Liberalism and the Privatised Family: The Legacy of Rousseau

This article argues that the intellectual legacy of Rousseau is at the root of the failure of 20th century egalitarian theorists such as Rawls and Dworkin to engage intellectually with feminist theorists working within the liberal tradition. Through an extended critique of Rousseau’s delineation of the relationship between liberal citizenship and the private family, it argues that the failure of such liberal theorists to take gender hierarchy seriously is a consequence of their attempt to place the private family outside the sphere not only of politics, but also of justice.     

A rapid assessment of skills in young children with autism

Educational interventions based on the principles of behavior analysis are highly effective for establishing skills in young children with autism. As a first step in program development, the child's current skill level is determined by evaluating performance on tasks drawn from a preestablished curriculum. However, few specific guidelines have been delineated for conducting these skills assessments or interpreting the results. In this study, we evaluated an efficient methodology for conducting skills assessments. Six children who had been diagnosed with autism participated. The relative efficacy of two assessment packages--one containing several reinforcement procedures and one containing several potentially effective prompts--was evaluated across two to three skills for each child using multiple baseline and reversal designs. Results suggested that the methodology was useful for matching targeted skills to appropriate interventions.     

Use of newsletters to promote environmental political action: an experimental analysis

The managers of beach businesses were randomly assigned to receive no intervention or two newsletters per week for 6 weeks that presented economic consequences of damage to coastal water quality and how to contact politicians. The percentage of proenvironmental political contacts was significantly greater in the experimental (newsletter) group than in the control group. Logistical regression showed that contacts in the newsletter group were more than five times that of controls after adjusting for history of contacts and predisposition to take such action. Results suggest that the intervention can promote political action that could influence environmental policies and human health.     

Degree of illiteracy and phonological and metaphonological skills in unschooled adults

Phonological and metaphonological skills are explored in 97 Brazilian illiterate and semiliterate adults. A simple letter- and word-reading task was used to define the degree of illiteracy. Phonemic awareness was strongly dependent on the level of letter and word reading ability. Phonological memory was very low in illiterates and unrelated to letter knowledge. Rhyme identification was relatively preserved in illiterates and semiliterates, and unrelated to letter and word reading level. Phonetic discrimination (minimal pairs) was fairly good and marginally related to reading ability. These results suggest that phonological sensitivity, phonological memory, rhyme identification, and phonemic awareness are distinctive cognitive processes, and that only phonemic awareness is clearly and strongly dependent on the alphabetical acquisition.     

Emancipatory responses to oppression: the template of land-use planning and the Old Order Amish of Ontario

In this paper I discuss the clash of values between the Old Order Amish community of Ontario and the dominant social paradigm in agriculture. Land-use and agricultural regulations, designed for an industrial style of agriculture, are experienced as a threat to the survival of the Old Order Amish agricultural social economy and community. The paper describes how I have worked with the Old Order Amish to respond to these challenges and to create public policies that will allow them to maintain their human and agricultural diversity and small-scale sustainable farm practices. Four case studies illuminating the oppressive land-use regulations along with the emancipatory responses to the oppression are examined. The social transformation themes include principles and processes for community psychologists, land-use planners, and community economic development practitioners to consider. The article has heuristic value for a practice-based approach to social change.     

Institutional conflicts in Jungian analysis

This paper explores how the institutional life of analytical psychology has been beset by its historical and continuing conflictual relationship with psychoanalysis. Stemming from a division in Jung's identity, that of the spiritual seeker and that of a mental health practitioner, the organizations of analytical psychology have repeatedly enacted that division, resulting in an unclear mission and considerable conflict. In England those conflicts have led to schisms; in America they have played out in internal conflicts within training institutes. Examples of areas of conflict are provided, along with suggestions for addressing these conflicts by recognizing them more openly.     

Extension of Luria's Psycholinguistic Studies in Poland

One of Luria's basic interests was the organization of human cognitive processes, and thinking in particular. He believed that language and thought are closely related, and hence the manner in which we speak reflects the way we think. To verify this assumption, he and his collaborators performed a number of interesting psycholinguistic experiments with subjects of various ages and cultural backgrounds. The tasks used made the evaluation of both receptive and expressive language possible. The Narrative Ability Test described here stems from Luria's observations to a considerable degree. The test was administered to preschool children (N = 106), schoolchildren (N = 143), adolescents (N = 89), adults (N = 126), and older persons (N = 175). Findings of the 20-year studies with normal and deviant populations indicate close relationships among thought, language, and self-control. It was found that difficulty in developing narratives corresponds with a disability to process complex information. Correlations between narrative skills and age, sex, and social background were also noted.     

“组织学习障碍”研究

组织要进行真正的学习 ,就必须克服“组织学习障碍”。“组织学习障碍”分为“单环学习障碍”和“双环学习障碍”两大类。为了克服“组织学习障碍”,首先必须消除组织的习惯性防御机制 ,然后进行“学习型组织”的各项修炼。     

自控摄入小剂量酒精影响熟练驾驶行为的实验研究

一个小样本受试者内设计实验,受试者在实验允许的酒精剂量范围内自由选择摄入量。实验安排饮酒前,酒后３０分钟、１１０分钟和１７０分钟四个测试阶段,分别检验受试者在模拟驾驶和实际驾驶两项任务中的认知行为。酒后３０分钟实际驾驶的技能与其他三个测试期相比存在有意义的差别显著性;模拟测试任务中酒后对红、黄两种信号灯的认知反应时之间呈现显著性差别,酒后１１０分钟对黄色信号灯的反应明显延迟。研究提示：受试对酒精感受性的估计是不可靠的,小剂量酒精也能对驾驶行为构成伤害。