bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self‐Esteem, Self‐Serving Cognitions, and Health Risk Behavior
Authors: Gerrard Meg , Gibbons Frederick X. , Reis‐Bergan Monica , Russell Daniel W.
Published: March 2003

The current article reviews prospective and experimental research on the relation between self‐esteem and perceptions of vulnerability. These studies demonstrate that individuals with high self‐esteem who engage in risk behavior often utilize a variety of self‐serving cognitive strategies that protect them from fully acknowledging their vulnerability to the potential negative consequences of their behavior; e.g., they minimize their estimates of personal risk and overestimate the prevalence of the risk behavior among their peers. The article also provides data on an additional self‐serving cognitive strategy employed by adolescents with high self‐esteem—alteration of perceptions of others’ reactions to their own risk behavior. Finally, the article reviews the emerging literature on the relation between these cognitive strategies and maladaptive health behavior, and proposes that whether these strategies are maladaptive depends on the nature of the threat and the availability of opportunities to engage in compensatory self‐enhancement.
Adult Generativity and the Socialization of Adolescents: Relations to Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Beliefs, Styles, and Practices
Authors: Pratt Michael W. , Danso Henry A. , Arnold Mary Louise , Norris Joan E. , Filyer Rebecca
Published: March 2003

Mothers, fathers, and their adolescent children participated in two studies investigating the relations between Erikson’s concept of generativity in adulthood and patterns of parenting. Study 1 involved 77 mothers and 48 fathers of 1st‐year university students; Study 2 was part of an investigation of socialization processes in 35 families with an adolescent, aged 14–18. Parental generative concern was assessed by the Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS) of McAdams and de St. Aubin (1992) in each study. In both studies, mothers demonstrated positive relations between scores on the LGS and an authoritative style of parenting, as well as between generativity and more positive, optimistic views of adolescent developments. In Study 2, these more positive views in turn mediated some aspects of autonomy‐fostering practices used with the adolescent. Variations in fathers’ levels of generative concern were less consistently related to these indices of parenting, however.
Personality Profiles and the Prediction of Categorical Personality Disorders
Authors: McCrae Robert R. , Yang Jian , Costa, Jr. Paul T. , Dai Xiaoyang , Yao Shuqiao , Cai Taisheng , Gao Beiling
Published: March 2003

Personality disorders (PDs) are usually construed as psychiatric categories characterized by a unique configuration of traits and behaviors. To generate clinical hypotheses from normal personality trait scores, profile agreement statistics can be calculated using a prototypical personality profile for each PD. Multimethod data from 1,909 psychiatric patients in the People’s Republic of China were used to examine the accuracy of such hypotheses in the Interpretive Report of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Profile agreement indices from both self‐reports and spouse ratings were significantly related to PD symptom scores derived from questionnaires and clinical interviews. However, accuracy of diagnostic classification was only modest to moderate, probably because PDs are not discrete categorical entities. Together with other literature, these data suggest that the current categorical system should be replaced by a more comprehensive system of personality traits and personality‐related problems.
Being Known, Intimate, and Valued: Global Self‐Verification and Dyadic Adjustment in Couples and Roommates
Authors: Katz Jennifer , Joiner Thomas E., Jr.
Published: March 2003

We contend that closerelationships provide adults with optimal opportunities for personal growth when relationshippartners provide accurate, honest feedback. Accordingly, it was predicted that young adultswould experience the relationship quality with relationship partners who evaluated them in amanner consistent their own self‐evaluations. Three empirical tests of this self‐verificationhypothesis as applied to close dyads were conducted. In Study 1, young adults in datingrelationships were most intimate with and somewhat more committed to partners when theyperceived that partners evaluated them as they evaluated themselves. Self‐verification effects werepronounced for those involved in more serious dating relationships. In Study 2, men reported thegreatest esteem for same‐sex roommates who evaluated them in a self‐verifying manner. Resultsfrom Study 2 were replicated and extended to both male and female roommate dyads in Study 3.Further, self‐verification effects were most pronounced for young adults with high emotionalempathy. Results suggest that self‐verification theory is useful for understanding dyadicadjustment across a variety of relational contexts in young adulthood. Implications ofself‐verification processes for adult personal development are outlined within an identitynegotiation framework.
A Longitudinal Study of Personality Change in Young Adulthood
Authors: Robins Richard W. , Fraley R. Chris , Roberts Brent W. , Trzesniewski Kali H.
Published: March 2003

