Just Ignore It? Parents and Genetic Information

This paper discusses whether prospectiveparents ought to find out about their geneticconstitution for reproductive reasons. It isargued that ignoring genetic information can bein line with responsible parenthood or perhapseven recommendable. This is because parenthoodis essentially an unconditional project inwhich parents ought to commit themselves tonurturing any kind of child. Besides, thetraditional reasons offered for theunfortunateness of impairments and the tragicfate of families with disabled children are notconvincing. Other morally problematic outcomesof genetics, such as discrimination againstindividuals with impairments, and limiting freeparental decision making, are alsoconsidered.     

Genetic Information,Rights, and Autonomy

Rights, autonomy, privacy, and confidentialityare concepts commonly used in discussionsconcerning genetic information. When theseconcepts are thought of as denoting absolutenorms and values which cannot be overriden byother considerations, conflicts among themnaturally occur.In this paper, these and related notions areexamined in terms of the duties and obligationsmedical professionals and their clients canhave regarding genetic knowledge. It issuggested that while the prevailing idea ofautonomy is unhelpful in the analysis of theseduties, and the ensuing rights, an alternativereading of personal self-determination canprovide a firmer basis for ethical guidelinesand policies in this field.     

Consumers' product evaluation: a study of the primary evaluative criteria in the precious jewellery market in the UK

It is normally argued that consumers make their purchase decisions on the basis of their evaluation of, and knowledge about, the product attributes. This paper reports findings from a research study, which was conducted to determine the nature and type of evaluative criteria used by an individual while purchasing a piece of precious jewellery. In doing so, the study looked into the significance of product category knowledge, brand familiarity and brand consciousness in product evaluation. A questionnaire was sent to 500 consumers of precious jewellery in five major cities of the UK. Results indicate that, in general, subjective attributes are more important for people buying precious jewellery than the objective attributes. The significance of specific attributes during product evaluation could vary according to one's level of product category knowledge, brand familiarity and brand consciousness. The paper discusses implications for the marketers. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.     

A Bibliographic Survey of the Activities and International Nature of Multiple Criteria Decision Making

One of the fascinating things about multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is the degree to which the contributions that have built the field have come from all over the world. In this paper the international nature of the authorships of the 1216 refereed journal articles published on MCDM between 1987 and 1992, and the journals in which they have appeared, is examined. Also, an analysis of the 217 books and 31 journal special issues that have been published on MCDM, and 143 conferences that have been held on MCDM since the inception of the field, is similarly conducted. The paper concludes with a conference organizer, author and special issue guest editor index.     

从好奇发生到满足：好奇反馈循环的神经生理机制

好奇是驱动信息寻求行为最主要的内部动机。从感知信息缺口使好奇发生,到对控制进行价值评估,信息寻求行为发生,再到目标信息获得使好奇满足,每一环节都受到当前信息输入和上一环节反馈输出的影响,它们构成了一个反馈循环。该循环还嵌入在个体的终生发展过程中,随着经验积累和脑的发育不断变化。好奇反馈循环模型融入了控制的期望价值模型和贝叶斯强化学习框架,整合了来自监控系统、奖赏系统、控制系统等多个脑功能系统的研究证据,为理解好奇的神经生理机制提供了新思路。     

Processing spatial-temporal information in recent-onset schizophrenia: the study of short-term memory and its susceptibility to distraction

Memory impairment is a core feature in schizophrenia (SZ). The aim of this study was to investigate short-term memory (STM) and its sensitivity to distraction with visual-spatial material. This study comprised 23 recent-onset SZ patients and 23 healthy controls. The degree of disruption upon recall from interleaving irrelevant items within a sequence of to-be-remembered items-the sandwich effect [Hitch, G. J. (1975). The role of attention in visual and auditory suffix effects. Memory and Cognition, 3, 501-505]-was examined. STM performance, whether in the presence or absence of distraction, was poorer and markedly more vulnerable to disruption in SZ. Our results suggest that processing spatial information in STM is susceptible to interference in SZ.     

The phonological-distributional coherence hypothesis: cross-linguistic evidence in language acquisition

Several phonological and prosodic properties of words have been shown to relate to differences between grammatical categories. Distributional information about grammatical categories is also a rich source in the child's language environment. In this paper we hypothesise that such cues operate in tandem for developing the child's knowledge about grammatical categories. We term this the Phonological-Distributional Coherence Hypothesis (PDCH). We tested the PDCH by analysing phonological and distributional information in distinguishing open from closed class words and nouns from verbs in four languages: English, Dutch, French, and Japanese. We found an interaction between phonological and distributional cues for all four languages indicating that when distributional cues were less reliable, phonological cues were stronger. This provides converging evidence that language is structured such that language learning benefits from the integration of information about category from contextual and sound-based sources, and that the child's language environment is less impoverished than we might suspect.     

End-point focus manipulations to determine what information is used during observational learning

We required two groups of participants to observe an end-point model (ENDPT) while another two groups viewed a full-body, point-light model (FULL) to determine the role of relative motion information in acquisition of a multi-limb, whole-body action. One ENDPT and one FULL group also bowled a ball. Following retention, all groups observed the FULL model. The participants' movements were compared to the model and outcome attainment was quantified. There was no difference in shoulder-elbow coordination between groups in acquisition or retention. The FULL groups replicated hip-knee coordination more accurately than did ENDPT groups in early acquisition only, with no significant differences in late acquisition or retention. Both bowling groups became more accurate at the task across acquisition, but the ENDPT group was more accurate and consistent in retention. Providing intra-limb relative motion in re-acquisition did not improve coordination for the ENDPT groups, but it did facilitate movement control (peak wrist velocity) and outcome attainment (target accuracy). The acquisition of coordination during observational learning is not only a result of copying relative motion information, but also involves copying of end-point trajectory information from the primary effector.     

The coming changes in psychoanalytic education: Part II

This paper is the second part of a general analysis of problems in contemporary psychoanalytic education. Having proposed changes in the training analysis and supervisory systems in Part I, here the author focuses on concrete proposals regarding changes in the curriculum, seminars and classroom teaching; the governance of psychoanalytic institutes, relationship of institutes with their respective psychoanalytic society and the role of the university in the development of science and research; the admission, progression, and graduating processes; certifi cation and accreditation.     

Mindsets and pre-conscious open-mindedness to incidental information

Mindset theory (Gollwitzer, 1990) proposes that deliberative mindsets are marked by more open-minded processing of information, whereas implemental mindsets are characterized by more closed-minded processing. Accordingly, deliberative and implemental mindsets should differ in selective processing of incidental information when performing a central task. In three experiments, participants in deliberative and implemental mindsets performed a computer task while randomly presented incidental, unavoidable words. A subsequent recognition memory test assessed selective processing of these incidental words. Results revealed that deliberative mindsets led to superior recognition memory, suggesting increased open-mindedness to processing incidental information. Implications for mindset and goal theories are discussed.