Can we still stand by words? or: Why rhetoric needs A pragmatic turn

Rhetorical theory has developed powerful criticisms of pretentions to objectivity, in the spirit of deconstruction and ideology critique. These critiques contain nihilistic tendencies when they become abstracted from the interactive social contexts upon which they depend for their own significance and efficacy. With a rich analysis of the social bases of communication sustained by its commitment to the project of deliberative democracy, the classic Pragmatism of John Dewey and G. H. Mead can provide an important corrective by orienting rhetorical theory toward reflective social-political engagement.     

Interdisziplinarität und Wissensentwicklung

Interdisciplinarity and the Development of Knowledge. The author is engaged in the question how to explain the development of scientific meanings of facts which does not coincide with producing them rather with processes of the scientists' public communication. So long as the facts are adjustable to the conventional theories of those discipline which the researcher belongs to this connection does not reveal perfectly clear. More instructive is a consideration of so-called anomalies. The author demonstrates with an example of the history of science that researchers in case of new phenomena use to borrow concepts from other disciplines for resolving the interpretative problems. It emerges a loose net-work of concepts. In this way the researchers are producing a disciplinary mixed public at the same time. This process is seen as an important phase of the development of new theories and, complementary, new disciplines.     

The future of genetics in public health

During the 1980s, we have witnessed an erosion in federal and state funding for the coordination of genetic services in state health departments. As this decade begins, the federal budget for the support of the national genetics program is less than half of the total available in 1980. In addition, priorities in state maternal and child health programs have changed, and genetic services have often received lower rankings aside of programs to improve prenatal care and to address problems such as teenage pregnancy. Clearly we are at a critical point for the future of genetics programs in the public health arena. Fortunately, despite the problems with funding and priority setting, important coalitions have been built during the past decade and continued advances in medical genetics have made it difficult for public health officials to ignore the potential impact of genetic services. Council of Regional Networks for Genetic Services (CORN) and the regional genetic services networks have provided opportunities for interaction and coordination between genetic services providers and public health officials that had not been available to any significant extent. The full potential of these coalitions has yet to be realized, but efforts in data collection, development of national guidelines and standards, and information sharing and networking have already had an influence on state genetic services programs. Continuing research on the genetics of chronic diseases and the influence of discoveries in molecular genetics will undoubtedly broaden the current scope of state public health programs in genetics, which all too often have been limited to newborn screening and administration of grants for genetic services. The regional and national genetic services programs should be strengthened and appropriate training programs should be developed in Schools of Public Health to provide the expertise and leadership that will be needed to guide the future of genetics in public health.     

Effects of public posting on driving speed in Icelandic traffic

We replicated a study by Van Houten, Nau, and Marini (1980) that had revealed reductions in vehicle speeding following the posting of percentages of drivers not speeding on a sign at roadside. Our subjects were drivers entering a residential area where the speed limit changed from 90 km/hr (55.9 mph) to 60 km/hr (37.3 mph). A total of 4,409 vehicle speeds were taken from two observation sessions per day for 20 consecutive weekdays. The intervention consisted of a single posting condition, in which a hypothetical daily percentage of drivers not speeding was posted on a feedback sign, followed by a double posting condition, in which a sign posting a best result was erected beyond the feedback sign. Results revealed a significant speed reduction from an average of 69.0 km/hr (42.9 mph) during baseline to 63.4 km/hr (39.4 mph) during single posting. Average speed during double posting was 62.9 km/hr (39.1 mph). The percentage of drivers exceeding 70 km/hr (43.5 mph) dropped from 41.0 during baseline to 20.5 during single posting. The significant speed reductions add to the generality of findings of similar studies in Canada and Israel and offer possible explanations for the failure of feedback posting to reduce speed in the U.S.     

