A Kantian Take on the Supererogatory

This article presents a Kantian alternative to the mainstream approach in ethics concerning the phenomena that are widely thought to require a category of the supererogatory. My view is that the phenomena do not require this category of (Kantian style) imperfect duties. Elsewhere I have written on Kant on this topic; here I shift my focus away from interpretive issues and consider the pros and cons of the Kantian approach. What background assumptions would lean one to favour the Kantian approach and what sorts would lean one to favour the mainstream approach? I also consider the possibility that in institutional contexts, there is a need for the category of the supererogatory. Here, it seems, we do need to know what we really have to do and what is beyond the call of duty; in this context, however, duty is not the Kantian moral notion, but rather is pegged to particular roles, or to the needs of the institution or group or club of which one is a member. But even here, I argue, the notion of the supererogatory is not crucial.     

Functional classes and equivalence relations

Three adult subjects were taught a set of two-choice simultaneous discriminations, with three positive and three negative stimuli; all possible combinations of positive and negative stimuli yielded nine different pairs. The discriminations were repeatedly reversed and rereversed, the former positive stimuli becoming negative and the former negative stimuli becoming positive. With all subjects, a reversal of the contingencies for one pair of stimuli became sufficient to change their responses to all of the other pairs. The reversals had produced functional stimulus classes. Then, all subjects showed conditional discriminations emerging between members of a functional class; given a sample from one class and comparisons from both classes, they selected the comparison that was in the same class as the sample. Next, 2 of the subjects showed that the within-class conditional relations possessed the symmetric and transitive properties of equivalence relations; after having been taught to relate new stimuli to existing class members, the subjects then matched other class members to the new stimuli. Subsequent tests of two-choice discriminations showed that the conditional discriminations had transferred functional class membership to the new stimuli. The 3rd subject, who did not show equivalence relations among functional class members, was also found to have lost the within-class conditional relations after the equivalence tests.     

Fostering equitable consequences from computer learning environments

This article discusses (a) the potential advantages of learning computer programming, (b) the performance of males and females in middle school programming courses, (c) the problems teachers face in achieving this potential, and (d) the participation of males and females in programming courses. Females comprise about 40% of the students enrolled in middle school programming courses. They perform, on the average, as well as or better than the males, and comprise 60% of the most talented students. Significantly, neither males nor females make very much progress in learning to program and, therefore, in acquiring any of the general cognitive skills which might potentially result from programming courses.This material is based upon research supported by the National Institute of Education, Grant No. 400-83-0017. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institute of Education. Special thanks are due to John Dalbey, Charles Fisher, Ellen Mandinach, Joanne Stein, and other members of the ACCCEL staff for helpful discussions of these issues.     

Temporal pattern of agonist-antagonist EMG activity during rapid limb movements in man

Analysis of elbow-extension movements, executed at maximal velocity, show positive correlations of timing of agonist-antagonist EMG activity with both movement velocity and displacement. Results indirectly support the notion that the antagonist musculature provides a braking force to arrest rapid limb movements.     

Perceptual and conceptual variants of the oddity task as a predictor of learning disability

This paper compares LD and non-LD peers on eight variants of the oddity task. This study is part of a larger programmatic research effort aimed at the development of a screening test to detect preschool children who currently pass existing screening tests but, nonetheless, subsequently experience school failure. The theoretical orientation of this approach is to assess active, ongoing cognitive processing ability. The oddity task, which can be structured to assess such processing ability, was evaluated in the present study as a potential component of this screening test. Consistent with a priori predictions, the data resulted in strong group and developmental differences. Oddity performance increased over age, with the non-LD children performing consistently better than their LD peers at each age. Perceptual and conceptual factors were manipulated across the oddity variations, and both factors contributed to group differences. These results were discussed in relationship to early diagnosis and prognosis for learning disabilities that might result from deficiencies in abstract processing ability.The authors would like to express their thanks to the schools, teachers, and students who participated in this study. This research was supported in part by the Mailman Foundation and FDLRS/MAILMAN, a specialized university center of the Florida Diagnostic Learning Resources System, funded through State General Revenue appropriation to provide multidisciplinary evaluation services in exceptional student education programs.     

A cross-continental conversation about sin and shame with Marcia Blasi and Marit Trelstad

This is a cross-continental conversation about contextual understandings of sin and shame in the context of women in Latin America and Africa, and students in the United States. Marcia Blasi brings the experience of working with women throughout the world in her role in the Lutheran World Federation, and both authors work in Lutheran and feminist theologies. In particular, this interview highlights how individualized understandings of sin, often focused on morality and behavior, serve to shame women and reinforce notions of inferiority in patriarchal systems. In these systems, women are never doing enough for others and pride in one's self is not allowed. At the same time, social understandings of sin as systematic injustice serve to fight against these ideas of sin and the concomitant production of shame because they contextualize a person's actions within a broader culture and its expectations. The authors here seek to understand what real grace means and feels like for female-identifying people and how confession of sin would be altered if seen through the lens of women globally.