On a lighter note: John Barrymore is quoted as saying, "Footnotes get in the way of a good read, It's like having to run downstairs to answer the doorbell on one's wedding night."
Don Allen Dept. of Psychology Langara College 100 W. 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. Canada V5Y 2Z6 Phone: 604-323-5871 ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, March 14, 2008 9:31 pm Subject: Re: [tips] Obama's Mom To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> > On 14 Mar 2008 at 19:32, Joan Warmbold wrote: > > >it goes totally against the grain of the theory of Judith > > Harris's that parents care-giving doesn't make much of a > difference. I > > found her hypothesis patently ludicrous but thought I had best check > > out her book, "The Nurture Assumption," before I criticize it. > When I > > read it, I was astonished at the amazingly poor scholarship > throughout.> First, she does not provide one (not one!) footnote, > therefore making > > it impossible for readers to determine the source of her various > > conclusions and beliefs. She also provides an amazing number of > casual> observations as 'scientific' evidence. > > I'm astonished myself at these assertions from Joan, and I can > only > conclude that she must have read some other "Nurture Assumption" > than > the one I have. In my copy, Harris lists 391 footnotes referencing > her > arguments, and provides more than 700 explicit references to the > scientific literature (there were so many I grew tired counting > and had > to estimate). > > The work is exceptionally well-supported, with the "casual > observations" > intended only for illustration and explanation and to make the > book > interesting to read. Her"patently ludicrous hypothesis" has a firm > basis > in the findings of the important field of behaviour genetics, > Obama's mom > notwithstanding. An earlier and briefer version (Harris, 1995) > was found > to be sufficiently persuasive as to be published in the holy of > holies, > _Psychological Review_ despite her lack of a Ph.D. or any > academic > affiliation, and how often does _that_ happen? It was then awarded > the > APA's George A. Miller Award for an Outstanding Recent Article in > General Psychology in 1998, which is not bad for a theory which > Joan > finds entirely lacking in scientific merit. Harris's views are > unfortunately often misunderstood and misrepresented, and no > wonder, > because they provide a significant challenge to the conventional > view of > child development. Are you sure you really read the book, Joan? > > Harris, J. (1995). Where is the child's environment? A group > socialization theory of child development. Psychological Review, > 102, 458- > 489. > > Stephen > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 2600 College St. > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of > psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---- > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
