Statements about the pervasiveness of behavior require data about the pervasiveness of behavior

Despite recent close attention to issues related to the reliability of psychological research (e.g., the replication crisis), issues of the validity of this research have not been considered to the same extent. This paper highlights an issue that calls into question the validity of the common research practice of studying samples of individuals, and using sample-based statistics to infer generalizations that are applied not only to the parent population, but to individuals. The lack of ergodicity in human data means that such generalizations are not justified. This problem is illustrated with respect to two common scenarios in psychological research that raise questions for the sorts of theories that are typically proposed to explain human behavior and cognition. The paper presents a method of data analysis that requires closer attention to the range of behaviors exhibited by individuals in our research to determine the pervasiveness of effects observed in sample data. Such an approach to data analysis will produce results that are more in tune with the types of generalizations typical in reports of psychological research than mainstream analysis methods

How mean is the mean?

In this paper we voice concerns about the uncritical manner in which the mean is often used as a summary statistic in psychological research. We identify a number of implicit assumptions underlying the use of the mean and argue that the fragility of these assumptions should be more carefully considered. We examine some of the ways in which the potential violation of these assumptions can lead us into significant theoretical and methodological error. Illustrations of alternative models of research already extant within Psychology are used to explore methods of research less mean-dependent and suggest that a critical assessment of the assumptions underlying its use in research play a more explicit role in the process of study design and review

Developing a Visual Vocabulary

For children and adolescents who have experienced trauma the world can be a scary and confusing place. Trust is difficult to maintain and regulation of emotional and affective states is compromised. Developmental and trauma theory informs us that the earliest and most fundamental ways in which people experience a sense of safety is through touch, their physical and sensory experience of the world. Sensory, visceral responses to art materials can lead to reconstruction and integration (McGann, 2006), if there is sufficient structure, support, consistency, acceptance and nurturance provided. Working in a day treatment program, which relies upon collaboration between educators and clinicians there is a delicate balance of behavioral and therapeutic systems. Drawing upon the ideology of creating sanctuary this presentation will define the constructs of a therapeutic program and explore through case presentations how art therapy is integrated with multidisciplinary staff, and applied in sessions with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. The need to develop a visual vocabulary for the art therapist will be highlighted in the process

Some Useful Sources

Debates about sustainable welfare and eco-social policy cut across many fields, from environmental studies to political economy, to normative political theory, to comparative welfare state research, to active labour market policy, to income support and social protection. The key debates engaged with in this thematic section concern the relationship between eco-social policy and normative theories of wellbeing (human needs theory, capabilities approach), and the implications of such understandings of sustainable wellbeing for the provision of benefits and services. Also at issue, particularly in the latter contributions, is the intersection between eco-social policy and post-productivist theories of ‘work’, and what this entails for active labour market policy and the conditionality of income supports. This brings in a much larger debate about reconfiguring income supports, and the differences between universal basic income (UBI), a minimum income guarantee (Coote, this themed section), or a participation income (Laruffa et al., this themed section). The literature on UBI is vast, so only recent work articulating the relationship between UBI and the transition towards a more eco-socially sustainable welfare state has been included. The literatures on human needs theory and the capabilities approach are similarly extensive. Hence, only foundational work in those fields has been included, along with subsequent contributions that have applied those theories to issues of eco-social concern

A period of contention? The politics of post-crisis activation reform and the creeping marketisation of public employment services

Public employment services (PES) have undergone significant change since2011, reshaping the roles of the market, state, and community sector withinIreland’s mixed economy of welfare. The post-crisis years saw thereplacement of FÁS with a new network of one-stop-shop Intreo activationservices, and the procurement of new employment services for the long-termunemployed through competitive tendering and Payment-by-Results. Thisprocess of marketisation is now being extended to other PES currentlydelivered by community organisations under block grants, such as LocalEmployment Services and Job Clubs. We position Ireland’s PES landscape as astrategic actionfield wherein various providers compete with one another forposition, power and resources during episodes of contention. Applying thislens to the ongoing reform of activation policy and PES institutions, thepaper considers how the recent trajectory of PES marketisation has remainedpolitically contentious. It examines the strategies of various providers andpolicy actors in shaping the politics of reform, focusing especially on theposition of community organisations within thefield and the degree towhich they have been able to strategically mobilise against marketisation.Lessons are drawn about the nature of Irish politics and policy reform

Bridge Foundation Pinning Resistance Implied by Simplefied Equivalent Static Analysis Procedure for Lateral Spreading

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading is a critical design case for many bridges located in high-seismicity regions of the Pacific Northwest. The design procedures currently used in the region tend to rely upon a simplified 2D plane strain analytical approach, and as a result may result in overly conservative and expensive design solutions. In some cases this over-conservatism has limited the feasibility of entire bridge projects. Given the shortcomings of the current design procedure, a modified design framework has been proposed to supplant the existing approach. This modified procedure takes an equivalent static approach (ESA) that makes consideration for 3D effects and foundation pinning through the combination of a foundation pushover analysis with a pseudo-static slope stability analysis to find a compatible foundation displacement as shown below

Enabling Participation Income for an Eco-Social State

We revise Atkinson’s concept of a ‘participation income’ (PI), repositioning it as a form of green conditional basic income that is anchored in a capabilities-oriented eco-social policy framework. This framework combines the capability approach with an ‘ethics of care’ to re-shape the focus of social policy on individuals’ capability to ‘take care of the world’, thus shifting the emphasis from economic production to social reproduction and environmental reparation. In developing this proposal, we seek to address key questions about the feasibility of implementing PI schemes: including their administrative complexity and the criticism that a PI constitutes either an arbitrary and confusing, or invasive and stigmatising, form of basic income. To address these concerns, we argue for an enabling approach to incentivising participation whereby participation pathways are co-created with citizens on the basis of opportunities they recognise as meaningful rather than enforced through strict monitoring and sanctions

The enabling role of employment guidance in contemporary public employment services: A work-first to life-first typology

Employment guidance theory and praxis promote long-term career development and access to decent work and sustainable jobs, yet the focus of public employment services in recent times has been influenced by policy matters of activation, conditionality and rapid job placement. While effective for some, it has been less effective for workers exposed to negative impacts of social and economic development. COVID-19-related unemployment has highlighted the need for employment guidance mechanisms that facilitate inclusive and resilient labour forces. Drawing on previous developments in employability approaches, this paper presents a conceptual analysis of employment guidance, integrating it within a work-first to life-first employability continuum. We propose an expansion of theory-informed employment guidance in national public employment services towards work-life employability for all