The present research examined personality continuity and change in a sample of young men and women assessed at the beginning and end of college. Two‐hundred seventy students completed measures of the Big Five personality traits when they first entered college and then four years later. Analyses indicate small‐ to medium‐sized normative (i.e., mean‐level) changes, large rank‐order stability correlations, high levels of stability in personality structure, and moderate levels of ipsative (i.e. profile) stability. Overall, the findings are consistent with the perspective that personality traits exhibits considerable continuity over time, yet can change in systematic ways.
Personality Measurement in Cross‐Cultural Perspective
Authors: Church A. Timothy
Published: March 2003

I first provide an overview of general issues in personality measurement across cultures (e.g., measurement bias and equivalence, levels of test adaptation or indigenization). Then, in keeping with the organization of this special issue, I discuss personality measurement from alternative theoretical perspectives that have addressed, in varying degrees, personality and its measurement in cross‐cultural perspective (i.e., trait perspectives, projective techniques, cultural psychology and constructivist perspectives, evolutionary perspectives). An integrated measurement approach is advocated, incorporating diverse aspects or levels of personality, while drawing on the complementary strengths of alternative approaches.
Religious Involvement and the Forgiving Personality
Authors: Mullet Etienne , Barros José , Veronica Usaï Loredana Frongia , Neto Félix , Rivière Shafighi Sheila
Published: March 2003

The relationship between religious involvement and forgiveness was assessed in three samples of Western Europeans living in a social environment dominated by the Catholic tradition. The samples comprised nonbelievers/nonattendees, believers/nonattendees, believers/regular attendees, and religious people. Age and religious involvement were shown to affect the willingness to forgive in an interactive way: The effect of religious involvement was stronger for the elderly group. We also found that what made the difference in the willingness to forgive was mainly the social commitment to religion (attendance in church and the taking of vows), not mere personal beliefs. In addition, age and religious involvement were found to affect blockage towards forgiveness in an additive way.
Data–Driven Methodology for Signal Timing Plan Development: A Computational Approach
Authors: Smith Brian L. , Scherer William T. , Hauser Trisha A. , Park B. Brian
Published: March 2003

Traffic signal systems serve as one of the most powerful control tools available to improve the efficiency of surface transportation travel. A large number of signal systems currently operate using the time–of–day (TOD) approach. In TOD systems, a day is segmented into a number of intervals in which a different timing plan is used. Thus, the challenge in operating a TOD system effectively is to (1) identify appropriate TOD intervals, and (2) develop optimal timing plans for each interval. The existing procedures used by traffic engineers to address these challenges are time consuming and use relatively small sets of data. This research effort developed a new timing plan development methodology that takes advantage of the large sets of archived traffic data (volume and occupancy) that modern systems are equipped to compile. Based upon statistical cluster analysis, this methodology (1) automates the identification of TOD intervals using a high–resolution definition of system state, and (2) provides representative volumes for plan optimization based on the set of archived data. The results of a case study reported in this paper demonstrate that the methodology supports the development of a TOD system that provides benefits when considering performance measures such as delay, when compared to currently used techniques.
Computer Vision Techniques for Automatic Structural Assessment of Underground Pipes
Authors: Sinha Sunil K. , Fieguth Paul W. , Polak Maria A.
Published: March 2003

Pipeline surface defects such as cracks cause major problems for asset managers, particularly when the pipe is buried under the ground. The manual inspection of surface defects in the underground pipes has a number of drawbacks, including subjectivity, varying standards, and high costs. An automatic inspection system using image processing and artificial intelligence techniques can overcome many of these disadvantages and offer asset managers an opportunity to significantly improve quality and reduce costs. This article presents a system for the application of computer vision techniques to the automatic assessment of the structural condition of underground pipes. The algorithm consists of image preprocessing, a sequence of morphological operations to accurately extract pipe joints and laterals (where smaller pipe is connected to main bigger pipe), and statistical filters for detection of surface cracks in the pipeline network. The proposed approach can be completely automated and has been tested on over 1,000 scanned images of underground pipes from major cities in North America.
Dynamic Tests and Simulation of Magneto–Rheological Dampers
Authors: Sodeyama Hiroshi , Sunakoda Katsuaki , Fujitani Hideo , Soda Satsuya , Iwata Norio , Hata Katsuhiko
Published: March 2003

Magneto–rheological fluid dampers (MR dampers) have recently been designed to control the response of civil engineering and building structures because of their large force capacity and controllable force characteristics. To enable them to control structural responses, the dynamic characteristics of structures need to be clarified. This paper discusses the design of MR dampers with a bypass orifice mechanism and verifies their performance by means of dynamic tests and dynamic analytical models. Their dynamic characteristics are investigated experimentally to compare the performance of two different magneto–rheological fluids. One is developed by the Lord Corporation and the other is newly developed in Japan. The effectiveness and validity of MR dampers with a bypass are discussed on the basis of these results.
Wittgenstein, Tolstoy and the Meaning of Life
Authors: Thompson Caleb
Published: March 2003

