The return of the prodigal: the emergence of Jungian themes in post-Freudian thought

Stories about reality and the nature of truth constitute the essence of psychological theory. This paper is an overview of the various Jungian-sounding 'storylines' that have slowly been woven into the fabric of Freudian theory, that is, those broad ranges of therapeutic approaches labelled 'psychoanalytic'. These include: hegemony of subjective experience; centrality of the Subject; the ineffable nature of the Subject and its agency; the role of countertransference as primary data in analysis; autonomous structures in the psyche; the nature and function of symbols; desire and its purposiveness; the nature and transformative aspects of primitive affective states. Speculation on the reasons for this occurrence is not considered as merely a function of enlightened theoretical or fraternal interchange, but of an archetypal dynamic of exclusion and reconciliation inherent in the nature of theory building and illustrated by the biblical myth of the prodigal.     

Quasivarieties Generated by Simple MV-algebras

In this paper we show that the quasivariety generated by an infinite simple MV-algebra only depends on the rationals which it contains. We extend this property to arbitrary families of simple MV-algebras.     

A note on dual scaling of successive categories data

Three methods for dual scaling of successive categories data are formulated. They are mathematically equivalent, and provide an appropriate technique to determine stimulus values and category boundaries on a joint scale, a problem that Nishisato's method (1980a) failed to handle. This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Grant No. A7942) to S. Nishisato. Comments on the earlier draft from anonymous reviewers were most helpful and much appreciated.     

Local homogeneity in latent trait models. A characterization of the homogeneous monotone irt model

The stochastic subject formulation of latent trait models contends that, within a given subject, the event of obtaining a certain response pattern may be probabilistic. Ordinary latent trait models do not imply that these within-subject probabilities are identical to the conditional probabilities specified by the model. The latter condition is called local homogeneity. It is shown that local homgeneity is equivalent to subpopulation invariance of the model. In case of the monotone IRT model, local homogeneity implies absence of item bias, absence of item specific traits, and the possibility to join overlapping subtests. The following characterization theorem is proved: the homogeneous monotone IRT model holds for a finite or countable item pool if and only if the pool is experimentally independent and pairwise nonnegative association holds in every positive subpopulation.This research was supported by the Dutch Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics. The authors wish to thank two reviewers for their thorough comments.     

Multilevel SEM with random slopes in discrete data using the pairwise maximum likelihood

Pairwise maximum likelihood (PML) estimation is a promising method for multilevel models with discrete responses. Multilevel models take into account that units within a cluster tend to be more alike than units from different clusters. The pairwise likelihood is then obtained as the product of bivariate likelihoods for all within-cluster pairs of units and items. In this study, we investigate the PML estimation method with computationally intensive multilevel random intercept and random slope structural equation models (SEM) in discrete data. In pursuing this, we first reconsidered the general ‘wide format’ (WF) approach for SEM models and then extend the WF approach with random slopes. In a small simulation study we the determine accuracy and efficiency of the PML estimation method by varying the sample size (250, 500, 1000, 2000), response scales (two-point, four-point), and data-generating model (mediation model with three random slopes, factor model with one and two random slopes). Overall, results show that the PML estimation method is capable of estimating computationally intensive random intercept and random slopes multilevel models in the SEM framework with discrete data and many (six or more) latent variables with satisfactory accuracy and efficiency. However, the condition with 250 clusters combined with a two-point response scale shows more bias.     

Evaluation of a peer support program for women with breast cancer—lessons for practitioners

The present study aimed to describe how a volunteer peer support service assists women with breast cancer, and provides guidelines for practitioners in the development and implementation of such programmes. A two‐phase evaluation of a breast cancer peer support program was undertaken to describe important attributes of the peer support intervention, the impact of the volunteer visit on women's self‐reports of anxiety, and key indicators of a successful volunteer visit. Phase 1 included focus groups with 57 women previously treated for breast cancer. Phase 2 included a survey of 245 women also treated previously for breast cancer and visited by a Breast Cancer Support Volunteer. The key aspect of the peer support process was the bond of common experience leading to a decrease in social isolation, an increase in optimism about the future and reassurance about personal reactions and femininity. It is recommended that peer support programmes should aim to time support visits to coincide with the time when patient support needs are highest, that volunteers need to be recruited from a range of backgrounds and matched to patients most similar to them in way of life, and that peer support services should be embedded in a broad network of community support services. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Multiplicative AHP,SMART and ELECTRE in a Common Context

This paper presents a comparative study of three popular methods for multicriteria decision analysis based on a particular model of human preferential judgement. Since decisions are invariably made within a given context, we model relative preferences as ratios of increments or decrements in an interval on an axis of desirability. Next we sort the ratio magnitudes into a small number of categories, represented by numerical values on a geometric scale. We explain why the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the French collection of ELECTRE methods, typically based on pairwise comparison methods, are concerned with categories of ratio magnitudes, whereas the simple multiattribute rating technique (SMART) essentially uses orders of magnitude of these ratios. This phenomenon provides a common basis for the analysis of the methods in question and for a cross-validation of their results. We illustrate the approach via a well-known case study, the choice of a location for a nuclear power plant. We conclude by discussing the scope of the comparative study. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating Multiple-Attribute Decision Support Systems

Differences in the perceived usefulness of five multiple-attribute decision support systems versus a basic spreadsheet are empirically assessed. Twenty-four college faculty members participated in a repeated measures experiment in which they used decision support software for personal computers to analyse semistructured multiple-attribute problems. The software packages employed were Criterium, Expert Choice, Logical Decision, VIMDA, VISA and the spreadsheet package Quattro Pro. A questionnaire was developed to assess user-friendliness of the software, confidence in the procedure implemented by the software, and users’ confidence in their results when employing the decision aids. Time to reach a decision was also measured. Significant differences were fund in the overall way users ranked these aids, in the perceived user-friendliness and the confidence in procedure among aids, and in the time it took to arrive at a result. Comments from users are also reported. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social Representations of Human Rights Amongst Czech University Students

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a general legislative framework for democratic societies. Studying the social representations of these basic human rights helps to explain how people understand and assess the basic rights and how these rights relate to everyday life. Over 400 Czech university students rated the 30 articles of the Declaration of Human Rights on various scales (degree of understanding, personal relevance, consequences for individual responsibility, for government, political parties, etc.). A semantic space was identified in which concepts (i.e. the Articles of the Declaration) could be located. A typology (clusters) of articles was then established within that semantic space. A factor analysis of the scales resulted in a two-dimensional solution (‘positive attitude’ and ‘personal influence’). Five clusters of assessed articles were identified within this semantic space. (© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)