Social genomics: genomic inventions in society. The nature of what's to come

This paper identifies several kinds of intellectual mistakes that proponents of genetic engineering make, in defending their views and characterizing the views of their opponents. Results from research in the social sciences and humanities illuminate the nature of these mistakes. The mistakes themselves play a role in allowing proponents to gather support from other protagonists in the social controversies involving science and technology. Understanding the controversies requires understanding that innovations are components of complex and ill-structured social problems; the "right answer" does not follow from scientific or technological breakthroughs. If the problems are identified correctly, issues of non-economic or non-market values and political and individual rights will need to be addressed.     

The structure of negative emotions in adolescents

This study examined the structure of negative emotions in a sample of nonclinical adolescents, using an approach that exclusively relied on child self-report. A large sample of adolescents (N = 968) completed self-report questionnaires measuring symptoms of fear, anxiety, and depression. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the notion that fear, anxiety, and depression are distinct yet correlated components of negative emotions. This result is in agreement with recent empirical findings and current theoretical notions on the structure of negative emotions in children and should be taken as an encouragement for researchers to develop more specific measures for assessing fear, anxiety, and depression in children.     

A brief computer-based assessment of reinforcer dimensions affecting choice

In an extension of Neef, Shade, and Miller (1994), we used a brief computer-based assessment of differential responsiveness to reinforcer rate, quality, delay, and response effort in affecting the choices of 11 participants. The assessment involved successive presentations of two concurrent sets of math problems, each set associated with competing reinforcer or response dimensions in a counterbalanced fashion. The results showed that the reinforcer and response dimensions differentially affected choice, with time-allocation patterns varying across students.     

The Factor Structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales Revisited

The present study addressed limitations of a recent confirmatory factor analytic study challenging the hypothesized factor structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales. That dataset (n = 97) was reanalyzed and two additional datasets (n = 95, n = 91) were explored. With all three samples, taken separately and together, the Beavers Systems Model, when operationalized in the BIS, was not supported. A body of evidence is accumulating which suggests that clinicians and researchers should be wary of the BIS.     

3-6年级小学生师生关系:结构、类型及其发展

本研究采用师生关系教师评定量表,由14名班主任教师对498名3-6年级学生与教师的关系进行评价.结果表明:(1)师生关系量表具有较好的信度和效度,师生关系特点主要表现在冲突性、亲密性和反应性三个维度上.(2)快速聚类分析的结果表明,3-6年级学生的师生关系可划分为3种类型:冷漠型、冲突型、亲密型,其分布比例分别为23.0%、33.7%、43.3%.(3)师生关系随学生年级增长而变化.在师生关系各维度及总分上,存在显著的年级差异.随年级的上升,积极师生关系类型的比例逐渐下降,而消极师生关系类型的比例逐步上升.     

初中阶段青少年健康行为的因素结构特点分析

本研究以北京地区398名初中学生为被试,以适度睡眠、合理饮食、口腔卫生、体育锻炼、防止久坐五类健康促进行为与冒险、越轨、吸烟、过量饮酒、冒险骑车五类健康危害行为为对象,对其健康行为的因素结构特点进行了分析。研究结果表明,初中阶段青少年的健康危害行为间具有显著的正相关,而健康促进行为间的关系则较为复杂。验证性因素分析结果表明,初中阶段青少年健康行为的因素结构主要包含了两个因素,其中健康生活习惯因素主要包括适度睡眠、合理饮食与口腔卫生三类健康促进行为;冒险生活方式因素则包括了冒险、越轨、吸烟、过量饮酒、冒险骑车五类健康危害行为以及体育锻炼、防止久坐两类健康促进行为。     

Phenomenological Argumentative Structure

The nontechnical ability to identify or match argumentative structure seems to be an important reasoning skill. Instruments that have questions designed to measure this skill include major standardized tests for graduate school admission, for example, the United States-Canadian Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Writers and reviewers of such tests need an appropriate foundation for developing such questions – they need a proper representation of phenomenological argumentative structure – for legitimacy, and because these tests affect people's lives. This paper attempts to construct an adequate and appropriate representation of such structure, that is, the logical structure that an argument is perceived to have by mature reasoners, albeit ones who are untrained in logic.     

Argument Structure and Disciplinary Perspective

Many in the informal logic tradition distinguish convergent from linked argument structure. The pragma-dialectical tradition distinguishes multiple from co-ordinatively compound argumentation. Although these two distinctions may appear to coincide, constituting only a terminological difference, we argue that they are distinct, indeed expressing different disciplinary perspectives on argumentation. From a logical point of view, where the primary evaluative issue concerns sufficient strength of support, the unit of analysis is the individual argument, the particular premises put forward to support a given conclusion. Structure is internal to this unit. From a dialectical point of view, where the focus concerns how well a critical discussion comes to a reasoned conclusion of some disputed question, the argumentation need not constitute a single unit of argument. The unit of dialectical analysis will be the entire argumentation made up of these several arguments. The multiple/co-ordinatively compound distinction is dialectical, while the linked/convergent distinction is logical. Keeping these two pairs of distinctions separate allows us to see certain attempts to characterize convergent versus linked arguments as rather characterizing multiple versus co-ordinatively compound arguments, in particular attempts of Thomas, Nolt, and Yanal, and to resolve straightforwardly conflicts, tensions, or anomalies in their accounts. Walton's preferred Suspension/Insufficient Proof test to identify linked argument structure correctly identifies co-ordinatively compound structure. His objection to using the concept of relevance to explicate the distinction between linked and convergent structure within co-ordinatively compound argumentation can be met through explicating relevance in terms of inference licenses. His counterexample to the Suspension/No Support test for identifying linked structure which this approach supports can itself be straightforwardly dealt with when the test is explicated through inference licenses.     

青少年学生自立人格自陈量表的建构

通过对前期系列研究结果的梳理,建构出了涉及个人自立与人际自立两个方面共10种特质的青少年学生自立人格结构。根据理论构想,在5次预试的基础上编制出了青少年学生自立人格量表,并对1723个有效被试进行了调查。将有效被试划分为两个样本分别进行了探索性与验证性因素分析,并根据有关结果确定了量表项目。探索性与验证性因素分析的结果都检验了青少年学生自立人格结构。最后,对青少年学生自立人格结构的特点与维度含义等问题进行了讨论