Tolstoy’s writings were clearly important to Wittgenstein. He carried Tolstoy’s The Gospel in Brief with him during the war, and he said that it ‘virtually kept [him] alive’. But commentators have hesitated to extend Tolstoy’s influence to Wittgenstein’s philosophy. This essay argues that there are important parallels in structure and content between Tolstoy’s A Confession and Wittgenstein’s Tractatus which suggest Tolstoy’s influence and which help us to see how we should understand the Tractatus. By comparing these two works we can see more clearly in the Tractatus the idea that the solution to philosophical problems lies in their disappearance and that the structure and content of the Tractatus are expressions of that conception.
The Concept of Trying
Authors: Schroeder Severin
Published: March 2003

It is widely held that whenever someone φs, that person tries to do φ. I examine arguments by B. O’Shaughnessy and J. Hornsby, and considerations by P. Grice in support of that thesis. I argue that none of them are convincing. The remainder of the paper defends an analysis of the concept of trying along the lines opposed by Grice et al. By speaking of someone’s trying to φ the speaker leaves the room for failure or the possibility of failure. This account of the function of the word ‘try’ makes it clear what is wrong with the claim that whenever someone φs, that person tries to do φ. For that claim amounts to saying that every action is either a failure or a possible failure – which clearly one can’t say of any action that one has already acknowledged to be successful. Furthermore, whether an action is possibly a failure depends on how much one knows about it. Hence the question whether in itself an action does or does not involve trying is as misguided as the question whether it’s intrinsically unexpected. It may be correct for some to describe it as ‘an attempt to φ’, but incorrect for others.
Against ‘Time–Slices’
Authors: Read Rupert
Published: March 2003

The concept of ‘time–slice’ turns out to be at best philosophically inconsequential, I argue. Influential philosophies of time as apparently diverse as those of Dummett, Lewis and Bergson, thus must come to grief. The very idea of ‘time–slice’ upon which they rest – the very idea of spatialising time, and of rendering the resulting ‘slices’ of potentially infinitely small measure – turns out on closer acquaintance not to amount to anything consequential that has yet been made sense of. Time is, rather, a ubiquitous lived ‘tool’ for the organisation and co–ordination of human activities, a tool so completely involved in those activities that Anti–Realism about it is as unstateable as Realism about it is unnecessary.
Book Reviews
Authors: Alibhai‐Brown Yasmin
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed:

Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory, by Bhikhu Parekh

Multicultural Questions,edited by Christian Joppke and Steven Lukes

Peoples, Cultures and Nations in Political Philosophy, by Paul Gilbert

Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain, by David Mason

Citizenship and Immigration in Postwar Britain, by Randall Hansen

The Ashdown Diaries, vol. 1: 1988–1997, by Paddy Ashdown

Diaries: Into Politics, by Alan Clark

Life in the Jungle: My Autobiography, by Michael Heseltine

Left Behind: Lessons from Labour's Heartland, by Peter Kilfoyle

Ann Widdecombe: Right from the Beginning, by Nicholas Kochan

William Hague: In His Own Right, by Jo‐Anne Nadler

Factionalism in Chinese Communist Politics, by Jing Huang

Cadres and Corruption: The Organizational Involution of the Chinese Communist Party, by Xiaobo Lu

Late Victorian Holocausts: El Ni??o Famines and the Making of the Third World, by Mike Davis

Going to the Wars, by Max Hastings

Governing with Judges: Constitutional Politics in Europe, by Alec Stone Sweet

No Place Like Home: A Black Briton's Journey through the American South, by Gary Younge

Parliament under Blair, by Peter Riddell

New Labour in Power, edited by David Coates and Peter Lawler

New Labour and Thatcherism, by Richard Heffernan

The Retreat of Social Democracy, by John Callaghan. Manchester University Press

Labour's First Century, edited by Duncan Tanner, Pat Thane and Nick Tiratsoo

The Labour Party: A Centenary History, edited by Brian Brivati and Richard Heffernan
Next Step: State Funding for the Parties?
Authors: Fisher Justin
Published: March 2003

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 marked the most comprehensive and radical overhaul of British party finance for over 100 years. It instituted reforms in many areas, with the notable exception of the comprehensive extension of state funding for political parties. However, despite the radicalism of the Act, questions have already arisen as to whether further state funding should occur. This article argues that in order to examine the case for more comprehensive state funding, policy–makers need to look beyond the current calls and make a decision by evaluating several criteria on the basis of empirical evidence rather than assumptions. First, however, it is worth outlining the stage we are at presently by summarising the new Act, looking at its impact to date and examining the claims made in recent episodes which have led to calls for more comprehensive state funding of political parties.
Liberal Nationalism: An Irresponsible Compound?
Authors: Vincent Andrew
Published: March 2003

