Theoretical Issues (theoretical + issues)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences


Selected Abstracts


Construct validity and generalizability of the Carver,White behavioural inhibition system/behavioural activation system scales

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2001
Luigi Leone
The factorial structure and invariance of the BIS/BAS scales of Carver and White were assessed across three samples from the USA, UK, and Italy. Previous validation studies of the BIS/BAS scales relied on individual samples drawn from English-speaking populations only and failed to formally assess generalizability. The current study shows that the four-factor structure proposed by Carver and White,i.e. one BIS and three BAS facets,achieved satisfactory psychometric properties in all three samples and that measurement invariance was obtained across countries. Latent mean differences due to gender and country were also investigated. Theoretical issues concerning the validity of the BIS/BAS scales are addressed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Response: Most people who think that they are likely to enter psychotherapy also think it is plausible that they could have forgotten their own memories of childhood sexual abuse

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
David C. Rubin
Pezdek and Blandon-Gitlin (2008) found that 25% of their participants reported as plausible or very plausible that they themselves could have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse without being able to remember it. In addition, they found that the 25% figure increased to 61% for participants who reported that they were likely at some point in their life to seek psychotherapy. Given past work showing that it is easier to implant a false memory for plausible events, and counter to Pezdek and Blandon-Gitlin's conclusions, these data point to a substantial danger of implanting false memories of childhood sexual abuse during therapy in many people and in most people who are likely to go into therapy. Theoretical issues regarding plausibility are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Verbatim and gist recall of sentences by dyslexic and non-dyslexic adults

DYSLEXIA, Issue 3 2006
T. R. Miles
Abstract Forty-eight college students, 24 of them dyslexic, were presented with four sentences of increasing complexity. Participants were asked to repeat each sentence and a record was kept of the number of repetitions required before 100% correct accuracy was achieved. None of the 24 control participants required a total of more than eight repetitions over the four sentences, whereas among the dyslexics the total number of repetitions needed ranged from one to 25. Dyslexic participants were unpredictable in their performance from one level of difficulty to the next and inter-individual variability was far greater in the dyslexic group than in the control group. Overall, despite their relatively poor performance in achieving verbatim accuracy relative to non-dyslexic participants, dyslexic individuals regularly managed to preserve the gist of the sentences. Some theoretical issues arising from these results are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Automatic and controlled processes in behavioural control: Implications for personality psychology

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2010
Philip J. Corr
Abstract This paper highlights a number of unresolved theoretical issues that, it is argued, continue to impede the construction of a viable model of behavioural control in personality psychology. It is contended that, in order to integrate motivation, emotion, cognition and conscious experience within a coherent framework, two major issues need to be recognised: (a) the relationship between automatic (reflexive) and controlled (reflective) processing and (b) the lateness of controlled processing (including the generation of conscious awareness),phenomenally, such processing seems to ,control' behaviour, but experimentally it can be shown to postdate the behaviour it represents. The implications of these two major issues are outlined, centred on the need to integrate theoretical perspectives within personality psychology, as well as the greater unification of personality psychology with general psychology. A model of behavioural control is sketched, formulated around the concept of the behavioural inhibition system (BIS), which accounts for: (a) why certain stimuli are extracted for controlled processing (i.e. those that are not ,going to plan', as detected by an error mechanism) and (b) the function of controlled processing (including conscious awareness) in terms of adjusting the cybernetic weights of automatic processes (which are always in control of immediate behaviour) which, then, influence future automatically controlled behaviour. The relevance of this model is illustrated in relation to a number of topics in personality psychology, as well related issues of free-will and difficult-to-control behaviours. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Charles Darwin, ichthyology and the species concept

FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 3 2002
Daniel Pauly
Abstract This contribution presents the ichthyological writings of Charles Darwin (1809,1882), by periods, viz. ,the years prior to the voyage of the Beagle' (about 1825,1830); ,the Beagle years' (1831,1836); ,from the return of the Beagle to the Foundation of Origin' (1837,1844); and ,the mature Darwin' (1845,1882). Overall, this material covers 45 000 words penned by Darwin, but represents only 0.7% of his lifetime output of about 6 million words, indicating a limited interest in fish. However, this sample, briefly described here, but analysed in great detail in a forthcoming volume on Darwin's Fishes, allows drawing inferences on Darwin's working style that were missed in conventional biographies. On the other hand, it is suggested, based on a close reading of the 6th (1876) edition of Origin, that Darwin was not particularly interested in the theoretical issues now associated with the species concept, nor indeed with other levels of the Linnean system. [source]


,The Sun Always Shines in Perth': a Post-Colonial Geography of Identity, Memory and Place

GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2000
A. Taylor
In this paper I explore some of the textual possibilities of post-colonial geography. Using the conceptual tool of place as a palimpsest, I trace some geographies of memory across selected colonial and post-colonial texts. By focusing on the relationship between representations of ,sunny Perth' and ,Nyungah Perth', I tease out some of the more general theoretical issues which pertain to a politics of place and space within this (post)colonial Australian context. The nexus of memory, place and cultural identity is central to my analysis. I give particular attention to the ways in which cultural memories are inscribed in some very specific and very ordinary places, and how these places become site-markers of the remembering process and of identity itself. [source]


Thermal Rearrangements of Monoterpenes and Monoterpenoids

HELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA, Issue 9 2009
Achim Stolle
Abstract The thermal conversions of monoterpenes and monoterpenoids are an interesting field of research with respect to mechanistic, kinetic, and theoretical issues. Since the beginning of the 20th century, these reactions have attracted the interest of many research groups, and even today there are sufficient problems and questions to deal with. This review covers the thermal isomerization chemistry of pinanes, pinenes, carenes, and thujenes over the past 70 years. Categorization of these compounds into groups, each of them being represented by a small parent molecule (cyclobutane, vinylcyclobutane, vinylcyclopropane), allows systematization of multitude of publications. [source]


Comment on ,C.-P.

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 6 2008
N.-M.
Abstract There are both practical and theoretical issues to consider when doing recession analyses of the type introduced by Brutsaert and Nieber (1977). Tung et al. (2004) point out a practical issue, which is the error introduced by using time-averaged values of discharge. The issue, however, is probably not serious for many practical applications and the error can be made negligible by using time intervals that are appropriate to the time rate of change in discharge. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Direct and indirect methods to simulate the actual evapotranspiration of an irrigated overhead table grape vineyard under Mediterranean conditions

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 2 2008
Gianfranco Rana
Abstract Two methods, indirect and direct, for simulating the actual evapotranspiration (E) were applied to an irrigated overhead table grape vineyard during summer, situated in the Mediterranean region (south Italy), over two successive years. The first method, indirect but more practical, uses the crop coefficient (Kc) approach and requires determination of the reference evapotranspiration E0 (FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) method). This method underestimated on average by 17% the daily values of the actual evapotranspiration E. The analysis in this paper shows that the values of Kc for the table grapes determined by the FAO method seem to not be valid in our experimental conditions. Similar conclusions can be found in the literature for the table grape cultivated under different experimental conditions and using different training systems. The second method, is a direct method for estimating the evapotranspiration. It requires development of a model for the overhead table grape vineyard E, following the Penman,Monteith one-step approach, and using standard meteorological variables as inputs for the determination of the canopy resistance. This method, which needs a particularly simple calibration, provided a better simulation of the hourly and daily evapotranspiration than the indirect method. In additon, the standard error of the daily values for the direct method ( ± 0 · 41 mm) was about 50% lower than that obtained for the indirect method, also when the indirect method used a locally calibrated coefficient Kc instead of a generic Kc. Both, for practical application and theoretical issues, the advantages and disadvantages linked to the use of each tested method are discussed in detail. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Everybody Talks About Organizational Justice, But Nobody Does Anything About It

INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
JERALD GREENBERG
Most organizational justice studies focus primarily on theoretical issues and identify implications for practice only in passing. I advocate moving to the next step by testing such implications in theory-based studies that implement and assess the impact of interventions designed to promote organizational justice. Research that promotes organizational justice promises to benefit both organizations and their employees, and may be considered morally appropriate. Although usually not considered in this connection, theory-based application studies also promise to shed light on the theories from which they are derived. Despite these benefits, there are several reasons why such investigations are conducted only rarely. First, because managers tend to be unaware of justice-related problems, they are unlikely to accede to researchers' requests to address them in research. Second, many researchers erroneously believe that studies assessing ways of improving conditions in organizations lack scientific objectivity. Third, scholarly values favor research that addresses theoretical issues and that eschew practical applications. Finally, the challenges of conducting intervention studies are inclined to be formidable, and these may deter researchers from undertaking such efforts. [source]


Diaspora Migration: Definitional Ambiguities and a Theoretical Paradigm

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2000
Judith T. Shuval
Diaspora migration is one of many types of migration likely to increase considerably during the early twenty-first century. This article addresses the many ambiguities that surround diaspora migration with a view to developing a meaningful theoretical scheme in which to better understand the processes involved. The term diaspora has acquired a broad semantic domain. It now encompasses a motley array of groups such as political refugees, alien residents, guest workers, immigrants, expellees, ethnic and racial minorities, and overseas communities. It is used increasingly by displaced persons who feel, maintain, invent or revive a connection with a prior home. Concepts of diaspora include a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return , which can be ambivalent, eschatological or utopian , ongoing support of the homeland and, a collective identity defined by the above relationship. This article considers four central issues: How does diaspora theory link into other theoretical issues? How is diaspora migration different from other types of migration? Who are the relevant actors and what are their roles? What are the social and political functions of diaspora? On the basis of this analysis a theoretical paradigm of diasporas is presented to enable scholars to move beyond descriptive research by identifying different types of diasporas and the dynamics that differentiate among them. Use of the proposed typology , especially in comparative research of different diasporas , makes it possible to focus on structural differences and similarities that could be critical to the social processes involved. [source]


Setting Boundaries: Can International Society Exclude "Rogue States"?,

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2006
ELIZABETH N. SAUNDERS
This essay addresses a prominent post-Cold War issue to which political scientists have paid relatively little attention: the status of so-called rogue states in international politics. The war in Iraq crystallized transatlantic disagreement over whether "rogue states" exist and how they should be treated, but the debate raged throughout the 1990s. This essay brings international relations theory to bear on the issue of "rogue states," but it does so with a theoretical twist. It argues that we must first identify the entity from which these states are allegedly excluded as well as who gets to set the membership criteria. If we stipulate that the international system includes all states, then international society can be defined according to various shared ideas and many realizations of international society are possible. Powerful states may try to act as "norm entrepreneurs," promoting their ideas as the basis of international society. But states, including great powers, may genuinely disagree over the basis and boundaries of this society. It is thus vital not only to take both power and shared ideas seriously, but also to describe the origins and limits of shared ideas. The limits to shared ideas can be termed"bounded intersubjectivity." This essay uses the debate over "rogue states" and the transatlantic crisis over confronting Iraq to underscore these theoretical issues. [source]


Computation and analysis of multiple structural change models

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMETRICS, Issue 1 2003
Jushan Bai
In a recent paper, Bai and Perron (1998) considered theoretical issues related to the limiting distribution of estimators and test statistics in the linear model with multiple structural changes. In this companion paper, we consider practical issues for the empirical applications of the procedures. We first address the problem of estimation of the break dates and present an efficient algorithm to obtain global minimizers of the sum of squared residuals. This algorithm is based on the principle of dynamic programming and requires at most least-squares operations of order O(T2) for any number of breaks. Our method can be applied to both pure and partial structural change models. Second, we consider the problem of forming confidence intervals for the break dates under various hypotheses about the structure of the data and the errors across segments. Third, we address the issue of testing for structural changes under very general conditions on the data and the errors. Fourth, we address the issue of estimating the number of breaks. Finally, a few empirical applications are presented to illustrate the usefulness of the procedures. All methods discussed are implemented in a GAUSS program. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The Political Economy of Low Inflation

