The Legitimacy Crisis of Arguments from Expert Opinion: Can’t We Trust Experts?

Recent disputes (Mizrahi in Inform Logic 33(1):57–79, 2013; Mizrahi in Inform Logic 36(2):238–252, 2016; Mizrahi in Argumentation 32(2):175–195, 2018; Seidel in Inform Logic 34(2):192–218, 2014; Seidel in Inform Logic 36(2):253–264, 2016; Hinton in Inform Logic 35(4):539–554, 2015) on the strength of arguments from expert opinion (AEO) give rise to a potential legitimacy crisis of it. Mizrahi (Inform Logic 33(1):57–79, 2013; Inform Logic 36(2):238–252; Argumentation 32(2):175–195, 2018) claims that AEO are weak arguments by presenting two independent arguments. The first argument (i.e., the argument of unreliable experts) is that AEO are weak arguments because empirical studies show that expert opinions p do not make p significantly more likely to be true. The second argument (i.e., the argument of biased experts) is that AEO are weak arguments because empirical studies show that expert opinions are susceptible to the kinds of cognitive biases that novice opinions are susceptible to. In this paper, I intend to argue that Mizrahi’s two arguments both fail because of inconsistency, irrelevance, and insufficiency. Nevertheless, Mizrahi’s arguments help to evaluate AEO better by expanding the relevant critical questions.

     

自我认知干预对教师心理健康的影响

本研究以自我、个性为内容辅以专家讲座展开了自我认知训练干预,对象为29名随机抽取的中学教师,干预实施持续了两个学期,测查工具为SCL-90、SDS、SAS.结果表明:干预后所有各项的均数均有下降,且除偏执因子外均达P<0.01显著意义水平;干预在偏执因子上效果较为一般,在躯体化、恐怖、精神病性、饮食睡眠、敌对、诸因子上效果良好,在强迫、人际敏感、焦虑因子上效果更为良好;总之,自我认知干预对教师心理健康具有积极影响,此影响在不同心理因子上会有不同效果.     

Effects of a brief video intervention on White university students' racial attitudes

The authors investigated the effects of a brief video intervention on the racial attitudes of White university students. One hundred thirty-eight self-identified White students were randomly assigned to either an experimental condition in which they viewed a video documenting the pervasiveness of institutional racism and White privilege in the United States or a neutral control condition. Findings offer preliminary support that participants in the experimental, but not the control, condition showed significant increases in racial awareness (i.e., decrease in racial color-blindness), White empathy, and White guilt, at posttest. However, no significant differences in racial prejudice or White fear of racial minorities were observed at posttest. Implications for multicultural counseling training, diversity programming, and future research are discussed.     

Investigating the Impact of Uncertainty About Item Parameters on Ability Estimation

Asymptotic expansions of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and weighted likelihood estimator (WLE) of an examinee’s ability are derived while item parameter estimators are treated as covariates measured with error. The asymptotic formulae present the amount of bias of the ability estimators due to the uncertainty of item parameter estimators. A numerical example is presented to illustrate how to apply the formulae to evaluate the impact of uncertainty about item parameters on ability estimation and the appropriateness of estimating ability using the regular MLE or WLE method.     

和谐社会构建中的心理和谐问题探析

心理和谐是构建社会主义和谐社会的基础和实质,是和谐社会的题中应有之义。心理和谐是人的一种积极向上、健康的人生态度和生存状态,对内协调和对外适应是心理和谐的集中体现。心理和谐主要涉及自我和谐,人际和谐,人与自然和谐以及人与社会和谐四个层面,四个层面相互影响、相互制约。心理和谐是一个持续变化的动态过程,是一种相对的理想状态,心理和谐是心理健康的本质特征;主观幸福感是心理和谐的重要心理指标。     

Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team

Pursuing a customer-focused strategy in manufacturing organizations requires employees across functions to embrace the importance of understanding customer needs and to align their everyday efforts with the goal of satisfying and retaining customers. Little prior research has examined what factors influence employee customer orientation in manufacturing settings. Drawing on the attraction-selection-attrition model, upper-echelons theory, and contingency theories of leadership, this study investigated the joint influences of functional roles' proximity to external customers and the senior leadership team's customer orientation on employee customer orientation. Hierarchical linear modeling results based on data obtained from 4,299 employees and 403 senior leaders from 42 facilities of a global manufacturer operating in 16 countries revealed that employees occupying customer-contact roles had the highest level of customer orientation, followed by employees occupying production roles, and then by those in support roles. In addition, there was a positive relationship between the senior leadership team's customer orientation and employee customer orientation for all 3 functional roles. The positive relationship between the senior leadership team and employee customer orientation was the strongest for employees in support roles, suggesting that lower levels of proximity to external customers may create a greater need for leadership in developing employees' customer-oriented attitudes.     

自我认知类型引导认知方式的实验研究

对自我的认知引导认知和行为。本研究用与自我有关的语义内容启动场独立型和场依存型自我认知,随即让被试做与场独立或场依存认知方式有关的认知作业,探讨自我认知类型是否引导认知方式,即启动场独立自我认知是否比启动场依存自我认知诱发更多场独立的认知方式;同样,启动场依存自我认知是否比启动场独立自我认知诱发更多的场依存的认知方式。结果是肯定的。     

Forbearance coping, identification with heritage culture, acculturative stress, and psychological distress among Chinese international students

Based on Berry's (1997) theoretical framework for acculturation, our goal in this study was to examine whether the use of a culturally relevant coping strategy (i.e., forbearance coping, a predictor) would be associated with a lower level of psychological distress (a psychological outcome), for whom (i.e., those with weaker vs. stronger identification with heritage culture, a moderator), and under what situations (i.e., lower vs. higher acculturative stress, a moderator). A total of 188 Chinese international students completed an online survey. Results from a hierarchical regression indicated a significant 3-way interaction of forbearance coping, identification with heritage culture, and acculturative stress on psychological distress. For those with a weaker identification with their heritage culture, when acculturative stress was higher, the use of forbearance coping was positively associated with psychological distress. However, this was not the case when acculturative stress was lower. In other words, the use of forbearance coping was not significantly associated with psychological distress when acculturative stress was lower. Moreover, for those with a stronger cultural heritage identification, the use of forbearance coping was not significantly associated with psychological distress regardless of whether acculturative stress was high or low. Future research and implications are discussed.     

基于同义关联的句子错误记忆：发展性逆转现象及句式效应

以汉语把字句和被字句为材料,采用学习-再认方式,考察基于同义关联的句子错误记忆及其发展性逆转现象和句式效应。实验1结果发现高二和初二校正后的关键诱饵句错误再认率显著高于小学五年级,把字关键诱饵句校正后的错误再认率显著高于被字句,表明基于同义关联的句子错误记忆存在发展性逆转现象和句式效应。实验2结果发现三个年级关键诱饵句与无关句的错误再认率差异均不显著,表明去除同义关联后,句子错误记忆现象被抑制。结果表明,同义关联能诱发句子错误记忆,且句子错误记忆存在发展性逆转现象和句式效应。