Vincent van Gogh's early years as an artist

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was an artist for 10 years, from 1880 to 1890. As a mature artist, he was capable of executing works in a rapid fashion, sometimes up to three a day and requiring less than an hour for each. But it took him 9 years of deliberate repetition to evolve the competencies with which to execute his works rapidly. This paper examines the first 2 years of his artistic development, a period when he consciously set about to establish the foundations for his later production, including having an overall plan, establishing a skill for drawing before proceeding to painting, experimenting judiciously in a controlled manner, and amplifying novelty by varied repetition. All these factors are considered as work objectivity, which is the notion that regardless of how far-ranging his motivations might have been, he was objective and planful in an approach to the creative enterprise.     

Collaborative learning in engineering ethics

This paper discusses collaborative learning and its use in an elective course on ethics in engineering. Collaborative learning is a form of active learning in which students learn with and from one another in small groups. The benefits of collaborative learning include improved student performance and enthusiasm for learning, development of communication skills, and greater student appreciation of the importance of judgment and collaboration in solving real-world problems such as those encountered in engineering ethics. Collaborative learning strategies employed in the course include informal small group discussions/problem solving, role-playing exercises, and cooperative student group projects, including peer grading. Student response to these techniques has been highly favorable. Realizing the benefits of collaborative learning is a challenge to both teachers, who must give up some control in the classroom, and students, who must be willing to take greater responsibility for their learning. An earlier version of this paper was presented by the author at a mini-conference, Practicing and Teaching Ethics in Engineering and Computing, held during the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Washington, D.C., March 8–9, 1997 The author teaches courses in Science, Technology and Society and is Director of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program, a dual-degree program in engineering and humanities/social sciences.     

“Minimax length links” of a dissimilarity matrix and minimum spanning trees

A theorem is proved stating that the set of all minimax links, defined as links minimizing, over paths, the maximum length of links in any path connecting a pair of objects comprising nodes in an undirected weighted graph, comprise the union of all minimum spanning trees of that graph. This theorem is related to methods of fitting network models to dissimilarity data, particularly a method called Pathfinder due to Schvaneveldt and his colleagues, as well as to single linkage clustering, and results concerning the relationship between minimum spanning trees and single linkage hierarchical trees.Acknowledgments: The author thanks Phipps Arabie, Lawrence J. Hubert, and K. Christoph Klauer for a number of helpful suggestions and comments on various aspects of this paper.     

Optimism and Revolt of the Oppressed: A Comparison of Two Polish Jewish Ghettos of World War II

One World War II Jewish ghetto that revolted, the Warsaw Ghetto, is compared to one that did not, the Lodz Ghetto, in order to examine the causes of violent resistance. This structured focused comparative method (George, 1979) illuminates problems with previous explanations for revolt and nonrevolt in Jewish ghettos and suggest psychological variables that might have led to or precluded organized violence. Specifically, it appears that these two ghettos differed in their perceptions about their future. The residents of the Warsaw Ghetto believed they had no hope of survival while residents of the Lodz Ghetto remained optimistic. These differing perceptions seem to have led to the different outcomes. Possible causes of these percetpions are also discussed.     

Effects of a Motivational Interviewing–Based Counseling Program on Classroom Behavior of Children in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program

A multiple single‐case research design was used to explore changes in teacher‐reported behaviors of 15 children who completed a motivational interviewing–based counseling program in a disciplinary alternative education school. Findings indicated that 7 children made a moderate to large improvement in their classroom behaviors while participating in the program. Students’ self‐motivational statements and self‐reported readiness to change were related to actual teacher‐rated behavioral changes. Implications for future research and counseling practice were discussed.     

Sexual Health Research Among Youth Representing Minority Populations: To Waive or Not to Waive Parental Consent

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) significantly burden youth 13–24 years of age in the United States. Directly engaging youth in sexual health research is a public health priority and urgently needed to develop targeted, youth-friendly, and culturally relevant HIV/STI prevention interventions. Controversies arise, however, regarding informed assent and consent, parental permission or consent, and the definition of “child”/“minor” as it relates to medical, legal, and ethical issues. In this article, we describe challenges in the human subjects review processes that were undertaken before beginning an HIV/STI prevention research project with sexually active youth in an urban setting. These findings provide important contextual information to facilitate youth sexual health research and care, and Institutional Review Board approval processes with fewer delays.     

复杂哀伤丧亲女孩的箱庭疗法个案研究

通过19次个体箱庭和2次家庭箱庭治疗,对一名12岁复杂哀伤的丧亲女孩W进行了个案研究。发现:(1)箱庭治疗能提高丧亲青少年的个体和家庭功能,促进青少年个体和家庭哀伤任务的完成;(2)W的个体箱庭经历了在混乱重复中寻找秩序、重建自我、转化与整合、自我治愈力展现四个阶段;(3)W的哀伤经验经历了在治疗者促进下分享—象征性表达—主动地象征性表达—直接而主动地表达哀伤经验最终获得哀伤任务完成的变化过程。