What Renders a Witness Trustworthy? Ethical and Curricular Notes on a Mode of Educational Inquiry

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Bearing witness is a familiar if diversely employed concept. On the one hand, it concerns the accuracy and validity of practical affairs, for example in a...     

Children's mappings of large number words to numerosities

Previous studies have suggested that children's learning of the relation between number words and approximate numerosities depends on their verbal counting ability, and that children exhibit no knowledge of mappings between number words and approximate numerical magnitudes for number words outside their productive verbal counting range. In the present study we used a numerical estimation task to explore children's knowledge of these mappings. We classified children as Level 1 counters (those unable to produce a verbal count list up to 35), Level 2 counters (those who were able to count to 35 but not 60) and Level 3 counters (those who counted to 60 or above) and asked children to estimate the number of items on a card. Although the accuracy of children's estimates depended on counting ability, children at all counting skill levels produced estimates that increased linearly in proportion to the target number, for numerosities both within and beyond their counting range. This result was obtained at the group level (Experiment 1) and at the level of individual children (Experiment 2). These findings provide evidence that even the least skilled counters do exhibit some knowledge of the form of the mapping between large number words and approximate numerosities.     

Treatment for anxiety disorders: Efficacy to effectiveness to implementation

Anxiety disorders are common, costly and debilitating, and yet often unrecognized or inadequately treated in real world, primary care settings. Our group has been researching ways of delivering evidence-based treatment for anxiety in primary care settings, with special interest to preserving the fidelity of the treatment while at the same time promoting its sustainability once the research is over. In this paper, we describe the programs we have developed and our directions for future research. Our first study evaluated the efficacy of CBT and expert pharmacotherapy recommendations for panic disorder in primary care, using a collaborative care model of service delivery (CCAP). Symptom, disability and mental health functioning measures were superior for the intervention group compared to treatment as usual both in the short term and the long term, although also more costly. In our ongoing CALM study, we have extended our population to include panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic disorder, while at the same time utilizing clinicians with limited mental health care experience. In addition to pharmacotherapy management, we developed a computer-assisted CBT that guides both novice clinician and patient, thereby contributing to sustainability once the research is over. We have also incorporated a measurement based approach to treatment planning, using a web-based tracking system of patient status. To date, the computer-assisted CBT program has been shown to be acceptable to clinicians and patients. Clinicians rated the program highly, and patients engaged in the program. Future directions for our research include dissemination and implementation of the CALM program, testing potential alternations to the CALM program, and distance delivery of CALM.     

Terror Management and Personality: Variations in the Psychological Defense Against the Awareness of Mortality

Drawing on terror management theory (TMT), we discuss the psychological motivations that shape personality at two levels: the characteristically human personality common to us all and the individual differences that distinguish some people from others. TMT posits that the motivation to protect the self against deep-rooted fears about mortality drives people to maintain meaningful, reliable conceptions of reality and positive evaluations of themselves, two broad tendencies that form the foundation of every person’s personality. We review studies showing that mortality reminders increase efforts to bolster cultural sources of meaning and self-esteem in similar ways across individuals and cultures. TMT also posits that individual differences in personality partly reflect the different sources of meaning and self-esteem that people invest in to assuage mortality fears. We review evidence that individual differences predict the degree and direction of people’s defensive responses to mortality reminders. Directions for future research are discussed.     

A subcutaneous intracerebral drug delivery device for use in rhesus monkeys

This large-animal intracerebral drug administration unit is designed to allow the delivery of drugs or other agents to discrete loci within the brains of animals while maintaining sterile conditions. It is an improvement over existing designs because it (1) maintains an absolute minimal dead space within the system, (2) is smaller in diameter (by approximately 80% than existing shunt catheters, minimizing tissue damage during placement,(3) is easily secured and requires minimal clearance over the cranium, and (4) maintains a sterile seal between the brain and periphery. Preliminary studies indicate that the device is well accepted by monkeys and is fully functional for periods up to a year. The device is intended for permanent implantation.     

The effects of a memory aid on three types of conservation judgments

Twelve boys and 12 girls at each of 3 ages (4, 5, and 6 years) were tested on three types of conservation judgments (qualitative, quantitative, and equivalence) on both continuous and discontinuous substances. Half of the subjects were provided a memory aid while the other half were not. Conservation ability was determined both with and without verbal justification. The memory aid increased the number of equivalence conservation responses only when verbal justification was not required. The number of subjects conserving on each of the three tasks varied as a function of the scoring criteria used. Type of materials, sex, and age effects were found. The role of transitive inferences and memory in the equivalence conservation task was discussed. Inconsistencies in previous research due to different scoring techniques were noted.