signifi cantly distorted memories through the use of data obtained from outside the consulting room. This paucity of reports may be related, at least in part, to the belief that the use of extra‐clinical data is essentially unanalytic or supports resistance. Based on the views that (a) psychic reality cannot be regarded as exclusively subjective or objective but is inherently both; and that (b) a goal of analysis is to achieve a different, acceptable and more accurate view of reality, the authors report a clinical case involving a confi rmably false pivotal memory and its associated negative affects. They discuss theoretical and technical considerations in utilizing extra‐clinical data during the treatment process.     

PUBLICATION BIAS: A CASE STUDY OF FOUR TEST VENDORS

This article has 2 goals. First, we discuss publication bias and explain why it presents a potential problem for industrial and organizational psychology. After reviewing the traditional failsafe N, or file drawer analysis, we introduce a more sophisticated method of publication bias analysis (trim and fill), which has been developed in the medical literature but is largely unfamiliar to industrial and organizational psychology researchers. Second, we demonstrate trim and fill by applying it to validity information reported in the technical manuals of 4 test vendors. In doing so, we assess the likelihood that criterion-related validity information provided by test publishers may overestimate test validity. In our analysis of 18 validity distributions, we found evidence of either no or minimal bias for 2 of the vendors' distributions and evidence of moderate-to-severe bias in at least 1 distribution from each of the other 2 vendors. In both cases in which publication bias was found, we noted instances in which the publishers tended to report only statistically significant correlations and that this practice was detected using publication bias methodology.     

LANGUAGE,MIND, AND WORLD: CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

Abstract: This article addresses recent claims made by Richard Rorty about antirepresentationalist theories of meaning. Rorty asserts that a faithful rendering of the core antirepresentationalist assumptions precludes even revised pieces of representationalist semantics like “refers” or “true” and epistemological correlates like “answering to the facts.” Rorty even asserts that such notions invite reactionary authoritarian elements that would impede the development of a democratic humanism. I reject this claim and assert that such notions (suitably constructed) pose no greater threat to democratic humanism than the alternatives and in fact are crucial to its maintenance and continuing success. These notions (suitably constructed) reflect a metatheoretical stance that I call “openness,” which I believe lies at the heart of both democratic humanism and the pragmatism from which Rorty claims to take his inspiration.     

FROM PAPER TO PIXELS: MOVING PERSONNEL SURVEYS TO THE WEB

Practitioners are not adequately prepared to handle concerns related to the acceptability of the online survey medium from the worker's viewpoint because the literature has only begun to address this issue. This study assessed reactions to Web-based questionnaires while moving an organization's climate survey online. Initial questions, posed via a paper-and-pencil instrument, gathered opinions concerning online surveys ( n = 437). A Web-based climate survey was then created and piloted (n = 98). Afterwards, die finalized instrument was administered ( n = 403), and a follow-up questionnaire was disseminated ( n = 175) to further gauge workers' reactions. Despite some initial anonymity concerns, most personnel were amenable to online surveying, and the Web-based medium did not appear to discourage participation from any subgroup (based on gender, race, military versus civilian classification, and workgroup size comparisons). This article, which is intended for practitioners considering the transition to Web-based surveys as well as those interested in evaluating and improving current Web-based survey processes, outlines issues regarding online survey implementation, offers a tool for evaluating survey software, and concludes with lessons learned and avenues for future research/practice.