Bullying and 'Theory of Mind': A Critique of the 'Social Skills Deficit' View of Anti-Social Behaviour

Bullying in schools has been found to be widespread. The popular stereotype of a bully, supported by theories based on the social skills deficit model, is of a powerful but 'oafish' person with little understanding of others. In this article, we trace the origin of this view, and present an alternative view: that some bullies, at least, will need good social cognition and theory of mind skills in order to manipulate and organise others, inflicting suffering in subtle and damaging ways while avoiding detection themselves. Such skills, although likely to be utilised in all bullying, may be particularly useful for ringleader bullies and in the indirect forms of bullying which are more common between girls. Suggestions for further research in this area are made, and implications for anti-bullying work briefly discussed.     

[HDDA] sparse subspace constrained partial least squares

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate the objective function and deflation process for sparse Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression with multiple components. While many have considered variations on the objective for sparse PLS, the deflation process for sparse PLS has not received as much attention. Our work highlights a flaw in the Statistically Inspired Modification of Partial Least Squares (SIMPLS) deflation method when applied in sparse PLS regression. We also consider the Nonlinear Iterative Partial Least Squares (NIPALS) deflation in sparse PLS regression. To remedy the flaw in the SIMPLS method, we propose a new sparse PLS method wherein the direction vectors are constrained to be sparse and lie in a chosen subspace. We give insight into this new PLS procedure and show through examples and simulation studies that the proposed technique can outperform alternative sparse PLS techniques in coefficient estimation. Moreover, our analysis reveals a simple renormalization step that can be used to improve the estimation of sparse PLS direction vectors generated using any convex relaxation method.     

Short notices

H. J. Dyos (ed.), Urban History Yearbook 1974, 192; Urban History Yearbook 1975, 188 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, £3.00).

J. R. Raveosdale, Liable to Floods: Village Landscape on the Edge of the Fens, A.D. 450–1850 (1974), xi+206 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £5.50).

Joel Samaha, Law and Order in Historical Perspective. The Case of Elizabethan Essex (1974), xvi+176 (Academic Press, London and New York, £4.70).

Charles Carlton, The Court of Orphans (1974), 145 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, £3.50).

Hans Christian Johansen, Belolkningsudvikling og familiestruktur i det 18. árhuadrede (1975). 211 (Odense University Press, Odense, Denmark, D.kv. 60+VAT). (Population and family structure in eighteenth‐century Denmark)

Paul Butel, Les négotiants bordelais, l'Europe, et les Iles au dix‐huitième siècle (1974), 427 (Aubier‐Montaigne, Paris, 70 fr.). (Bordeaux merchants, Europe, and the French West Indies in the eighteenth century)

Marcus Cunliffe, The Age of Expansion 1848–1917 (1974), 336 (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £4.95).

Pamela and Harold Silver, The Education of the Poor. The History of a National School, 1824–1974 (1974), z+197 (Routledge and Kegan Paul, £3.95).     

Book review

Jane Fishburne Collier "From Duty to Desire: Remaking Families in a Spanish Village," Princeton University Press, 1997.     

Bayesian methods for the cross-design synthesis of epidemiological and toxicological evidence

Summary.  Systematic review and synthesis (meta-analysis) methods are now increasingly used in many areas of health care research. We investigate the potential usefulness of these methods for combining human and animal data in human health risk assessment of exposure to environmental chemicals. Currently, risk assessments are often based on narrative review and expert judgment, but systematic review and formal synthesis methods offer a more transparent and rigorous approach. The method is illustrated by using the example of trihalomethane exposure and its possible association with low birth weight. A systematic literature review identified 13 relevant studies (five epidemiological and eight toxicological). Study-specific dose–response slope estimates were obtained for each of the studies and synthesized by using Bayesian meta-analysis models. Sensitivity analyses of the results obtained to the assumptions made suggest that some assumptions are critical. It is concluded that systematic review methods should be used in the synthesis of evidence for environmental standard setting, that meta-analysis will often be a valuable approach in these contexts and that sensitivity analyses are an important component of the approach whether or not formal synthesis methods (such as systematic review and meta-analysis) are used.     

A Bayesian approach to Markov modelling in cost-effectiveness analyses: application to taxane use in advanced breast cancer

Summary. The paper demonstrates how cost-effectiveness decision analysis may be implemented from a Bayesian perspective, using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation methods for both the synthesis of relevant evidence input into the model and the evaluation of the model itself. The desirable aspects of a Bayesian approach for this type of analysis include the incorporation of full parameter uncertainty, the ability to perform all the analysis, including each meta-analysis, in a single coherent model and the incorporation of expert opinion either directly or regarding the relative credibility of different data sources. The method is described, and its ease of implementation demonstrated, through a practical example to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using taxanes for the second-line treatment of advanced breast cancer compared with conventional treatment. For completeness, the results from the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation model are compared and contrasted with those from a classical Monte Carlo simulation model.     

The relationship between newcomer expectations of job stressors and adjustment to the new job

This study examined the relationship between unrealistic expectations of organizational newcomers regarding job stressors and subsequent adjustment to the new job. Using a sample of 91 new employees, measures of expected stressors (gathered prior to the first day of work) were compared with stressors reported after six months on the job. The study examined the relationship between the accuracy of expected stressors (demands) and three indicators of job adjustment: job satisfaction; job involvement; and distress symptoms. The results provided partial support for the hypothesis that newcomers who underestimate job stressors have more difficulty adjusting on the new job than do newcomers who overestimate job stressors.     

Estimating marital fertility rates by educational attainment using a survey of new mothers

Marital fertility rates by educational attainment of mother are estimated for the United States for 1963. These calculations are based upon information collected in a probability sample survey of women having births in 1963 and are prepared by relating birth estimates for educational attainment groups to estimates of married women in corresponding groups.The rates do not display a negative association between educational attainment and the annual level of fertility, thus differing from the pattern observed in other measures of period fertility. Women who completed some high school but did not graduate and women with one or more years of college had higher annual fertility rates than women in other attainment classes.Alternative estimation procedures are discussed which illustrate difficulties in obtaining satisfactory correspondence between two independent surveys which are used to obtain the rate calculation components.