In this century there has been a deep concern about the dangers of nationalism. Many of those who have expressed such concerns have been liberals. Yet, ironically, in the last decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in the idea of nationalism from within liberal thought – thus giving rise to the compound term ‘liberal nationalism’. Having situated liberal nationalism in a broader historical context, this paper critically reviews the arguments of liberal nationalism in the work of Neil MacCormick, David Miller and Yael Tamir. It concludes by drawing a distinction between the pragmatic and ethical significance of nationalism. This distinction neither entails a denial of the role of nationalism nor a defence of liberalism. It attempts to sever the connection between nationalism and ethics. Nationalism may be inevitable for the present, but it is not a virtue to be promoted.
The Politics of Monetary Leadership and Followership: Stability in the European Monetary System since the Currency Crisis of 1992
Authors: Abdelal Rawi
Published: March 2003

Despite widespread scepticism, there is a fundamental continuity in the stability of the European Monetary System (EMS) before and after the 1992 crisis. Although speculative pressures provoked European leaders to widen the fluctuation bands of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), thus altering substantially the official commitment of member governments to coordinate monetary policies and exchange rates, the values of currencies in the hardcore of the EMS have remained close to their pre-crisis parities with limited fluctuations. European monetary cooperation continues informally, achieving much more stability than the wide bands suggest. The task of the article is to explain the puzzling continued success of the EMS. First, this article re-specifies the problem of international monetary cooperation as a leader-follower interaction with inherently hierarchical attributes. Second, the article outlines the causes of exchange-rate stability in Europe. Finally, the article emphasizes that French monetary followership is the key to the stability of the post-crisis arrangement and offers a preliminary interpretation of the sources of French behaviour.
Transnational and International Exploitation
Authors: De-Shalit Avner
Published: March 2003

There are four types of exploitation in the international arena: exploitation between states; exploitation within state A, the beneficiaries of which are mainly people in state B; exploitation of individuals from one country by another state in which they work; exploitation of individuals from one country by individuals in another state, in which they work. The Marxian and the liberal theories of exploitation are inadequate to discuss these cases. After exploring the difficulties of applying these theories to international and transnational exploitation, it is suggested that the theories could be reconstructed: exploitation is when the exploiter benefits from treating the exploitee not as equal in circumstances of bargaining. It is finally shown how this interpretation helps us in the discussion of all four types of international and transnational exploitation.
Citizenship Education: Anti-Political Culture and Political Education in Britain
Authors: Frazer Elizabeth
Published: March 2003

The British Government white paper ‘Excellence in Schools' and the subsequent report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship Education for Citizenship recommend that schools educate pupils in citizenship and democracy. This recommendation is considered in the context of reasons why there has traditionally been no formal or well articulated political education in schools. Among these reasons a pervasive antipathy to politics and to government is identified as one of the most powerful. This antipathy is expressed from the left and the right wings of the political spectrum, and the ‘critical’ opposition to both, as well as from interests such as those defending professional and personal autonomy. These arguments imply that ‘politics' is optional, not a set of practices and institutions with which individuals must be familiar. It is argued that this proposition cannot be valid.
Divided by a Common Language: Political Theory and the Concept of Power
Authors: Hay Colin
Published: March 2003

Power is probably the most universal and fundamental concept of political analysis. It has been, and continues to be, the subject of extended and heated debate. In this article I critically review the contributions of Bachrach and Baratz, and Lukes to our understanding of the multiple faces of power. I suggest that although the former's two-dimensional approach to power is ultimately compromised by the residues of behaviouralism that it inherits from classic pluralism, the latter's three-dimensional view suggests a potential route out of this pluralist impasse. To seize the opportunity he provides, however, requires that we rethink the concept of power. In the second half of the paper I advance a definition of power as context-shaping and demonstrate how this helps us to disentangle the notions of power, responsibility and culpability that Lukes conflates. In so doing I suggest the we differentiate clearly between analytical questions concerning the identification of power within social and political contexts, and normative questions concerning the critique of the distribution and exercise of power thus identified.
Can We Define Sovereignty?
Authors: Hoffman John
Published: March 2003

Two recent works on sovereignty have argued that the term is indefinable and that all we can do is to analyse the definitions of others The argument rightly centres upon the problematic link between sovereignty and the state. However it does not follow that because the whole notion of state sovereignty is problematic, sovereignty itself cannot be defined. This article suggests that a way out of this blind alley is to detach the idea of sovereignty from the institution of the state, so that an historically sensitive definition of the term becomes possible.
Observation in Political Research: A Qualitative Approach
Authors: Dargie Charlotte
Published: March 2003

