Visual information for object identity in apparent movement

Apparent movement is used to examine the nature of the visual information which specifies object identity. Constructive feature-comparison theories rely on static formal information and predict that two phases of an apparent movement display must be featurally similar in order to appear as a single object in motion. An opposing Gibsonian model is based on abstract geometrical information and predicts that the two phases may differ radically in shape but must be ecologically transformable in order to be seen as a single object. The predictions are tested by presenting subjects with displays which are similar but not transformable, and transformable but dissimilar. Results show that the transformability of the display determines its perceived object identity, while featural similarity has no effect. An event theory of object identity is offered which claims that theaffordance structure of an event, determined by geometric invariants specifies object identity. ma-     

A theoretical and empirical comparison of the all-or-none multilevel theory and the mixed model

Two theories for stimulus generalization in paired-associate learning (P.A.L.) are compared—the mixed model and the all-or-none multilevel theory. Both theories postulate basic all-or-none learning processes but differ in their mechanism for generalization. The mixed model postulates that generalization occurs only during responding; whereas, the multilevel theory postulates that generalization takes place during learning itself.     

Phantastic objects and the financial market's sense of reality: a psychoanalytic contribution to the understanding of stock market instability

This paper sets out to explore if standard psychoanalytic thinking based on clinical experience can illuminate instability in financial markets and its widespread human consequences. Buying, holding or selling financial assets in conditions of inherent uncertainty and ambiguity, it is argued, necessarily implies an ambivalent emotional and phantasy relationship to them. Based on the evidence of historical accounts, supplemented by some interviewing, the authors suggest a psychoanalytic approach focusing on unconscious phantasy relationships, states of mind, and unconscious group functioning can explain some outstanding questions about financial bubbles which cannot be explained with mainstream economic theories. The authors also suggest some institutional features of financial markets which may ordinarily increase or decrease the likelihood that financial decisions result from splitting off those thoughts which give rise to painful emotions. Splitting would increase the future risk of financial instability and in this respect the theory with which economic agents in such markets approach their work is important. An interdisciplinary theory recognizing and making possible the integration of emotional experience may be more useful to economic agents than the present mainstream theories which contrast rational and irrational decision-making and model them as making consistent decisions on the basis of reasoning alone.     

Identifiability and statistical properties of two-stage learning with no successes in the initial stage

A model is considered for learning where there is an initial stage with only errors, an intermediate state with errors and correct responses, and an absorbing state with only correct responses. A model with observable states is constructed, and sufficient identifiable parameters are given for the original model. Distribution statistics and other properties of data are derived as functions of the identifiable parameters. Informal estimates and sufficient statistics are given for the identifiable parameters. A number of testable hypotheses about the theoretical parameters are described. Some identifying restrictions for the model are given, along with the estimates for the unrestricted free parameters which follow. An application is made to data from a pairedassociate learning experiment.This research was sponsored by NSF Grant GB2791 and by PHS Grant MH12717. Part of the work was done while the author held a visiting faculty appointment at Stanford University.     

Is pictorial perception robust? The effect of the observer vantage point on the perceived depth structure of linear-perspective images

Every image of a scene produced in accord with the rules of linear perspective has an associated projection centre. Only if observed from that position does the image provide the stimulus which is equivalent to the one provided by the original scene. According to the perspective-transformation hypothesis, observing the image from other vantage points should result in specific transformations of the structure of the conveyed scene, whereas according to the vantage-point compensation hypothesis it should have little effect. Geometrical analyses illustrating the transformation theory are presented. An experiment is reported to confront the two theories. The results provide little support for the compensation theory and are generally in accord with the transformation theory, but also show systematic deviations from it, possibly due to cue conflict and asymmetry of visual angles.     

Verbal learning: Incremental vs. all-or-none theory

The incremental and all-or-none theories of verbal learning are compared by means of a little-used but methodologically superior variation of the “drop-out” paradigm with paired associates. Earlier experiments purporting to be relevant to the controversy are rejected as failing to offer a conclusive distinction between the two theories. The results presented here are taken to support the incremental theory. It is suggested that irregularities in the results of this and other experiments are caused by several intrusive factors, and a “dual-factor” hypothesis which was put forward to account for these irregularities is questioned on logical and methodological grounds.     

Models and fiction

Most scientific models are not physical objects, and this raises important questions. What sort of entity are models, what is truth in a model, and how do we learn about models? In this paper I argue that models share important aspects in common with literary fiction, and that therefore theories of fiction can be brought to bear on these questions. In particular, I argue that the pretence theory as developed by Walton (1990, Mimesis as make-believe: on the foundations of the representational arts. Harvard University Press, Cambridge/MA) has the resources to answer these questions. I introduce this account, outline the answers that it offers, and develop a general picture of scientific modelling based on it.     

A Permissive Theory of Territorial Rights

This article explores the justification of states' territorial rights. It starts by introducing three questions that all current theories of territorial rights attempt to answer: how to justify the right to settle, the right to exclude, and the right to settle and exclude with reference to a particular territory. It proposes a ‘permissive’ theory of territorial rights, arguing that the citizens of each state are entitled to the particular territory they collectively occupy, if and only if they are also politically committed to the establishment of a global political authority realizing just reciprocal relations. The article is developed by introducing some key features of the permissive theory and by explaining how such an account addresses the questions of settlement, exclusion and particularity in ways that significantly improve on existing rival accounts (most prominently: acquisition theories, legitimacy‐based theories and nationalist theories).     

