Faith,Fact, and Behaviorism

David Hume argued that ought cannot be derived from is. That is, no set of facts, no amount of scientific knowledge, is by itself sufficient to urge us to action. Yet generations of well-meaning scientists (more and more as secular influences grow in the West) seem to have forgotten Hume''s words of wisdom. All motivated action depends ultimately on beliefs that cannot be proved by the methods of science, that is, on faith.     

Regional brain activity change predicts responsiveness to treatment for stuttering in adults

Developmental stuttering is known to be associated with aberrant brain activity, but there is no evidence that this knowledge has benefited stuttering treatment. This study investigated whether brain activity could predict progress during stuttering treatment for 21 dextral adults who stutter (AWS). They received one of two treatment programs that included periodic H₂¹⁵O PET scanning (during oral reading, monologue, and eyes-closed rest conditions). All participants successfully completed an initial treatment phase and then entered a phase designed to transfer treatment gains; 9/21 failed to complete this latter phase. The 12 pass and 9 fail participants were similar on speech and neural system variables before treatment, and similar in speech performance after the initial phase of their treatment. At the end of the initial treatment phase, however, decreased activation within a single region, L. putamen, in all 3 scanning conditions was highly predictive of successful treatment progress.     

Toward a Reconstruction of Medical Morality

At the center of medical morality is the healing relationship. It is defined by three phenomena: the fact of illness, the act of profession, and the act of medicine. The first puts the patient in a vulnerable and dependent position; it results in an unequal relationship. The second implies a promise to help. The third involves those actions that will lead to a medically competent healing decision. But it must also be good for the patient in the fullest possible sense. The physician cannot fully heal without giving the patient an understanding of alternatives such that he or she can freely arrive—together with the physician—at a decision in keeping with his or her personal morality and values. In today's pluralistic society, universal agreement on moral issues between physicians and patients is no longer possible. Nevertheless, a reconstruction of professional ethics based on a new appreciation of what makes for a true healing relationship between patient and physician is both possible and necessary.     

Attentional deficit in learning-disabled children: evidence from visual half-field asymmetries

The structural theory of cerebral lateralization has been typically used to explain hemispheric asymmetries. However, the attentional model of brain functioning may help resolve some of the inconsistent findings with groups of learning-disabled children. To test this hypothesis, a visual half-field paradigm for word recognition was employed in a group of 26 learning-disabled and 26 normal children matched for sex, chronological age, and handedness. Three experimental conditions (unilateral, cued unilateral, and bilateral) and two word error types (visually and acoustically confusable words) were analyzed. The results indicated that normals produced the expected RVHF superiority under all experimental conditions, but the learning-disabled produced the expected RVHF superiority only under the cued unilateral condition. Learning-disabled children also made significantly more visually and acoustically confusable errors than normals and unlike normal children increased the number of acoustic errors in the RVF under bilateral stimulation. These results provide evidence that learning-disabled children may process information inefficiently and have brain activation patterns that are more susceptible to attentional effects.     

Sex stereotypes in occupational choice: The case for college women

The choice of a male dominated occupation rather than a traditionally feminine one is the single occupational variable which meaningfully divides a class of women who were studied intensively over the 4 yr of college. Women who choose occupations which employ largely men differ predictably from women who select feminine occupations in terms of familial influence, work values, work experience, role model influence and some collegiate activities. The two groups do not differ appreciably in sociability experiences or in relationships with parents, so it cannot be argued that the work plans of the pioneer women stem from social isolation, rejection, or lack of appropriate feminine socialization.     

Motivation to manage among women: Studies of college students

Studies were conducted with samples of students from four different universities to determine if male-female differences in motivation to manage existed. Although differences were not found among students majoring in the field of education, females in business administration and the liberal arts did prove to have lower managerial motivation scores than the comparable male samples. These findings are discussed in terms of their relationships to sex discrimination, prospective managerial talent shortages and the vocational guidance of female college students.     

Interpersonal needs and functional area of management

This study examines a sample of first-semester MBA students to determine the relationship between their interpersonal needs and their preferences for a functional area of management. The students were categorized according to their preference for one of the following eight functional areas: accounting, systems analysis, finance, small business management, engineering, marketing, manufacturing management, and personnel management. Interpersonal needs were measured by the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO-B) instrument developed by W. C. Schutz. Significant differences in interpersonal needs were found among students preferring different functional specialities. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of occupational choice processes.