Factor semantics forn-valued logics

In this note we prove that some familiar systems of finitely many-valued logics havefactor semantics, and establish necessary conditions for a system of many-valued logic having semantics of this kind.     

The logic of causal methods in social science

Two kinds of causal inference rules which are widely used by social scientists are investigated. Two conceptions of causation also widely used are explicated — the INUS and probabilistic conceptions of causation. It is shown that the causal inference rules which link correlation, a kind of partial correlation, and a conception of causation areinvalid. It is concluded anew methodology is required for causal inference.     

Acquiring conjunctive concepts: When and why does feature frequency affect feature identification?

According to frequency theories of concept attainment, acquisition of rule-governed concepts depends on discriminating relevant from irrelevant stimulus features on the basis of their respective frequencies of occurrence. Depending on the theorist, the critical frequency counts may be based on occurrence in all stimuli or on occurrence in positive instances only. Experiment 1 held frequency in positive instances constant and varied the frequency of irrelevant features in the negative category. High frequency was associated with impaired performance, but only when concept problems started with a negative instance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that some previous findings in the literature that were thought to support frequency theory also depended on problems starting with a negative instance. These findings are not easily reconciled with existing frequency theories. We attribute our results to high intercategory similarity, which is a correlate of high frequency of irrelevant features. In the context of a hypothesis-testing theory, we propose that a negative start stimulus proactively interferes with memory for information in the initial positive instance and that the extent of the interference depends on how similar negative instances are to positive instances.     

Social intimacy: An important moderator of stressful life events

Two studies were conducted to explore the role of social intimacy in predicting the individual's response to stress. In the first study the experimenter reinforced the experimental subjects' verbalizations during an interview on a fixed schedule for the first 3 minutes, withdrawing reinforcement for the final 4 minutes. The control group received reinforcement on a fixed schedule for the total 7 minutes. Subjects scoring low on a measure of intimacy disclosed less personal material during the withdrawal period in the experimental condition than in the control condition in contrast to high scoring subjects who maintained their level of disclosure for both parts of the interview. In the second study, previously experienced life change events were assessed. Individuals lacking a current intimacy were found to be prone to higher levels of emotional disturbance especially when many previous negative or few positive life change events had occurred.     

Human figure drawings of gender-problem children: A comparison to sibling,psychiatric, and normal controls

The Draw-a-Person test was used to evaluate a number of questions regarding children referred for potential problems in their gender-identity development (N = 36). Sibling (N = 31), psychiatric (N = 23), and normal (N = 30) children served as comparison groups. The major results included the following: (1) The gender-referred children were more likely to draw an opposite-sex person when requested to "draw a person" than were the other three groups; (2) the gender-referred children who drew an opposite-sex person were more likely to play with opposite-sex toys and dress-up apparel on a free-play task than were the gender-referred children who drew a same-sex person; (3) the gender-referred children drew taller opposite-sex persons than same-sex persons; (4) using Koppitz's (1968) criteria, the normal children had a smaller proportion of emotional disturbance indicators in their same-sex drawings than did the other three groups. These findings were discussed with regard to psychometric and interpretive issues in the assessment of children with atypical gender-role behavior.     

An awareness approach to the covert symptoms of stuttering

Speech-language clinicians working with the confirmed stuttering client are often faced with the clinical management of the covert symptoms of stuttering in addition to the more observable and measurable overt symptoms. The authors report the successful use of awareness techniques to exaggerate the subjective experience of these covert symptoms and encourage the use of these techniques as an adjunct to the counseling and desensitization procedures traditionally employed. A transcribed clinical management session in which several awareness techniques are used to aid the client in an introspective examination of “anticipation of stuttering,” is analyzed in order to reach some specific recommendations for using awareness techniques in the clinical management of the covert symptoms of stuttering.     

Genetic foundation of social behaviour

This contribution was invited by the Editor, and translated by him from the German. Dr Schlegel is a leading exponent of the large group of German workers in the field of constitutional psychology and medicine. He lectured on these topics at the University of Hamburg before being forced to leave his post in the first half of the 1970s by militant students during the German equivalent of the Chinese “cultural revolution”. His work, which fits well into the new school of socio-biology, is relatively unknown in English-speaking countries and, in view of its originality and importance, should be more widely read. Dr Schlegel, in line with socio-biological thinking generally, has not confined himself to a narrow study of correlations between physique and personality, but has also tried to integrate his findings into a wider social context.     

A comparison of observed and reported adult-infant interactions: Effects of perceived sex

Interactions of 16 adults (eight married couples whose youngest child was less than 2 1/2 years old) with a single actor infant, dressed as either a male or a female, were recorded and analyzed in four categories: direction of gaze, facial expression, physical contact with the infant, and toy used. After the interaction period, a 45-minute interview on child rearing was conducted with each member of the couple. Observed interactions were then compared with interview data. The results support previous studies which show that both male and female parents behave differently toward unfamiliar infants on the basis of perceived sex. However, parents, especially mothers, appeared unaware of their differential treatment of male and female infants. These results suggest subtle sex-typing of infants by adults.     

Working through a group's fantasy of the deceased leader's wish for the group's continuation

This paper reflects the working through of a group's fantasy that the deceased group leader wished the group to continue. As in any defense, the fantasy protected members from the pain of the finality of the leader's death. This article reveals the subjective experience concerning the effect of the leader's death on the group and members' intrapsychic struggle to separate and individuate from the deceased leader, while attending to and striving toward the group's continuation. The group's painful and growing individuation enabled the group to follow its own tasks without the spector of the deceased leader.