The number of active palmar sweat glands (palmar sweat index,PSI) as an activation measure in field studies

The number of active sweat glands within a defined area of a fingertip, called the palmar sweat index (PSI), can be easily determined by means of the plastic fingerprint method. Two experiments were carried out to demonstrate the applicability of this technique in field research and to investigate the properties of the PSI as an activation parameter. In Experiment 1 (in a blood donors’ ward), PSI rose significantly during venous puncture and dropped after the cannula had been installed. In Experiment 2 (in a dental office), PSI values increased when patients were seated in the dental chair and rose to a higher level at the dentist’s entry. Values after treatment were significantly lower. In both experiments, it was observed that the initial assessments yielded higher PSI values. This is best explained as a reaction to the assessment procedure itself, and it is recommended that the first two prints not be used for the determination of baseline values.     

Exploring self-forgiveness

This article presents the results of a phenomenological study of the experience of self-forgiveness. On the basis of in-depth interviews with seven subjects, self-forgiveness is described not as an achievement but rather as a gift where one moves from estrangement and brokenness to a sense of at-homeness.This article is based in part on a paper presented at the Eighth International Human Science Research Conference at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, in August 1989. The authors thank their colleagues Carolyn Grissom and Jodi Kelly for their helpful suggestions.     

Christians and Muslims in search of common ground in Malaysia

According to its constitution, Malaysia is a federation and a secular state. But due to the special position given to the Malays, who usually adhere to Islam, Islam is declared to be the ‘official’ religion in the federation — although not necessarily in all of its member states, which differ in their ethnic and religious composition. The federal constitution generally guarantees religious freedom, but it provides that the propagation of other faiths among Malays and Muslims may be prohibited by law. In recent years, however, the Christians together with the other non‐Muslims feel a growing restriction of their freedom while the federal government pursues a policy of creating a common ‘Malaysian culture’ oriented towards Malay, and thus Islamic, values. This would change the open and pluralistic character of Malaysia — which is more than just peninsular Malaya — substantially and carry the danger of compartmentalizing society.     

Reviews of books

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Reviews of books

     

Does the Quine/duhem Thesis Prevent Us from Defining Analyticity?

Quine claims that holism (i.e., the Quine-Duhem thesis) prevents us from defining synonymy and analyticity (section 2). In Word and Object, he dismisses a notion of synonymy which works well even if holism is true. The notion goes back to a proposal from Grice and Strawson and runs thus: R and S are synonymous iff for all sentences T we have that the logical conjunction of R and T is stimulus-synonymous to that of S and T. Whereas Grice and Strawson did not attempt to defend this definition, I try to show that it indeed gives us a satisfactory account of synonymy. Contrary to Quine, the notion is tighter than stimulus-synonymy – particularly when applied to sentences with less than critical semantic mass (section 3). Now according to Quine, analyticity could be defined in terms of synonymy, if synonymy were to make sense: A sentence is analytic iff synonymous to self-conditionals. This leads us to the following notion of analyticity: S is analytic iff, for all sentences T, the logical conjunction of S and T is stimulus-synonymous to T; an analytic sentence does not change the semantic mass of any theory to which it may be conjoined (section 4). This notion is tighter than Quine's stimulus-analyticity; unlike stimulus-analyticity, it does not apply to those sentences from the very center of our theories which can be assented to come what may, even though they are not synthetic in the intuitive sense (section 5).     

Transparency: A Necessary Requirement for the Construct Validity of Assessment Centres

La validité de construction des centres d'évaluation et la performance perçue des candidats sont-elles sensibles au fait que ceux-ci aient ou non connaissance des dimensions jugées pertinentes? 119 étudiants de 1° cycle ont participéà une session de centre d'évaluation dans des conditions de transparence et de non transparence. II est apparu que la validité de construction était supérieure quand les participants connaissaient les dimensions recherchées et le comportement attendu de leur part. En outre, les notations des sujets de la condition "transparence" qui admettaient avoir soumis leur conduite aux dimensions attendues bénéficiaient d'une validité discriminante et convergente supérieure à celle des notations des sujets qui affirmaient n'avoir tenu aucun compte des dites dimensions. L'impact de la transparence des dimensions recherchées sur la validité de construction des centres d'évaluation est discuté.
The present study tested whether the construct validity of assessment centres and the perceived performance of candidates were influenced by whether or not the requirement dimensions were made transparent for participants. A total of 119 college students participated in an assessment centre under either transparent or nontransparent conditions. Results showed that construct validity was higher when participants knew the requirement dimensions and what behaviour was required of them. In addition, the ratings of subjects in the transparency condition who reported that they had oriented their behaviour towards the requirement dimensions had higher convergent and discriminant validity than the ratings of subjects who reported that they disregarded the requirement dimensions. The consequences of the transparency of requirement dimensions for the construct validity of assessment centres are discussed.