The Uses and Abuses of Moral Theory in Bioethics

Moral theory is an important guide to bioethical decision-making, but it can confuse and mislead those who offer ethical advice to clinicians and researchers, delaying decisions that must be made in a timely fashion. In this paper I examine the ways moral theory can lead bioethicists astray. Absent a sensitivity to the empirical realities of ethical problems, moral theory 1) contributes to the disappearance of the persons caught in an ethical quandary, 2) focuses on the puzzle-solving rather than examining the conditions that generate moral problems, and 3) universalizes ethical dilemmas, overlooking local processes for resolving moral questions. Taken together, empirically informed moral theory and theoretically informed empirical research can help bioethicists transcend the is/ought problem in ethical work.     

Linguistic correlates of asymmetric motor symptom severity in Parkinson’s Disease

Asymmetric motor severity is common in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and provides a method for examining the neurobiologic mechanisms underlying cognitive and linguistic deficits associated with the disorder. In the present research, PD participants (N = 31) were assessed in terms of the asymmetry of their motor symptoms. Interviews with the participants were analyzed with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. Three measures of linguistic complexity – the proportion of verbs, proportion of function words, and sentence length – were found to be affected by symptom asymmetry. Greater left-side motor severity (and hence greater right-hemisphere dysfunction) was associated with the production of significantly fewer verbs, function words, and shorter sentences. Hence, the production of linguistic complexity in a natural language context was associated with relatively greater right hemisphere involvement. The potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying this effect are discussed.     

Effects of loss aversion on post-decision wagering: Implications for measures of awareness

Wagering contingent on a previous decision, or post-decision wagering, has recently been proposed to measure conscious awareness. Whilst intuitively appealing, it remains unclear whether economic context interacts with subjective confidence and how such interactions might impact on the measurement of awareness. Here we propose a signal detection model which predicts that advantageous wagers placed on the identity of preceding stimuli are affected by loss aversion, despite stimulus visibility remaining constant. This pattern of predicted results was evident in a psychophysical task where we independently manipulated perceptual and economic factors. Changes in wagering behaviour induced by changes in wager size were largely driven by changes in criterion, consistent with the model. However, for near-threshold stimuli, a reduction in wagering efficiency was also evident, consistent with an apparent but potentially illusory decrease in awareness of the stimulus. These findings challenge an assertion that post-decision wagering provides a direct index of subjective awareness.     

Imagining Reproduction in Science and History

Reproduction is at the core of many aspects of human existence. It is intrinsic in our biology and in the broad social constructs in which we all reside. The introduction to this special issue is designed to reflect on some of the differences between the humanities/arts and the sciences on the subject of Reproduction now and in the past. The intellectual/cultural distance between humanists and reproductive biologists is vast, yet communication between the Two Cultures has much to offer in guiding future research, pedagogy, and social policy. The challenges to communication include differences in methodology, professional protocols, specialization, and the increasing speed with which reproductive technology advances. The solutions require a new kind of student who can learn and adapt the approaches from both sides of the disciplinary divide to create new ways of understanding how our current and future concepts of reproduction may be informed by the past. This co-authored introduction reviews the range of interests represented in the essays and represents first steps of a dialogue between a humanist and a reproductive biologist who chart some of the possibilities on what the future of the subject might hold.     

Durability,Negative Impact,and Neuropsychological Predictors of Tic Suppression in Children with Chronic Tic Disorder

Chronic tic disorders are characterized by involuntary motor and vocal tics, which are influenced by contextual factors. Recent research has shown that (a) children can suppress tics for brief periods of time, (b) suppression is enhanced when programmed reinforcement is provided for tic-free intervals, and (c) short periods of suppression do not result in a paradoxical "rebound" in tic frequency when active suppression has ceased. The current study extended existing research in three important ways. First, we examined whether tic suppression ability decreased as suppression duration increased from 5 to 25 to 40 min. Second, we examined post-suppression tic frequency to test whether longer periods of suppression were more likely to be associated with a rebound effect. Finally, we explored neuropsychological predictors of tic suppression. Thirteen children with Tourette syndrome or a chronic tic disorder completed the study. Results showed that (a) tic suppression was sustained for all of the suppression durations, (b) rebound effects were not observed following any of the suppression durations, and (c) ability to suppress was correlated with omission, but not commission errors on a continuous performance task. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY AFTER ELLIS: PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

The 9 members of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy’s International Training Standards and Review Committee (of which Albert Ellis is currently one) predict the status of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) after the death of Albert Ellis, its progenitor. Most respondents addressed whether REBT will exist in its own right or be subsumed under the broad umbrella of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Reprinted from Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 17, 413–427, 1995. AMHCA. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction authorized without written permission from the American Mental Health Counselors Association. Stephen G. Weinrach was a professor of counseling and human relations at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. He died in 2004. The authors expressed their appreciation to Martin Gerstein and Allen Ivey for their generous contributions to a draft version of this article. Colleen Deeter provided valuable editorial assistance in the preparation and coordination of this project.     

Mortality and Re-enchantment: Conscious Dying as Individualized Spirituality

The emergence of conscious dying in modern society suggests that the redefinition of death as consciousness transference not only challenges the fear of death, but also empowers a personal approach to dying moments. It can be considered a form of individualized spirituality, because the meaning of consciousness transference is not exclusively rooted in institutionalized meanings of the sacred, but redefines the sacred in highly individualistic terms. This change in attitudes towards death reflects a process of re-enchantment concomitant with the individualism of the New Age.     

Honoring Teachers for Their Vocation and Potential

Abstract. One goal of the Wabash Center is to honor teachers for their potential, and hospitality has been a primary means to that end. A lesson learned is that the intention and effort to honor teachers create contexts for meaningful discussions, creative learning, and personal renewal of those engaged in workshops and consultations. The lesson is valuable for those engaged in all forms of adult learning, especially in colleges and theological schools.     

The influence of multiple readings on the missing-letter effect revisited

In searching for a target letter while reading, participants make more omissions when the target letter is embedded in frequent function words than when it is embedded in less frequent content words. According to the guidance-organization (GO) model, this occurs because high-frequency function words are processed faster than low-frequency content words, leaving less time available for letter processing. We tested this hypothesis in three experiments by increasing word-processing speed through text repetition, which should translate into higher omission rates. Participants either read the text and searched for the target letter once or read the text three times and searched for a target letter on all readings or the final reading only. In all the experiments in which participants could not anticipate the target letter to be used, results revealed the presence of a large missing-letter effect that was unaffected by familiarity with the text. In addition, when participants knew from the start the target letter to be used on the final reading, the missing-letter effect was eliminated. Repeated search of the same text for different targets increased omissions equally for function words and content words, but this finding was present even when a new text was used, suggesting that repetition of the search task, rather than familiarity with the text, was responsible.