The Woman Veterinarian

This study was undertaken to determine the professional practice patterns of Michigan State University graduates in Veterinary Medicine and the factors that influenced their choice of profession and satisfaction with the field, so that similarities and differences of men and women practitioners could be compared. None of the 21 accredited schools of veterinary medicine has conducted a study of this kind. The career patterns of women were characterized by interruptions, lower salaries, and participation in only a few of the specialties within the profession, the latter interpreted as an attempt to reduce professional role-sex role conflict. In spite of the limitations and conflicts encountered by women, they are deeply committed to the profession and claim a great deal of satisfaction from their work.     

Facilitation and Inhibition in the Superordinate and Instance Naming of Pictures

A new paradigm, analogous to that used to study inhibition in visual selection (Tipper, 1985), was employed to investigate the possible role of inhibition in selection among instance names (e.g.rabbit) and superordinate names (e.g.animal) for pictured objects. Participants named two sequentially presented pictures in pairs of three types: SAME (e.g., RABBIT-RABBIT), SAME CATEGORY (e.g., HORSE-RABBIT), and DIFFERENT (e.g., BALL-RABBIT). Naming instructions were varied so that participants either used superordinate (S) or instance (I) names for both pictures in a pair (S-S or I-I; Experiment 1) or switched predictably from one type of name to the other across the two pictures (S-I or I-S; Experiment 2). The patterns of naming reaction times revealed both facilitatory and inhibitory effects and provided preliminary support for the hypothesis that selection of a target name involves inhibition of a competing distractor name. Suggestions are given for extending this new paradigm to provide further evidence on the mechanisms underlying name selection.     

The up- and down-regulation of amusement: experiential, behavioral, and autonomic consequences

A growing body of research has examined the regulation of negative emotions. However, little is known about the physiological processes underlying the regulation of positive emotions, such as when amusement is enhanced during periods of stress or attenuated in the pursuit of social goals. The aim of this study was to examine the psychophysiological consequences of the cognitive up- and down-regulation of amusement. To address this goal, participants viewed brief, amusing film clips while measurements of experience, behavior, and peripheral physiology were collected. Using an event-related design, participants viewed each film under the instructions either to (a) watch, (b) use cognitive reappraisal to increase amusement, or (c) use cognitive reappraisal to decrease amusement. Findings indicated that emotion experience, emotion-expressive behavior, and autonomic physiology (including heart rate, respiration, and sympathetic nervous system activation) were enhanced and diminished in accordance with regulation instructions. This finding is a critical extension of the growing literature on the voluntary regulation of emotion, and has the potential to help us better understand how people use humor in the service of coping and social goals.     

Integration of Cognitive and Emotional Processing Predicts Poor and Good Outcomes of Psychotherapy

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - With the aim of investigating analogies and differences between psychotherapeutic processes, ten good-outcome and ten poor-outcome cases were selected from a...     

Creativity in Three Samples of Photographers: A Validation of the Adjective Check List Creativity Scale

The creativity of photographers was investigated in three samples: photography students (n = 17), neophyte photographers (n = 46), and experienced photographers (n = 49). All participants completed the Adjective Check List (ACL), scored for Domino's creativity (Cr) scale; these scores were correlated with various indexes of creativity, including self- and peer-ratings, ratings of portfolios, and course grades. The findings support the validity of the ACL Cr scale as a measure of creativity.     

Les “règles de la discussion légitime” dans la logique de Port-Royal

In the XVIIth century the conflict which opposed the jansenists to the jesuits involved the problem of the due process in theological matter. The jesuits heralded the thesis that the infallibility of the Church has to be extended from dogmatics (quaestio iuris) to the historical facts (quaestio facti). On the opposite side Arnauld maintained that such an opinion was monstruous: also in religious matters the fact has to be proved according to the principles of a due process, and not by authority. In this article the thesis pleaded by the jansenists is considered in connection with the model of argumentative procedure offered by the Port-Royal logic.The Logique ou Art de penser (1622) by Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole seems to have rediscovered the classical principles of the theory of argumentation: from the burden of proof to the idea of probable truth. But really a new model of adversary-system has been introduced into the modern mind, which is very different in concept from the topical tradition. The basic metaphor of combat, implying that the truth will prevail in the fight, is compatible with the epistemological premises of the modern logic (as the separation between fact and value). Therefore the problem of the fact-finding seems to be attracted into the area of the logic of information, and not of the theory of argumentation.

     

Peer-Group and Romantic Relationships in Adolescents from Intact and Separated Families

The impact of family structure (intact vs. separated) on adolescents' friendship and romantic relationship were assessed, using an Italian representative sample of 300 adolescents. Findings reveal some significant differences related to family structure. Compared to adolescents from intact homes, adolescents from separated families display a higher level of distrust of others, are less likely to foresee marriage as a certain step in their lives, and show a higher degree of fear toward marriage. Contrary to expectations, there is no significant difference either in the extent and the frequency of contacts with the peer network or the existence of a romantic relationship among the two groups of adolescents. Implications are discussed.     

Science as Theater: Too Obvious to Be Appreciated

The analogy between science and theater work is so strict as to be normally taken for granted without the need of further specification. This implies that the analogy is completely ignored. Here I try to go in depth into the character of this analogy and to demonstrate how stopping and thinking about this issue could give some useful hints for solving problems that contemporary science is experiencing.