Truth and Rhetoric: The Promise of John Dean's Memory to the Discipline of Psychology

The paper unpacks the far‐reaching theoretical and practical issues that underlay the classical debate between cognitive psychologist Ulric Neisser and discursive social psychologists Derek Edwards and Jonathan Potter on Watergate witness John Dean's memory. Accounting for their disagreements, Neisser claimed the mantle of the cognitive‐ecological approach to memory and emphasized the psychologist's ultimate priority of truth over discourse, while Edwards and Potter claimed that of discursive/rhetorical psychology and focused exclusively on discourse over truth. As such, the debate at the time ended in mutual misunderstanding and the shadow of theoretical incommensurability. However, a rhetorical analysis of the arguments suggests that Neisser was right about truth when he intuitively sensed the importance of discourse, and Edwards and Potter were right about discourse when they did not lose sight of truth. Therefore, beyond the impasse there has remained a promise inherent in the debate: it demonstrated an imaginative attempt to undermine the absolute dichotomy of truth and rhetoric and demonstrate their mutual inter‐dependence. As will be argued, such integration of traditional concerns of the psychologist entails the re‐conceptualization of the discipline as political and moral science.     

A RECONSIDERATION OF THE ‘GREAT RATIOS’ OF ECONOMICS

Autocorrelations are found in the disturbance terms of regressions employed by L. R. Klein and R. F. Kosobud in a global model of growth employing five celebrated ratios of economics. This paper summarizes the Klein-Kosobud conclusions, modifies them by removing the autocorrelations, and extends the model to include more recent years. The modified conclusions hold even with the added observations.     

Presidents on Television: The Effects of Instant Analysis

The effects of instant analyses of presidential appearancesare probed through an experimental study of the CBS televisionnetwork's coverage of an appearance by President Nixon. Explanationsare offered for the kinds of instant analysis Presidents encounter     

Towards Accountability in Social Work: A Case Review System for Social Workers

Summary After discussing the huge undifferentiated tasks facing socialworkers in the social services departments, it is suggestedthat one of the most urgent research needs is the developmentof systematic record and review systems to provide basic informationabout social worker activities and their effects on differentclient groups. The development of a social worker oriented computerizedCase Review System in close collaboraation with a group of fieldworkersin an area office is described. The system enables social workersto evaluate and plan their work for individual clients; it canassist the process of supervision; as a management tool it cancontribute towards the planning of fieldwork services; as aninformation system it gives an on-going account of the size,nature and scope of social work activities with different clientgroups. So far the impact of the system has been to raise questionsabout practices and to encourage a climate favourable to change.     

A System for Monitoring Social Work Activity with the Frail Elderly

Summary This paper describes the development of a recording system foruse by social workers in the long term care of elderly peopleat home. The system can be used by individual staff to plottheir caseload activities and by management in considering problemsof resource deployment. The system consists of Assessment Document,Periodic Case Reviews, a Monitoring Chart and Costing information.The analysis of a cohort of cases in the early phase of theircare are discussed and the possible range of uses for such arecording system considered.     

Research Note/Note de recherche Public opinion and gay rights

Bien que les attitudes canadiennes envers les droits à L'egalité des homosexuels soient devenues plus libérates, la condamnation morale de L'homosexualité n'a pas changé. Cela reflète des tendances contradictoires dans les démocraties libérates, qui d'un côte enchâssent les droits de L'individu au libre choix et à L'égalité des chances, et de L'autre imposent L'hétérosexisme et les normes traditionnelles basées sur la famille. Quoique le soutien du public pour les droits des homosexuels soit entouré de messages insitutionnels contradictoires, ce qui le rend volatile et fragile, il ouvre cependant la porte à d'importantes réformes.
Although Canadian attitudes toward gay equality rights have shifted toward more liberal positions, moral condemnation of homosexuality remains firm. This reflects contradictory tendencies in liberal democratic systems which on the one hand enshrine rights to individual choice and equal opportunity, and on the other enforce heterosexism and traditional family-based norms. Although public support for gay rights is beset by conflicting institutional messages, and is both volatile and fragile as a result, it does provide an opening for important reforms.