Assessing empirical research in bioethics

Empirical research can aid ethical reflection in bioethics by identifying issues, by seeing how they are currently resolved, and by assessing the consequences of these current resolutions. This potential can be misused when the ethical issues in question are fundamentally non-consequentialist or when they are consequentialist but the empirical research fails to address the important consequences. An example of the former problem is some recent studies about bad consequences resulting from commercialized living kidney donor programs. These consequences could be avoided, but the crucial non-consequentialist ethical issues about exploitation and commercialization would still remain. Examples of the latter problem are provided by recent studies of the allocation of ICU beds and of physician deception, where important consequences were not adequately studied.     

SEARCH FOR BELIEFS TO LIVE BY CONSISTENT WITH SCIENCE

Abstract. Instead of separating religion and science into "mutually incompatible realms," the new macromental paradigm of behavioral science permits integration of the two within a single consistent worldview. A new form of causal determinism combines conventional "bottom-up" with emergent "top-down" causation. Traditional materialist tenets are overturned, along with the science-values dichotomy, clearing the way for a science-based value/belief system. Intrinsic ethicomoral directives emerge in which a revised sense of the sacred would help protect the evolving quality of the biosphere, and the rights and welfare of future generations. Subsequent versions of today's changing worldview raise questions of which interpretation to believe. An analysis of "New Age" thinking is called for, and a brief attempt at such analysis is included.     

中介效应检验程序及其应用

讨论了中介变量以及相关概念、中介效应的估计；比较了检验中介效应的主要方法；提出了一个检验程序，它包含了依次检验和Sobel检验。该程序检验的第一类和第二类错误率之和通常比单一检验方法小，既可以做部分中介检验，也可以做完全中介检验。作为示范例子，引入中介变量研究学生行为对同伴关系的影响。     

Adult's failures on euclidean and projective spatial tasks: Implications for characterizing spatial cognition

In their initial study of the development of children's spatial concepts, Piaget and Inhelder (1956) designed the “water-level” and “plumb-line” tasks to assess children's Euclidean abilities to perceive and represent horizontals and verticals. Surprisingly, subsequent research has shown that many adults perform badly on these tasks designed for children. Here we studied whether adults (N=160) would also have difficulty on a shadow projection task developed to assess theoretically related projective spatial concepts. The data showed that some adults had difficulty on the shadow task, whether tested by a drawing or by a selection task, and whether scored with respect to qualitative shape or metric accuracy. Performance was significantly worse on complex than simple forms, and when sex differences emerged, they favored males. As hypothesized, the best predictor of shadow performance was performance on the Euclidean tasks. Scores on the Embedded Figures Test and participant sex accounted for small (but significant) additional variance on shadow performance. Implications for theories of spatial development and for modeling individual differences in spatial cognition are discussed.     

On kristof's test for a linear relation between true scores of two measures

The hypothesis that two variables have a perfect disattenuated correlation and hence measure the same trait, except for errors of measurement, is discussed. Equivalently, the underlying variables, the true scores, are related linearly. We show that several previously proposed ad hoc tests are in fact likelihood ratio tests. The cases when the linear relation is specified and when it is unspecified are both discussed.This work was done while the author was at Purdue University Under Air Force Grant AFOSR-72-2350B.     

Function transformation without reinforcement

In studies of function transformation, participants initially are taught to match stimuli in the presence of a contextual cue, X; the stimuli to be matched bear some formal relation to each other, for example, a relation of opposition or difference. In a second phase, the participants are taught to match arbitrary stimuli (say, A and B) in the presence of X. In a final test, A often displays behavioral functions that differ from those of B, and can be predicted from the nature of the relation associated with X in the initial training phase. Here we report function-transformation effects in the absence of selection responses and of their reinforcers. In three experiments with college students, exposure to relations of difference or identity modified the responses given to later stimuli. In Experiment 1, responses to a test stimulus A varied depending on preexposure to pairs of colors that were distinct from A but exemplified relations of difference or identity. In Experiment 2, a stimulus A acquired distinct functions, depending on its previous pairing with a contextual cue X that had itself been paired with identity or difference among colors. Experiment 3 confirmed the results of Experiment 2 with a modified design. Our data are consistent with the notion that relations of identity or difference can serve as stimuli for Pavlovian processes, and, in compound with other cues, produce apparent function-transformation effects.     

Children's use of geometric information in mapping tasks

Accumulating evidence, particularly from research using the disorientation technique, demonstrates early sensitivity to geometric properties of space. However, it is not known whether children can use geometric cues to interpret a map. The current study examined how 3- to 6-year-olds use geometric features of layouts in solving mapping tasks. Children were asked to identify a target location in a layout shaped as an isosceles triangle by using information provided in a picture of that layout. Performance depended on whether the shape was presented explicitly or needed to be inferred. Younger participants performed better when the triangle was formed by continuous connected lines than when it was formed by separate objects. Performance also depended on the type of geometric cues available. Children found it easier to establish mapping for targets located in the unique corner of the triangle than for targets located in equal-sized corners. Overall, the findings reveal both a remarkable early ability to use geometric information in mapping and limits in this ability.     

Tight and loose are not created equal: An asymmetry underlying the representation of fit in English- and Korean-speakers

Research concerning the spatial dimension fit (tight versus loose) has been based on a tacit but untested assumption that the dimension fit is symmetrical, with tight- and loose-fitting relations highlighting the dimension fit with equal force. We propose a reformulation, documenting that adult speakers of English (Experiment 1) and Korean (Experiment 2) are sensitive to the dimension fit, but that their representation is asymmetric, with tight-fitting events highlighting fit with greater force than loose-fitting events. We propose that sensitivity to the dimension fit is more resilient than has previously been suggested, and that the asymmetry documented here provides a foundation upon which to pursue nuanced questions about the relationship between language and our underlying representations of space.