Categorical and Agent-neutral Reasons in Kantian Justifications of Morality

The dispute between Kantians and Humeans over whether practical reason can justify moral reasons for all agents is often characterized as a debate over whether reasons are hypothetical or categorical. Instead, this debate must be understood in terms of the distinction between agent-neutral and agent-relative reasons. This paper considers Alan Gewirth’s Reason and Morality as a case study of a Kantian justification of morality focused on deriving categorical reasons from hypothetical reasons. The case study demonstrates first, the possibility of categorical agent-relative reasons, and second, that inattention to this possibility has caused considerable confusion in the debate between Kantians and Humeans.

Counselor Competency in the Courtroom

This article outlines general courtroom procedures and offers systematic practical advice for the counselor testifying as an expert witness. Major topics include the counselor role in court, preparing for testimony, answering questions, and dealing with the cross-examination.     

The effect of tangible reinforcement on the learning and retention of programmed material in academically retarded children

The effect of three reinforcement conditions was determined with respect to the learning and retention of a commercially available program purporting to teach simple nouns. The addition of candy reward to a novel method of presenting knowledge of results produced no change in performance when given on a continuous schedule, but reduced rate of responding when given on a partial schedule, i.e., only terninal frames.     

The School and Community Study: Characteristics of Students Who Have Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities Served in Restructuring Public Schools

We present selected initial results from a study investigating the effects of school restructuring and reform activities on outcomes for students who are identified as having serious emotional and behavioral disabilities. A review of the literature revealed six key areas of reform for investigation: accountability, governance, parent involvement, includedness, curriculum and instruction, and pro-social discipline. Ten schools (five elementary, two K-8, one middle, and two high schools) actively engaged in school restructuring and reform efforts were selected to participate in the study, and their status related to these six areas is presented. Characteristics of the students identified as having emotional and behavioral disabilities and served in these schools in special education settings (N = 116) are described. Results from the administration of standardized assessments revealed that these students have significant levels of emotional and behavioral disabilities that impair their functioning at school and at home. Further, school staff are providing the majority of counseling services to these students during the school day, with non-school professionals providing services to 25% of the students.     

Interpersonal problem-solving skills training with aggressive young children

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an interpersonal problem-solving training program with aggressive young children. There were 13 children in the experimental group and 11 children in the contact control group. Both experimental and contact control group children were evaluated at pretest, posttest, and follow-up on the Behavioral Interpersonal Problem Solving Test (BIPS). Experimental group subjects were exposed to the interpersonal problem-solving skills training program for 50 training sessions. The contact control group participated in reading-story sessions during the same time period. Results and discussion reflect the efficacy of the training procedure and the nature of the change in interpersonal problem-solving behavior in aggressive young children.     

Toward a psychopathology of self-control theory: the importance of narcissistic traits

Research on self-control and related constructs is central to individual-level explanations of antisocial behavior. However, less research attention has been paid to the psychopathological underpinnings of self-control. The current study explores relationships between self-control and psychiatric symptoms, head injury, trauma history, substance use, guiltlessness and narcissistic traits in a statewide population of juvenile offenders. Results support the importance of these variables, in particular narcissistic traits, in better explicating theories of self-control. Implications for research on the psychopathological underpinnings of self-control are highlighted.     

Competence and warmth stereotypes prompt mental illness stigma through emotions

Public stigma toward mental illness subgroups (11 mental illness subgroups and 2 subgroups perceived to have mental illness) was examined. Competence and warmth stereotypes were used to predict emotional reactions posited to mediate behavioral inclinations ranging from passive to active harm or facilitation. Fear mediated the relationship between low competence and warmth stereotypes and passive harm. Anger, and to a lesser extent fear, mediated the relationship between low warmth and active harm. Pity mediated the relationship between warmth and active facilitation. Neither envy nor admiration linked stereotypes to behavioral reactions. Results suggest that emotions share motivational direction with behavior, to approach or to avoid, rather than simply sharing valence. Implications for research on stigma toward mental illness subgroups are discussed.     

Who expressed what emotion? Men grab anger,women grab happiness

When anger or happiness flashes on a face in the crowd, do we misperceive that emotion as belonging to someone else? Two studies found that misperception of apparent emotional expressions—“illusory conjunctions”—depended on the gender of the target: male faces tended to “grab” anger from neighboring faces, and female faces tended to grab happiness. Importantly, the evidence did not suggest that this effect was due to the general tendency to misperceive male or female faces as angry or happy, but instead indicated a more subtle interaction of expectations and early visual processes. This suggests a novel aspect of affordance-management in human perception, whereby cues to threat, when they appear, are attributed to those with the greatest capability of doing harm, whereas cues to friendship are attributed to those with the greatest likelihood of providing affiliation opportunities.     

The role of sincere amends and perceived partner responsiveness in forgiveness

In a sample of 188 people currently in a romantic relationship, the authors examined the extent to which perceiving a partner as responsive and sincere in making amends relates to participants' forgiveness of a partner after a real‐life hurtful event. Specifically, it was predicted that sincere amends would be associated with greater forgiveness because it conveys that one's partner has understood and validated one's experience of the hurtful event. Results supported this mediational model. Further, exploratory analyses suggested that this meditational model is moderated by event severity and relationship satisfaction. Discussion focuses on understanding how this work might help to inform the dynamic process of forgiveness in couples.     

Main and interactive effects of social support in predicting mental health symptoms in men and women following military stressor exposure

Abstract

Evidence across a multitude of contexts indicates that social support is associated with reduced risk for mental health symptoms. More information is needed on the effectiveness of different sources of support, as well as sex differences in support. Associations between social support from two sources – the military unit and friends and family – and mental health symptoms were examined in a study of 1571 Marine recruits assessed at the beginning and end of a highly stressful 13-week training program. Military social support buffered the stressor exposure–posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) relationship, whereas the relationship between stressor exposure and PTSS was highest when civilian social support was high. Further inspection of the interactions revealed that military support was most important at high levels of stressor exposure. Sex differences in the relationship between social support and symptoms were found, such that support from military peers was associated with lower levels of PTSS for men, whereas civilian support was associated with lower PTSS for women. While civilian social support was associated with lower levels of depression symptom severity in both women and men, the relationship was stronger for women. Reviewed implications focus on the importance of considering the recipient, source, and context of social support.