DIETRICH BONHOEFFER—AN ETHICS OF GOD'S APOCALYPSE?

Bonhoeffer's theology generally and his Ethics in particular have not commonly been thought to be ‘apocalyptic’. Indeed, many have adjudged him to be “almost immunized” against such eschatology. Yet, a close reading of Bonhoeffer's Ethics shows unmistakable resonances between the themes, tasks and argumentative forms of his theological ethics and the contours of pauline apocalyptic as set forth recently in the work of J. Louis Martyn and others. In this text, Bonhoeffer confronts the question ‘What has paraenesis to do with apocalypsis?’ and experiments with answers which acknowledge that ‘the incursion of a new world’ in Christ ‘renders ancient good uncouth.’ Seeing this illumines several aspects of Bonhoeffer's theological ethics, clarifies the importance of the doctrine of justification therein, and emphasises its dynamic, dialectical and pauline character.     

Spatiotemporal integration and contour interpolation revealed by a dot localization task with serial presentation paradigm

The visual system seems to integrate information that is presented over time in a spatially fragmented fashion, with the result that observers are able to report the whole shape of objects. This research considers relations in space and time that allow the integrated percepts of complete objects. Specifically, temporal characteristics for spatiotemporal integration of illusory contour and spatial characteristics of interpolated contour are examined. A serial presentation paradigm and a dot localization task were used in two experiments; observers localized a probe dot relative to a perceived contour of an illusory object. Each of four inducing figures was briefly presented in a serial order to observers and the total time of the series was manipulated. In Experiment 1 short time ranges varied up to 180 ms, whereas longer times were examined in Experiment 2. Overall, the results demonstrate that a short time allows spatiotemporal integration, and that the perceived location of contour consistently shifts with time range. These experiments suggest that the mechanism of spatiotemporal integration operates on spatial integration as a limiting case.     

A PROCESS FOR CONTENT VALIDATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCED-BASED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: AN APPROACH RESULTING IN FEDERAL COURT APPROVAL

The use of education and experience minimum qualifications (MQs) is nearly ubiquitous in employment settings, yet it appears to be rare that such MQs are validated by the end user (either via content validity or criterion-related validation approaches). In this article, we present a method of content-validating MQs that is related to a procedure noted by Levine, Maye, Ulm, and Gordon (1997) , and we demonstrate the method's application for an upper-level management position in a state agency. Our procedure is based on adherence to the Uniform Guidelines and sound professional practice. In addition, the procedure was heard in a federal court proceeding (deposition and expert testimony in relation to 3 jobs), was approved by that court, and we discuss the court's findings. In particular, the court found, "The MQ development process used by the State Personnel Department (SPD) is consistent with the requirements of the Guidelines and leads to content-valid MQs." Given data available to us for another job, we also show that the obtained MQs may result in less adverse impact than a previously determined, task-based set of MQs.     

Utility, Subjectivism and Moral Ontology

The paper seeks to show that underlying Bentham's concept of utility is a commitment to a criterion or principle of moral status distinguishing morally relevant beings from the morally irrelevant. Further, that the notion of moral status is ultimately inconsistent with Bentham's utility; that it implies something like a Kantian ethic barring the use of morally relevant beings as mere means to some other's satisfaction, an ethic which suitably interpreted may be more useful in defence of some concerns for which Bentham has traditionally been cited, animal rights for example. The paper concludes by noting the history and politics of moral status and argues that the concept involves a fusion of fact and value, the empirical and the evaluative, undermining assumptions of a rigid separation of the two and the consequent essential subjectivity of the latter.     

PRIOR SELECTION CAUSES BIASED ESTIMATES OF STANDARDIZED ETHNIC GROUP DIFFERENCES: SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS

Assessment of standardized ethnic group differences ( d ) on predictors of job performance has become an important issue for applied psychologists. A number of studies have used an experimental design in which the predictor of interest was administered after an initial screening predictor. We examined the influence of prior selection on a first predictor on observed ds for second predictors in multiple-hurdle selection systems. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation indicate observed dson the second predictor are underestimated in the presence of prior selection on another predictor. More important, "downward bias" in observed standardized ethnic group difference is substantial (30-70%) when selection ratios are low, standardized ethnic group differences on the screening predictor are high, and when the first and second predictors correlate above .30. Researchers should consider the influence of range restriction in designing studies of ethnic group differences and comparing ds across predictors, particularly when data are collected under a multiple-hurdle design.