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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Why mask a good conscience as a bad conscience?

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Documentation↗

PubMed1977

Personality correlates of study difficulty and academic performance in university students. II. Conscience and self-esteem.

Scales measuring self-esteem and conscience have been included in a further study of work-related symptoms in students. Two groups were tested: a group of patients attending the UCL Student Health Centre for psychological reasons, and a group of normal controls. Conscience and self-esteem were inversely related to one another. Both tests were reliable and differentiated between the groups. The patients tend to have low self-esteem, high conscience, and to score higher than controls both on neurotic symptoms as such as measured by a personality inventory (MHQ) and as assessed on work-related symptoms measured by our study difficulty questionnaire (UCLSQ). In terms of academic performance, an interesting subgroup of students was delineated who are rated highly by their tutors but who appear subjectively troubled with phobic anxiety, low self-esteem and a harsh conscience structure. The conscience and self-esteem scales, in view of their brevity, acceptable reliability, and in terms of the relationships discussed in this paper, will be retained for further research.

Achievement↗

PubMed1991

Socialization and temperament in the development of guilt and conscience.

Toddlerhood antecedents of conscience were examined in 58 8-10-year-old children. The measures of conscience, such as general affective/moral orientation, the extent of reparation, and the intensity of guilt feelings, were assessed from children's narratives produced in response to semiprojective stories involving transgressions, distress, and conflict. Maternal endorsed socialization orientations and observed rearing behaviors that deemphasized the use of power were associated with the children's internalized conscience 6 years later. However, these findings were significant only for children who were relatively prone to fearful arousal. The capacity for self-regulation, indexed by early compliance and noncompliance to maternal socialization, predicted children's internalized conscience 6 years later. There was preliminary evidence that compliance obtained in a rearing context that deemphasized power assertion was most conducive to the development of conscience. The findings are discussed in view of the interplay of socialization and temperament in moral development.

Arousal↗

PubMed1991

Conceptualization of conscience in normal children and adolescents, ages 5 to 17.

In order to determine how normal children and adolescents conceptualize their conscience, the Stilwell Conscience Interview was given to 125 normal subjects between the ages of 5 and 17. Responses to questions 1, 2 and 11 (including the drawing of conscience) were empirically analyzed, resulting in a five-stage developmental model. The responses were then randomly presented to two blinded raters to assign them to one of the five stages. Highly acceptable interrater reliability was found, Kappa = 0.90. The relationship of age to stage demonstrated a highly significant positive correlation, indicating that the conceptualization of conscience in normal development follows an invariant, hierarchical pattern of organization. A commentary regarding each stage is presented. The value of this conceptualization model as a comparative standard of normality in the clinical assessment of youngsters suffering from psychopathology is discussed relative to assessment, psychotherapy, and future research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Conscience and courage--a critical examination of professional conduct.

The roots of professional power and authority lie in the claim to a specific kind of knowledge, the 'knowledge that' and the 'knowledge how'. These kinds of knowledge are included in the notion of 'science'. 'Knowledge why'- the justification for a professional action - demands a moral argument in terms of what is known and can be done (taking 'scientific' knowledge into account) but most importantly asking whether it ought to be done. It is important to ask how a nurse acquires the 'knowledge why' and thereby the means to justify his/her conduct in moral terms. This paper considers the norms of professional conduct, the professional mandate and the determination of what is, to the best of the professional's knowledge and conscience, the right act. The question is raised whether an appeal to the individual conscience can be a reliable guide to a morally justifiable action. An exploration of moral perceptions, moral reasoning and moral argument needs to be part of a professional education which requires a certain kind of courage on part of both teachers and students.

Codes of Ethics↗

PubMed1975

Catecholamine excretion, conscience function and aggressive behaviour.

This report deals with a study--carried out among 46 12-17-year-old-boys--of the relationship between: (1) the excretion of waste products of catecholamines (methyladrenaline and methylnoradrenaline) and creatinine, (2) aggressive behaviour in a laboratory setting, and (3) data obtained via a conscience-function questionnaire. The hypothesis that aggressive behaviour is positively correlated with methylnoradrenaline excretion was confirmed. As far as the conscience-function questionnaire was concerned, three dimensions could be distinguished. Methyladrenaline and methylnoradrenaline excretion proved to be reversely related to one of them, indicated as the 'intropunitiveness-aggressiveness dimension'. Intropunitive subjects appeared to have a higher methyladrenaline and a lower methylnoradrenaline excretion than aggressive subjects. The aforesaid dimension also correlated significantly with creatinine excretion, a finding which led to the interpretation that aggressive people possess greater muscular strength than more intropunitively inclined people. However, no significant correlations between aggression scores and questionnaire scores were found. The results are discussed against the background of arousal theories of aggressive behaviour.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

On the definition of the concepts thinking, consciousness, and conscience.

A complex system (CS) is defined as a set of elements, with connections between them, singled out of the environment, capable of getting information from the environment, capable of making decisions (i.e., of choosing between alternatives), and having purposefulness (i.e., an urge towards preferable states or other goals). Thinking is a process that takes place (or which can take place) in some of the CS and consists of (i) receiving information from the environment (and from itself), (ii) memorizing the information, (iii) the subconscious, and (iv) consciousness. Life is a process that takes place in some CS and consists of functions i and ii, as well as (v) reproduction with passing of hereditary information to progeny, and (vi) oriented energy and matter exchange with the environment sufficient for the maintenance of all life processes. Memory is a complex of processes of placing information in memory banks, keeping it there, and producing it according to prescriptions available in the system or to inquiries arising in it. Consciousness is a process of realization by the thinking CS of some set of algorithms consisting of the comparison of its knowledge, intentions, decisions, and actions with reality--i.e., with accumulated and continuously received internal and external information. Conscience is a realization of an algorithm of good and evil pattern recognition.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMed1991

Dreams, conscience, and memory.

The interpretation of certain dreams, as opposed to the direct examination of behavior, makes it possible to explore the conscience of the dreamer, detect hidden sources of guilt, and interpret them with less likelihood of arousing intractable resistance. Through the recovery of memories and the establishment of an intimate familiarity with one's personal history, it becomes possible to resolve problems of "neurotic" guilt, based ultimately on distortions of repressed childhood memories. The resolution of these conflicts allows a greater role for the operation of "appropriate" guilt, based on genuine transgressions, and the establishment of a more mature ethical structure.

Adult↗

PubMed1990