Critical Theory as an Approach to the Ethics of Information Security

Information security can be of high moral value. It can equally be used for immoral purposes and have undesirable consequences. In this paper we suggest that critical theory can facilitate a better understanding of possible ethical issues and can provide support when finding ways of addressing them. The paper argues that critical theory has intrinsic links to ethics and that it is possible to identify concepts frequently used in critical theory to pinpoint ethical concerns. Using the example of UK electronic medical records the paper demonstrates that a critical lens can highlight issues that traditional ethical theories tend to overlook. These are often linked to collective issues such as social and organisational structures, which philosophical ethics with its typical focus on the individual does not tend to emphasise. The paper suggests that this insight can help in developing ways of researching and innovating responsibly in the area of information security.     

Establishing the Cross-Situational Convergence of the Ability to Identify Criteria: Consistency and Prediction Across Similar and Dissimilar Assessment Center Exercises

In selection contexts, applicants’ ability to identify criteria (ATIC) refers to individual differences in the accuracy of perceptions with regard to what is required to be successful in evaluative situations. Despite promising findings regarding this construct, the cross-situational consistency necessary to infer that ATIC is a stable characteristic has generally been assessed in situations that have similar demands in terms of the competencies required for success. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the theory underlying the construct by examining convergence in ATIC scores across assessment center (AC) exercises with very different demands. Participants (N?=?173) of a developmental AC completed 6 exercises and made ATIC judgments following the completion of each exercise. These judgments were used to create ATIC scores and to examine the consistency of these scores across exercises with similar and dissimilar demands. Results showed that ATIC scores converged across both similar and dissimilar exercises. Furthermore, participants who shifted their perceptions across dissimilar exercises the most were those who scored high in ATIC, whereas across similar exercises those who scored high in ATIC were those who evaluated the situations more similarly. Overall, ATIC demonstrated strong predictive ability, as it correlated with overall AC performance (r = .40) and predicted performance equally well across pairs of similar and dissimilar exercises.     

Establishing the Measurement Equivalence of Online Selection Assessments Delivered on Mobile versus Nonmobile Devices

Recent usage data suggest job applicants are completing online selection assessments using mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) in greater numbers. To determine the appropriateness of this new technology, this study examined the measurement equivalence of selection assessments delivered on mobile and nonmobile devices (e.g., personal computers). Measurement invariance tests conducted with multigroup confirmatory factor analysis suggest mobile versions of a cognitive ability‐type assessment, two biodata assessments, a multimedia work simulation, and a text‐based situational judgment test appear to be equivalent to nonmobile versions. However, mobile device user latent means were half a standard deviation lower than their nonmobile counterparts for the situational judgment test. Implications for mobile device usage within selection and assessment are discussed.     

Knowledge and Other Norms for Assertion,Action, and Belief: A Teleological Account

Here I advance a unified account of the structure of the epistemic normativity of assertion, action, and belief. According to my Teleological Account , all of these are epistemically successful just in case they fulfill the primary aim of knowledgeability, an aim which in turn generates a host of secondary epistemic norms. The central features of the Teleological Account are these: it is compact in its reliance on a single central explanatory posit, knowledge‐centered in its insistence that knowledge sets the fundamental epistemic norm, and yet fiercely pluralistic in its acknowledgment of the legitimacy and value of a rich range of epistemic norms distinct from knowledge. Largely in virtue of this pluralist character, I argue, the Teleological Account is far superior to extant knowledge‐centered accounts.     

On Representations of Intended Structures in Foundational Theories

Journal of Philosophical Logic - Often philosophers, logicians, and mathematicians employ a notion of intended structure when talking about a branch of mathematics. In addition, we know that there...     

Can a mind have two time lines? Exploring space-time mapping in Mandarin and English speakers

Spatial representations of time are a ubiquitous feature of human cognition. Nevertheless, interesting sociolinguistic variations exist with respect to where in space people locate temporal constructs. For instance, while in English time metaphorically flows horizontally, in Mandarin an additional vertical dimension is employed. Noting that the bilingual mind can flexibly accommodate multiple representations, the present work explored whether Mandarin–English bilinguals possess two mental time lines. Across two experiments, we demonstrated that Mandarin–English bilinguals do indeed employ both horizontal and vertical representations of time. Importantly, subtle variations to cultural context were seen to shape how these time lines were deployed.     

The Arguments of the Tombs of the Unknown: Relationality and National Legitimation

In the wake of the First World War, a new form of commemoration emerged internationally, but in each case focused upon a new kind of national “hero”—the unknown soldier or warrior. The first instances appeared in France and Britain in 1920, followed by the United States in 1921, and Belgium in 1922. Other nations followed suit over the years, with the most recent WWI Unknown Soldier monument dedicated in 2004, in New Zealand. The motivational calculus of these national tombs was, of course, the massive number of combatant dead whose remains could not be identified. This paper takes up the two very different arguments composed by these commemorative sites. The first argument was directed to surviving family members and was articulated most explicitly by the French as a hypothetical enthymeme “this could be your husband, your father, your brother,” etc. The second argument has been directed to national and international collectives as a constitutive proclamation of legitimated nation-state or Empire Although this argument is particularly explicit in postcolonial gestures of independence on the part of former dominions of old empires, it was evident in even the earliest cases of the tombs of the unknown.     

Self‐efficacy in the Workplace: Linking personality to domain‐specific efficacy beliefs

Based on a social cognitive approach to personality, the role of domain‐specific efficacy beliefs were examined in two studies. Study 1 developed a measure of expectations about success in 10 different domains of common work activities with domain‐specific expectancy ratings obtained for 157 individuals along with self‐ and peer ratings of personality. Results showed that predictable relationships emerged, with the traits of the five‐factor model being important determinants of construct‐relevant efficacy beliefs. Study 2 focused on expectations about activities related to conscientiousness as a link between personality and performance across jobs. Results (N = 97) confirmed the proposed relationships and found that efficacy beliefs about trait‐relevant tasks functioned as a mediator linking conscientious and supervisor ratings of performance.     

Perceived Job Discrimination: Going beyond a science of mean effects

This comment responds to the major issues raised by the papers of Anseel (2011) and Patterson and Zibarras (2011) as discussant commentaries to my keynote paper on perceived job discrimination (PJD) and applicant propensity to case initiation in employee selection. I respond first to the two main themes noted by these authors – (i) theoretical explanations for PJD, and, (ii) methodological and research design imperatives. In conclusion, this brief paper extends these issues to propose that applicant reactions research needs to develop from being a science of mean reactions to becoming a paradigm that can account for pragmatically important outlier reactions and responses as well.     

Conceptual implicit memory and environmental context

Changes in environmental context between encoding and retrieval often affect explicit memory but research on implicit memory is equivocal. One proposal is that conceptual but not perceptual priming is influenced by context manipulations. However, findings with conceptual priming may be compromised by explicit contamination. The present study examined the effects of environmental context on conceptual explicit (category-cued recall) and implicit memory (category production). Explicit recall was reduced by context change. The implicit test results depended on test awareness (assessed with a post-test questionnaire). Among test-unaware participants, priming was equivalent for same-context and different-context groups, whereas for the test-aware, the same-context group produced more priming. Thus, when explicit contamination is controlled, changes in environmental context do not impair conceptual priming. Context dependency appears to be a general difference between implicit and explicit memory rather than a difference between conceptual and perceptual implicit memory. Finally, measures of mood indicated no changes in affect across contexts, arguing against mood mediation for the context effects in explicit recall.