Lewis Petrinovich

Vocal “Dialects” in Nuttall’s White-Crowned Sparrow

The White–crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a common breeding species on the west coast of North America, ranging from southern California to Alaska, although it is restricted to more northerly latitudes in the central and eastern part of the continent (Banks, 1964). Vocalizations of the several recognized subspecies (including Z. l. pugetensis, Z. l. oriantha, Z. l. gambelli, Z. l. leucophrys, and Z. l. nuttalli) have been examined, but it is the song of Z. l. nuttalli that has been the greatest focus of studies. Unlike the other subspecies, Z. l. nuttalli is nonmigratory and the characteristic song of the male is an ever present trademark of the coastal chapparal in central California during the summer breeding season.

Generalization of an instrumental response between words and pictures

The amount of generalization of an instrumental response is greater from pictures to words than from words to pictures only if a more sensitive response index than the gross instrumental response is used. An increase in the electromyogram recorded from the arm muscle was used in the present study as a more sensitive index. The advantages of using changes of EMG amplitude as a response measure are discussed. A possible explanation for the asymmetrical generalization is presented.

Suicide and Euthanasia

When discussing issues of suicide and euthanasia Joel Feinberg’s (1986) scheme that considers suicide as an act involving one party/certain harm and euthanasia as one involving two party/certain harm will be used. Viewed from this perspective, the same principles that apply to suicide can be applied to euthanasia. If a person makes a rational request to die, if it is assured that the request is voluntary and that the person is in a stable, competent state that qualifies the individual as a moral agent, then it should be irrelevant whether the act of suicide is assisted. If the act is judged to be permissible, then it is proper to receive aid from a second party, with the major reservation that the second party should have no secondary (financial or personal) interests and the interests of relevant third parties are not harmed by the person’s death.

Medical Ethics and Hospital Review Boards

The responsibilities and risks that physicians and other medical personnel should assume regarding living and dying have received considerable discussion. The medical profession characterizes its major responsibilities to be caring, healing, and preserving life, and argued that medical personnel should not kill people actively under any circumstances. The explicit professional code of conduct adopted by the medical profession is the 2,500-year-old Hippocratic Oath, which Rachels (1986) characterized as being a historical relic rather than an actual guide. The Hippocratic Oath construes the physician to be near godliness, as the medical anthropologist, Konner (who is both an M.D. and Ph.D.), recounted in his superb book, Medicine at the Crossroads (1993). Konner enumerated recommendations in the Oath that enhance the exalted image of the physician, including those to maintain an imposing appearance and mode of dress, to use decisive utterances, and to speak with great brevity. The Oath also recommended that all discussion should be conducted calmly and that most things should be concealed from the patient, with nothing being revealed of the patient’s future or present condition.

The Human Genome Project

The goal of the HGP is to locate all genes of the human genome and establish the base sequences of all its DNA. Vicedo (1992) used the metaphor of an analysis of literary text to illuminate the problems in the HGP. The mapping could be considered to be the syntactic analysis of that text, aiming to identify the words used and the systematic rules and constructions that exist. A semantic analysis also is required involving an integration of biochemical data with embryology and developmental biology to interpret the genes’ role in the formation of an organism. A pragmatic analysis involves analysis of particular genomes in relation to the specific environments in which they are to be expressed. Wills (1991) used a musical metaphor that nicely expresses the limitations of simply knowing the sequence of DNA and assuming that we have learned what we need to know about human beings: Even though we have looked up the sequence of notes in a Beethoven sonata, we will not have gained the capacity to play it.

A Single-Payer National Health Plan

Of all health plans, many have argued that the Canadian Health Plan (CHP) is the one that should be considered for the United States. The Physicians for a National Health Program (Himmelstein et al., 1989; Grumbach et al., 1991) endorsed the CHP and suggested it be implemented with adaptations to meet circumstances that exist in the United States.

The Great Health-Care Debate

Little in the way of positive action or change of opinions occurred in the 103rd Congress concerning health-care reform. Issues became more and more confused, the positions frozen in place, and debates that began with political wrangling fell to even lower levels, with an attempt at the very end by a few Senators to arrive at some kind of bipartisan proposal that could be voted on. The bipartisan proposals were rebuffed by both conservatives and liberals, representatives of both poles preferred, finally, to do nothing rather than surrender any part of their position. The failure of any bipartisan coalition, plus the impending national elections (to which the members of the Senate and House wanted to devote full attention), led to an adjournment in the Senate without a vote on any finished bill, and to no debate at all in the House. The election losses suffered by the Democrats have been attributed by some analysts to the lack of success of the health-care plan, who claim that the proceedings created dissatisfaction on the part of the public regarding centralized governmental control of daily affairs.

Health-Care Policy

In this chapter, the problems that face attempts to develop a health-care delivery system in the United States will be identified, the moral issues will be discussed, statistics regarding the financing of U.S. health-care examined, and implications of the “R” word—rationing—will be considered.

Objectives and Background Principles

In this book, evolutionary, developmental, and ethical principles are used to evaluate the quality of ongoing life, the ending of that life, and the merits of mapping the human genome and manipulating its structure and function. This discussion continues arguments developed in Hu-man Evolution, Reproduction, and Morality (Petrinovich, 1995), in which an evolutionary view of human reproduction was presented. These evolutionary ideas apply to all sexually reproducing organisms, and aspects of human morality were interpreted in their light. It was argued that insights regarding the structure of human moral intuitions and existing systems of morality result when they are viewed from the perspective of actions that would be expected to perpetuate the genotypes of individuals.

Death and Its Criteria

In Human Evolution, Reproduction, and Morality and in the last two chapters, the focus was on issues relating to the beginning of life; questions were explored about when life begins, when a human organism should be considered a person, when a person assumes the duties and responsibilities of a moral agent, and what manipulations of genetic potential are permissible. Issues were examined and policies were recommended regarding contraception, abortion, infanticide, genetics and manipulation, and the use of reproductive technologies. These issues were discussed within the perspectives of evolutionary theory, cognitive principles, and a rational liberalism seasoned with some utilitarian spices.