Distinct Theories Research Articles

Cloning the linguistic twin sisters: A Comparative Linguistic Study of French and Yoruba Languages

Phonology can be defined as the study of sound patterns and their meanings both within and across languages. There are innumerable appraisals of scholars on the phonology of French and Yorùbá languages as twin-sisters with little attention paid to the distinctive variance in their phonemic features. Premised on distinctive feature theory which identifies a set of features adequate for describing the segmental contrasts and phonologically important segment groups observed in languages, this study interrogates the differences in the types of syllables, formation of syllables and the components of the syllabic structures in French and Yorùbá languages with a view to identifying how these two languages negotiate their divergence in phonology and morphology. The study reveals that, that two languages are genetically related does not mean that the two will always share the same phonological, morphological, syntactic and grammatical similarities at all times. This study argues that the only workable way out of phonological, morphological, syntactic and grammatical difficulties for Yorubaphone French language learners is not via cloning the linguistic twin sisters.

Racial Gerrymandering and Vote Dilution: Shaw v. Reno in Doctrinal Context

In opening sentence of her opinion for Court in Shaw v. Reno, North Carolina racial gerrymander case, Justice O'Connor observed that case involve[d] two of most complex and sensitive that Supreme Court has had to confront: the meaning of constitutional 'right' to vote, and propriety of race based state legislation designed to benefit members of historically disadvantaged racial minority groups. Had she stopped there, Justice O'Connor would have had consensus within Court. But she went on to grapple with these issues and has spurred further discussion and debate about race and voting rights--a topic that had already gained political center stage when President Clinton withdrew his nomination of Professor Lani Guinier to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. This article will analyze and evaluate Shaw in its doctrinal context and then examine some still unresolved questions. The Supreme Court's resolution of those issues will eventually determine whether Shaw is an analytically significant and doctrinally influential case or whether it reflects a response to a unique set of substantive and procedural circumstances that are non-replicable. The article begins in Section II with a discussion of procedural context of Shaw case and a consideration of substantive and practical implications of district court's decision. In Section III, article then examines nature of plaintiffs' claim by explaining race nondiscrimination paradigm, concluding that Court was correct in holding that vote dilution and race discrimination are analytically distinct theories with independent lines of case law supporting each one. The precedent-oriented dissent of Justice White is analyzed and critiqued in depth. The conclusion is that Justice White erroneously conflates vote dilution and race discrimination lines of cases. The principle-oriented dissent of Justice Souter is examined in detail and found to be both intellectually honest and substantively startling. Justice Souter argued that race-based Equal Protection claims involving districting should be treated differently than same claims in other contexts. His rationale for this categorical approach was that race cannot be avoided in legislative districting, and use of race does not disadvantage any individual because of race. The article concludes that Justice Souter's approach is excessively tolerant of use of race and in considerable tension with nondiscrimination principles emanating from Brown. Further, Justice Souter's observation that race is customarily a part of districting process does not explain why that fact, if such it be, should be constitutionally legitimized. To extent that Justice Souter's views were influenced by his understanding of Voting Rights Act, article concludes that neither Section 5 nor Section 2 of that Act supports Justice Souter's analysis. Finally, in Section IV, article examines five issues left unresolved by Shaw. It concludes that Shaw cannot sensibly and with doctrinal integrity be limited to weird districts. Under principle of racial reciprocity, it concludes, any intentional use of race should trigger strict scrutiny unless government can show that same districting decision would have been taken in absence of racial considerations. The article concludes by considering how Shaw interest. standard should be applied, analyzing nature of an appropriate compelling interest, how narrow tailoring inquiry should be addressed, and how burden of proof should be allocated under strict scrutiny.