Qualitative research in politics is predominantly interview-based. Observation is neglected as a research tool by political scientists. This article presents the case for using observation techniques in political research Drawing from the authors experience of using structured observation to research Chief Executives, the article shows how observation can be included as a valuable part of a qualitative research strategy. It addresses the how, where, when and why of applying observation to political research. The crucial advantage of observation methods is identified as understanding the context and environment in which actions occur and decisions are taken.
The European Union and Greece: Political Acceptability and Financial Transfers
Authors: Bourantonis Dimitris , Kalyvitis Sarantis , Tsoutsoplides Constantine
Published: March 2003

In this paper a conceptual model is developed that relates loyalty to a community of countries to the material benefits derived from it, measured by the transfer of extra income. We argue that the extent of a country's welfare, and consequently its acceptance to participate in a community increase together with the latter's scope for influence on the former. We use the paradigm of Greece, which is one of the main recipient countries in the EU. It was found that financial transfers concerning regional policy affect in the long-run ‘the acceptance of European integration’ by the public in Greece while social policy funds appear to have short-run positive effects on public opinion.
Stakeholding and Corporate Governance in the UK
Authors: Maltby Josephine , Wilkinson Roy
Published: March 2003

The ‘stakeholder economy’ forms a central part of the New Labour programme for reforming both the public and private sectors. The present paper considers the potential of stakeholding to address the weaknesses of corporate governance in the UK It concludes that stakeholder governance is a concept which owes its appeal to its imprecision, and is unworkable in practice, and that its deployment, rather than imposing accountability on capitalism, merely represents an attempt to make free market capitalism look more acceptable.
Betting and the 1997 British General Election
Authors: Rosenbaum Martin
Published: March 2003

How good are political gamblers and bookmakers at predicting election results? In 1997, despite indications from polls, betting markets badly underestimated Labour's Parliamentary majority. But the same applies to a panel of expert ‘pundits’ and the public generally. The predictions of punters move reasonably in line with pundits and public. And the betting industry scores better when examining percentage vote share. It was close to getting this right, narrowly beating the pundits and all the pollsters. Punters were right to believe polls overstated Labour's percentage lead, but wrong to miss the fact that differential swing would boost its Commons majority.
On a Contradiction in Mill's Argument for Liberty
Authors: Levin Michael
Published: March 2003

Mill took very seriously the warning example from China that even a civilised country could stagnate and become a backwater of world development. Although certain sections of Mill's On Liberty have been scrutinised, evaluated and debated with intense care, this, his most fundamental warning to his own society - that it was systematically undermining its own pre-eminence - has stimulated relatively little investigation. This article notes Mill's concern with social stagnation and suggests that, even in terms of his own presentation of the balance of social forces, his proposed countermeasures of ‘eccentricity’ and ‘refusal to bend the knee’ are futile gestures quite insufficient to combat the tendencies he outlined.
Hobbes on Democracy
Authors: Apperley Alan
Published: March 2003

Hobbes is often cited as a precursor of modern liberalism, both on the grounds of his individualism and of his endorsement of intellectual and moral autonomy. Yet Hobbes supports absolutist government rather than democracy. This is partly explained by his rejection of autonomy understood as self-government. But Hobbes's case against democracy is more comprehensive than this. This article considers Hobbes's case against democracy.
Nationalism in Ukraine: Towards a New Framework
Authors: Kuzio Taras
Published: March 2003

Nationalism is the most abused term in contemporary Ukrainian studies. The majority of scholars have failed to place its use within either a theoretical or comparative framework due to the dominance of area studies and the Russo-centricity of Sovietology and post-Sovietology. Instead of defining it within political science parameters, ‘nationalism’ has been used in a subjective and negative manner by equating it solely in an ethno-cultural sense with Ukrainophones. As a result, scholars tend to place Ukrainophones on the right of the political spectrum. This article argues that this is fundamentally at odds with theory and comparative politics on two counts. First, ‘nationalism’ is a thin ideology and can function through all manner of ideologies ranging from communism to fascism. Second, all liberal democracies are composed of ethno-cultural and civic features and are therefore permeated by state (civic) nationalism. The article proposes an alternative three-fold framework for understanding ‘nationalism’ in Ukraine.
Thinking about Teaching Politics
Authors: Welch Penny
Published: March 2003

The character and scope of changes in UK higher education in recent years make it likely that when we as academics stop to think about teaching, we dwell on the pressures and the frustrations more than on the excitement and the pleasures. This article advocates personal reflection on teaching politics that takes into account institutional and national constraints and explores the space that is left for initiative and innovation.
For the Guidance of Martians: A Reply to Martin Smith on British Politics Textbooks
Authors: Jones Bill , Robins Lynton
Published: March 2003

