Toward an Ecological Theory of the Norms of Practical Deliberation

Abstract: Practical deliberation is deliberation concerning what to do governed by norms on intention (e.g. means‐end coherence and consistency), which are taken to be a mark of rational deliberation. According to the theory of practical deliberation I develop in this paper we should think of the norms of rational practical deliberation ecologically: that is, the norms that constitute rational practical deliberation depend on the complex interaction between the psychological capacities of the agent in question and the agent's environment. I argue that this view does a better job of justifying particular norms for practical deliberation than intrinsic or constitutivist theories. Finally, I argue against the Myth Theory of deliberation, which takes there to be no such norms on deliberation.     

Testing the effects of an expectancy-based intervention among adolescents: Can placebos be used to enhance physical health?

It has been suggested that the well-known health benefits associated with exercise can be explained by a placebo effect, and that greater effort should be given to convince people that their current behaviors have desirable health consequences. The overall purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of this "mind-set matters" hypothesis through the use of an expectancy-based intervention with adolescents. The study involved a four week randomized controlled trial with 348 Grade 9 adolescents (M (age)?=?14.07 yrs, SD?=?0.30), from four high schools, taking part in either a placebo-intervention condition (n?=?188) or a control condition (n?=?160). Participants in the placebo-intervention condition were informed that what they are already doing in school physical education lessons fulfills current recommendations for an active lifestyle. Participants in the control condition were not given this information. Four weeks after the intervention, adolescents in the placebo-intervention condition did not demonstrate significant changes in physiological health-related measures (diet, weight, body mass index, percentage body fat, heart rate, mean arterial pressure). The findings question the external validity of the "mind-set matters" hypothesis with adolescents, and suggest that simply encouraging adolescents to believe that they are healthy may not enable them to respond with improved indicators of physical health.     

Pediatric Feeding Disorders: A Quantitative Synthesis of Treatment Outcomes

A systematic review of the literature regarding treatment of pediatric feeding disorders was conducted. Articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (1970–2010) evaluating treatment of severe food refusal or selectivity were identified. Studies demonstrating strict experimental control were selected and analyzed. Forty-eight single-case research studies reporting outcomes for 96 participants were included in the review. Most children presented with complex medical and developmental concerns and were treated at multidisciplinary feeding disorders programs. All studies involved behavioral intervention; no well-controlled studies evaluating feeding interventions by other theoretical perspectives or clinical disciplines met inclusion criteria. Results indicated that behavioral intervention was associated with significant improvements in feeding behavior. Clinical and research implications are discussed, including movement toward the identification of key behavioral antecedents and consequences that promote appropriate mealtime performance, as well as the need to better document outcomes beyond behavioral improvements, such as changes in anthropometric parameters, generalization of treatment gains to caregivers, and improvements in nutritional status.     

Written emotional disclosure buffers the effects of social constraints on distress among cancer patients.

The aims of the present study were to examine whether written emotional disclosure would reduce distress among cancer patients and whether it would buffer the effects of high levels of social constraint (negative social responses to patients' expressions of emotion regarding their cancer) on distress. Cancer patients (N=104) were randomly assigned to write about their emotions regarding their cancer 20 min a day for 3 days or to write about a nonemotional topic. They completed questionnaires at baseline and 6 months postintervention. Results showed that written disclosure buffered the effects of social constraints on stress at the 6-month follow-up and that avoidance partly mediated these effects. The present data reinforce the notion that interventions should be tailored to patients' needs.     

Why Do People Engage in Collective Action? Revisiting the Role of Perceived Effectiveness

Research has shown limited support for the notion that perceived effectiveness of collective action is a predictor of intentions to engage in collective action. One reason may be that effectiveness has been in terms of whether the action will influence key decision makers. We argue that the effectiveness of collective action might be judged by other criteria, such as whether it influences third parties, builds an oppositional movement, and expresses values. Two hundred and thirty one attendees at a rally rated the effectiveness of the rally and their intentions to engage in future collective action. For those participants who were not members of an organization, intentions were linked to the perceived effectiveness of the rally in expressing values and influencing the public. For those who were members of an organization, intentions were linked only to the effectiveness of the rally in building an oppositional movement.     

Enlisting the Influence of Others: Alternative Strategies for Persuasive Media Campaigns

This study investigated an Australian antidrug campaign that targeted adolescents directly and indirectly via recruiting parents into drug prevention. Eighty-six parent–child dyads completed surveys measuring campaign evaluations, discussions about drugs, and beliefs about risks to self (own child) and to the average young Australian. Adolescents were optimistic about risks, and media impact was evident only in perceptions of risk to others. Parents were less optimistic, and perceptions of campaign quality predicted perceived risk to own child and discussion about drugs. However, this was moderated by negative affect associated with the campaign. There was some evidence that discussions influenced adolescents' perceptions of personal risk. This demonstrates the importance of individual responses and communication processes in determining the impact of persuasive media messages.     

When Do Replies to the Evolutionary Debunking Argument Against Moral Realism Beg the Question?

Some proponents of the evolutionary debunking argument against moral realism believe that replies that assume substantive moral claims beg the question. In this paper, I give a new account of what's wrong with such replies. On this account, many realists beg the question when they rely on substantive moral claims in their replies to the argument, but naturalists do not. While this account generalizes to some other domains, it allows perceptual and inductive realism to remain undebunked.     

Priming Effects in Explicit and Implicit Memory for Textual Advertisements

Les effets d’une amorce sur les mémoires implicite et explicite à propos d’un produit placé dans un texte ont été mis à l’épreuve sous deux conditions, l’une où l’attention était orientée vers (encodage intentionnel) ou détournée du produit (encodage incident). Dans la première expérience, les caractéristiques positives d’un produit avaient plus de chances que les négatives d’être restituées, ce qui a conduit à un effet d’assimilation dans une condition témoin. Par contre, lorsque les particularités du produit étaient en amorec, le rappel explicite des caractéristiques négatives augmentait, débouchant sur un effet de contraste. L’impact de l’amorce était limitéà la condition d’encodage intentionnel, ce qui signifiait un effacement de l’information incompatible avec l’amorce. Dans la deuxième expérience, les épreuves de mémoires implicites perceptuelle et sémantique ont montré des effets d’amorce équivalents suite à l’encodage du produit, qu’il soit intentionnel ou incident. Par suite et contrairement à la mémoire explicite, la mémoire implicite du produit n’était pas conditionnée par l’attention. L’identification de ces limites de l’amorçage est utile aux gens de marketing qui envisagent ce consevoir une publicité exploitant les mémoires explicite et implicite d’un produit. The effects of priming on explicit and implicit memory about a product placed within a narrative were tested under conditions in which attention was drawn to (intentional encoding) or away from (incidental encoding) the product. In Experiment 1, positive features of a product were more likely to be recalled than negative features leading to an assimilation effect in a baseline condition. When the product characteristic was primed, however, explicit recall of the negative features increased resulting in a contrast effect. The impact of priming was restricted to the intentional encoding condition reflecting resolution of information incongruent with the prime. In Experiment 2, perceptual and semantic implicit memory tests revealed equivalent priming effects following both intentional and incidental encoding of the product. Thus, unlike explicit memory, implicit memory for the product was not limited by attention. Recognition of these boundary conditions of priming informs marketers intending to design advertising that taps explicit and implicit memory for a product.     

Monitoring visual activity in infant rhesus monkeys: Method and calibration

This paper describes the use of an infrared corneal reflection technique to monitor visual activity in infant rhesus monkeys. To establish the validity of the method, calibration data were collected and a mathematical correction for systematic sources of error was used.