Early sexual experiences: the role of Internet access and sexually explicit material.

The current study investigated whether viewing X-rated movies, Internet access in the home, and gender of the participant would differ between age of first initiation for oral sex, age of first initiation for sexual intercourse, and number of sexual partners. An online sample of 437 participants with an average age of 29.46 participated in the study. Each participant completed a survey that assessed early sexual behaviors and Internet and X-rated material exposure. Results discovered males with Internet access during the ages of 12 to 17 reported significantly younger ages for first oral sex compared to males without Internet access. In addition, male and female participants with Internet access, between the ages 12 to 17, reported younger ages for first sexual intercourse compared to participants without Internet access. Study limitations and implications are discussed.     

Poisoning the Well

In this paper it is shown is that although poisoning the well has generally been treated as a species of ad hominem fallacy, when you try to analyze the fallacy using ad hominem schemes, even by supplementing with related schemes like argument from position to know, the analysis ultimately fails. The main argument of the paper is taken up with proving this negative claim by applying these schemes to examples of arguments associated with the fallacy of poisoning the well. Although there is a positive finding in this quest, in that poisoning the well is shown to be based on and associated with these forms of argument in interesting ways, the paper in the end is led to the conclusion that the fallacy is irreducibly dialectical. Poisoning the well is thus analyzed as a tactic to silence an opponent violating her right to put forward arguments on an issue both parties have agreed to discuss at the confrontation stage of a critical discussion. It is concluded that it is a special form of strategic attack used by one party in the argumentation stage of a critical discussion to improperly shut down the capability of the other party for putting forward arguments of the kind needed to properly move the discussion forward.     

Seemingly Anomalous WISC-IV Full Scale IQ Scores in the American and Canadian Standardization Samples

The American and Canadian standardization samples for the fourth edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children were used to ascertain the prevalence of “seemingly anomalous” Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores for all possible sums of scaled scores combinations of the Verbal Comprehension Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, Working Memory Index, and Processing Speed Index. About 1% of FSIQ scores in both samples were anomalous (that is, fell outside the range of the four indices). Interestingly, the prevalence of anomalous scores was higher at the extremes of the FSIQ distribution. Moreover, anomalous FSIQ scores occurring above or below the mean of the FSIQ distribution (that is, 100) were larger or smaller, respectively, than any of the four indices. Furthermore, if the range of the four indices did contain the FSIQ (the non-anomalous case), when the FSIQ was below or above 100 it tended to be located distally in the half-segment of the range furthest below or above 100, respectively. A non-technical intuitive analogy from Olympic sports and a statistical explanation for the findings are provided. Important implications for practitioners are also presented. Portions of this paper were presented March 17, 2006 at the 20th annual Joseph R. Royce Research Conference, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.     

Contrasting roles for cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex in decisions and social behaviour

There is general acknowledgement that both the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex are implicated in reinforcement-guided decision making, and emotion and social behaviour. Despite the interest that these areas generate in both the cognitive neuroscience laboratory and the psychiatric clinic, ideas about the distinctive contributions made by each have only recently begun to emerge. This reflects an increasing understanding of the component processes that underlie reinforcement-guided decision making, such as the representation of reinforcement expectations, the exploration, updating and representation of action values, and the appreciation that choices are guided not just by the prospect of reward but also by the costs that action entails. Evidence is emerging to suggest that the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex make distinct contributions to each of these aspects of decision making.     

Preparing for Year 12 examinations: Predictors of psychological distress and sleep

This study examined the influence of protective factors on psychological distress and sleep among Year 12 students 1 month prior to their externally assessed examinations. The sample included 195 Year 12 students who were to sit for at least one examination. Students completed the Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire, a measure of subjective stress, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales – 21, and measures of sleep. A sizeable minority of students reported high levels of subjective stress, severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and very inadequate sleep. Freedom from negative cognitions was the factor most strongly associated with protection from psychological distress. None of the factors protected against inadequate sleep. Results showed few gender differences. The findings validate popular concern about the wellbeing of Year 12 students. They also confirm that protective factors do not provide equal protection for all individuals against all adverse outcomes.     

Which of the fallacies are fallacies of relevance?

This paper looks around among the major traditional fallacies — centering mainly around the so-called gang of eighteen — to discuss which of them should properly be classified as fallacies of relevance. The paper argues that four of these fallacies are fallacies primarily because they are failures of relevance in argumentation, while others are fallacies in a way that is more peripherally related to failures of relevance. Still others have an even more tangential relation to failures of relevance. This paper is part of a larger research project on dialecical relevance in argumentative discourse, currently underway in collaboration with Frans van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst.     

The witch hunt as a structure of argumentation

The concept of a witch hunt is frequently invoked, in recent times, to describe a kind of procedure for deciding the guilt of a person against whom an accusation has been made. But what exactly is a witch hunt? In this paper, ten conditions are formulated as a cluster of properties characterizing the witch hunt as a framework in which arguments are used: (1) pressure of social forces, (2) stigmatization, (3) climate of fear, (4) resemblance to a fair trial, (5) use of simulated evidence, (6) simulated expert testimony, (7) nonfalsifiability characteristic of evidence, (8) reversal of polarity, (9) non-openness, and (10) use of the loaded question technique. The witch hunt, as characterized by these criteria, is shown to function as a negative normative structure for evaluating argumentation used in particular cases.