A Conversation with Bakhtin : On Inquiry and Dialogic Thinking

Two different traditions in psychology emphasize the study of twin-twin and mother-twin relationships. One line of research, the twin development approach, has compared parenting styles and sibling relationships in families with twin and singleton offspring. This research tradition is based on the assumption that twins, relative to singletons, may be at risk for developmental delays in motor, cognitive [1-3], linguistic [1,4,5], and social-emotional functioning [6,7] because of their increased rate of prematurity, lower birth weight [8-11], increased parenting demands that result in less interactive maternal speech [12-18], shared peer time [19], and other experiences that distinguish twins from singletons [7,8,19-21]. Although recent studies have not replicated the developmental concerns [22-26] or concerns about specific birth defects [27] that emerged from earlier studies comparing twins and singletons, there continues to be interest in the relational differences that may be present in twin and singleton families and in the need to address educational and social policies that promote twin development [28,29]. Within the framework of this approach, distinctions between twins and singletons have received more attention than distinctions between fraternal, dizygotic (DZ) and identical, monozygotic (MZ) twins.     

Guest Editor's Introduction : Bakhtin's Dialogic Pedagogy

This issue of Soviet Psychology opens with an extensive round-table discussion of the shortcomings of institutionalized psychology in light of the ongoing changes in Soviet society associated with Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). The participants varied widely in their professional expertise, thus providing an unusually broad view of Soviet psychologists' public views about the problems facing their science.     

Dialogic Origin and Dialogic Pedagogy of Grammar : Stylistics in Teaching Russian Language in Secondary School

The development of any science is more than just the accumulation of specific knowledge: it also necessarily involves the development of ideas concerning its subject matter, its relationship to other, allied sciences, and its basic problems and fundamental methods. Such an evolution is evident with each major advance, even in scientific disciplines that have acquired their distinct contours, but especially in sciences that are just beginning their historical trajectory, just beginning to emerge from their prehistory, from the stage of their primary preparation. Literally every real step taken in moving a particular investigation forward involves a review of the most basic questions of the science. For this reason, even for psychology, which is at present undergoing an epoch of fundamental restructuring in the Soviet Union, the most acute and urgent problems are those dealing with its own formation.     

Dialogic Consensus In Clinical Decision-Making

This paper is predicated on the understanding that clinical encounters between clinicians and patients should be seen primarily as inter-relations among persons and, as such, are necessarily moral encounters. It aims to relocate the discussion to be had in challenging medical decision-making situations, including, for example, as the end of life comes into view, onto a more robust moral philosophical footing than is currently commonplace. In our contemporary era, those making moral decisions must be cognizant of the existence of perspectives other than their own, and be attuned to the demands of inter-subjectivity. Applicable to clinical practice, we propose and justify a Habermasian approach as one useful means of achieving what can be described as dialogic consensus. The Habermasian approach builds around, first, his discourse theory of morality as universalizable to all and, second, communicative action as a cooperative search for truth. It is a concrete way to ground the discourse which must be held in complex medical decision-making situations, in its actual reality. Considerations about the theoretical underpinnings of the application of dialogic consensus to clinical practice, and potential difficulties, are explored.     

Comments on Barton and Blanchard

The paper by Barton and Blanchard (2001) posits that intensive self-regulatory treatment may be ineffective for chronic daily headache. This commentator has concerns about the lack of homogeneity of population, problems with the diagnostic criteria utilized, the validity of the medication index, and issues with analgesic rebound.     

Comments on ALLHAT and doxazosin

This commentary has two purposes: to summarize the rationale, design and initial results of the Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) trial; and to provide a history of the response to ALLHAT that led to a civil action and a Citizens Petition that was the basis for a public hearing by the US Food and Drug Administration, in May 2001. The author concludes that the results of ALLHAT should be widely disseminated. All clinicians must be warned that initial therapy with doxazosin (and possibly other alpha₁ blockers) is definitely inferior to low dose diuretic treatment for patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease, such as those enrolled in ALLHAT.     

Bilingual Education: A Dialogue with the Bakhtin Circle.

Bilingual Education: A Dialogue with the Bakhtin Circle. Marcia Moraes. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996. 159 pp.     

Pedagogy in Paleopathology

Abstract

The study of diseases, anomalies and abnormalities in skeletal or mummified bodies representing peoples of the past, has been the stepchild of Archaeology and medical pathology for many years. In the past the emphasis has been on documentation of unusual findings. Little effort has been made to educate researchers and teachers in this field. A course of instruction in Paleopathology was held for 4 years at the U.S. National Museum. In an assessment of the teaching of Paleopathology in North America Kerley found that 68 of 340 anthropology departments and museums with physical anthropology sections offered such courses. There was considerable variation in the organization of the courses, material covered, teaching aids available, instruction methods, and the general orientation of the instruction. In 1972 a course in Paleopathology was first offered at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and has continued since. The problem of communicating concepts of pathology, epidemiology, and demography to inexperienced university students has necessitated continuing modification of the course. Education in Paleopathology has received little emphasis in the past. Our teaching methods may be of value to others. We are documenting our experiences with the hope that they are helpful and that in the future there may be increased interest in and some standardization of teaching methods.