Normativity in Deleuze and Guattari's concept of philosophy

The following paper is an exposition and analysis of Deleuze and Guattari's (hereafter called D&G) vision for philosophy. In sections I and II I discuss two defining features of this vision: respectively, the philosopher as creator and the concept as the philosopher's creation. In the final section I argue that D&G's vision is supported by a normative principle that is itself not intuitively obvious. I conclude that while D&G's vision for philosophy charts out a brave space for philosophy, one may adopt the spirit of their vision without embracing their normative principle.     

Structural Validation of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale

Despite the prolific use of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), there have been no prior studies using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to compare competing HDRS latent structures. The current study undertakes this task, examining CFAs on 397 older adults on the most stable latent models previously posited and a new rationally derived model by Cole and Motivala. CFAs were evaluated in their original first-order structure and in hierarchically related counterparts. All hierarchical models performed significantly better than their first-order counterparts. Moreover, the hierarchical Cole and Motivala model was significantly better on all comparative criteria than any of the other models. However, none of the tested models obtained sufficient fit with the data suggesting psychometric, scoring, or content limitations of the scale.     

Attitudes and beliefs in a marching band: stereotyping and accentuation in a favorable intergroup context

Inter‐group perception was examined in a context characterized by positive interdependence and extensive contact across group boundaries. The attitudes and beliefs of the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections of a university marching band were examined using measures of ingroup favoritism, outgroup homogeneity, and 12 scales assessing adult temperament. Although there was no evidence of ingroup favoritism or outgroup homogeneity, and few actual temperament differences across groups, stereotypic expectations based on temperament characteristics were strong. For each target group, strength of stereotype was accentuated by ingroup judges and, most strongly, by outgroup judges. Accentuation of differences between groups occurred when the expectation, and not the reality, of group differences were present. Correlations between contact measures and individual measures of perceived ingroup–outgroup differences were generally low, but suggested that degree of contact correlated positively, rather than negatively, with the magnitude of perceived differences between groups. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coming out discourses of Asian American lesbians

The authors examined the accounts of a small group of Asian American lesbians regarding their experiences forming their sexual identities. Discourse analysis and the social constructionist approach were applied to the subjects’ accounts of their coming out. Focus group subjects’ discussions were transcribed in order to depict the practices they employed to render their experiences meaningful to themselves and others. There was an internal dialectical process between the subjects’ subjective and objective reality, during which they came to terms with their subjective identity, or came out to themselves. There was also an external dialectical process between the subjects and society, during which they negotiated with their objective world for their subjective identity, or came out to the public in general and to their families in particular. The research suggests that in these dialectical processes, Asian cultural values and beliefs served as the means through which the conflict between the subjects’ interiority and their social networks was reconciled. The desire to reabsorb the subjects served to motivate the family members to work collaboratively to overcome cultural barriers to acceptance. The authors are grateful for the help of Robert Dominguez and all the participants who made the study possible.     

Outcome of psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy

A study of 100 consecutive persons who terminated, once a week, psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy shows that it is an effective treatment for neurotic persons with good ego strength who remain in therapy a year or longer. Analytically oriented group therapy was less effective in treating severely ego-impaired persons, and group members of all levels of ego strength often required augmentation of their group therapy by individual sessions and psychotropic medications. Early dropouts (less than 30 sessions) seemed related to lack of motivation and poor fit with the group. Later dropouts (sessions 30–60) seemed related to low ego strength.     

Meaningful pastoral intimacy

Closeness, warmth, perhaps touching, and some understanding are characteristic of interpersonal relationships. However, there are dangers of intrusion and insensitivity when persons invite pastors to become intimate. Superficial and false intimacy may substitute for closeness. Pastoral care should transcend the primitive holy man role, which is cold because the holy is desexualized. Intimacy is a closeness between persons in areas we tend to guard as personal.He is the author ofThe Power to Bless andRaise the Dead.     

Velocity gradients and relative depth perception

The effectiveness of velocity gradients in providing relative depth information was assessed using random dot patterns translating horizontally. The gradients simulated two planes meeting at a horizontal line at the center, and subjects judged whether the center was the nearest or farthest part of the display. Accuracy increased with maximum dot speed, exceeding 90% in conditions combining the highest speed (10.4^o/sec) and longer of two display durations (10 sec) with unrestricted fixation. Separate experiments examined a rotational component perceived in the motion of the planes and the latency in reporting a rigid organization of the displays. Possible reasons for the chance accuracy found by Farber and McConkie (1979) and alternative explanations of the effect of maximum dot speed on accuracy are discussed. A model is presented that accounts for the effects of dot speed and display duration on the accuracy of relative depth judgments.     

The use of occlusion to resolve ambiguity in parallel projections

Previous research has shown that the three-dimensional structure of an object usually can be perceived when viewing a parallel projection of the object rotating in depth. Accurate judgments of direction of rotation, however, have been found only with polar projections. The present study demonstrated that accurate direction judgments can occur with parallel projections if occlusion is included in the displays. The stimuli were parallel projections of pentagonal texture elements on the surface of a rotating sphere. In one condition, the elements were occluded as they rounded the edge of an opaque sphere. In another condition, elements on the far surface of a transparent sphere were occluded by elements on the near surface. Accuracy of direction judgments was consistently high in the first condition and increased monotonically with element size in the second condition, from chance to over 80% correct. The relationship of these results to the general issue of perceptually combining structure in depth information from one source with relative distance information from another source is discussed.