Sehen, Sichtbarkeit und empirische Forschung

Vision, Visibility, and Empirical Research. In general, natural scientists use the concept of observation in a liberal way: they talk of observing electrons, DNA, or distant quasars. Several philosophers of science have recently argued for a similar use of the concept of observation: they have claimed that the important aspects of scientific research can only be properly reconstructed in accordance with how this term is actually used in science. With reference to an example from astronomy, I point out that the proposed generalisation of the concept of observation leads to undesirable consequences. I argue that a differentiated conceptual framework is required in order to give an adequate account of the varieties of scientific experience. Thus, the appropriate starting point for distinguishing these various scientific research practices should not be the generalised scientific conception of observation, but instead distinctly different uses of the term observation drawn from ordinary language. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Toward an Understanding of the Connections in Creating Lasting Family Connections

Abstract

The Creating Lasting Family Connections^® (CLFC) program is designed to help improve relationship skills and reduce antisocial behaviors. Strader and colleagues propose that prosocial connectedness is responsible for program outcomes. We propose that the intersection of high agreeableness and low impulsivity represent an operational definition. We examined this definition in the context of a RCT with 246 men in prison reentry. CLFCFP increased the number of connected individuals. Being connected and the program independently impacted relationship skills, but no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that the program impacts would be more pronounced among those who were connected.     

Interpreting cross-sectional data on stages of change

Abstract

The vast majority of studies investigating stage theories of health behaviour such as the transtheoretical model have used a cross-sectional research design. Participants are classified into stages and compared on theoretically relevant variables. This paper discusses the proper interpretation of cross-sectional data on stages of change. Linear patterns are not consistent with the stage model assumption that different causal factors are important at different stages but discontinuity patterns (patterns that do not show consistent increments or decrements across stages) can be diagnostic of a stage model. Researchers who use cross-sectional designs should specify predictions concerning the patterns to be expected under a stage model and under possible rival models, and interpret their data accordingly. Wherever possible, they should conduct prospective longitudinal and experimental studies which enable stronger inferences to be drawn.     

Planning and Self-Efficacy in the Adoption and Maintenance of Breast Self-Examination: A Longitudinal Study on Self-Regulatory Cognitions

Many women may be reluctant to perform breast self-examination (B.S.E.) regularly due to motivational or self-regulatory deficits. The Health Action Process Approach (Schwarzer, R. (1992). Self-efficacy in the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors: theoretical approaches and a new model. In: Schwarzer, R. (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought Control of Action , pp. 217-243. Hemisphere, Washington DC; Schwarzer, R. (2001). Social-cognitive factors in changing health-related behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 10 , 47-51.), a health behavior change model that advocates the separation of motivation and action phases, such as goal setting and goal pursuit, was applied to data from 418 young women whose risk perceptions, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention to perform B.S.E., planning, and reported examination behaviors were examined at two points in time. Risk perception was found to have a negligible influence in a path analysis, whereas self-efficacy emerged as the best predictor of intention and planning. Planning, in turn, appeared to be the best predictor of B.S.E. behaviors, followed by self-efficacy. The results point to the influential role that self-regulatory strategies (such as planning) play in translating goals into action. The study contributes to the current debate on stage theories of health behavior change and the orchestration of self-beliefs and strategies in the context of goal-directed behaviors.     

A connectionist model of a continuous developmental transition in the balance scale task

A connectionist model of the balance scale task is presented which exhibits developmental transitions between ‘Rule I’ and ‘Rule II’ behavior [Siegler, R. S. (1976). Three aspects of cognitive development. Cognitive Psychology,8, 481–520.] as well as the ‘catastrophe flags’ seen in data from Jansen and van der Maas [Jansen, B. R. J., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2001). Evidence for the phase transition from Rule I to Rule II on the balance scale task. Developmental Review, 21, 450–494]. The model extends a connectionist model of this task [McClelland, J. L. (1989). Parallel distributed processing: Implications for cognition and development. In R. G. M. Morris (Ed.), Parallel distributed processing: Implications for psychology and neurobiology (pp. 8–45). Oxford: Clarendon Press] by introducing intrinsic variability into processing and by allowing the network to adapt during testing in response to its own outputs. The simulations direct attention to several aspects of the experimental data indicating that children generally show gradual change in sensitivity to the distance dimension on the balance scale. While a few children show larger changes than are characteristic of the model, its ability to account for nearly all of the data using continuous processes is consistent with the view that the transition from Rule I to Rule II behavior is typically continuous rather than discrete in nature.     

From a necessary being to god

Not a lot of work on theistic arguments has been devoted to drawing connections between a necessary being and theistic properties. In this paper, I identify novel paths from a necessary being to certain theistic properties: volition, infinite power, infinite knowledge, and infinite goodness. The steps in those paths are an outline for future work on what William Rowe (The Cosmological Argument, 1975, p. 6) has called “stage II” of the cosmological argument.     

Measuring Moral Progress

The study provides an in-depth analysis of two young adult subjects from a longitudinal study who underwent successive and significant developmental changes. Their developmental patterns, however, are only revealed by a new conception of moral stages, which is both more comprehensive and more detailed than Kohlberg’s original approach. In particular, the suggested alternative taxonomy neatly accommodates what appears as developmental anomalies in the Kohlbergian frame of reference. What is more, apart from merely matching with the observed data, the new theory also explains why the subjects developed the way they did, since it reveals the inherent cognitive conflicts at each stage and how these are resolved at the following one. Although the theory stands against the Kohlberg theory as it is, it may be understood as an extension and further development of the latter, in the sense that Kohlbergian stages are differentiated, supplemented, and theoretically substantiated within the new framework.

An alternative two stage least squares (2SLS) estimator for latent variable equations

The Maximum-likelihood estimator dominates the estimation of general structural equation models. Noniterative, equation-by-equation estimators for factor analysis have received some attention, but little has been done on such estimators for latent variable equations. I propose an alternative 2SLS estimator of the parameters in LISREL type models and contrast it with the existing ones. The new 2SLS estimator allows observed and latent variables to originate from nonnormal distributions, is consistent, has a known asymptotic covariance matrix, and is estimable with standard statistical software. Diagnostics for evaluating instrumental variables are described. An empirical example illustrates the estimator. I gratefully acknowledge support for this research from the Sociology Program of the National Science Foundation (SES-9121564) and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. This paper was presented at the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Statistical Applications at Indiana University at Bloomington (March 2, 1994) and at the RMD Conference on Causal Modeling at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana (March 3-5, 1994).     

医疗文书签字扩大化失去意义的原因分析

随着近年医患关系的紧张,越来越多的医疗工作需要履行签字手续,呈现了签字扩大化的态势。签字扩大化是防御性医疗的一种表现形式,但并未带来医疗纠纷减少,也不是医疗纠纷产生的主要原因,又给医疗工作增加了繁琐程度,而且并未达到知情同意的内涵。所以,签字扩大化失去了其应有的意义。