'You’re Being Unreasonable’: Prior and Passing Theories of Critical Discussion

A key and continuing concern within the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation is how to account for effective persuasion disciplined by dialectical rationality. Currently, van Eemeren and Houtlosser offer one response to this concern in the form of strategic manoeuvring. This paper offers a prior/passing theory of communicative interaction as a supplement to the strategic manoeuvring approach. Our use of a prior/passing model investigates how a difference of opinion can be resolved while both dialectic obligations of reasonableness and rhetorical ambitions of argumentative success are simultaneously accommodated. The paper explores the model with particular reference to the pragma-dialectical rules of critical discussion, strategic manoeuvring and fallacious reasoning.     

A Pragma-dialectical Procedure for a Critical Discussion

According to the pragma-dialectical ideal of reasonableness, in case of a difference of opinion the protagonist and the antagonist of a standpoint should attempt to find out by means of a critical discussion whether the protagonist's standpoint is capable of withstanding the antagonist's criticism. In this paper, the authors formulate the latest version of their basic rules for the performance of speech acts in the various stages that can beanalytically distinguished in a critical discussion that can lead to the resolution of a single and non-mixed difference opinion.     

LGD在选拔企业中高级管理人才方面的实证研究

本研究利用在为某企业人才招聘活动中提供大型人才测评服务时所收集到的数据,分析研究了无领导小组讨论测评技术的信效度。结果表明,在LGD测评技术中,评价者经过系统培训后,其评分者信度较高,但在不同要素的评价方面存在一定的差异性;在效度方面,通过多种途径的数据检验都表明LGD是一种比较有效的人才测评技术。同时,本研究还得出结论．与个性品质方面的评价相比,LGD在评价个人的能力素质特征方面更有优势。另外,结合本次人才测评的实际操怍经验．研究者还提出了有关LGD测评实施过程的应用建议。     

An argument game for stable semantics

In this paper, we present a discussion game for argumentationunder stable semantics. Our work is inspired by Vreeswijk andPrakken, who have defined a similar game for preferred semantics.In the current paper, we restate Vreeswijk and Prakken's workusing the approach of argument labellings and then show howit can be adjusted for stable semantics. The nature of the resultingargument game is somewhat unusual, since stable semantics doesnot satisfy the property of relevance.     

Does Discussion Group Composition Affect Policy Preferences? Results from Three Randomized Experiments

We report the results of three randomized experiments designed to assess whether participants' political attitudes are affected by the prediscussion opinions of their discussion mates. The experiments took place during three multisite Deliberative Polls in 2004 and 2005. Participants discussed current political issues within 330 groups of approximately 10 people each. Because the composition of the groups was determined randomly within each location, the demographic and ideological complexion of the discussion groups varied randomly. This paper examines the effects of randomly varying group composition on political opinions expressed after daylong discussion. We find only sporadic evidence of group composition effects. These results run counter to—or at least qualify—a substantial body of theory and laboratory evidence on the influence of group discussion.     

问题解决测验中过程数据的特征抽取与能力评估

基于计算机的问题解决测验可以实时记录被试探索环境和解决问题时的详细行动痕迹,并保存为过程数据。首先介绍了过程数据的分析流程,然后从问题解决测验入手,分别对过程数据的特征抽取和能力估计建模两方面的研究进行了梳理和评价。未来研究应注意：提高分析结果的可解释性;特征提取时纳入更多信息;实现更复杂问题情景下的能力评估;注重方法的实用性;以及融合与借鉴不同领域的分析方法。     

Stress,social support,and problem-solving appraisal/skills: Prediction of suicide severity within a college sample

This study assessed whether stress, social support, and interpersonal problem-solving appraisal/skills were predictive of level of suicidality within a chronic suicidal college sample. Stepwise regression analyses were used to assess whether stress, social support, and problem-solving were independently predictive of severity of suicide ideation. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the mediational nature of social support and problem-solving in the stress-suicidality relationship. Problem-solving confidence was found to be a significant predictor of severity of suicide ideation. In addition, both perceived problem-solving skills and social support mediated the relationship between stress and level of suicide ideation. However, only one of the two perceived problem-solving skills interactions was in the expected direction. This study provided support for the importance of problem-solving confidence and the interaction of stress and social support in the prediction of suicide severity. Unlike previous studies, this study did not find problem-solving skills/deficits to mediate the stress-suicidality relationship.This research was supported by NIMH Grant 1-18MH48133.     

So what? Profiles for relevance criticism in persuation dialogues

This paper discusses several types of relevance criticism within dialogue. Relevance criticism is a way one could or should criticize one's partner's contribution in a conversation as being deficient in respect of conversational coherence. The first section tries to narrow down the scope of the subject to manageable proportions. Attention is given to the distinction between criticism of alleged fallacies within dialogue and such criticism as pertains to argumentative texts. Within dialogue one may distigguish tenability criticism, connection criticism, and narrow-type relevance criticism. Only the last of these three types of criticism constitutes a charge of fallacy and carries with it a burden of proof. In the second it is observed that a full study of narrow-type relevance criticism would require the construction of complicated, many-layered, dialogue systems. Such a study can, however, be profitably preceded by setting up profiles of dialogue that help us discuss the ins and outs of certain types of move. This is illustrated with an example.     

The writing of clinical papers: the analyst as illusionist

Rather than begin by defining what we mean when we call a paper 'clinical', I would like to reflect on how such a piece of work originates, how, through the interplay between the written and the spoken word, it becomes clinical and good enough for a professional journal.
In the following, I shall pay particular attention to recent publications from the editorial side, that is, those by Wharton, one of the three editors of The Journal of Analytical Psychology , and by Tuckett, editor of The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis . I shall plead that there should not only be one kind of clinical paper, namely the type that for political reasons seems to be the one that is most wanted at the present time and the aim of which is to put psychoanalysis on more secure foundations than it currently is.