Frequency of judgment as a context-like determinant of predictive judgments

Several studies have shown that predictive and causal judgments vary depending on whether the question used to assess the relationship between events is presented after each piece of information or only after all the available information has been observed. This effect could be understood by assuming that in the two cases people perceive that the test question requires that different sets of evidence be taken into account. This hypothesis is tested in the present experiments through contextual manipulations that take place at the time of training and at the time of test. Our results show that people use this contextual information to infer which set of events should be considered when making their subjective assessments. The results are at odds with current theoretical approaches, but it is possible to develop mechanisms that would allow these models to account for the observed evidence.     

Treatment of children with ADHD: psychopedagogical program at school versus psychostimulant medication

This study examined the impact of medication management compared to a psycho-educational program on parent and teacher ratings of children with combined type ADHD. The study lasted 14 weeks and included 50 children. 17 children took medication, 17 received psycho-educational intervention, and 16 children were assigned to the control group. The measures used were the IOWA Conners Scale, the School Problem Inventory, the Abbreviated Conners, and the DSM-IV Inattention-Disorganization and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity rating scales. Regarding teacher ratings, improvements were observed on: a) inattention and school problems in the medication group versus the control group; and b) hyperactivity symptoms in the psycho-pedagogical group versus the control and medication groups. Regarding to parent ratings, improvements were observed on: a)inattention in the psycho-pedagogical group versus the control and medication groups; and b) hyperactivity symptoms in the psycho-pedagogical group versus the control and the medication groups.     

Measuring stress resilience and coping in vulnerable youth: the Social Competence Interview

A brief interview to measure stress coping capabilities was developed and tested in 4 samples of African American and White adolescents in low-income neighborhoods of 2 large U.S. cities. The Social Competence Interview (SCI) is a 10-min social stressor that assesses physiological and social-emotional responses to a recurring real-life problem. A new behavioral coding system using audiotapes permits reliable and valid assessment of components of social competence, including Interpersonal Skills (expressiveness, empathy), Goal-Oriented Strivings in coping (self defense, social acceptance, competitiveness, stimulation-pleasure, approval, self improvement), and Social Impact (high vs. low affiliation/control). High SCI expressiveness and self-defensive striving create a critical-aggressive social impact, which is correlated with increased hostility and anger.     

Children's Moral Emotion Attribution in the Happy Victimizer Task: The Role of Response Format

Previous research in the happy victimizer tradition indicated that preschool and early elementary school children attribute positive emotions to the violator of a moral norm, whereas older children attribute negative (moral) emotions. Cognitive and motivational processes have been suggested to underlie this developmental shift. The current research investigated whether making the happy victimizer task less cognitively demanding by providing children with alternative response formats would increase their attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation. In Study 1, 93 British children aged 4–7 years old responded to the happy victimizer questions either in a normal condition (where they spontaneously pointed with a finger), a wait condition (where they had to wait before giving their answers), or an arrow condition (where they had to point with a paper arrow). In Study 2, 40 Spanish children aged 4 years old responded to the happy victimizer task either in a normal or a wait condition. In both studies, participants' attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation was significantly higher in the conditions with alternative response formats (wait, arrow) than in the normal condition. The role of cognitive abilities for emotion attribution in the happy victimizer task is discussed.     

Debating drunk driving: The construction of causal explanations in television discussion programmes

The mass media are an important source of social understandings and representations. The growing genre of audience discussion programmes functions as a public forum for airing opinions on issues of social concern. The genre is structured so as to involve viewers, to validate ordinary experiences and to express opinion. Four programmes on drunk driving were analysed for the causal explanations they offer viewers. The causes, effects and causal interconnections used within each programme were analysed, and networks of the overall representations of drunk driving were constructed. These showed a broad consensus of causes and effects across programmes, but different explanations in terms of locus, stability and controllability. Programmes typically offered lists of important factors, rather than structured arguments, despite the debating framework. There was an emphasis on external, stable, controllable causes in the programmes.     

Effects of intergroup similarity on intergroup relations

We examined the impact of intergroup similarity on two aspects of intergroup relations. Drawing on social identity and belief congruence theory, we hypothesized that — at high levels of intergroup similarity — increasing similarity has dual, seemingly opposed effects: It increases ingroup favouritism in evaluations but also increases readiness for social contact with the outgroup. We further hypothesized that both effects are moderated by the strength of individuals' identification with their ingroup. Finally, we hypothesized that there is ingroup favouritism on dimensions relevant for defining the group, but outgroup favouritism on dimensions irrelevant for this purpose. One hundred and forty-nine students from two prestigious high schools, who were assigned to one of three levels of manipulated similarity between their schools, evaluated both schools on dimensions relevant and irrelevant to the school context and expressed their readiness for social contact with the other school. Ingroup favouritism appeared on relevant dimensions and outgroup favouritism on irrelevant dimensions. As predicted, for those highly identified with their ingroup, intergroup similarity led to greater ingroup favouritism in evaluations on relevant dimensions but to increased readiness for outgroup social contact. Implications for interpreting inconsistent results of past research and for specifying conditions for intergroup bias are discussed.     

Identity Politics and Dialectical Reason: Beyond an Epistemology of Provenance

Identity politics is important within feminism. However, it often presupposes an overly subjectivist theory of knowledge that I term an epistemology of provenance. I explore some works of feminist standpoint theory that begin to address the difficulties of such an epistemology. I then bring Sartre's account of knowledge in the Critique of Dialectical Reason to bear on these difficulties, arguing that his work offers tools for addressing them more adequately.     

R&D system in the petrochemical industry in Brazil: Institutional challenge under privatization

Brazil has achieved a tremendous, short-term growth in its petrochemical sector. In 1989 it placed eleventh in the world ranking of petrochemical producers. The main factor responsible for this success was the establishment of three integrated petrochemical complexes in which the government stimulated joint-ventures between a state enterprise, national private and foreign corporations: the so-called “tripartite model.” In this model, foreign partners should provide the necessary technology, state enterprise financial capital and access to raw materials, and the national private bouregoisie legitimacy to the state, as well as, access to the Brazilian market. The tripartite model promoted the creation of several small, single-product petrochemical firms without entrepreneurial scale to carry out efficient R&;D activities. The result is that the Brazilian petrochemical sector is at risk of becoming technologically static and, consequently, uncompetitive; hampering further national capital accumulation. The R&;D system, originally designed to complement the inventive activities of firms, was based on government research centers. In 1988, a new institutional design was proposed, based on a research center managed by the state holding company PETROQUISA. The conception changed from state intervention toward shared responsability by stockholders. This institutional change opens two basic questions: Given that the locus of innovation in this industry has been historically located in the firm, can any other institutional arrangement substitute it?; and, will it be possible, given the government privatization program, to develop a R&;D system on the assumption that stockholders are willing to share the cost of R&;D activities? This article addresses these two questions.