The influence of workgroup identification on turnover intention and knowledge sharing: the perspective of employees in subsidiaries

Turnover intention and knowledge sharing of local employees in multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiary workgroups have received relatively little attention in IHRM research, yet are central to everyday operation of the organisation. Drawing on optimal distinctiveness theory, we consider the influence of workgroup identification on two important employee attitudes and behaviours, turnover intention and knowledge sharing, by examining the influence of the supervisor on workgroup identification. Participants included 306 employees in an Australian and New Zealand subsidiary of an MNE headquartered in Europe. The results indicate that employees’ tendency to identify with their workgroup is enhanced by the distinctiveness of a supervisor from a different national or cultural group, which in turn leads to decreased turnover intention and increased knowledge sharing among workgroup members. Higher supervisor prototypicality however, that counterbalances distinctiveness through higher inclusion, weakens the mediation effect. An important practical implication of this research is that the HR function could play a valuable role in training or group development to raise supervisors’ and employees’ understanding and management of needs for both inclusion and distinctiveness.

How do physicians become medical experts? A test of three competing theories: distinct domains, independent influence and encapsulation models.

The distinction between basic sciences and clinical knowledge which has led to a theoretical debate on how medical expertise is developed has implications for medical school and lifelong medical education. This longitudinal, population based observational study was conducted to test the fit of three theories-knowledge encapsulation, independent influence, distinct domains-of the development of medical expertise employing structural equation modelling. Data were collected from 548 physicians (292 men-53.3%; 256 women-46.7%; mean age=24.2years on admission) who had graduated from medical school 2009-2014. They included (1) Admissions data of undergraduate grade point average and Medical College Admission Test sub-test scores, (2) Course performance data from years 1, 2, and 3 of medical school, and (3) Performance on the NBME exams (i.e., Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3). Statistical fit indices (Goodness of Fit Index-GFI; standardized root mean squared residual-SRMR; root mean squared error of approximation-RSMEA) and comparative fit [Formula: see text] of three theories of cognitive development of medical expertise were used to assess model fit. There is support for the knowledge encapsulation three factor model of clinical competency (GFI=0.973, SRMR=0.043, RSMEA=0.063) which had superior fit indices to both the independent influence and distinct domains theories ([Formula: see text] vs [Formula: see text] [[Formula: see text]] vs [Formula: see text] [[Formula: see text]], respectively). The findings support a theory where basic sciences and medical aptitude are direct, correlated influences on clinical competency that encapsulates basic knowledge.

Ontologies for the representation of electronic medical records: The obstetric and neonatal ontology

Ontology is an interdisciplinary field that involves both the use of philosophical principles and the development of computational artifacts. As artifacts, ontologies can have diverse applications in knowledge management, information retrieval, and information systems, to mention a few. They have been largely applied to organize information in complex fields like Biomedicine. In this article, we present the OntoNeo Ontology, an initiative to build a formal ontology in the obstetrics and neonatal domain. OntoNeo is a resource that has been designed to serve as a comprehensive infrastructure providing scientific research and healthcare professionals with access to relevant information. The goal of OntoNeo is twofold: (a) to organize specialized medical knowledge, and (b) to provide a potential consensual representation of the medical information found in electronic health records and medical information systems. To describe our initiative, we first provide background information about distinct theories underlying ontology, top‐level computational ontologies and their applications in Biomedicine. Then, we present the methodology employed in the development of OntoNeo and the results obtained to date. Finally, we discuss the applicability of OntoNeo by presenting a proof of concept that illustrates its potential usefulness in the realm of healthcare information systems.

Dual commitment in the organization: Effects of the interplay of team and organizational commitment on employee citizenship behavior, efficacy beliefs, and turnover intentions

Affective team and organizational commitment are among the most important employee attachments in the workplace. While past research has focused on identifying the differential relationships of these commitments with relevant workplace outcomes, the present study examines their additive and interactive effects based on a multi-foci research framework. Drawing on consistency and optimal distinctiveness theory, we predicted that team and organizational commitment add to and enhance each other's target-specific effects on team- and organization-directed citizenship behavior, efficacy beliefs, and turnover intentions. Furthermore, taking a person-centered perspective, we tested the hypothesis that dually committed employees score higher on the chosen outcomes than employees with unilateral commitments (to the team and the organization). Results from a survey study (n=1362) confirmed our hypotheses for citizenship behavior. With regard to efficacy beliefs and turnover intentions, however, compensatory interactions were observed and dually committed employees scored higher on the team-directed outcome components. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Role of Optimal Distinctiveness and Homophily in Online Dating

