Violence and race in professional baseball: Getting better or getting worse?

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between race and violence in the context of professional baseball. Specifically, I used the number of times a batter was hit by a pitch (per plate appearance) as an indicator of being the victim of an indirect violent act. Archival data were gathered from 4,273 players from 1950 to 1997, yielding 27,022 individual records. Even after controlling for player ability and league rules, race was a significant predictor of being hit. Specifically, from 1950 to 1997, the rate at which Blacks were hit was approximately 7.5% greater than the rate for Whites. The rate at which Hispanics were hit was approximately 7.6% greater than the rate for Whites. Testing year as a moderator revealed that the Black‐White difference was much greater in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1970 to 1989, race was not a significant predictor of being hit. Contrary to the hypotheses, from 1990 to 1997, Whites and Hispanics were hit at a significantly higher rate than Blacks (23.0% and 29.0%, respectively). Additional analyses revealed no relationship between pitcher race and batter race in hit‐by‐pitch events from 1997 to 1999. The findings are discussed with respect to group threat theory and the distinction between covert and overt aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:109–116, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

汉字内隐记忆的实验研究（Ⅰ）──内隐记忆存在的条件

通过四个２×２×２方差设计实验,将直接测量（再认任务）和间接测量（偏好判断任务）在形式上进行匹配,考察了汉字的注意因素,测量任务因素和时程因素经过不同组合构成的１０种情况,其中测量任务因素的间接测量根据汉字的局部加工（字形、字义、字音）和整体加工（整体特征）分为四种子任务,试图寻找汉字认知范畴里内隐记忆存在的条件。实验分学习和测验两个阶段。学习阶段的处理对所有被试都相同。测验阶段的不同指导语形成不同的测量任务。结果发现了内隐记忆存在的三个必要条件是非注意（目标）汉字,汉字的整体加工和偏好判断任务后阶段。匹配方法的使用是发现内隐记忆的保证。汉字的整体加工和局部加工具有不同的特点。     

Relations between different types of children's aggressive behavior and sociometric status among peers of the same and opposite gender

Croatian elementary school children in grades 4 to 6 (N= 151) reported on direct and indirect aggressive behaviors of their classmates. Acceptance and rejection by classmates were also assessed, employing the sociometric nomination technique. Correlational analyses revealed that both forms of aggression were related to peer rejection, but unrelated to peer acceptance. Girls' aggression was more strongly related to peer rejection than boys' aggression, independent of the type of aggression. Aggressive children of both genders tended to be more rejected by their same-gender classmates than by classmates of the opposite gender. Results were discussed in terms of children's attitudes towards aggression, and gender stereotyped perception of appropriateness of aggressive behavior. A need to examine developmental changes and cultural differences in relationships between aggression and peer status was emphasized.     

Once upon a time…: Using fairy tales as a form of vicarious contact to prevent stigma-based bullying among schoolchildren

We conducted a vicarious contact intervention with the aim of promoting bystanders' intentions to react to stigma-based bullying among schoolchildren. Participants were Italian primary schoolchildren (N = 117 first to third graders); the outgroup was represented by foreign children. Vicarious contact was operationalized with story reading, creating fairy tales on stigma-based bullying where minority characters were bullied by majority characters. Once a week for 3 weeks, participants were read fairy tales in small groups by an experimenter and engaged in reinforcing activities. Results revealed that the intervention increased intergroup empathy (but not intergroup perspective-taking) and anti-bullying peer norms and fostered contact intentions. The intervention also had indirect effects via intergroup empathy on helping and contact intentions and on bystanders' reactions to stigma based-bullying. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, also in terms of the relevance of the present results for school policy. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement .     

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.     

Derivative culpability

Abstract

I explore the question of when an agent is derivatively, rather than directly, culpable for an undesirable outcome. The undesirable outcome might be a harmful incompetent or unwitting act, or it might be a harmful event. By examining various cases, I develop a sophisticated account of indirect culpability that is neutral about controversies regarding normative ethical issues and the condition on direct culpability.     

The Ontological Roots of Human Science: the Message of Evolution—The Physics of Freedom (Choice)

The original proposal of H. H. Pattee (1971) Pattee, H. H. 1971. “Can life explain quantum mechanics?”. In Quantum theory and beyond, Edited by: Bastin, T. 307–319. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  [Google Scholar] of basing quantum theoretical measurement theory on the theory of the origin of life, and its far reaching consequences, is discussed in the light of a recently emerging biological paradigm of internal measurement. It is established that the “measurement problem” of quantum physics can, in principle, be traced back to the internal material constraints of the biological organisms, where choice is a fundamental attribute of the self-measurement of matter. In this light, which is shown to be a consequence of Pattee's original suggestion, it is proposed that biological evolution is a gradual liberation from the inert unity of “subject” and “object” of inanimate matter (as “natural law” and “initial conditions”), to a split biological existence of them and, as a consequence, the “message of evolution” is freedom, rather than complexity in itself. Some classical philosophical systems are brought into context to show that the epistemologies of several strictly philosophical systems of the social sciences are well acquainted with the problem and their solutions support our conclusions.     

The indirect effect of contextual factors on the emotional distress of infertile couples

Few studies were dedicated to study the role of contextual factors, such as the socioeconomic status and urban or rural residence in emotional distress of infertile couples. This study aimed to explore the impact of contextual factors on emotional distress, either directly or by affecting the importance of parenthood in one's life, which in turn affects emotional distress. In this cross-sectional study, 70 couples recruited during hormonal stimulation phase prior to in vitro fertilisation completed clinical and sociodemographic forms and self-report questionnaires assessing representations about the importance of parenthood and emotional distress. Path analysis using structural equation modelling was used to examine direct and indirect effects among variables. Results indicated that socioeconomic status and place of residence had an impact in emotional distress by affecting the representations about the importance of parenthood in one's life. Gender differences were found regarding model paths, suggesting that the social context may have a stronger influence on women's emotional distress than on their partners’ distress. When delineating psychological interventions, health care providers should consider that cultural values about children and parenthood contribute to shape the infertility experience.