Conflict of Interest Policies at Canadian Universities: Clarity and Content

Discussions of conflict of interest (COI) in the university have tended to focus on financial interests in the context of medical research; much less attention has been given to COI in general or to the policies that seek to manage COI. Are university COI policies accessible and understandable? To whom are these policies addressed (faculty, staff, students)? Is COI clearly defined in these policies and are procedures laid out for avoiding or remedying such situations? To begin tackling these important ethical and governance questions, our study examines the COI policies at the Group of Thirteen (G13) leading Canadian research universities. Using automated readability analysis tools and an ethical content analysis, we begin the task of comparing the strengths and weaknesses of these documents, paying particular attention to their clarity, readability, and utility in explaining and managing COI.     

Imitative interaction increases social interest and elicited imitation in non‐verbal children with autism

Recent studies indicate that being intensely imitated for a brief period of time increases social interest among children with autism. The aim of this study was to replicate and extend these findings. Twenty children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were randomly assigned to one of two interaction strategies: imitation (n=10) or contingent (n=10). The children had little or no functional speech, and their developmental age averaged 25 months (mean chronological age =6:5 years). Both conditions were presented with repeated sessions of a modified version of Nadel's ‘still‐face’ paradigm (still‐face/intervention/still‐face/spontaneous play). The analysis revealed a significant increase of both proximal and distal social behaviours (touch and look at person) for the imitation condition, which confirms previous reports. In addition, an increase in elicited imitation, as measured with the PEP‐R developmental assessment procedure, was also observed for children in the imitation condition, but not in the contingent condition. This finding extends earlier reports in that it suggests that the social expectancies unlocked by imitation also spread to tasks outside the experimental setting. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analyzing individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests: A multitrait-multimethod approach

This study investigates the latent structure of individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests. The participants consisted of 302 French adults who rated their like or dislike for activities based on Holland’s RIASEC typology and presented in three life domains: work, family and leisure. The multitrait-multimethod model proposed by Eid [Eid, M. (2000). A multitrait-multimethod model with minimal assumptions. Psychometrika 65, 241-261.] was used with the vocational interests as standard comparison, and was applied separately on each of the 6 RIASEC types. Results indicated that interests strongly intercorrelated whatever their vocational vs. leisure or family contextualization. However, since these correlations were controlled for measurement error, the results also suggested that the effects of these contextualizations of the activities could not be ignored because they accounted for a non negligible part of the variance for several activities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and directions for future research are presented.     

大学生职业决策中的妥协策略

职业决策是大学生面临的重要的现实问题之一。通过预实验之后,随机选取89名大学生参加正式实验。采用2×3的混合实验设计探明大学生妥协策略的特点,结果表明:(1)大学生在三种妥协情境中的妥协次序基本支持Gottfredson的假设,但有其自身特点,社会声望始终是优先考虑的因素。(2)兴趣是职业决策的重要影响因素,不受东西方文化因素的影响。     

我国中学生职业兴趣的特点与测验编制

随着当前就业压力的增加,社会竞争也愈演愈烈,职业生涯规划的问题逐渐受到人们的重视。本文基于当代高中毕业生选报大学专业时对自身兴趣特点深入了解的需要,在国内外职业兴趣研究的基础上,探讨了我国高中生职业兴趣的特点,并编制出一套适合当前中国高中生兴趣特点的职业兴趣测验。该测验将职业兴趣分为七种类型：艺术型、事务型、经营型、研究型、自然型、社会型和技术型。测验的信、效度测量指标均达到比较满意的水平。经过初步推广使用,获得了广大使用者的好评。     

超常与常态儿童的兴趣、动机与创造性思维的比较研究

在超常儿童研究领域存在着许多争议的问题,超常儿童的智力与创造力的关系问题就是其中的一个。为了更好地解释超常儿童的创造力与智力的本质关系,我们曾提出了“创造性系统模型”。本研究的主要目的是进一步证实模型提出的假设。本研究以超常和常态儿童为被试对儿童的兴趣、动机与创造性思维的关系作了进一步的考察。结果发现：（１）超常儿童的图形、数字和实用创造性思维的流畅性和独创性成绩都明显高于常态儿童;（２）超常和常态儿童的创造性思维与兴趣、动机之间存在显著的相关;（３）兴趣和动机得分较高的被拭的创造性思维得分显著高于兴趣和动机得分较低的被试;（４）超常儿童中有相当部分处于低兴趣和低动机水平,而常态儿童中却有相当部分处于高兴趣和高动机水平。因此,本研究从一个侧面进一步支持了系统模型中提出的有关儿童创造性的假设     

Making the audience a key participant in the science communication process

The public communication of science and technology has become increasingly important over the last several decades. However, understanding the audience that receives this information remains the weak link in the science communication process. This essay provides a brief review of some of the issues involved, discusses results from an audience-based study, and suggests some strategies that both scientists and journalists can use to modify media coverage in ways that can help audiences better understand major public issues that involve science and technology. Carol L. Rogers is editor of the interdisciplinary journal Science Communication.     

Conflict of interest in biomedical research: a view from Europe

In this paper I address the conflict of interest (CoI) issue from a legal point of view at a European level. We will see that the regulatory framework that exists in Europe does state the need for the independence of ethics committee involved in authorisation of research and clinical trials. We will see that CoI is an element that has to be closely monitored at National and International level. Therefore, Member States and Newly Associated States do have to address CoI in the authorisation process of research and clinical protocols of biomedicine. The opinions here expressed are personal and do not commit the European Commission. An earlier version of this paper was delivered at a Conference on Conflict of Interest and Its Significance in Science and Medicine, 5–6 April, 2002, Warsaw, Poland. The author is a Scientific Officer in the Programme Science and Society dealing with ethics and science (Unit C.3).     

我国大学生的职业价值观研究

考察从８０年代初期到９０年代中期我国青年学生择业标准的变迁及其原因。同时,探讨了不同职业兴趣类的人在职业价值观上的异同。从而揭示了环境的变化及职业兴趣类型对职业价值观的影响作用。     

In re Edna MF: Case Law Confusion in Surrogate Decision Making

I review the recent case of Edna Folz, a 73 year-old woman who was suffering through the end stages of very advanced Alzheimer's dementia when her case was adjudicated by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. I consider this case as an example of how courts are increasingly misinterpreting the ethical and legal decision-making standards known as substituted judgment and best interests and thereby threatening individuals' treatment decision-making rights as developed by other courts over the past two decades and creating serious roadblocks to health-care providers' ability to render appropriate patient care. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Edna's legal guardian could not authorize withdrawal of Edna's treatment, ruling that as a matter of law, if an incompetent person is not in a persistent vegetative state, it is not in his or her best interests for life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn unless (s)he has executed an advance directive or other statement clearly indicating his or her desires.