Psychological elitism

A simple algorithm for computing minimum spanning trees in the internet

Intergroup bias is one of the most actively researched topics in the field of social psychology. Hundreds of books and thousands of research articles have addressed this issue over more than half a century. Although the psychological roots of blatant prejudices are well documented, the development of more subtle and often unintentional forms in societies in which its expression is discouraged poses new and unique challenges to the pursuit of justice and equality in contemporary society. Our interests in the psychological underpinnings of prejudice as researchers and educators are both practical and conceptual. On the practical side, understanding the nature of contemporary forms of prejudice has clear implications for developing effective techniques for combating bias and discrimination. In 1967, nearly 3 years after the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, race riots in the United States prompted the Kerner Commission to investigate the sources of racial tension. Upon the conclusion of its investigation, the commission cited White America’s failure to assist Blacks in need, rather than actively trying to harm Blacks, as a primary cause of racial disparities and, ultimately, civil unrest (Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968). Indeed, it was research on the differential helping behavior of politically liberal Whites toward Black and White motorists who were stranded on a highway that represented the first empirical work on aversive racism (Gaertner, 1973). Considerable subsequent research on aversive racism has revealed that the consequences of subtle bias can be as severe and pernicious as those of blatant prejudice. Conceptually, the complexities of contemporary forms of prejudice and recent advances in techniques and tools for studying non-conscious biases make this research area an exciting and challenging one. We hope that this guide can help orient educators to the many excellent resources that exist and convey our enthusiasm for exploring what psychological methods and theories can contribute to understanding one of the most challenging social issues faced in contemporary society.

The evolution of helping, in which some individuals forfeit their own reproduction and help others to reproduce, is a central problem in evolutionary biology. Recently proposed insurance-based mechanisms rely on a pre-existing life history with a long period of offspring dependency relative to the short life expectancies of adult carers: a lone mother's offspring are doomed if she dies young, whereas after a helper dies, other group members can finish rearing the offspring. A critical question, however, is how this life history could evolve in ancestral non-social populations, as offspring survival would then depend on a single, short-lived carer. Here, we resolve this paradox by focusing on the extended parental care inherent in prolonged dependency. We show experimentally that in non-social wasps, extended care can significantly reduce the impact of interspecific parasites. Under extended care, offspring are less vulnerable by the time they are exposed to parasites, and costs of parasitism are reduced because mothers have the option to terminate investment in failing offspring. By experimentally simulating aspects of extended care in a species where it is lacking, we demonstrate that neither benefit requires specialized behaviour. Such benefits could therefore offset the disadvantage of prolonged dependency in non-social species, thereby facilitating the evolution of helping.

Humans and other social animals interact in diverse ways. A central problem in the study of societies is identifying core communities: sets of entities among whom interactions are frequent and consistent. Membership in social groups often changes, thus making it difficult to characterize a society’s community structure. In this chapter we formalize the computational problem of dynamic community identification and review computational methods that address the changing nature of community membership. We discuss in detail the dynamic community identification method by the authors which in many ways subsumes other approaches.

This discussion question implies that there is a conflict between scientists and resource managers. Our group agreed that there is such a conflict, which has arisen for several reasons. Perhaps most obvious is the reason given in the discussion question — that managers often need some immediate answers, while scientists often are unwilling or unable to provide complete answers without a lengthy study. A central problem here is the difficulty in dealing with scientific uncertainty. Often, scientists are unwilling to provide scientific advice on a problem unless there is a very high degree of scientific certainty about the solutions being offered. On the other hand, a manager may use scientific advice and knowledge as if it were the final solution, and be unwilling to alter management practices and regulations in light of changing conditions and revised scientific ideas. Another problem is that managers may be interested primarily in being able to predict or control the behavior of a system, while scientists traditionally have been more interested in understanding the workings of a system (but see Peters, 1986). Finally, members of one group often do not understand or appreciate the needs or philosophy of the members of the other group, nor the constraints under which each group works.

Shedding Light on the “Eclipse” Narrative: Some Notes on Pragmatism in the Twentieth Century

In July 2008, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum to three young Salvadoran siblings fleeing gang violence and threats. This decision affects the likelihood that other youth and their family members fleeing gang violence will gain protection in the United States. The reach of the BIA decision in Matter of S-E-G- stretches far beyond the facts of the actual case or gang cases in general and may shape the future of asylum based on membership in a particular social group. The BIA published Matter of S-E-G- as one of only 36 precedent decisions in 2008, making the decision binding on all IJs as well as the BIA itself. The decision is important, as it appears to elevate the notion of “social visibility” from a factor in the determination of a particular social group to a requirement. This article examines how Matter of S-E-G- has affected the legal landscape with regard to asylum claims based on particular social group.Part I of this paper provides a brief background on the Central American gang problem. Part II briefly examines the state of the U.S. law on social group prior to S-E-G-. Part III summarizes the decision itself, analyzes the problematic elements of the decision, and provides an update as to the current status of the case. Part IV examines U.S. case law following S-E-G- in the Circuit Courts of Appeal. Part V presents an analysis of the potential impact of S-E-G- on other social group cases. Part VI explores recent Canadian jurisprudence on gang-related persecution claims, while the conclusion suggests how advocates and judges can move past S-E-G- to carefully consider gang-related cases.