A recent review article in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations made a number of criticisms about the supposed lack of innovation and theoretical rigour found in current British politics textbooks. Jones and Robins constructively engage the points made in the article and argue that the criticisms made are only partly valid. They conclude that, within the obvious confines of a basic text, there is more on offer to students than there has ever been and that the success of these textbooks provides publishers with the means to cross-subsidise minority interest scholarship.
Republican Europe and Multicultural Citizenship
Authors: Lavdas Kostas A.
Published: March 2003

This article explores the possibilities for a normative understanding of the politics of EU development from a republican perspective. It draws on current debates on republicanism, which combine republican, liberal and multicultural themes, and defends an approach to European citizenship and the design of European institutions in which the contemporary republican emphasis on freedom as non-domination is complemented with the multiculturalist concern with group rights that cut across national boundaries. It is argued that the combination of republican institutions and multicultural citizenship can provide a model for European construction.
New Labour in Perspective: A Comment on Rubinstein
Authors: Larkin Phil
Published: March 2003

In a recent issue of this journal, David Rubinstein (2000) questioned Stephen Driver and Luke Martell's characterisation of New Labour as a fundamental break with the past. Rubinstein notes important continuities between ‘Old’ Labour governments and the current Blair government, and correctly challenges Driver and Martell's simple ‘old’/‘new’ portrayal. However, he underestimates the extent to which contextual changes impact upon a left-of-centre government's ability to achieve its aims.
Conflict Media Strategies and the Politics of Counter-Terrorism
Authors: Shpiro Shlomo
Published: March 2003

This article argues that the events of 11 September 2001, and the subsequent ‘war on terror’, have highlighted the role of the media in both the coverage and conduct of modern conflict. The article concentrates on the ‘conflict media strategies’ pursued by belligerents and examines the development and refinement of such strategies over time, from the Second World War through to the conflict in Afghanistan. Using data from Vietnam, the Falklands, the Gulf, Kosovo and other conflicts, I argue that an effective conflict media strategy is an essential tool of warfare that is used by states and terrorist groups alike.
The Chechen Exception: Rethinking Russia's Human Rights Policy
Authors: Heinze Eric A. , Borer Douglas A.
Published: March 2003

Orthodox interpretations of human rights policies and practices in post-Soviet Russia are often construed by external critics through a historicist lens of tsarist and Soviet-era authoritarianism. Contemporary Russia's adherence to emerging international human rights norms is commonly judged in sole reference to its human rights disaster in Chechnya. In this article, we contest the notion that human rights abuses in Chechnya fully illustrate Russia's stance on international human rights. We suggest that Chechnya is the exception in the post-Soviet era, and that Russia has increasingly brought its human rights standards in line with the West. We use a historical comparative context as well as Russia's discursive response to NATO's intervention in Kosovo and its UN Security Council voting record as empirical evidence for our argument. 1
Surprise! An Unexpected Color Singleton Does Not Capture Attention in Visual Search
Authors: Gibson Bradley S. , Jiang Yuhong
Published: March 2003

The existence of a pure form of stimulus-driven attentional control has been aligned exclusively with the existence of attentional capture. Unfortunately, there has been little evidence provided in support of attentional capture. The present study investigated whether the repeated failure to observe attentional capture might be due to the way in which attentional capture has been measured. A new visual search procedure was used to investigate whether attention would be captured by an initial and unexpected encounter with a color singleton. Despite this important change in procedure, the color singleton still did not capture attention. Further evidence showed that visual search for the color singleton could be highly efficient, but only after its relevance became established, and that the failure to observe capture in the present experiment was not due to other potentially detrimental effects of surprise. The present results suggest that new conceptions of stimulus-driven attentional control are required.
The Genetic and Environmental Relationship Between General and Specific Cognitive Abilities in Twins Age 80 and Older
Authors: Petrill Stephen A. , Plomin Robert , Berg Stig , Johansson Boo , Pedersen Nancy L. , Ahern Frank , McClearn Gerald E.
Published: March 2003

In the first twin study of the old-old, individuals 80 years old and older, we examined the relationship between general and specific cognitive abilities from a genetic perspective. That is, we examined the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence major group factors of cognitive abilities, independent of general cognitive ability. As part of the OctoTwin project in Sweden, general and specific cognitive abilities were assessed in 52 monozygotic and 65 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs 80 years old and older using a battery of seven tests that assess verbal, spatial, speed-of-processing, and memory performance. Results suggest that genetic effects associated with general cognitive ability (g) account for the correlation between g and verbal, spatial, and speed-of-processing abilities. No genetic influences were found for these specific cognitive abilities separate from g. In contrast, memory ability appears to be more distinct genetically from g than are other cognitive abilities. Comparison with younger samples suggests that cognitive abilities relating to speed of processing may be genetically dedifferentiated in the old-old.
Perception of Object Length by Sound
Authors: Carello Claudia , Anderson Krista L. , Kunkler-Peck Andrew J.
Published: March 2003

