Lecturer dress code and student perceptions of lecturer professional attributes

This study explored how students’ perceptions of their lecturers’ dress code influenced their inferences about the professional competences of the lecturers. Survey respondents were 102 students from a South African university of technology (female = 60%; age range = 18 to 25 years, SD: Image 1 = 0.75; Image 2 = 0.60; Image 3 = 0.83 and Image 4 = 0.67). They responded to a structured survey with picture illustration figures of alternative dress code and across dimensions of professional competences: rapport, fairness, knowledge and credibility, and organisation and preparation. The findings suggest that lecturers’ dress code does influence students perceptions of lecturers’ qualities in the academic work environment. Results showed that students percieve both male and female professionally dressed lecturers more positively than casually dressed lecturers. Furthermore, instructor attire did not affect female and male students differently.     

Evaluation of family intervention through unobtrusive audio recordings: experiences in "bugging" children

Five children referred to a child-family intervention program wore a radio transmitter in the home during pre-intervention and termination assessments. The transmitter broadcast to a receiver-recording apparatus in the home (either activated by an interval timer at predetermined "random" times or by parents at predetermined "picked" times). "Picked" times were parent-selected situations during which problems typically occurred (e.g., bedtime). Parents activated the recorder regularly whether or not problems occurred. Child-deviant, parent-negative, and parent-commanding behaviors were significantly higher at the picked times during pretest than at random times. At posttest, behaviors in all three classes were substantially reduced at picked times, but not at random times. For individual subject data, reductions occurred in at least two of the three dependent variables for three of the five cases during random time assessments. In general, the behavioral outcome data corresponded to parent-attitude reports and parent-collected observation data.     

Artifact, bias, and complexity of assessment: the ABCs of reliability

Interobserver agreement (also referred to here as "reliability") is influenced by diverse sources of artifact, bias, and complexity of the assessment procedures. The literature on reliability assessment frequently has focused on the different methods of computing reliability and the circumstances under which these methods are appropriate. Yet, the credence accorded estimates of interobserver agreement, computed by any method, presupposes eliminating sources of bias that can spuriously affect agreement. The present paper reviews evidence pertaining to various sources of artifact and bias, as well as characteristics of assessment that influence interpretation of interobserver agreement. These include reactivity of reliability assessment, observer drift, complexity of response codes and behavioral observations, observer expectancies and feedback, and others. Recommendations are provided for eliminating or minimizing the influence of these factors from interobserver agreement.     

Manipulations in argumentation

In public and political practice, argumentation involves verbal manipulations, which have not been sufficiently studied in modern argumentation theory. This paper proposes to analyse such manipulations as speech acts, by means of the pragmadialectical theory of argumentation.     

Leaders' Perceptions and Nuclear Proliferation: A Political Psychology Approach to Proliferation

Contributing to an emerging scholarship emphasizing ideational approaches for understanding nuclear proliferation, this work offers a new analytical framework focusing on leaders' perceptions about the international system and how their “perceived strategic context” may influence the decision of “going nuclear.” Rather than being an inevitable occurrence driven by abstract systemic factors, like the security dilemma, this actor‐specific, ideational approach offers a narrative depicting the fundamental role played by policy makers' perceptions about the international environment in which their proliferation decisions are made. Utilizing operational code analysis, leaders' unique perceived strategic contexts are identified and expectant strategies for self and other analyzed by using the theory of moves sequential game construct. Initial testing of the framework is performed by examining the debated nuclear proliferation cases of South Africa and India. The results highlight the important role of individuals' views concerning the strategic environment they inhabit when weighing proliferation decisions.     

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in the Ethics Code of the Psychology and Counseling Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI)

The aim of this study is to investigate the necessity of revising the Ethics Code of the Psychology and Counseling Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI) with respect to people’s rights and dignity and to avoid unfair discriminations toward sexual orientation and gender identity. It is said that confused diagnoses; wrong decision making; unethical practice; and the subsequent harm caused to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients result from the lack of a clear code and relevant guidelines. In addition, certain conditions in Iran (such as religious perspectives, laws, cultural biases, misunderstandings, a lack of local academic and scientific resources, and Western conspiracy theories) lead professional psychologists and researchers to avoid researching sexual minorities and gender identity, which negatively impacts the Ethics Code of the PCOIRI. Iranian and Western researchers have identified four primary sources to which psychologists and counselors can refer when faced with ethical dilemmas: developmental psychology, professional ethics codes, philosophy of psychology literature, and available researches and compilations on professional ethics. Finally it is suggested that, when dealing with homosexual clients and the related ethical dilemmas, Iranian psychologists and counselors need clear and specific guidelines and a professional ethics code developed from more appropriate reference points than legal and religious sources.     

The RIASEC profile of foreign language teachers

Vocational choice appears to crystallize during adolescence and one’s career aspirations begin to take shape later. Over 40 years ago Holland studied incoming freshman to match vocational aspirations to vocational preference profiles. Individuals seeking to become foreign language teachers were assigned a Social, Artistic, Enterprising vocational code. However, longitudinal studies were not conducted to verify if these people ever entered the teaching profession. The present study sought to determine a Holland code for inservice foreign language educators. Data analysis confirms a stable Holland profile and his earlier findings as well as highlighting interesting differences among world language educators. This study holds implications for school counselors and recruiters of prospective language teachers during a time of critical shortage.     

移动窗口条件下聋生阅读过程中字词识别的实验研究

本研究采用移动窗口技术,以短文为实验材料,分别以单字呈现和多字呈现两种方式,对阅读技能水平较高和较低的聋生进行了实验,旨在验证和探讨聋生在汉语文章阅读过程中语音编码所起的作用。实验结果发现,聋生在短文阅读过程中存在语音激活的现象,但语音与字形所起的作用在不同实验中表现不同;聋生,特别是阅读能力较高的聋生,在阅读过程中,字形起到了关键的作用。     

The Professional Status of Bioethics Consultation

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - Is bioethics consultation a profession? Withfew exceptions, the arguments andcounterarguments about whether healthcareethics consultation is a profession...