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 1 2001
Jonathan Kirshner
What are the politics of inflation? This question is usually raised solely when inflation rates are high. All levels of inflation, however, high and low, are the outcome of political conflicts. But no current approach to the study of inflation , sociological, neoclassical, modern political economy , adequately captures the full range of political issues at stake, and this leads to problems for both theory and policy. This paper critiques the existing perspectives on inflation and then focuses on three theoretical issues raised by those critiques: the economic costs of inflation; the concept of monetary neutrality from economic and political perspectives; and the importance of disaggregating economic growth statistics. Finally, the paper introduces and explores a contending approach to the analysis of the political economy of inflation: a ,micro-politics' perspective. This approach is the only one to address the politics of low inflation, which is of great significance for contemporary political economy. [source]


Foreign exchange pressures in Latin America: Does debt matter?

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2008
Alex Mandilaras
Abstract Latin American countries have been in the eye of economic and financial storms several times in recent years. Advice from the International Monetary Fund has consistently highlighted the need for sound fiscal policies and lower debt levels. But is public debt relevant? Following a brief discussion of the theoretical issues involved, this paper examines empirically the relationship between public indebtedness and pressures in the foreign exchange market. Alternative measures are used to capture the latter and the analysis controls for a de facto classification of exchange rate regimes. Estimations of static and dynamic panels for 28 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries report substantial fiscal effects. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Social development: the intellectual heritage

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 7 2003
James Midgley
Because social development is primarily concerned with practical matters, little attention has been paid to the ideas, concepts and theories that inform social development interventions. Most publications on social development make little reference to theoretical issues, and most practitioners are unaware of the conceptual derivation of their activities. However, although seldom recognized or acknowledged, social development practice has, in a subtle and indirect way, been informed and shaped by a variety of intellectual ideas that, in turn, reveal a commitment to different normative perspectives. This paper traces the contribution these perspectives have made to social development over the years. By documenting this intellectual heritage, it hopes to promote a greater awareness of theoretical issues and, at the same time, to foster social development's conceptualization. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


,A Benevolent Institution for the Suppression of Evil': Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent and the Limits of Policing

JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2003
Stephen Skinner
The study of law in literature stimulates critical reflection about law and the limits of its institutions by expanding contextual analysis to include the emotive discourses of fiction. This article starts from the premisses that the orthodox separation of literary expression from social scientific writing is not immutable and that different temporal settings are not barriers to exploring themes that traverse them. It uses Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, a story of policing and anarchism in late nineteenth-century London, in order to discuss the limits of policing today. This novel is read in parallel with two modern police studies to show how it prefigures current concerns, portraying policing as an imperfect totem of security, immaterial to the individual's emotional crises, which, by extension, can be seen to illustrate the limits of law itself. This article thus raises methodological and theoretical issues of general interest to the study of law in society and suggests how reading literature can thicken' legal analysis by offering experience of the emotional beyond that law ignores. [source]


Occupational stress in (inter)action: the interplay between job demands and job resources

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2005
Natasja van Vegchel
The present study addresses theoretical issues involving different interaction effects between job demands and job resources, accompanied by a thorough empirical test of interaction terms in the demand,control (DC) model and the effort,reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to employee health and well-being (i.e., exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints, company-registered sickness absence). Neither the DC model nor the ERI model gives a clear theoretical rationale or preference for a particular interaction term. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted among 405 nursing home employees and cross-validated in a comparable sample (N,=,471). Results including cross-validation showed that only a multiplicative interaction term yielded consistent results for both the DC model and the ERI model. Theoretical as well as empirical results argue for a multiplicative interaction term to test the DC model and the ERI model. Future job stress research may benefit from the idea that there should be a theoretical preference for any interaction form, either in the DC model or in the ERI model. However, more research on interactions is needed to address this topic adequately. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Constrained process monitoring: Moving-horizon approach