Although hearing is classically considered a temporal sense, everyday listening suggests that subtle spatial properties constitute an important part of what people know about the world through sound. Typically neglected in psychoacoustics research, the ability to perceive the precise sizes of objects on the basis of sound was investigated during the routine event of dropping wooden dowels of different lengths onto a hard surface. In two experiments, the ordinal and metrical success of naive listeners was related to length but not to the simple acoustic variables (duration, amplitude, frequency) likely to be related to it. Additional analysis suggests the potential relevance of an object's inertia tensor in constraining perception of that object's length, analogous to the case that has been made for perceiving length by effortful touch.
Sources of Dual-Task Interference: Evidence From Human Electrophysiology
Authors: Luck Steven J.
Published: March 2003

When an individual attempts to perform two tasks at the same time, the tasks often interfere with each other. This interference has been studied for several decades with the psychological refractory period paradigm, in which two targets that require independent responses are presented on each trial, separated by a variable delay period; interference typically takes the form of increased response times for the second target at short interstimulus delays. The present study used electrophysiological recordings to determine whether a specific index of perception and categorization (the P3 wave) is delayed in the same manner as response times. Although response times for the second target were found to be greatly delayed at short interstimulus intervals, the P3 wave was not substantially delayed. This finding indicates that there was minimal interference during target identification and categorization and that the prolongation of response times in this paradigm primarily reflects a delay in a relatively late process, such as response selection.
Rapid Gains in Speed of Verbal Processing by Infants in the 2nd Year
Authors: Fernald Anne , Pinto John P. , Swingley Daniel , Weinberg Amy , McRoberts Gerald W.
Published: March 2003

Infants improve substantially in language ability during their 2nd year. Research on the early development of speech production shows that vocabulary begins to expand rapidly around the age of 18 months. During this period, infants also make impressive gains in understanding spoken language. We examined the time course of word recognition in infants ages 15 to 24 months, tracking their eye movements as they looked at pictures in response to familiar spoken words. The speed and efficiency of verbal processing increased dramatically over the 2nd year. Although 15-month-old infants did not orient to the correct picture until after the target word was spoken, 24-month-olds were significantly faster, shifting their gaze to the correct picture before the end of the spoken word. By 2 years of age, children are progressing toward the highly efficient performance of adults, making decisions about words based on incomplete acoustic information.
The Utility of Item-Level Analyses in Model Evaluation: A Reply to Seidenberg and Plaut
Authors: Balota David A. , Spieler Daniel H.
Published: March 2003

Seidenberg and Plaut (this issue) argue that the implications of our analyses (Spieler & Balota, 1997) for the two extant connectionist models of word naming are limited by two factors. First, variables outside the scope of these models influence naming performance, so it is not surprising that the models do not account for much of the variance at the item level. Second, there is error variance associated with large item-level data sets that obviously should not be captured by these models. We point out that there are a number of variables that have been incorporated within the targeted connectionist models that should provide these models an advantage over the simple predictor variables that we selected as a baseline to evaluate the efficacy of the models (e.g., log frequency, length in letters, and number of orthographic neighbors). We also point out that there is considerable consistency across four large-scale studies of item means. Finally, we provide evidence that even under conditions of a standard word-naming study (with a small set of items), simple word frequency, orthographic neighborhoods, and length accounted for more variance than the extant connectionist models. We conclude that item-level analyses provide an important source of evidence in the evaluation of current models and the development of future models of visual word recognition.
Group Performance Depends on the Majority Rule
Authors: Sorkin Robert D. , West Ryan , Robinson Donald E.
Published: March 2003

Some group decisions require a two-thirds or three-quarters majority of the people voting; others require only a simple majority. Does the accuracy of a group's decision making depend on which majority rule is used? A signal detection theory analysis was used to answer this question. Each member of a group was presented with a noisy display of either a signal or a nonsignal, and then each member cast a yes or no vote for the existence of a signal. The group decision was determined by a majority rule of the members' votes. Normative groups and groups of 5 or 7 people exhibited the same behavior: Performance was best when the group used a simple-majority rule and decreased when the group used more stringent rules. The worst performance was produced by a unanimous rule. Some group members adopted more liberal response criteria when the majority rule was made more stringent.
Effects of Perceived Space on Spatial Attention
Authors: Robertson Lynn C. , Kim Min-Shik
Published: March 2003