Users of online dating sites compete for attention from potential matches. Member profiles provide an opportunity for candidates to present information about themselves that their counterparts use to assess compatibility and desirability. In this paper, we explore how text-based similarities among users of a dating site impact their success in attracting attention. The principle of homophily predicts that to be successful, a user should be perceived as similar to the person they would prefer to date. Conversely, theories of distinctiveness suggest that standing out from the crowd should be beneficial. Using profiles, we explore how the text similarity between a user, the opposite-sex member they are targeting, and their same-sex competitors impacts the likelihood that a sender of a message receives a response conditional on initiating contact. We find that the probability of receiving a response is maximized when the user has high text similarity to the person they message, but low text similarity to the competitors that are also seeking the same individual’s attention. This suggests a balance between homophily and distinctiveness theory.

The political distinctiveness of gays and lesbians: explaining protest actions across sexual identities

ABSTRACTThis study explores the relationship between people’s sexual identities and their tendencies to join political protests. When analyzing American National Election surveys from 2012 (n = 3813), gays and lesbians were more than twice as likely to protest as heterosexuals. To explain the increased activism of gays and lesbians, this study applied Patrick Egan’s theories of political distinctiveness to the ANES data. After running a set of hierarchal logistic regressions, the link between sexualities and protesting became insignificant when issues of age, education levels, friendships circles, group memberships, and political ideologies were introduced into regressions. This suggests that gays and lesbians protested more often because they are younger, more educated, integrated into political networks, and are more likely to notice the negative consequences of social inequalities than heterosexuals.

Grounding principles for inferring agency: Two cultural perspectives

The present research investigates cultural variation in grounding principles for inferring agency in order to address an important theoretical debate: does cultural diversity in agency concepts reflect an animistic overextension of (universal) folkpsychology, as many have argued, or an alternative theory of folkcommunication based on relational principles? In two experiments, mind perception measures were adapted to assess beliefs concerning the agency of non-animal kinds (plants, abiotic kinds, complex artifacts) among Indigenous Ngöbe adults in Panama and US college students. Agency attributions varied systematically, with Ngöbe ascribing greater agency to non-animal natural kinds and US college participants ascribing greater agency to complex artifacts. Analysis of explanations revealed divergent interpretations of agency as a prototypically human capacity requiring consciousness (US), versus a relational capacity expressed in directed interactions (Ngöbe). Converging measures further illuminated the inferential principles underlying these agency attributions. (1) An experimental relational framing of agency probes facilitated Ngöbe but not US agency attributions. (2) Further analysis showed that three key dimensions of agency attribution (experience, cognition, animacy) are organized differently across cultures. (3) A Bayesian approach to cultural consensus modeling confirmed the presence of two distinct consensus models rather than variations on a single (universal) model. Together, these results indicate that conceptual frameworks for agency differ across US college and Ngöbe communities. We conclude that Ngöbe concepts of agency derive from a distinct theory of folkcommunication based on an ecocentric prototype rather than overextensions of an anthropocentric folkpsychology. These observations suggest that folkpsychology and mind perception represent culture specific frameworks for agency, with significant implications for domain-specificity theory and our understanding of cognitive diversity.

From supersymmetric quantum mechanics to scalar field theories

In this work we address the reconstruction problem, investigating the construction of field theories from supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The procedure is reviewed, starting from reflectionless potentials that admit one and two bound states. We show that, although the field theory reconstructed from the potential that support a single bound state is unique, it may break unicity in the case of two bound states. We illustrate this with an example, which leads us with two distinct field theories.

