A critique and extension of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemma Test

Critical reading of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) suggests that it measures two basic kinds of moral dimensions: (1) “Negative-passive” moral choices which require the child to resist peer pressure to violate conventional norms in situations fraught with potential adult sanctions, and (2) “Positive-active” moral choices which require performance of an act that affirms a moral principle and implies a benefit for recipients of the act. To test the validity of these distinctions, additional positive-active type dilemmas were constructed to balance the overemphasis on negative-passive situations found in the original MDT. This expanded MDT was then administered to samples of Mormon, Catholic and public school children. Responses from all samples were subjected to factor and cluster analyses and then to a “multitrait-multimethod matrix”. These analyses provide support for the need for making moral sub-distinctions by producing item clusters that are consistently based on the a priori defined negative-passive and positive-active dimensions. A third dimension is also discernable among certain of the original MDT items, but it represents an achievement orientation of only-secondary moral significance. Implications of these conceptual distinctions for linking different kinds of moral responses to different kinds of social contexts are discussed.     

Die historisch-hermeneutischen Disziplinen im System der Wissenschaften

Gegen einheitswissenschaftliche Nivellierung sind Grundlagen-, Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften zu unterscheiden (weniger als Unterschied von Gegenständen als von Fragestellungen und Vorgehensweisen). Zu den Kulturwissenschaften gehören die historisch-hermeneutischen Disziplinen, und zwar als handlungsverstehende Wissenschaften unter erschwerten Bedingungen. Die Geschichtswissenschaft soll die verborgenen Gründe und Zwecke vergangener Handlungen aufklären, die Textwissenschaften in Form problematischer Texte vorliegende Sprachhandlungen. Texte können in verschiedener Hinsicht problematisch sein: für ein Verstehensinteresse an begründeten Behauptungen oder an subjektiver Bekundung (in selbstdarstellender oder motivierender Absicht). Entsprechend ist hier methodisch zwischen apophantischer und ästhetischer Texthermeneutik zu unterscheiden. Ziel aller historisch-hermeneutischen Fächer sollte kritische Gegenwartsorientierung sein.     

Das A-B-C der Sprache und das A-B-C der Gedanken

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Responding to Sexual Objectification: The Role of Emotions in Influencing Willingness to Undertake Different Types of Action

Sex Roles - Women may respond to being sexual objectified in different ways, such as confronting the perpetrator, ignoring the action, blaming oneself or considering the action as flattering....     

Struggle for scientific authority: The reception of Watson's Behaviorism, 1913–1920

Supported by the Zeitgeist, Behaviorism supposedly spread quickly through American psychology after the publication of Watson's manifesto in 1913. But an extensive search of published and unpublished source material from 1913 to 1920 shows only limited support and a good deal of resistance; documentary evidence for the conversion of psychologists to radical behaviorism during these years is hard to find. Though faced with some troubling problems, the discipline was not eager to renounce its established scientific authority and expertise on the mind. Acceptance of Watson's claims for a new authority required drastic shifts in psychologists' perception of reality, and in their interests to problems of social control.     

Von der Substanz

Ohne ZusammenfassungEin unveröffentlichter Text (Nachlaß-Paginierung: 30604 – 30620) Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Wilhelm BaumgartnerWahrscheinlich Palermo, März 1900; zur Datierung vgl. die inhaltliche Übereinstimmung mit dem Brief an A. Marty vom 28.3.1900 im Anhang.Emilie grüsst.Emilie Brentano. Der Briefwechsel Brentano-Marty wird z.Z. bei der Franz Brentano Forschung an der Universität Würzburg von W. Baumgartner für eine kritische Edition bearbeitet.     

A systematic review of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis,psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: progress and challenges

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to critically appraise the literature on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Method: A systematic search of electronic databases was carried out. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using a quality assessment tool and comparisons were made with a review of the quality of research on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for people with IDD. Results: The search yielded 13 papers which provided evidence for the effectiveness but not efficacy of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy; but none were found for psychoanalysis. The quality of the research was generally poor compared to the current research on the effectiveness of CBT. Conclusions: Positive outcomes have been indicated for psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy with people with IDD. Larger scale, more controlled research is necessary to advance the evidence base.