Elements of a plan-based theory of speech acts

This paper explores the truism hat people think about what hey say. It proposes that, to satisfy heir own goals, people often plan their speech acts to affect their listeners' beliefs, goals, and emotional states. Such language use can be modelled by viewing speech acts as operators in a planning system, thus allowing both physical and speech acts to be integrated into plans. Methodological issues of how speech acts should be defined in a plan-based theory are illustrated by defining operators for requesting and informing. Plans containing those operators are presented and comparisons are drawn with Searle's formulation. The operators are show to be inadequate since they cannot be composed to form questions (requests to inform) and multiparty requests (requests to request). By refining the operator definitions and by identifying some of the side effects of requesting, compositional adequacy is achieved. The solution leads to a metatheoretical principle for modelling speech acts as planning operators.     

Telephone counseling increases cessation rates among young adult smokers.

During June 2000-May 2001, the American Cancer Society conducted a randomized trial of telephone counseling among more than 3,500 current smokers who called to seek assistance in quitting. All eligible callers were randomized to receive either self-help booklets through the mail or booklets and up to 5 sessions of telephone counseling. Approximately 12% (420/3,522) of study participants were 18-25 years of age. Using intent to treat analyses, 3- and 6-month quit rates among both younger and older smokers were significantly higher among those who received telephone counseling than among those who received self-help booklets only. Three-month rates were 20% versus 9% for 18-25 year olds and 15% versus 10% for older adults. Results indicate that younger smokers can benefit from telephone counseling.     

Investigation of the Multidimensional Model of Job Insecurity in China and the USA

Il y a plus d'une décennie, Ashford, Lee, and Bobko (1989) ont développé un outil de mesure standard permettant évaluer des niveaux individuels d'insécurité au travail. Les années suivantes, des chercheurs se sont demandé si la totalité des mesures composant cet instrument était nécessaire. Nous avons donc examiné l'utilité des différentes dimensions du test multidimensionnel de l'Insécurité au travail de Ashford et al. (1989) aux Etats Unis et en Chine, en éprouvant et élargissant les conclusions antérieures. Nos résultats suggèrent qu'éliminer les dimensions "caractéristiques du travail" et "impuissance" de l'instrument multidimensionnel initial est prématuré dans les deux cultures. D'autres recherches s'avèrent donc nécessaires pour déterminer l'utilité de cet outil dans sa version complète. Les implications de nos résultats sont discutées.
Over a decade ago, Ashford, Lee, and Bobko (1989 ) developed a standard measure for those interested in assessing levels of individual job insecurity. In ensuing years, some researchers have questioned whether the entire measure is necessary. We examined the usefulness of the components of Ashford et al.'s (1989 ) multidimensional measure of job insecurity in both the United States and China, as well as replicating and extending prior findings regarding antecedents and consequences. Our results suggest that the call to eliminate job features or powerlessness from the fully composite measure of job insecurity is premature in both cultures. We call for more research on the utility of the fully operationalised measure. Implications of our findings are discussed.