Participatory management: Maintaining staff performance in a university housing cooperative

To apply behavior analysis to normal adults in non institutional settings, we may have to encourage their participation in the design and implementation of behavioral technology. This study evaluates a technology by which the members of a student housing cooperative manage their own staff with a minimum of supervision by one of the program designers. This staff management system consisted of prompts, self-reports, spot checks, and contingent rent reductions. Six resident staff members performed substantially more of their assigned tasks when this system was used. In addition, the management system was acceptable to the members, was affordable, and maintained high levels of staff performance during a 5-year follow-up. Participation by the members in the design and implementation of this system appears to have been useful in helping the behavior analysts to develop an unusually durable management system.     

Generation Identity and the Reminiscence Bump: Memory for Public and Private Events

Participants ranging in age from 30 to 70 years free-recalled when they had learned public and private items of news. When responses were plotted in terms of age of participant at time of encoding, it was found that peak recall for public items of news was in the period when participants were aged 10 to 19 years whereas peak recall of private items of news occurred in the period when participants were aged 20 to 29 years. A second study confirmed this pattern of an early reminiscence bump for public news. It is proposed that these two components of the reminiscence bump reflect, respectively, a period of formation of generation identity in the second decade of life and a period of formation of intimate relationships in the third decade.     

Technology and the management of trust in insurance medicine

This article deals with the question how technologycontributed to the performing of objective assessmentsof health risks and to the public trust in theinsurance institution. Many authors have pointed tothe relevance of medical or statistical technologywith regard to the constitution of objectivity,because these technologies should be capable ofdiminishing the influence of social interactions – the``human element' – on the process of producingknowledge about health risks. However, in this articleit is shown that the constitution of objective riskassessments and public trust cannot be seen as theproduct of one particular type of technology, but thatit is the product of a socio-technical network, inwhich several heterogeneous elements becomeinterrelated and interdependant. The historicalreconstruction of this network also sheds a new lighton the role of `the human element' in the constitutionof objectivity and trust. It shows that elements inthe network which regulate the social interactionbetween the subjects involved are of no lessimportance to generate trust than technologies whichtend to abstract from this interaction. In otherwords, objective and subjective elements areintertwined much more than is often recognized, andpublic trust is to a fairly large degree depends onconventions in social interaction.     

Why scientists should cooperate with journalists

Despite a widespread impression that the public is woefully ignorant of science and cares little for the subject, U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) surveys show the majority are very interested and understand that they are not well informed about science. The data are consistent with the author’s view that the popularity of pseudoscience does not indicate a rejection of science. If this is so, opportunities for scientists to communicate with the public promise a more rewarding result than is commonly believed among scientists. In fact, the increasing visibility of science in the mass media correlates with a slow, steady improvement in public understanding of science in recent years.     

Education and Training of Children's Mental Health Professionals: The Existing and Potential Role of Schools of Public Health

Since the early 1980s, increasing attention has been devoted in the literature to the conceptualization, development, and implementation of integrated and comprehensive mental health systems of care for children and adolescents. In establishing this new children's mental health paradigm of community-based systems of care, there are presently very few well-trained professionals and leaders focused on collaborative (including interagency) initiatives in the delivery of children's mental health services. Nevertheless, the field of public health offers an interdisciplinary setting for the education and training of individuals in children's mental health services. This national survey of all 27 accredited schools of public health in the United States and Puerto Rico examined the existing capacity for and potential to expand educational and training opportunities in the organization, financing, and delivery of children's mental health services.     

风险沟通与公众理性

突发风险事件所导致的恐慌,其危害程度可能远远大于风险事件本身。当灾害突然降临的时候,公众能够启动理性的程度是应对危机的重要基础。文章提出了公众理性的概念,并界定和探讨了公众理性的构成以及公众理性的干扰因素;同时,通过SARS事件,着重分析了风险沟通的性质、特点,以及风险沟通对公众理性干预的可能途径和条件;目的是为总结SARS风险危机和建立应对突发风险事件的心理系统提供理论依据,以更好地促进我国在风险沟通领域的研究与实践。