Unit Morale: From a Theoretical Puzzle to an Empirical Illustration—An Israeli Example1

The concept of morale, within its military context, was explored in the present work from both its theoretical and practical aspects. Following a review of the concept's definitional and historical background, the data from a pre-war morale survey administered in May of 1981 to a large sample of Israeli combat troops were analyzed (by means of intercorrelations and factor analysis) as an illustration of the multifaceted structure of morale. While the intercorrelations revealed several major variables related strongly to morale, the factor analysis yielded eight factors, morale being just one of them. These eight factors were: (1) confidence in senior commanders; (2) confidence in one's self, team, and weapons; (3) unit cohesion and morale; (4) familiarity with missions and frontage; (5) confidence in immediate commanders; (6) enemy evaluation; (7) legitimacy of war; (8) worries and concerns. The present analysis may suggest the existence of a higher order concept—perhaps “unit climate”— of which all of the found factors, including morale, are the comprising components.     

Some implications of Jewish marriage philosophy for marital breakdown

A clarification of some of the roots of marital breakdown is sought through examining the love relationship in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy and its theological counterparts in Judaism. Frankl's implicit ethic of self-transcendence coincides with Judaism's view of the married state as shared destiny. Together these call into question the ethic of self-fulfillment which appears to underlie much marital distress.Dr. Bulka is Rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa, Ontario, and Editor of theJournal of Psychology and Judaism. His address is: 1747 Featherston Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1H 6P4.     

A technique for controlling speech disfluencies induced by delayed auditory feedback

On the basis of cybernetic models of speech it was hypothesized that “stuttering” induced by delayed auditory feedback could be significantly reduced if the Ss were provided with an alternate input to which they could attend. The results of the experiment supported the hypothesis. The possible implications for the treatment stuttering are discussed.     

Ryle on knowing how: Some clarifications and corrections

I argue for an account of know‐how as a capacity for practical judgment—a view I derive from Gilbert Ryle. I begin by offering an interpretation of Ryle and by correcting a number of widespread misconceptions about his views in the current debate. I then identify some problems with Ryle's account and finally present my own view which, I argue, retains Ryle's insights while avoiding his mistakes.     

Epidemiological Measurement of Children's and Adolescents' Exposure to Community Violence: Working with the Current State of the Science

A number of measures have been used in epidemiological studies of children's exposure to community violence, yet the quality of these instruments is not uniformly good. This paper undertakes a systematic review of the most commonly used (or most promising) self-report or interview-administered instruments, with regard to their conceptual bases and psychometric properties. Based on the review, recommendations are made for working with the current state of the science in order to move the field forward. A key recommendation is for sounder conceptualization of work in the field and greater transparency in the reporting of research, in order to facilitate the comparability of studies.     

Obsessive-compulsive tendencies may be associated with attenuated access to internal states: Evidence from a biofeedback-aided muscle tensing task

The present study was motivated by the hypothesis that inputs from internal states in obsessive-compulsive (OC) individuals are attenuated, which could be one source of the pervasive doubting and checking in OCD. Participants who were high or low in OC tendencies were asked to produce specific levels of muscle tension with and without biofeedback, and their accuracy in producing the required muscle tension levels was assessed. As predicted, high OC participants performed more poorly than low OC participants on this task when biofeedback was not available. When biofeedback was provided, the difference between the groups was eliminated, and withdrawing the monitor again reversed this effect. Finally, when given the opportunity, high OC participants were more likely than low OC participants to request biofeedback. These results suggest that doubt in OCD may be grounded in a real and general deficiency in accessing internal states.