Sense-of-the-Other: At the Core of Interpersonal Theory and Practice

All psychotherapy is interpersonal. The sense-of-the-other is at the core of the interpersonal approach. More than empathic regard or unconditional understanding, the sense-of-the-other involves the engagement of a person in the other’s life. The degree to which two people resonate with each other provides an estimate of this sense. The contributions of those who have laid the foundations for interpersonal theory, including Sullivan, Buber, Kaiser, and Vigotsky are presented. Then the applications of sense-of-the-other to several scenarios illustrate the power of this concept. Finally, a method for the psychotherapist and other human beings is provided by which people can recognize their impact on others and learn to use it benevolently.     

How Might I Have Been?

What would my life have been like if I had been born more intelligent? Or taller? Or a member of the opposite sex? Or a non‐biological being? It is plausible that some of these questions make sense, while others stretch the limits of sense making. In addressing questions of how I might have been, genetic essentialism is popular, but this article argues that genetic essentialism, and other versions of origin essentialism for organisms, must be rejected. It considers the prospects for counterpart theory and shows how counterpart theory can be used to illuminate volitional accounts of identity as proposed by Harry Frankfurt. This enables one to make sense of claims that, say, being gay, or Deaf, or Black, can be essential to someone's identity. The discussion is then extended to show how it can be made applicable to the transworld identity theorist who denies that individuals possess essential properties.     

Agents of Reform?: Children’s Literature and Philosophy

Children’s literature was first published in the eighteenth century at a time when the philosophical ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau on education and childhood were being discussed. Ironically, however, the first generation of children’s literature (by Maria Edgeworth et al) was incongruous with Rousseau’s ideas since the works were didactic, constraining and demanded passive acceptance from their readers. This instigated a deficit or reductionist model to represent childhood and children’s literature as simple and uncomplicated and led to children’s literature being overlooked and its contribution to philosophical discussions being undermined. Although Rousseau advocates freeing the child to develop, he does not feel that reading fiction promotes child development, which is a weakness in an otherwise strong argument for educational reform. Yet, rather ironically, the second generation of children’s writers, from Lewis Carroll onwards, more truly embraced Rousseau’s broader philosophical ideas on education and childhood than their predecessors, encouraging and freeing readers to imagine, reflect and actively engage in ontological enquiry. The emphasis had changed with the child being embraced in education and society as active participant rather than passive or disengaged recipient. Works deemed to be seminal to the canon of children’s literature such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan and The Chronicles of Narnia challenge readers to work through conflicts many of which can be identified retrospectively as exhibiting postmodern characteristics. By exploring moral and spiritual dilemmas in their writing, Carroll, Barrie and Lewis’s works can be regarded as contributing to discussions on theodical postmodernism. The successes of The Lord of the Rings and Narnia films suggest that there is an interest in exploring moral dilemmas, fulfilling a need (perhaps for tolerance and understanding) in society at large. Children’s literature has an almost divine power to restore, to repair and to heal, all characteristics of theodical postmodernism but differing from the more widely held conception of postmodernism which pulls apart, exacerbates and exposes. Children’s literature therefore offers a healthy and constructive approach to working through moral dilemmas. In their deconstruction of childhood, these authors have brought children’s literature closer to aspects of enquiry traditionally found in the domain of adult mainstream literature. As the boundaries between childhood and adulthood become more fluid, less certain, debate is centring around whether the canon of children’s literature itself has become redundant or meaningless since there are no longer any restrictions on which subjects can be treated in children’s literature. Despite the fact that children’s literature clearly engages with difficult issues, it continues to be left out of the critical equation, not given serious attention, disregarded as simplistic and ignored in contemporary philosophical discussions concerning morality, postmodernism and the future of childhood. With children’s literature coming closer to mainstream literature, and exhibiting prominent features of postmodernism, however, it is only a matter of time before philosophical discussions actively engage with children’s literature and recognise its contribution to the resolution and reconciliation of ontological dilemmas. When this occurs, philosophy and children’s literature will re-engage, enriching contemporary investigations of existence, ethics and knowledge and fruitfully developing thought in these areas. This paper aims to contribute to this process.

Utilization of static and kinetic information for depth by young Malaŵians

The utilization of static and kinetic information for depth by Mala?ian children and young adults in making monocular relative size judgments was investigated. Subjects viewed pairs of objects or photographic slides of the same pairs and judged which was the larger of each pair. The sizes and positions of the objects were manipulated such that the more distant object subtended a visual angle equal to, 80% of, or 70% of the nearer object. Motor parallax information was manipulated by allowing or preventing head movement. All subjects displayed sensitivity to static information for depth when the two objects subtended equal visual angles. When the more distant object was larger but subtended a smaller visual angle than the nearer object, subjects tended to base their judgments on retinal size. Motion parallax information increased accuracy of judgments of three-dimensional displays but reduced accuracy of judgments of pictorial displays. Comparisons are made between these results and those for American subjects.     

Allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies: Convergent and discriminant validation

Allocentric tendencies were studied with a multimethod questionnaire and Illinois undergraduates. Nine scales measuring different aspects of allocentrism were shown to have good reliability and to be intercorrelated, thus showing convergent validity. Factor analysis identified three aspects: subordination of personal to group goals, the ingroup as extension of the self, and ingroup identity. The scales also had satisfactory discriminant validity. Those high on idiocentric tendencies used equity and those high in allocentric tendencies used equality and need in distributing rewards. A second study found that those who are allocentric are more likely to emphasize the values of cooperation, equality, and honesty, and those who are idiocentric to emphasize the values of comfortable life, competition, pleasure, and social recognition. Those who were allocentric reported receiving more social support and a better quality of social support; those who were idiocentric were higher in achievement motivation, alienation, anomie, and reported greater loneliness.     

Spatial localization in children after changes in position

Five experiments investigated the young child's ability to retrieve a target after a change in the position of the child or the target. In Experiments I–IV 2- to 4-year-old children were rotated 90, 180, 270, or 360° about a stationary square table containing four identical hiding locations at each of the cardinal locations. The children tested performed this task significantly better than chance, but their errors reflected either their response biases in the absence of any information as to the location of the target, or the repetition of a response which had been successful in retrieving the target prior to the change in position. When the children were forced to respond rapidly, these errors increased significantly. In Experiment V a table top was rotated 90, 180, 270, or 360° in front of 3- to 10-year-old children. There were two cue situations. The child saw the rotation, or the child had to infer the rotation. Young children made errors of the types observed in Experiments I–IV. The ability to inhibit these errors increased with age. By 7 years of age performance was virtually perfect when the child could observe the change in position of the hidden object. The ability to infer the positional change developed more slowly and was good but not perfect at 10 years of age.     

Effects of list length and first-trial reward upon concurrent discrimination performance

Rhesus monkeys were given 2304 two-trial object discrimination problems that were presented as members of lists consisting of two, four, or eight problems. The problems within each list were presented concurrently, Trial 1 for all problems in the list being presented before initiation of Trial 2 for any problem. Each problem involved exposure of a single object on Trial 1, which was either rewarded or not rewarded, followed by presentation of the Trial 1 object along with a second object on Trial 2. Performance varied inversely with list length, and this effect became more prominent as a function of training. Performance after Trial 1 nonreward was substantially better than that after Trial 1 reward, and this effect became enhanced both with continued training and with increased list length. The findings were discussed in terms of Bessemer's short-term memory analysis of learning set.     

Science,Values and Loves: Theologies as Expressive Constructions

Invited to write “a manifesto for [my] own theological position”, I begin with science and human rights as excellent examples of universalist aspirations of modernity. Modern individualism is important too, as particular existential loves shape each life. Science, morality, and personal loves are interwoven in theologies, as creative constructions. The sciences are important, as we need not only individual authenticity but also accountability. My position presented here is science-inspired naturalistic theism. It is not “religious naturalism”, given the categorical difference between facts and values. It is not “natural theology”, as inductive approaches do not reach that far. It comes closer to a “theology of nature”, but it does not assume the epistemic claims involved. I consider theologies to be important expressive constructions.     

On mediating equity,equality, and self-interest: The role of self-presentation in social exchange

Do individuals conform to various norms of reward allocation not necessarily in response to internal standards but rather, to win approval from relevant others? This study examined the role of self-presentation in mediating equity, equality, and self-interest within reward allocations. It was hypothesized that when others were aware of a subject's behavior, distributions would reflect that person's normative definition of the situation. Subjects allocated a $5.00 payment among themselves and three partners with unequal performance inputs. Informing the experimenter of one's decisions resulted in more equitable divisions, characterizing the employment-productivity relationship between experimenter and subject. When co-workers, defined as peers, were aware of allocations, an equality-based solution was favored. Allocators enhanced their own rewards beyond normative values only when their choices were completely private. Evidence was also found of postdecisional cognitive changes which maintained the belief that one acted justly in giving each partner what he deserved. These findings are consistent with the proposition that individuals maximize their own rewards, defined broadly to include social impression-formation and intrapsychic benefits. Apparently, self-presentational concerns mediate the relative salience of equity, equality, and self-interest in social exhange.