Positive emotion in knowledge creation

PurposeDespite the importance of evidence-based practice, the translation of knowledge into quality healthcare continues to be stymied by an array of micro, meso and macro factors. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a need to consider different – if not unconventional approaches – like the role of positive emotion, and how it might be used to promote and sustain knowledge translation (KT).Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing and coalescing two distinct theories – the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and the organisational knowledge creation theory – this paper presents a case for the role of positive emotion in KT.FindingsTheories pertaining to positive emotion and organisational knowledge creation have much to offer KT in healthcare. Three conceptual “entry points” might be particularly helpful to integrate the two domains – namely, understanding the relationship between knowledge and positive emotions; positive emotions related to Nonaka’s concept of knowledge creation; and the mutual enrichment contained in the parallel “upward spiralling” of both theories.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a conceptual paper and as such is limited in its applicability and scope. Future work should empirically explore these conceptual findings, delving into positive emotion and KT.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to bring together two seemingly disparate theories to address an intractable issue – the translation of knowledge into quality healthcare. This represents an important point of departure from current KT discourse, much of which continues to superimpose artefacts like clinical practice guidelines onto complex healthcare context.

The forgotten people in Brazilian constitutionalism: Revisiting behavior strategic analyses of regime transitions

Strategic behavior and game theory models of regime transitions have long dominated the constitutional and political science landscape. Even so, disagreements, controversies, and dilemmas over the causes and consequences of the process of democratization are the norm among those distinct theories, bringing about a great deal of inconsistency. Particularly intriguing, however, is the fact that, while normally focusing on the strategic behavior of political and economic elites, little attention has been given to the distinct groups of civil society which, through different means, have taken on a fundamental role during those transitions in building a new constitutional and democratic order. This article challenges those theories by diachronically revisiting the literature about the Brazilian Constituent Assembly of 1987/1988, a paradigmatic example of a constitutional moment marked by such conflicting interpretations. By bringing the “forgotten people” to the forefront, it concludes that perhaps those theories’ pessimistic stress on the behavior of the ruling elites might not be enough to cope with the un controllable power of popular masses and the paradoxical nature of constitutional democracy.

Conspicuous Consumption, Croyance, and the Problem of the Two Timons: Shakespeare and Middleton’s Timon of Athens

ABSTRACTThe article investigates the astonishing volte-face that Timon performs in Shakespeare and Middleton's Timon of Athens. The main character is not, as is often claimed, unaware of what is going on around him, he is not simply the naïve victim of his avaricious guests, but rather complicit in his own delusions. My reading is informed by two different theoretical concepts: Thorstein Veblen’s concept of “conspicuous consumption” on the one hand (supported by Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic capital), and Octave Mannoni’s concept of “croyance” (belief) on the other. By combining these two distinct theories, I want to account for the characteristics of both Timon’s individual (psychological) and public (economic) behaviour, and its radical change between Acts 1–2 and Acts 3–5 of the play. I argue that in Timon of Athens, Shakespeare and Middleton explore the different forms of capital and its limited convertibility in the early modern mercantilist society.

The relation between ethnic classroom composition and adolescents’ ethnic pride

This study investigated how students’ ethnic pride was related to variation in ethnic composition between classrooms as well as within the same classroom over time. Predictions derived from optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT) were tested among 13- to 14-year-old ethnic majority and minority students ( N = 1,123). Lending support to ODT, a curvilinear relation between the share of same-ethnicity classmates and students’ ethnic pride was found in a cross-sectional analysis, with ethnic pride peaking in classrooms with approximately 50% same-ethnicity classmates. In line with ODT, longitudinal analyses revealed ethnic pride decreased for students who moved away from a share of 50% same-ethnicity classmates. Contrary to ODT, however, ethnic pride also decreased for students who moved closer to this point of optimal distinctiveness.

Trust or Legal Person: A Brief Review of the Organizational Features of Western Political Thoughts

Trust law as a unique legal regime in common law world has deeply influenced the legal and political practices in Anglo-American legal system. By contrast, the regime of legal person formed a series of distinctive legal theories and political practices in Continental jurisdictions. From the perspective of organizational law, this essay explores the different governance mechanisms of Anglo-American constitutionalism and Continental political traditions, and re-explains why historically the common law countries have advantages in democratic politics.

