Attitudes,Knowledge, and Sexual Behavior of High-Risk Adolescents: Implications for Counseling and Sexuality Education

A survey was conducted to examine high-risk sexual behavior in a large group of adolescents who were involved with the juvenile justice system. The findings showed that these youth are at high risk for unintended pregnancy and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Compared to national norms, the sample reported a very early mean age at first intercourse and a high rate of pregnancy. Those who had been involved in a pregnancy reported having begun sexual activity the earliest of those surveyed. Most participants reported an extremely unreliable use of birth control, with this unreliable use of birth control being strongly associated with espousal of high-risk attitudes but generally unassociated with factual knowledge regarding pregnancy and contraception. These findings support the argument for expanding the scope of traditional sex education and beginning sexuality education programs earlier than they usually are in this country.     

The Story of Story Hour

Children's stories, pajamas, robes, and stuffed animals provide the setting for Story Hour, a very successful program in a residence hall setting. This article describes the development of a three-year program that has become a significant support group for students, especially new freshmen. Story Hour also provides an ideal setting for exposing students to a variety of stimulating and thought-provoking ideas. The implementation, format, leadership, outcomes, and selected stories are discussed in this article.     

The Effect of Self‐Control on Attentional Bias for Alcohol Cues in Male Heavy Drinkers1

Attentional bias for alcohol cues increases craving and subsequent alcohol consumption. Override processes can be used to disengage attention from alcohol cues. This requires self‐control and implies that depletion of self‐control would impair the ability to disengage attention from alcohol cues. This study examined the effect of self‐control on attentional bias among male heavy drinkers. To manipulate self‐control resources, an expression control task was used. Attentional bias was measured with a visual probe task. The Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS; Anton, Moak, & Latham, 1996 ) assessed the urge to drink and persistent thoughts about alcohol. The results suggest that participants who scored relatively high on the OCDS showed more attentional bias after controlled emotional expression, compared to free emotional expression.     

IMAGINATION'S GRIP ON SCIENCE

Abstract: In part because “imagination” is a slippery notion, its exact role in the production of scientific knowledge remains unclear. There is, however, one often explicit and deliberate use of imagination by scientists that can be (and has been) studied intensively by epistemologists and historians of science: thought experiments. The main goal of this article is to document the varieties of thought experimentation, not so much in terms of the different sciences in which they occur but rather in terms of the different functions they fulfil. I argue that thought experimentation (and hence imagination) plays a role not only in theory choice but in singular causal analysis and scientific discovery as well. I pinpoint, moreover, some of the rules governing the use of thought experiments in theory choice and in singular causal analysis, that is, some of the criteria they should meet in order to fulfil those functions successfully.     

Chalmers on the Justification of Phenomenal Judgments

We seem to enjoy a very special kind of epistemic relation to our own conscious states. In The Conscious Mind (TCM) , David Chalmers argues that our phenomenal judgments are fully-justified or certain because we are acquainted with the phenomenal states that are the objects of such judgments. Chalmers holds that the acquaintance account of phenomenal justification is superior to reliabilist accounts of how it is that our PJs are justified, because it alone can underwrite the certainty of our phenomenal judgments. I argue that Chalmers is unable to sustain this claim.     

Why Logic Doesn‘t Matter in the (Philosophical) Study of Argumentation

Philosophically, the study of argumentation is important because it holds out the prospect of an interpretation of rationality. For this we need to identify a transcendent perspective on the argumentative interaction. We need a normative theory of argumentation that provides an answer to the question: should the hearer accept the argument of the speaker. In this article I argue that formal logic implies a notion of transcendence that is not suitable for the study of argumentation, because, from a logical point of view, argumentation disappears from sight. We should therefore not expect formal logic to provide an interesting interpretation of the rationality intrinsic in argument and discussion.     

LOG-LINEAR MODELING IN PERSONNEL RESEARCH

Log-linear modeling is a discrete multivariate statistical technique that is designed specifically for analyzing data when both the independent and dependent variables are categorical or nominal. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of this technique in personnel research. The paper (a) discusses behavioral areas of application, (b) compares log-linear modeling with chi-square and regression analysis, (c) presents the basic principles and hypotheses of log-linear modeling, and (d) shows how the technique is used.     

INTERVIEW NOTES AND VALIDITY

Three studies were conducted investigating the effects of notetaking behavior and the content of notes on validity in a selection interview. Overall, results indicate that when notetaking was voluntary, notetakers made more valid ratings than non-notetakers. But, when note-taking was manipulated non-notetakers made ratings that were just as valid as raters told to take behavioral notes, and actually more valid than those raters instructed to take general notes. With regard to the content of notes, behavioral-type notes were found to contribute to greater validity. In addition, in the first and third study, procedural type notes resulted in lower validity. These results may have important implications for interviewer training for notetaking.