Blessed are the peacemakers: Commentary on making peace in gestational conflicts

The purpose of this commentary on James Nelson's article [1] is to advocate introducing the ethics of care into the arena of gestational conflict. Too often the debate gets stalled in a maternal versus fetal rights headlock. Interventionists stress fetal over maternal rights: they believe education, post-birth prosecution or pre-birth seizure of pregnant women may be permissible. In contrast to interventionists, other philosophers stress that favoring fetal rights treats women like ‘fetal containers’. I question whether we should really consider issues of moral/parental obligations to children in terms of rights. Rather, the language of care should guide moral conduct vis-a-vis children/fetuses. The particularity of each woman's story — the particulars of her human relationships — inform her story. An individual's ability to care is largely a function of whether community cares for her. We must care for others to enable them to care for themselves and their loved ones — born or unborn.     

Some effects of homelessness on the psychological functioning of preschoolers

The developmental consequences of homelessness have only recently begun to be investigated. This study examined the effects of homelessness on the self-concept, behavioral symptoms, and emotional development of preschoolers. Self-concept was examined using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Acceptance for Young Children and teachers rated behavioral symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist. Emotional development was also examined. Results showed that homeless preschoolers have lower self-concepts and display more deviant behaviors on the Child Behavior Checklist than housed preschoolers of the same socioeconomic status. Recognition and understanding of emotion, however, were similar in both groups.Research was supported by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. The authors would like to express great appreciation to teachers Michaelene Blazak and Mary Ellen Ranta, to homeless case aide Elizabeth Davico, and to research assistant Carolyn Boumilla-Agostini for their assistance and dedication.     

Outcomes of inpatient group psychotherapy associated with dispositional and situational affiliativeness

Before and after participating in an intensive three-week program of group psychotherapy, 33 recently rehospitalized male veterans (mean age=42) completed the Symptom Check List-90R and the Profile of Mood States. Prior to this program they also completed a trait affiliativeness measure and later rated their subsequent group therapy sessions for situational affiliativeness. The outcome measures indicated medium to large effect size benefits, which consistently associated positively with both separate and joint measures of trait and situational affiliativeness. The results encourage greater clinical attention to affiliativeness, a construct central to interpersonal theories of personality.This article is based upon a dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. by the senior author.The authors express appreciation for the interest and cooperation of Drs. Bruce Vreeland, Larry Schwartz, Robert Munley, and Hope Conte and the patients of the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Battle Creek, Michigan.     

Attachment,temperament, and ego development in young adulthood

Attachment and temperament have each been thought to contribute to personality development; however, few empirical studies have examined the relations between the two. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate, in young adulthood, the relations among attachment, temperament, and two aspects of ego development, namely,overall ego development and ego development with respect tointimacy. One hundred and seven college students served as participants. Sixty one percent classified themselves as securely attached and 39% as insecurely attached. A factor analysis of the Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Adults yielded a primary factor (labeled negative emotionality) that accounted for 41% of the variance. A regression analysis then revealed that both attachment status and temperament predicted overall ego development; however, only attachment status predicted ego development with respect to intimacy. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Menschen, maschinen und g?dels theorem

Mechanism is the thesis that men can be considered as machines, that there is no essential difference between minds and machines.John Lucas has argued that it is a consequence of Gödel's theorem that mechanism is false. Men cannot be considered as machines, because the intellectual capacities of men are superior to that of any machine. Lucas claims that we can do something that no machine can do-namely to produce as true the Gödel-formula of any given machine. But no machine can prove its own Gödel-formula.In order to discuss and evaluate this argument, the author makes a distinction between formal and informal proofs, and between proofs given by men and proofs given by machines. It is argued that the informal proof capacities of machines are possibly greater and the formal proof capacities of men are possibly smaller than the anti-mechanist claims. So the argument from Gödel's theorem against mechanism fails.Though Gödel's theorem does not prove that minds are different from machines, it is not irrelevant to the analysis of thought and to the mind/machine controversy. It points to the importance of informal methods even within formal sciences and to the need for an analysis of the notion of informal thinking in cognitive science.     

自身得失对朋友博弈结果评价的影响：来自ERPs的证据

本研究通过经典的金钱博弈任务, 以FRN和P300为反应指标, 探讨了自身获益或损失对朋友结果评价分别会产生何种影响, 以及这种影响模式是如何受到个体自我建构方式调节的。结果发现, 在自身获益条件下, 观看朋友损益之间的FRN和P300差异不再存在; 在自身损失条件下, 虽然观看朋友输赢之间的P300差异消失了, 但FRN差异依然显著。不仅如此, 无论自身得失, 独立型自我建构启动组在观看朋友损益上的FRN差异均不再显著, 但在自身获益后看到朋友损失能激发更强的P300波幅。本研究结果表明：(1) 对朋友的结果评价模式并非固定不变, 而是会随个体自身所处得失境遇的不同而有所区别; (2) 相对于互依型自我建构启动组, 独立型自我建构启动组在面对朋友的得失时表现得更为冷漠并更具竞争性。     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’ Creativity in China’s Classrooms: The Role of Students’ Academic Achievement and Misbehaviors

Teachers can be biased, especially toward low achievers and students with behavioral issues. However, creative students often appear to be disruptive in the classroom, and many of them struggle academically. The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which teachers’ perceptions of students’ creativity is associated with students’ academic achievement and classroom (mis)behaviors, as well as to examine the interaction between these two factors. Three hundred and fifty‐four eighth‐grade students selected from five middle schools in China participated in this study. Using achievement scores, peer nominations, a divergent thinking test, a self‐rated ideational behavior scale, and teacher ratings, the present study found that, whereas creativity has no significant relationship with teachers’ perceptions, academic achievements and misbehavior are significantly associated within structors’ perceptions. The achievement bias resulted in the underestimation of low achievers’ creativity, even when the low achievers were highly creative. More nuances emerged when student misbehaviors were considered. Specifically, misbehaving low achievers’ originality was further underestimated even when they were highly original. In contrast, teachers overestimated well‐behaved high achievers’ creativity, even when the students comprised the lowest creativity group. The results are further discussed from a socio‐cultural perspective.