Egocentrism, ethnocentrism, and altrocentrism: factors in individual and intergroup violence

Egocentrism and ethnocentrism are considered as cognitive biases which foster violence at both individual and group levels. Each is characterized as a lack of empathy or an inability to see reality as it appears to others. Altrocentrism is conceptualized as a more mature, socialized form of perceiving in which the individual can understand another person because he sees the facts as they appear to the other. Adolescents tend to see policemen and teachers as hostile and threatening because they cannot empathize with the roles of these authority figures. Evidence indicates that violent behavior is associated with egocentric and ethnocentric thinking. Devices such as role-playing, stating the case of the other, fantasy, and the culture-assimilator foster altrocentric thinking, and some evidence indicates that they reduce the frequency of resort to violence. Cross-cultural education must begin use of such procedures if we are to minimize domestic and international violence.     

Technique and timing in women's inward two and one half somersault tuck (405C) and the men's inward two and one half somersault pike (405B) 3 m springboard dives

The purpose of this study was to compare the inward two and one half somersault dive in a tuck position (405C) performed by females (n = 22) and the inward two and one half somersault dive in a pike position (405B) performed by males (n = 24) to determine changes required by females to successfully perform 405B. Key performance variables in inward dives were also compared to those of backward dives. Video data of the dives performed at the 1999 FINA World Diving Cup were captured and digitized to obtain times and postures of the divers at specific events including takeoff and entry. Estimates of flight height and mass-normalised work done on the springboard were obtained from flight times. Some females worked the springboard strongly enough to generate sufficient height and rotation to perform 405B. Males performed 405B comfortably because they achieved better height and rotation than the females. A comparison of backward and inward dives revealed that divers are able to attain greater height in backward dives than inward dives.     

VALUE-FRAMING ABORTION IN THE UNITED STATES: AN APPLICATION OF MEDIA SYSTEM DEPENDENCY THEORY

This paper is in the tradition of social analysis aimed at creatingframeworks to join mass media and public opinion processes (e.g.Clarke and Evans, 1983; Gamson, 1975; Gitlin, 1980; Hall, 1977;Iyengar and Kinder, 1987; Lang and Lang, 1968, 1983; Lippman,1922; Mollotch and Lester, 1974; Noelle-Neuman, 1974; Paletzand Entman, 1981; Shaw and McCombs, 1977; Turner and Paz, 1986).After a brief review of media system dependency (MSD) theory,we illustrate how it may apply to public opinion processes thatentail contested issue ‘value-frames’ (Ball-Rokeachand Rokeach, 1987). In such cases, the media system is directlyimplicated in the negotiation of legitimacy of opposing positionson an issue. Our illustrative case is the abortion issue asit has been played out in the United States over recent decades(Luker, 1984). We focus upon the respective capacities of pro-and anti-abortion movements to control the value-frame of mediacoverage of the issue (Guthrie, 1989). A value-frame may beconceived as ‘... the main substantive theme of a moralityplay’ (Ball-Rokeach and Tallman, 1979) wherein the distinctionbetween ‘good’ and ‘bad’ hangs in thebalance; in this case, between positions on abortion. We suggestthat change in the value-frame of media coverage and publicdiscourse may be understood, at least in part, as an outcomeof change in contestants' MSD relations.     

Developing a comprehensive model of risk and protective factors that can predict spelling at age seven: findings from a community sample of Victorian children

The paper reports on a study designed to develop a risk model that can best predict single-word spelling in seven-year-old children when they were aged 4 and 5. Test measures, personal characteristics and environmental influences were all considered as variables from a community sample of 971 children. Strong concurrent correlations were found between single-word spelling and single-word reading while expressive language and, to a lesser extent, receptive language were less strongly correlated. Predictors of single-word spelling at ages 4 and 5 were dominated by child-related factors such as letter knowledge, a history of speech impairment and expressive language along with maternal word reading ability. Based on the strength of the predictive factors identified at both age 4 and 5, our results provide initial support for using a targeted model for screening pre-schoolers at risk of not mastering spelling in a timely manner.