UNDEFEATED NATURALISM

Philosophical Studies -     

Sex differences in the object representations in the dreams of adolescents

The present study explored sex and age differences in the level of object representations and human movement in the dreams of adolescents. In order to test empirically the contention that early object relations are significantly linked to the formation of children’s gender identity, 389 dreams recorded by 115 adolescents, ages 15–18, were scored for object representations and levels of human movement. As predicted, there were significant differences in the quality of object representations in male and female adolescent’s dream content. In addition, female’s dreams contained significantly higher amounts of human movement than males’ dreams although these differences may well be attributable to longer dream narratives in the female sample. Further, these sex differences were most pronounced at the highest end of the sample age range. Results are discussed in terms of object relations adolescent development. The authors wish to thank Patricia Heenan, M.A., for her invaluable assistance with data management, Alice Pope, Ph.D., for her helpful suggestions, and Dave Cowen, Ph.D., for making his data available to us. Portions of this paper were presented at the Association for the Study of Dreams, June 1996, Berkeley, CA.     

EXPERIENCE AND THE WATER-LEVEL TASK REVISITED:

Abstract— A recently published study (Hecht & Proffitt, 1995) reported that adults in Munich, Germany, whose occupations involved considerable experience with liquids in containers, were less accurate on Piaget's water-level task than were comparable adults in other occupations. The present study attempted to replicate that experiment with a North American sample, but using lighter controls. The resulting data and conclusions contrast with those of the original study and indicate instead, that individuals in occupations that provide much experience with liquids in containers (bartenders, waiters and waitresses) are, in fact, more accurate on two versions of the water level task than individuals of equivalent gender, age, and education in control occupations (salespeople, clerical worker). The data are discussed in terms of both the impact and the limit s of experience on spatial-task performance.     

The effects of divorce and custody arrangements on children's behaviour, development and adjustment

A group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology,social welfare, and law met at a conference centre in Middleburg, Virginiaon December 1-4, 1994, under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Instituteof Child Health and Human Development. The group's mandate was to evaluateexisting knowledge regarding the ways in which children are affected bydivorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Many of thediscussions also addressed the ways in which the adverse effects of divorcemight be ameliorated by changes in policy or practice. This documentrepresents a statement co-signed by most of the participants summarizingareas of agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in this areaand outlining topics in need of further research. The report is designed toguide various legislatures, the judiciary, the bar, and the various mentalhealth professionals who are involved in counselling or educating familiesexperiencing separation or divorce, as well as those who mediate oradjudicate the disputes regarding the custody of minor children. Thepreliminary draft of this consensus document was prepared by Michael E. Lamband Kathleen J. Sternberg following the three-day conference, withadditional redrafting by Ross A. Thompson. The draft was reviewed andrevised by the other participants over the ensuing months. This report,revised in accordance with the participants' comments, is a product of this process.     

The professional engineer: Virtues and learning

The ethical codes of the professional engineering bodies identify the responsibilities of the engineer. Of equal importance to the codes are the virtues which enable the engineer to fulfil these responsibilities. After briefly reviewing such virtues this paper argues that the systematic learning of virtues is possible in a formal way through learner centred learning. Central to this learning experience is the development of integrity which focuses the other major virtues and enables reflection upon them. A review of undergraduate courses suggests how this can be achieved. Rev’d. Dr. Simon Robinson is a lecturer in the Centre for Business and Professional Ethics at the University of Leeds.     

On networks: Network therapy,network intervention and networking

The theories, techniques, and applications of interventions in social networks have multiplied in recent years. This brief paper traces the significant clinical literature on networks, at the same time pointing out similarities with tribal healing in primitive societies. Present-day applications to human support systems, from half-way houses to therapeutic family reunions, are included. Network therapy is a system model of psychotherapy and as such is an older, more public model than the one to one therapies. This has important implications for differing views of privacy and confidentiality, and of holistic versus scientific healing.     

Cerebral lateralization of deaf and hearing individuals for linguistic comparison judgments.

A group of congenitally deaf adults and a group of hearing adults, both fluent in sign language, were tested to determine cerebral lateralization. In the most revealing task, subjects were given a series of trials in which they were fist presented with a videotaped sign and then with a word exposed tachistoscopically to the right visual field or left visual field, and were required to judge whether the word corresponded to the sign or not. The results suggested that the comparison processes involved in the decision were performed more efficiently by the left hemisphere for hearing subjects and by the right hemisphere for deaf subjects. However, the deaf subjects performed as well as the hearing subjects in the left hemisphere, suggesting that the deaf are not impeded by their auditory-speech handicap from developing the left hemisphere for at least some types of linguistic processing.