History,knowledge, and essence in the early Marx

A careful study of the concept of essence which is found in Marx's early writings will show that his theory of knowledge does not involve, as is often claimed, the acceptance of an unknown thing-in-itself and does not imply that we can only know objects as they have been constituted for-us. We can know things as they are in-themselves. To show this will also require that we recognize and explain how the early Marx can hold that the object of knowledge is both constituted and that it reflects or copies things as they are in-themselves.     

The deterrent effect of capital punishment during the 1950s

This investigation examines the deterrence hypothesis of an inverse relationship between state execution rates and homicides. Although this question has received some attention in recent studies, the findings of these investigations are mixed. Cross-sectional analyses of states have typically shown execution and homicide rates to be positively associated, while at least two national time-series studies report support for the deterrence hypothesis. To test whether these divergent findings are result of the two different methodologies employed (cross-sectional vs. time-series), a methodology that combines the strengths of each is used in the present study. For the period 1950 to 1960, we examine cross-sectionally for states the relationship between changes in execution rates and changes in murder rates. This analysis does not find support for the deterrence argument for the certainty of the death penalty when a number of models of the execution rate--murder rate relationship are considered, and when a variety of imprisonment and socio-demographic factors are considered as control variables.     

Time-interval acquisition on a 6502-based microcomputer

A versatile machine language subroutine and accompanying interface circuitry enable a 6502-based computer to collect time intervals between data events that can be represented by voltage transients. Intervals within the range of 150 microsec to 13.98 min can be collected with a resolution of ±25 microsec. Electrical interface circuitry includes signal conditioning and optical isolation and also allows user-specification of threshold levels on the data line. The machine language software timing routine and sequential interval handler include a 24-bit interval timer, a 16-bit interval counter, user-specified number and length of acquisition periods, and an out-of-memory tester. Although presented for implementation on the Apple II series of microcomputers, the transportability of the routine to other 6502-based machines is addressed.     

Fathers' involvement in their children's healthcare.

Fathers' involvement in the routine healthcare of young children was investigated, and fathers' relative participation in two tasks, staying home with a sick child and taking the child to the doctor or dentist, was assessed. The relationships between fathers' involvement in healthcare and several other measures, including mothers' employment status, fathers' attitudes toward women's rights and roles, the amount of time fathers spent at work, and fathers' involvement in housework, were also examined. The subjects were 50 fathers of young children in intact, White, middle-class families. Both staying home with a sick child and taking a child to the doctor or dentist were usually performed by mothers, but when mothers were employed, fathers were significantly more involved, regardless of the child's sex. Staying home with a sick child and taking a child to the doctor or dentist were positively related to fathers' involvement in housework. Fathers' staying home with a sick child was significantly correlated with fewer hours at work and liberal attitudes toward women's rights and roles; these variables were not related to taking a child to the doctor or dentist. Positive correlations between fathers' involvement in housework and staying home with a sick child and taking a child to the doctor or dentist suggests that fathers' involvement in childcare is viewed as an aspect of family work.     

Eco on Dewey

This study seeks to examine Umberto Eco's views of the key ideas in John Dewey's Art as Experience. Eco's proferred suggestion of transactional psychology as a corrective to Dewey's views is criticized as a misreading of Dewey's position.     

Comparison of two integrity tests based upon youthful or adult attitudes and experiences

To assess the effects on selection of two different approaches to the measurement of employment applicants' integrity, score data from two integrity tests were compared. A sample of 225 applicants to a drug supply company were administered both the Life Experience Inventory-Revised (LEI-R) and the Personnel Selection Inventory (PSI-3). The LEI-R items were largely derived from Freudian theory about the effects of childhood and youthful experiences on adult attitudes and behavior; the PSI-3 items were based upon the hypothesis that direct questions about deviant criminal and delinquent behavior and attitudes will yield responses predictive of employee integrity. Both the subscale scores and the total scores of the two inventories exhibited positive and moderately high intercorrelations. A principal (or common) factors analysis yielded two factors: one apparently a general deviance factor and the other a two-cluster LEI/PSI factor. Similar selection strategies (same cut-off score rules) yielded hit (agreement) rates from 71 to 82 percent. Implications for applicant integrity testing are discussed.     

Power and influence in the environment of family therapy*

This paper explores some of the ways in which family therapy theory and practice limits an appreciation of the contexts of families and family therapists. It focuses particularly upon how the rules which underlie patterns of relationships in social systems are made and maintained more by one part of a system than by another, and considers this (a) within families, (b) within various aspects of the social environment of families, and (c) within the organizational contexts of family therapists. It then proposes that the systemic thinking which family therapists apply to families is potentially applicable to wider contexts including international relationships.