In July 2008, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum to three young Salvadoran siblings fleeing gang violence and threats. This decision affects the likelihood that other youth and their family members fleeing gang violence will gain protection in the United States. The reach of the BIA decision in Matter of S-E-G- stretches far beyond the facts of the actual case or gang cases in general and may shape the future of asylum based on membership in a particular social group. The BIA published Matter of S-E-G- as one of only 36 precedent decisions in 2008, making the decision binding on all IJs as well as the BIA itself. The decision is important, as it appears to elevate the notion of “social visibility” from a factor in the determination of a particular social group to a requirement. This article examines how Matter of S-E-G- has affected the legal landscape with regard to asylum claims based on particular social group.Part I of this paper provides a brief background on the Central American gang problem. Part II briefly examines the state of the U.S. law on social group prior to S-E-G-. Part III summarizes the decision itself, analyzes the problematic elements of the decision, and provides an update as to the current status of the case. Part IV examines U.S. case law following S-E-G- in the Circuit Courts of Appeal. Part V presents an analysis of the potential impact of S-E-G- on other social group cases. Part VI explores recent Canadian jurisprudence on gang-related persecution claims, while the conclusion suggests how advocates and judges can move past S-E-G- to carefully consider gang-related cases.

Infants born preterm are at greater risk than infants born at term for mortality and a variety of health and developmental problems. Complications include acute respiratory, gastrointestinal, immunologic, central nervous system, hearing, and vision problems, as well as longer-term motor, cognitive, visual, hearing, behavioral, social-emotional, health, and growth problems. The birth of a preterm infant can also bring considerable emotional and economic costs to families and have implications for public-sector services, such as health insurance, educational, and other social support systems. The greatest risk of mortality and morbidity is for those infants born at the earliest gestational ages. However, those infants born nearer to term represent the greatest number of infants born preterm and also experience more complications than infants born at term. Preterm birth is a complex cluster of problems with a set of overlapping factors of influence. Its causes may include individual-level behavioral and psychosocial factors, neighborhood characteristics, environmental exposures, medical conditions, infertility treatments, biological factors and genetics. Many of these factors occur in combination, particularly in those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged or who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. The empirical investigation was carried out to draw correlation between preterm birth and eventuality. This paper deals with various issues related to the premature deliveries from socio-biological perspectives.

Guidelines (short version) of the French Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Society (SFORL) on patient pathway organization in ENT: The therapeutic decision-making process

<i>The Epistemology of Groups</i>

The stereotype “what is beautiful is good” suggests that having an attractive physical appearance is very important to people’s lives. Physical attractiveness, as an important personal trait, plays vital roles for shaping one’s first impression, and for influencing one’s subsequent evaluation and selection, based on obvious visual features. However, the contextual difference of the physical attractiveness between a group and its group members has been given less attention. For this reason, Van Osch et al. proposed and tested that the perceived physical attractiveness of a group is greater than the average attractiveness of its members (GA-effect), while Walker and Vul found that an individual as a group member is perceived to be more attractive in group context than in isolation (cheerleader effect). Our present work seeks to replicate these two effects on a sample of 1005 Chinese participants to check whether such effects also exist in China, a collectivist culture. Participants were asked to rate the degree of attractiveness presented in each photo stimuli and in each rating condition, and the results show that: (a) the participants’ ratings of physical attractiveness of a group was significantly higher than the average attractiveness of its members (i.e., replicating the GA-effect); (b) the participants’ ratings of physical attractiveness of an individual was evaluated higher in a group than in isolation (i.e., replicating the cheerleader effect); and (c) the larger the group size, the larger the GA-effect. This validating study may aid in understanding human behavior, judgments, and perceptions according to the GA-effect and the cheerleader effect used in a different context in China.

When judging another person, people often spontaneously compare this person with themselves. Six studies examined the self-evaluative consequences of such spontaneous comparisons with in-group versus out-group members. They demonstrate that spontaneous comparisons with in-group members primarily involved the activation of specific individuating knowledge about the self. In particular, knowledge indicating that the self is similar to the judged target was rendered accessible. As a consequence, subsequent self-evaluations that were based on the implications of accessible self-knowledge were assimilated toward in-group targets. Spontaneous comparisons with out-group members, however, primarily involved the activation of more general category knowledge about the self. Specifically, knowledge about judges' membership in a group that distinguished them from the target was rendered accessible. Consequently, self-evaluations were contrasted away from out-group targets.

When judging another person, people often spontaneously compare this person with themselves. Six studies examined the self-evaluative consequences of such spontaneous comparisons with in-group versus out-group members. They demonstrate that spontaneous comparisons with in-group members primarily involved the activation of specific individuating knowledge about the self. In particular, knowledge indicating that the self is similar to the judged target was rendered accessible. As a consequence, subsequent self-evaluations that were based on the implications of accessible self-knowledge were assimilated toward in-group targets. Spontaneous comparisons with out-group members, however, primarily involved the activation of more general category knowledge about the self. Specifically, knowledge about judges' membership in a group that distinguished them from the target was rendered accessible. Consequently, self-evaluations were contrasted away from out-group targets.

A central problem in the collection of data is the effect of interviewer on the quality of the results. This paper describes research findings of the National Opinion Research Center's project on the isolation, measurement, and control of interviewer effect. Variations in results derive from interviewer fallibility, unreliability of respondents, and, finally, interactional processes. Disparities in the group memberships of interviewer and respondent affect the results; beliefs the interviewer has about the respondent produce expectations which in turn affect results. Experiments on the role of situational factors in mediating interviewer effects and on the validity of interviewer data are describred.