Professional responsibility: The role of the engineer in society

We argue that the practice of engineering does not exist outside the domain of societal interests. That is, the practice of engineering has an inherent (and unavoidable) impact on society. Engineering is based upon that relationship with society (inter alia). An engineer’s conduct (as captured in professional codes of conduct) toward other engineers, toward employers, toward clients, and toward the public is an essential part of the life of a professional engineer, yet the education process and professional societies pay inadequate attention to the area. If one adopts Skooglund’s definition of professional ethics^I (how we agree to relate to one another), then the codes of professional conduct lay out a road map for professional relationships. As professionals, engineers need to internalize their codes and to realize that they have a personal stake in the application of codes as well as the process of developing the codes. Yet, most engineers view professional codes as static statements developed by “others” with little (or no) input from the individual engineer. Complicating the problem, questions of professionalism (such as ethics) are frequently viewed as topics outside the normal realm of engineering analysis and design. In reality, professional responsibility is an integral part of the engineering process.     

Teleological Essentialism: Generalized

Natural/social kind essentialism is the view that natural kind categories, both living and non-living natural kinds, as well as social kinds (e.g., race, gender), are essentialized. On this view, artifactual kinds are not essentialized. Our view—teleological essentialism—is that a broad range of categories are essentialized in terms of teleology, including artifacts. Utilizing the same kinds of experiments typically used to provide evidence of essentialist thinking—involving superficial change (study 1), transformation of insides (study 2), and inferences about offspring (study 3)—we find support for the view that a broad range of categories—living natural kinds, non-living natural kinds, and artifactual kinds—are essentialized in terms of teleology. Study 4 tests a unique prediction of teleological essentialism and also provides evidence that people make inferences about purposes which in turn guide categorization judgments.     

The Missouri Developmental Disability Resource Center: A Web site responding to the critical need for information of parents with a child with a disability

One of the greatest problems for parents who have a child with a developmental disability is a lack of access to information. Parents have a critical need to learn the specifics of their child’s disability, the best treatment practices, and how the broader service delivery system works (Bradley, 1992; Rinck, Calkins, Green, & Stadler, 1986). The Missouri Developmental Disabilities Resource Center Web site [http://www.moddrc.com] was created as an innovative method of meeting the information needs of this underserved population. Challenges to the adoption of this innovative model are highlighted, and some options for addressing these issues are discussed.     

Science,politics, and moral activism: Sorokin's integralism reconsidered

This paper uses previously untranslated excerpts from P. A. Sorokin's revolutionary journalism to reexamine the relationship between his scientific and nonscientific activities. Columns written in 1917 for the political daily Volya Naroda (The People's Will) provide insight into Sorokin's early Russian period and also prefigure the later synthesis that he called Integralism. This article explains Sorokin's competing commitments to science and reformism in terms of the Russian intelligentsia's social role and concludes that Sorokin in America remained a more Russian figure than has been generally recognized. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Patterns of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among United States Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Personnel

U.S. Air Force (USAF) combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircrew and special duty rescue personnel are specially trained airmen with high levels of direct exposure to combat-related medical trauma. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence rate of CSAR military personnel meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition; DSM–5) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom criteria. USAF CSAR aircrew (n = 128) and rescue personnel (n = 300) across multiple units participated in the study by completing a demographics survey and the PTSD checklist based on DSM–5. Fourteen participants endorsed a pattern of symptoms of moderate to extreme level of severity meeting PTSD diagnostic criteria. Recommendations are provided for line and medical leadership to optimize health and performance among CSAR personnel.     

Implicit interpretation biases affect emotional vulnerability: a training study

Cognitive theories of emotion propose that the interpretation of emotion-eliciting situations crucially shapes affective responses. Implicit or automatic biases in these interpretations may hinder emotion regulation and thereby increase risk for the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to a positive or negative interpretation bias training using ambiguous social scenarios. After the completion of the training, a stress task was administered and changes in positive and negative affect and self-esteem were assessed. The results demonstrate that the interpretation bias training was successful in that participants exhibited a tendency to interpret novel scenarios in accordance with their training condition. Importantly, the positive training condition also had a protective effect on self-esteem. Participants in this condition did not exhibit a decrease in self-esteem after the stress task, whereas participants in the negative condition did. These results demonstrate that implicit cognitive biases can be trained and that this training affects self-esteem. Implications of these findings for research on psychopathology and emotion regulation are discussed.     

Imitation of hierarchical action structure by young children

To provide the first systematic test of whether young children will spontaneously perceive and imitate hierarchical structure in complex actions, a task was devised in which a set of 16 elements can be modelled through either of two different, hierarchically organized strategies. Three-year-old children showed a strong and significant tendency to copy whichever of the two hierarchical approaches they witnessed an adult perform. Responses to an element absent in demonstrations, but present at test, showed that children did not merely copy the chain of events they had witnessed, but acquired hierarchically structured rules to which the new element was assimilated. Consistent with this finding, children did not copy specific sequences of actions at lower hierarchical levels.     

PRiME: Integrating professional responsibility into the engineering curriculum

Engineering educators have long discussed the need to teach professional responsibility and the social context of engineering without adding to overcrowded curricula. One difficulty we face is the lack of appropriate teaching materials that can fit into existing courses. The PRiME (Professional Responsibility Modules for Engineering) Project (http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ethics/primeModules.cfm) described in this paper was initiated at the University of Texas, Austin to provide web-based modules that could be integrated into any undergraduate engineering class. Using HPL (How People Learn) theory, PRiME developed and piloted four modules during the academic year 2004–2005. This article introduces the modules and the pilot, outlines the assessment process, analyzes the results, and describes how the modules are being revised in light of the initial assessment. In its first year of development and testing, PRiME made significant progress towards meeting its objectives. The PRiME Project can strengthen engineering education by providing faculty with an effective system for engaging students in learning about professional responsibility. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 conference, Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology, Linking Workplace Ethics and Education, co-hosted by Gonzaga University and Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 9–10 June 2005.