This study demonstrates that a perceptual illusion that alters the perceived length of two lines also affects spatial attention. We used a cuing method that was introduced to study space- versus object-based attention. Two parallel lines of equal length were placed so that the distance between them was equal to the length of the lines. We then added a scene with depth cues to produce a strong illusion that one line was longer than the other. The results showed that spatial attention is distributed in space as it is perceived and altered by perceptual organization. These data have implications for assumptions concerning the spatial medium that guides attention and the role of depth and distance cues in spatial orienting, as well as for understanding attentional systems related to neuropsychological functions that respond to space and objects.
Distortions in Eyewitnesses' Recollections: Can the Postidentification-Feedback Effect Be Moderated?
Authors: Wells Gary L. , Bradfield Amy L.
Published: March 2003

Giving eyewitnesses confirming feedback after they make a lineup identification (e.g., “Good. You identified the actual suspect.”) inflates not only their recollections of how confident they were at the time of the identification, but also other testimony-relevant judgments, such as how good their view was, how much attention they paid during witnessing, and how quickly they identified the suspect. We replicated this postidentification-feedback effect with eyewitnesses who had made false identifications ( N = 156), adding critical conditions in which after the identification but prior to the feedback, some eyewitnesses were given instructions to privately think about their confidence, their view, and other matters. Other eyewitnesses were given the same thought instructions subsequent to the feedback manipulation. Prior thought served to mitigate the effects of feedback, but subsequent thought did not. In addition, even without feedback, privately thinking about confidence had some confidence-inflating properties of its own.
Perceptual Priming by Invisible Motion
Authors: Blake Randolph , Ahlström Ulf , Alais David
Published: March 2003

When observers see motion that is not really there, they can nonetheless show evidence of motion priming. And when observers do not see motion that is really there, they also show evidence for motion priming. Evidently, the process responsible for establishing motion correspondence is sensitive to contextual information, and this sensitivity is modulated at preconscious levels of visual analysis.
Distinguishing Language from Thought: Experimental Evidence That Syntax Is Lexically Rather Than Conceptually Represented
Authors: Bowers Jeffrey S. , Vigliocco Gabriella , Stadthagen-Gonzalez Hans , Vinson David
Published: March 2003

It is generally assumed that syntax is represented linguistically rather than conceptually, consistent with the more general view that language and thought are coded separately. This claim is widely defended on logical grounds, but it has received little experimental support. In the present study, we asked Spanish and English speakers to make semantic and syntactic categorizations for pictures and their corresponding names. Consistent with past results, latencies to semantically categorize pictures and words were similar. The new finding is that participants were faster to make syntactic decisions for words compared with pictures, suggesting that syntactic features such as grammatical gender and the count-mass distinction are more closely linked to lexical than conceptual representations.
Infants' Perception of Causal Chains
Authors: Cohen Leslie B. , Rundell Leslie J. , Spellman Barbara A. , Cashon Cara H.
Published: March 2003

Three experiments examined infants' and adults' perception of causal sequences of events. In a causal-chain sequence, the first action causes a second action that then causes a final outcome; in a temporal-chain sequence, the first two actions are independent and the second action causes a final outcome. Infants and adults were shown the same event sequences; infants were tested using a visual habituation paradigm, whereas adults were given a questionnaire. Experiment 1 indicated that 15-month-old infants perceive the primary cause of the final outcome to be the first action in a causal chain but the second action in a temporal chain. Experiment 2 showed that adults interpret the causal sequences in a manner similar to that of 15-month-olds. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that 10-month-old infants do not yet perceive causal sequences in the same manner as 15-month-olds and adults. These results are interpreted in terms of both infants' developing knowledge of causal events and adults' attributions of causality in complex events.
William James and Sigmund Freud: “The Future of Psychology Belongs to Your Work”
Authors: Taylor Eugene
Published: March 2003

Although James and Freud are generally not considered scientific by experimental psychologists, both wrote about their view of what a scientific psychology should look like. Their radically different philosophical epistemologies and historical origins are reviewed, to provide an understanding of their respective visions for psychology. James took his stand on a new metaphysical foundation for the way experiments should be conducted with his formulation of radical empiricism. Freud attempted a neurological explanation of the unconscious in his “Project for a Scientific Psychology.” Remarkably, their definitions of psychology as a science had a similar ring. Likely, this is because both took a phenomenological position with regard to how they defined science, which is also probably the primary reason their ideas on the subject have always been rejected by experimentalists. The humanistic implications of the neuroscience revolution, however, have caused a reassessment of their respective positions, as philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness have brought both Freud and James back into vogue, but in new and unexpected ways.