38. Distinct Theory of Mind Deficit Profiles in Schizophrenia and Autism: A Meta-Analysis of Published Research

38. Distinct Theory of Mind Deficit Profiles in Schizophrenia and Autism: A Meta-Analysis of Published Research

Creating identification with brand communities on Twitter

PurposeCompanies are now using social network sites (SNSs) within their marketing and brand-building activities. Twitter is the preferred SNS for creating brand communities, which offer companies many advantages. The purpose of this paper is to examine how individuals manage their competing needs for being affiliated (operationalized as personal and communal-brand connections) and for being seen as distinctive (operationalized as need for uniqueness (NFU)) when they are members of brand communities on Twitter. The authors have also analysed which type of brand community is able to achieve the balance between both needs, enhancing identification with the brand community.Design/methodology/approachA total of 318 valid responses were collected from three camera brand communities on Twitter. Messages (“tweets”) which included a link to an online questionnaire were sent to community members via Twitter. The authors examine the proposed model using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that consumers can satisfy their need for affiliation in brand communities created in Twitter. However, consumers can only reach a balance between the need for affiliation and the need for distinctiveness in brand communities built around niche brands. In contrast, the two needs work in opposition to shape identification in brand communities of big brands.Originality/valueOptimal distinctiveness theory is used as a theoretical background for proposing how the antecedents of identification with the brand community enhance brand loyalty, with reference to the conflict between the individual’s needs for both distinctiveness and affiliation. Consumers’ identification with the brand community is proposed as a mediator to achieve brand loyalty in brand communities. Consumers reach this balance in brand communities built around a niche brand, where individuals with high NFU feel a high identification with the brand community. For big brands, as consumers’ NFU increases, their identification with the brand community and brand loyalty decreases.

A geometrical approach to degenerate scalar-tensor theories

Degenerate scalar-tensor theories are recently proposed covariant theories of gravity coupled with a scalar field. Despite being characterised by higher order equations of motion, they do not propagate more than three degrees of freedom, thanks to the existence of constraints. We discuss a geometrical approach to degenerate scalar-tensor systems, and analyse its consequences. We show that some of these theories emerge as a certain limit of DBI Galileons. In absence of dynamical gravity, these systems correspond to scalar theories enjoying a symmetry which is different from Galileon invariance. The scalar theories have however problems concerning the propagation of fluctuations around a time dependent background. These issues can be tamed by breaking the symmetry by hand, or by minimally coupling the scalar with dynamical gravity in a way that leads to degenerate scalar-tensor systems. We show that distinct theories can be connected by a relation which generalizes Galileon duality, in certain cases also when gravity is dynamical. We discuss some implications of our results in concrete examples. Our findings can be helpful for assessing stability properties and understanding the non-perturbative structure of systems based on degenerate scalar-tensor systems.

Sartrean Self-Consciousness and the Principle of Identity

I address the problem of what grounds Sartre’s paradoxical claim that consciousness is non-self-identical, and his equally paradoxical gloss on that claim—that the nature of consciousness is to be what it is not and not to be what it is. I argue that there is an implicit argument in Being and Nothingness, which both entails and elucidates Sartre’s claim that consciousness is non-self-identical, and which also maps on to, and clarifies, the explicit argument that Sartre provides for this conclusion. This implicit argument presupposes that we attribute to Sartre a distinctive theory of pre-reflective self-consciousness—what I call the non-iterative theory. I argue that we should attribute the non-iterative theory to Sartre.

Perspectives without Privileges: The Estates in Hegel's Political Philosophy

For a variety of reasons, Hegel's theory of the estates remains an unexpected and unappreciated feature of his practical philosophy. In fact, it is the key element of his social philosophy, which grounds his more properly political philosophy. Most fundamentally, it plays this role because the estates provide the forms of visibility required by Hegel's distinctive theory of self-determination, and so the estates constitute conditions for the possibility of human agency as such. With respect to political agency in particular, this ramifies into the view that the estates are social preconditions for legal and political practices, forms of political participation in their own right, and conditions of possibility of moderate government (three functions also attributed to the estates by Montesquieu).