Influences of credibility of testimony and strength of statistical evidence on children’s and adolescents’ reasoning

According to dual-process models that include analytic and heuristic modes of processing, analytic processing is often expected to become more common with development. Consistent with this view, on reasoning problems, adolescents are more likely than children to select alternatives that are backed by statistical evidence. It is shown here that this pattern depends on the quality of the statistical evidence and the quality of the testimonial that is the typical alternative to statistical evidence. In Experiment 1, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 64) were presented with scenarios in which solid statistical evidence was contrasted with casual or expert testimonial evidence. When testimony was casual, children relied on it but adolescents did not; when testimony was expert, both children and adolescents relied on it. In Experiment 2, 9- and 13-year-olds (N = 83) were presented with scenarios in which casual testimonial evidence was contrasted with weak or strong statistical evidence. When statistical evidence was weak, children and adolescents relied on both testimonial and statistical evidence; when statistical evidence was strong, most children and adolescents relied on it. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for dual-process accounts of cognitive development.     

Mid-career reframing: the learning and development processes through which individuals seek to effect major career changes

This article focuses upon the processes whereby individuals reframe their career goals and career direction mid-way through their working lives. Three cases, drawn from Denmark, Germany and Italy, are used to exemplify these processes. The cases are part of a larger study which included the development of a model that could accommodate the different ways in which learning could support labour market transitions across the life-course, where these transitions may involve shifts away from initial occupational identities. The model was used to inform the case analysis whereby career reframing processes could be viewed from three perspectives: reframing as a process of identity development, as a form of relational, emotional, practical and cognitive development and taking place within particular opportunity structures.     

Divergence Behaviour of the Successive Geometric Mean Method of Pairwise Comparison Matrix Generation for a Multiple Stage,Multiple Objective Optimization Problem

This paper focuses on the divergence behaviour of the successive geometric mean (SGM) method used to generate pairwise comparison matrices while solving a multiple stage, multiple objective (MSMO) optimization problem. The SGM method can be used in the matrix generation phase of our three‐phase methodology to obtain pairwise comparison matrix at each stage of an MSMO optimization problem, which can be subsequently used to obtain the weight vector at the corresponding stage. The weight vectors across the stages can be used to convert an MSMO problem into a multiple stage, single objective (MSSO) problem, which can be solved using dynamic programming‐based approaches. To obtain a practical set of non‐dominated solutions (also referred to as Pareto optimal solutions) to the MSMO optimization problem, it is important to use a solution approach that has the potential to allow for a better exploration of the Pareto optimal solution space. To accomplish a more exhaustive exploration of the Pareto optimal solution space, the weight vectors that are used to scalarize the MSMO optimization problem into its corresponding MSSO optimization problem should vary across the stages. Distinct weight vectors across the stages are tied directly with distinct pairwise comparison matrices across the stages. A pairwise comparison matrix generation method is said to diverge if it can generate distinct pairwise comparison matrices across the stages of an MSMO optimization problem. In this paper, we demonstrate the SGM method's divergence behaviour when the three‐phase methodology is used in conjunction with an augmented high‐dimensional, continuous‐state stochastic dynamic programming method to solve a large‐scale MSMO optimization problem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Narratives at work: the development of career identity

Well-developed career stories are becoming increasingly important for individuals as they navigate an unstable and unpredictable labour market. Existing narrative approaches in career guidance do not yet clearly identify the learning process by which career stories are created. In this article, a model of transformation-through-writing will be introduced to help explain the learning process that occurs when narratives are used for constructing career stories. We propose that this learning process occurs stepwise in four cognitive stages: sensing, sifting, focusing, and understanding. To progress through these stages, an internal (with oneself) as well as an external (with relevant others) dialogue is needed. The case study used to illustrate the process is a story of unemployment and effectively shows how narratives can be created through expressive and reflective writing and how such a process may foster career learning in response to a boundary experience.     

略论马一浮视野中的三易之义

三易之义是马一浮先生易学思想中的一项重要内容。马先生运用三易之义来解说心性论、功夫论,吸收儒家和佛家在心性论、功夫论方面的成果,使儒家和佛家义理互相阐发而明晰,既展现了他强调通过功夫证悟本体的学术宗旨,又体现了圆融会通的学术特色。马先生以其远见卓识发挥了他作为一个大儒的作用。     

Consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence in Mainland China

To validate the consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (SUSCEP) scale in China, questionnaires were administered to 1114 adult employees and 350 university students. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale had a stable three‐factor structure (i.e. the utilitarian, value‐expressive, and informational dimensions) in both samples, while the original two‐factor structure could not be retrieved. Using Chinese samples, the consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale and its three sub‐scales demonstrated acceptable internal reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Positive correlations between the consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale (as well as its sub‐scales) and attention to social comparison information also indicated good convergent validity. The distinction between utilitarian dimension and value‐expression dimension in Chinese samples as well as the non‐significant correlations of the utilitarian dimension with self‐esteem and the informational dimension with self‐esteem revealed cultural differences between the East and the West.     

Use of narratives and collage in the exploration of the self and the meaning of a career

ABSTRACT

A methodological challenge during my doctoral research led me to use collage to reflect upon my own life and career. The insights it allowed me into the relationship between who we are and what we do led me to conclude that such methods can also illuminate these connections for clients of career counselling. In this paper I argue that such constructivist approaches allow the examination of that psycho-social space within which career is shaped and understood, allowing access to both the conscious and unconscious meaning made of a career and life story. I further argue that in times of increasing complexity such methods will be an important tool for career counsellors to meet the holistic needs of clients.     

Dialogical Temporal Chair Technique

ABSTRACT

The Dialogical Temporal Chair Technique (DTCT) is a method based on Hermans’s dialogical self theory combined with Gestalt and cognitive–behavioural therapeutic techniques. The Dialogical Temporal Chair Technique is a method of activating temporal voices. Three chairs symbolising the past, present and future are used to help subjects create a temporal dialogue. Participants are asked to take a specific I-position and to construct a temporal self-dialogue by changing chair (and hence I-position). The DTCT can be used to solve undefined problems or to explore new ways of thinking, but it may also be used to review important life decisions or enable integration of, or detachment from, ambivalent feelings and attitudes.