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002
Christopher V. Rao
Moving-horizon estimation (MHE) is an optimization-based strategy for process monitoring and state estimation. One may view MHE as an extension for Kalman filtering for constrained and nonlinear processes. MHE, therefore, subsumes both Kalman and extended Kalman filtering. In addition, MHE allows one to include constraints in the estimation problem. One can significantly improve the quality of state estimates for certain problems by incorporating prior knowledge in the form of inequality constraints. Inequality constraints provide a flexible tool for complementing process knowledge. One also may use inequality constraints as a strategy for model simplification. The ability to include constraints and nonlinear dynamics is what distinguishes MHE from other estimation strategies. Both the practical and theoretical issues related to MHE are discussed. Using a series of example monitoring problems, the practical advantages of MHE are illustrated by demonstrating how the addition of constraints can improve and simplify the process monitoring problem. [source]


Integrating Formal and Functional Approaches to Language Teaching in French Immersion: An Experimental Study

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2001
Elaine M. Day
This experimental study was designed to evaluate the effect on French language proficiency of an integrated formal, analytic and functional, communicative approach (experiential) to second-language teaching in the immersion classroom. The impetus for the study arises from previous research indicating that immersion children show persistent weaknesses in their grammatical skills despite the fluent, functional proficiency they achieve in their second language. The experimental materials, which were custom-designed for our study, highlight form-function relations, promote noticing, encourage metalin-guistic awareness, and provide opportunities for language practice and thus relate to some of the theoretical issues that Rod Ellis (this volume) has indicated are important in SLA in the 90s. This classroom-based study on the conditional is one of a series of studies undertaken in Canadian French immersion to investigate the effectiveness of form-focused instruction in classrooms (see Swain, 2000). The results of our study, which was conducted in grade 7 early immersion, showed that the Experimental group performed significantly higher in writing than the Control group, in both the post- and the follow-up testing. Although this was not found for speaking, an examination of the individual class data revealed greater and more consistent growth in speaking for the Experimental than for the Control classes, suggesting that they benefited somewhat from the experi- mental treatment in this domain as well. Although Ellis (this volume) notes that research on form-focused instruc- tion in the 90s has tended to split pedagogy from theory, the immersion research in this area does not seem t o reflect this shift. In a recent article, Swain (2000) reviews the French Immersion (FI) studies and summarizes their re- sults as follows: "Overall, the set of experiments conducted in FI classes suggest that there is value in focusing on language form through the use of pre-planned curriculum materials in the context of content-based language learn- ing" (Swain, 2000, p. 205). Her reference to curriculum materials and to the specific context of content-based lan- guage learning should signal to the reader the orientation t o pedagogical considerations that characterize this research. As Ellis notes, hybrid research using both experimental and qualitative methods is becoming more common in SLA. Recently, the experimental materials in our study were implemented in a grade 8 immersion classroom, and the children's collaborative language activity was observed by a researcher working from a sociocultural theoretical per- spective (Spielman-Davidson, 2000). The uptake of our research by a researcher working in another paradigm introduces another kind of hybridity that we hope will also shed further light on questions in form-focused instruction and lead to appropriate changes in pedagogy and in the design of immersion curricula. [source]