A quantitative theory of the concept identification processes in the Hull paradigm

A model of concept identification and paired-associate learning processes as they occur in a concept acquisition paradigm developed by Hull was derived from a cue selection theory of learning. The model predicts that paired-associate learning occurs in an all-or-none manner and that concept identification leads to all-or-none transfer. Both predictions were confirmed.     

Theories of mind in infancy

This paper reviews and evaluates various theories of the origins of theory of mind in infancy. In what a theory of mind consists is first considered. It is argued that any theory of mind has two important features. Firstly, a theory of mind recognizes, at least, the existence of psychological relations between agents and objects, including some relations which involve “action at a distance”. Secondly, in a theory of mind, self and other are equivalent in that both can act equally as agents of psychological relations. Any theory of the development of theory of mind must explicate how it is possible to acquire an understanding of these two features. With this requirement in mind, four main types of recent theories are considered — modularity theories, Piagetian theories, matching theories, and intersubjectivity theories. While no decision is made amongst these theories, suggestions for further improvement in theorizing on this topic are presented.     

言语产生中的词汇通达理论

首先简单介绍了言语产生中词汇产生研究方法,然后重点介绍了言语产生中的2类重要的词汇通达理论：交互激活理论和独立阶段理论,围绕词汇通达中的3个重要问题：词汇通达的阶段、词汇通达的时间进程、词汇通达阶段是分离独立的还是交互作用的展开论述,阐述了2类理论的相同点和相异点。     

Do Our Psychological Laws Apply Only to College Students?: External Validity Revisited

That most psychological research is conducted with students led to concerns that psychological laws apply only to this population. These fears are based on Campbell and Stanley’s concept of external validity that specifies the extent to which research findings can be generalized. This concept is based on an inductivist philosophy. As philosophers of science have argued since Hume, one cannot derive general laws from singular observations. Instead, one develops theories and uses empirical studies to test these theories. This solves the problem of generalization because the domain of applicability is specified by the theory. Reports that studies result in different findings when conducted in different cultures are unproblematic as long as these differences can be explained with psychological theories.     

What is learned in concept identification: Evidence for Two-Stage theories from an analysis of response subsequences

Direct tests of One-Stage and Two-Stage theories of discrimination learning and concept identification by means of shift experiments yield ambiguous results due to interpretational problems. These difficulties can be avoided by analysing the original acquisition data. A test of the theories is suggested for concept identification experiments which is based on an analysis of the dependence between appropriately constructed response subsequences. Predictions for the theoretical alternatives are derived from a generalized all-or-none model. Results from a concept identification study with adult subjects reject One-Stage theories and support Two-Stage theories.     

Toward a unified theory of human reasoning

This article presents a unified theory of human reasoning. The goal of the theory is to specify what constitutes reasoning, as opposed to other psychological processes, and to characterize the psychological distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning. The theory views reasoning as the controlled and mediated application of three processes— selective encoding, selective comparison, and selective combination—to inferential rules. The first two of these processes are essentially inductive in nature; the third is essentially deductive. The theory describes these three processes, specifies the kinds of inferential rules and their use in several reasoning tasks, and specifies the mediators that affect how well the processes can be applied to the rules. The theory is shown to apply to a variety of reasoning tasks and is compared to other theories as well.     

Process causality and asymmetry

Process theories of causality seek to explicate causality as a property of individual causal processes. This paper examines the capacity of such theories to account for the asymmetry of causation. Three types of theories of asymmetry are discussed; the subjective, the temporal, and the physical, the third of these being the preferred approach. Asymmetric features of the world, namely the entropic and Kaon arrows, are considered as possible sources of causal asymmetry and a physical theory of asymmetry is subsequently developed with special reference to the questions of objectivity and backwards causation.An earlier draft of this paper was read at the A.A.P. conference at the University of Sydney, June, 1990. The author would like to thank Peter Menzies and Huw Price for their helpful comments.     

The Moral Oracle’s Test

When presented with a situation involving an agent’s choice between alternative actions, a moral oracle says what the agent is allowed to do. The oracle bases her advice on some moral theory, but the nature of that theory is not known by us. The moral oracle’s test consists in determining whether a series of questions to the oracle can be so constructed that her answers will reveal which of two given types of theories she adheres to. The test can be applied to moral theories in order to determine if they differ in their recommendations for action. Based on this test, a terminology is developed to specify different forms and degrees of distinguishability between moral theories, or types of theories, in terms of their recommendations for action. In conclusion, the test is applied to consequentialism and utilitarianism.     

Thought and the social community

The anti‐Cartesian idea that a person's thoughts are not entirely fixed by what goes on inside that person's head is suggested by Hegel, and echoed in Wittgenstein and Frege. An argument for the view has recently been given by Tyler Burge. This paper claims that Burge's data can be explained better by an individualistic theory. The basic idea is that an individual's thoughts are specified analogically, in ordinary discourse, through the model of a language. Though the modelling‐sentences are public, the thoughts of the individual are inner states whose identity does not depend upon those sentences. They have content naturally, whether or not content happens to be ascribed to them.