Plot Synopsis

Philosophical Studies -     

Plot units and narrative summarization

In order to summarize a story, it is necessary to access a high level analysis of the story that highlights its central concepts. A technique of memory representation based on plot units appears to provide a rich foundation for such an analysis. Plot units are conceptual structures that overlap with each other when a narrative is cohesive. When overlapping intersections between plot units are interpreted as arcs in a graph of plot units, the resulting graph encodes the plot of the story. Structural features of the graph then reveal which concepts are central to the story, and which concepts are peripheral. Plot unit analysis is currently being investigated as a processing strategy for narrative summarization by both computer simulation and psychological experiments.     

Delta图分析方法及其在冲突控制研究中的应用

近年来,反应时分布分析方法被应用于冲突控制研究领域,以弥补只计算平均反应时和错误率的不足。所谓delta指的是不一致条件与一致条件反应时之差,即冲突效应量。冲突效应量随反应时间的变化图称为delta图。与该分析方法相应的理论模型包括双通路模型和激活－抑制模型。本文介绍了delta图分析的具体方法及其与冲突控制理论模型的关系,然后列举了有关的研究例证,并强调了其优缺点与适用范围     

“A Part of Who I Am”: Material Objects as “Plot Devices” in the Formation of Religious Selves

What role do material objects play in the formation of religious subjects? Drawing from an ethnographic investigation of the evolving relationships between a group of Eastern Orthodox converts and their religious icons, this article develops a theoretical approach to this question that conceptualizes material artifacts as “plot devices” in the formation of religious identity narratives. Integrating insights from studies of material religious culture with narrative theories of identity, this article argues that religious artifacts become significant to religious identity construction to the extent they act as resources for the configuration of a narrative structure in which transcendent or sacred others play a part. As the empirical details of this study demonstrate, attending to how religious objects’ symbolic meanings (i.e., who or what they represent) are mediated by their unique material characteristics (how they make meanings physically present to social actors in embodied social interaction) is of vital importance for explaining the significant role material artifacts play in the religious emplotment of action and experience.