A Theory Matrix for Mediators

NEGOTIATION JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
Archie Zariski
The author uses a behavioral perspective to survey theory that may be useful in mediation. He notes the lack of diffusion of knowledge of theory among practitioners and argues that mediators should pay more explicit attention to theory. He presents a matrix comprising the behavioral factors of perception, emotion, cognition, communication, and intervention at the micro, meso, and macro levels of conflict and uses this matrix to organize and review some mediation theories. Several types of intervention theory are identified: integrated, generic, dialectical, developmental, and dialogical. The article closes by posing some outstanding theoretical issues and questioning whether current mediator training programs are adequate to bridge the gap between theory and practice. [source]


Two Concepts of Violence

POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 2 2005
Vittorio Bufacchi
The aim of this review article is to explore some theoretical issues regarding the nature and scope of violence. There are two ways of thinking about violence: in terms of an act of force, or in terms of a violation. Those who define violence as an intentional act of excessive or destructive force endorse a narrow conception of violence (the Minimalist Conception of Violence or MCV), while those who see violence in terms of a violation of rights champion a broader conception of violence (the Comprehensive Conception of Violence or CCV). The strengths and weaknesses of both approaches will be assessed. [source]


Dynamics of ethnic residential segregation in Göteborg, Sweden, 1995,2000

POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 2 2008
Åsa Bråmå
Abstract Most explanatory frameworks within segregation research interpret patterns of ethnic residential segregation as the result of how members of different ethnic groups have moved (or not moved) within the city and to the city from the surrounding world. Yet, few attempts have been made to proceed beyond relatively static accounts based on descriptions and analysis of patterns of segregation, to address more directly the dynamics behind the patterns. In this article, a longitudinal, individual-based data-set is used in order to analyse the dynamics, in terms of migration and natural population change, that have reproduced and transformed patterns of segregation in Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden, between 1995 and 2000. The analysis deals with questions concerning changes in the degree of concentration and dispersal of different minority groups, and the role of the minority enclaves as ports of entry to the local housing market for different groups. The findings have relevance for wider theoretical issues related to the interpretation and explanation of ethnic residential segregation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Annotation: Attachment disorganisation and psychopathology: new findings in attachment research and their potential implications for developmental psychopathology in childhood

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 7 2002
Jonathan Green
Background: The past 10 years have seen a fruitful line of enquiry building on identification of previously unclassifiable patterns of infant,mother interaction. A critical review of these new findings in attachment theory, highlighting their potential relevance to child psychopathology, is presented. Method: Selective literature review relating to disorganised attachment in childhood. Results: Disorganised patterns of attachment have only relatively recently been described. They show characteristic patterns of evolution in development. There is evidence that disorganised attachments are associated with specific forms of distorted parenting, which are distinct from general parental insensitivity and are associated with unresolved loss or trauma in the caregiver. There are also links with aspects of neurodevelopment vulnerability in the child. Attachment disorganisation is a powerful predictor of a range of later social and cognitive difficulties and psychopathology. Conclusions: The identification of disorganised attachment has greatly increased the potential relevance of attachment theory to general clinical work. However, the concept raises many methodological and theoretical issues. Among issues needing further exploration is the way in which attachment disorganisation relates to children's general mental states and may be affected by cognitive functioning and developmental impairment. [source]


An application of dynamic homology to morphological characters: direct optimization of setae sequences and phylogeny of the family Odontellidae (Poduromorpha, Collembola)

CLADISTICS, Issue 4 2009
Mikaël Agolin
The concept of character and the definition of the attribute are two major theoretical issues of phylogenetics. Lately, great progress has been made in the conceptual development of attributes as historical individuals undergoing series of transformations. While operational application of this ideographic concept of character has been possible since the publication of the direct optimization algorithm and POY software, it has been restricted to molecular characters only. The present paper proposes the first application of direct optimization to morphological characters, in the case study of the phylogeny of Odontellidae. This new homology regime is compared to the traditional homology scheme. The theoretical and operational limitations of the application of direct optimization to morphological characters are discussed. Some thoughts on the basics of its generalization to all morphological characters analyzed in a dynamic homology phylogenetic framework are given. © The Willi Hennig Society 2009;. [source]