Moral Responsibility and the Moral Community: Is Moral Responsibility Essentially Interpersonal?

Many philosophers endorse the idea that there can be no moral responsibility without a moral community and thus hold that such responsibility is essentially interpersonal. In this paper, various interpretations of this idea are distinguished, and it is argued that no interpretation of it captures a significant truth. The popular view that moral responsibility consists in answerability is discussed and dismissed. The even more popular view that such responsibility consists in susceptibility to the reactive attitudes is also discussed, and it is argued that this view at best supports only an etiolated interpretation of the idea that moral responsibility is essentially interpersonal.     

Factors influencing the graphic development of a talented young artist

The focus of this case study was on the graphic development of a highly talented art student. Retrospective accounts and reactions to his spontaneous artwork done from preschool until he was in the tenth grade were used. The ability to depict the world realistically was viewed as only one indicator of artistic talent. It was concluded that effects of family background, cultural influences, skill mastery, and personal dispositional factors all contributed to the form and content of this student's artistic development.     

Self-Regulation Differences during Athletic Practice by Experts,Non-Experts,and Novices

Basketball experts, non-experts, and novices were studied for differences in their self-regulatory forethought and self-reflection processes regarding their free-throw shooting. Forty-three adolescent boys participated individually in the study, which involved a practice session in a gymnasium. The subjects were queried regarding their forethought goals, strategy choice, self-efficacy as well as their self-reflection attributions and feelings of satisfaction as they practiced their shooting. Among the significant results, experts set more specific goals, selected more technique-oriented strategies, made more strategy attributions, and displayed higher levels of self-efficacy than non-experts and novices. Forethought phase processes intercorrelated significantly as did self-reflection phase processes. In addition, self-reflection attributions were predictive of forethought strategy selection during further efforts to learn. The results were discussed in terms of a social cognitive model of self-regulation.     

The Relationship Between Cumulative Risk and Promotive Factors and Violent Behavior Among Urban Adolescents

Resiliency theory posits that some youth exposed to risk factors do not develop negative behaviors due to the influence of promotive factors. This study examines the effects of cumulative risk and promotive factors on adolescent violent behavior and tests two models of resilience—the compensatory model and the protective model—in a sample of adolescent patients (14–18 years old; n = 726) presenting to an urban emergency department who report violent behavior. Cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors consist of individual characteristics and peer, family, and community influences. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the two models of resilience (using cumulative measures of risk and promotive factors) for violent behavior within a sample of youth reporting violent behavior. Higher cumulative risk was associated with higher levels of violent behavior. Higher levels of promotive factors were associated with lower levels of violent behavior and moderated the association between risk and violent behaviors. Our results support the risk-protective model of resiliency and suggest that promotive factors can help reduce the burden of cumulative risk for youth violence.     

Beyond Legal Sanctions: The Correlates of Self-imposed and Socially Imposed Extralegal Risk Perceptions

Research on the formation of sanction risk perceptions has concentrated virtually exclusively on the bases of legal sanction perceptions. This article examines the correlates of extralegal risk perceptions. Theoretical arguments relate previous offending experiences to current perceptions of self-imposed (guilt) and socially imposed (social disapproval) sanctions. The empirical implications of these arguments are tested. Findings indicate that individuals' perceptions of the risk of social disapproval are associated with their own offending experiences, and individuals' perceptions of the risk of guilt are associated with their friends', as well as their own offending experiences. The findings suggest that research on the formation and modification of sanction risk perceptions should not be limited to perceptions of legal sanctions.     

Index to Volume 112

For various nonnormal distributions, the power of the Student t test can be increased if continuous measures are transformed to ranks before the test is performed. The power of the test can also be increased almost as much and, even more for some distributions, if measures are replaced by dichotomous variables with the values 0 and 1, instead of ranks. Similarly, the power of a significance test of correlation can be increased if scores are transformed to ranks, that is, with the use of the Spearman rank correlation method. Power can also be increased almost as much and in some cases even more if dichotomous variables are introduced, that is, if the phi coefficient is used as a measure of correlation.     

Coaching Paraprofessionals to Promote Engagement and Social Interactions During Small Group Activities

Paraprofessionals need adequate training and supports to assist young children with autism spectrum disorders to engage in appropriate social interactions during small group activities with their peers. In this study, we used in situ coaching and brief post-session feedback to improve the use of environmental arrangement, prompting, and praise by three paraprofessionals working in inclusive classrooms. Results suggested the brief coaching intervention was effective for improving target behaviors. In addition, generalized use of behaviors and child outcomes were positive. In situ feedback is a promising practice for improving use of evidence-based practices by non-certified personnel in early childhood settings.     

Power comparisons of significance tests of location using scores,ranks, and modular ranks

The Type I error probability and the power of the independent samples t test, performed directly on the ranks of scores in combined samples in place of the original scores, are known to be the same as those of the non‐parametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney (WMW) test. In the present study, simulations revealed that these probabilities remain essentially unchanged when the number of ranks is reduced by assigning the same rank to multiple ordered scores. For example, if 200 ranks are reduced to as few as 20, or 10, or 5 ranks by replacing sequences of consecutive ranks by a single number, the Type I error probability and power stay about the same. Significance tests performed on these modular ranks consistently reproduce familiar findings about the comparative power of the t test and the WMW tests for normal and various non‐normal distributions. Similar results are obtained for modular ranks used in comparing the one‐sample t test and the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.