The argument from almost indiscernibles

What I call the argument from almost indiscernibles is an argument, put forward by Robert Adams in 1979, for the possibility of indiscernibles based on the possibility of almost indiscernibles. The argument is that if almost indiscernibles are possible, indiscernibles are possible, but since almost indiscernible are possible, indiscernibles are possible. The argument seems to be an improvement over the mere appeal to intuitions, like that suggested by Max Black, that situations in which there are indiscernibles are possible, for the argument purports to give us a reason that indiscernibles are possible. In this paper I shall assess the argument by examining whether there is support for the conditional premise that if almost indiscernibles are possible, indiscernibles are possible. I shall argue that there are reasons to think that either the premise lacks support or almost indiscernibles are dispensable. If the premise lacks support, the argument does not establish the possibility of almost indiscernibles; if almost indiscernibles are dispensable, the argument is not needed to establish the possibility of indiscernibles.     

Similarity semantics and minimal changes of belief

Different similarity relations on sets are introduced, and their logical properties are investigated. Close relationships are shown to hold between similarity relations that are based on symmetrical difference and operators of belief contraction that are based on relational selection functions. Two new rationality criteria for minimal belief contraction, the maximizing property and the reducing property, are proposed.     

Approaches to Adolescent Smoking Cessation and Education

The role of the school in the control of smoking among adolescents is explored. Incidence and trends of smoking among youth are discussed and health consequences of smoking are explored. The role of the school in smoking prevention, cessation, and regulation also is described. Innovative educational strategies to prevent smoking are reviewed and model programs are described. School-based smoking cessation programs are reviewed and suggstions are made for the development of local programs. School policies on smoking are given. Recommendations are given for a comprehensive school program to control smoking.     

Recognition of affixed words and the word frequency effect

Three experiments are reported in which the word frequency effect is used as a diagnostic for determining whether affixed words coming from the same stem are stored together or separately in the lexicon. Prefixed words are examined in the first experiment, inflected words in the second and third. In the first two experiments, two types of word are compared where the words in each condition are matched on surface or presented frequency but are varied on the frequency of their stems or base frequency. It is found that lexical decision times are influenced by base frequency, thus indicating that words related by affixation are stored together in the lexicon. The third experiment, however, demonstrates that when base frequency is held constant and surface frequency is varied, lexical decision times are influenced by surface frequency. The results are accounted for by a model of word recognition whereby frequency has its effect at two different stages of the recognition process.     

Events (Like Objects) Are Things,Can Have Affordance Properties,and Can Be Perceived

Stoffregen (target article, this issue) argues that events and affordances are qualitatively distinct properties; that affordances are animal and observer referential, whereas events are not; and that only affordances are perceived and events are not. In this commentary, I argue to the contrary-that events are perceived as well as affordances and that animals do not perceive disembodied properties anymore than they could perceive propertyless things. I argue that events are not properties but are substantial, spatiotemporal things that have properties. Events can exhibit affordances that must vary in scope to support the perceptually guided temporal evolution of behaviors.     

Computational and statistical methods for analyzing event-related potential data

Some computational and statistical techniques that can be used in the analysis of event-related potential (ERP) data are demonstrated. The techniques are fairly elementary but go one step further than do simple area measurement or peak picking, which are most often used in ERP analysis. Both amplitude and latency measurement techniques are considered. Principal components analysis (PCA) and methods for electromyographic onset determination are presented in detail, and Woody filtering is discussed briefly. The techniques are introduced in a nontechnical, tutorial review style. One and the same existing data set is presented, to which the techniques are applied, and practical guidelines for their use are given. The methods are demonstrated against a background of theoretical notions that are related to the definition of ERP components.     

Structure and development of behavior systems

Behavior systems are particular organizations of cognitive structures that are called behavior mechanisms: perceptual, central, and motor. Thus, behavior systems are defined here in structural terms and not in terms of their functional characteristics. In young animals, behavior mechanisms often develop independently of functional experience, though specific types of experience are usually necessary for integrated systems to develop. These concepts are illustrated here by the dust-bathing, feeding, aggressive, and sexual systems of the fowl, which are considered to be typical of behavior systems in other species. Aspects of neural development are examined and found to facilitate our understanding of a wide range of developmental phenomena, such as critical periods and irreversibility. Finally, various examples of classical conditioning and instrumental learning are analyzed in terms of the type of structures involved, and they are related to general developmental processes.     

Are lies more wrong than errors? Accuracy judgments of inaccurate statements

People are often mistaken when estimating and predicting quantities, and sometimes they report values that they know are false: they lie. There exists, however, little research devoted to how such deviations are being perceived. In four vignette studies, participants were asked to rate the accuracy of inaccurate statements about quantities (prices, numbers and amounts). The results indicate that overstatements are generally judged to be more inaccurate than understatements of the same magnitude; self-favorable (optimistic) statements are considered more inaccurate than unfavorable (pessimistic) statements, and false reports (lies) are perceived to be more inaccurate than equally mistaken estimates. Lies about the future did not differ from lies about the past, but own lies were perceived as larger than the same lies attributed to another person. It is suggested that estimates are judged according to how close they come to the true values (close estimates are more correct than estimates that are less close), whereas lies are judged as deviant from truth, with less importance attached to the magnitude of the deviation.     

Visual and auditory choice reaction times

Choice reaction times are measured for three values of a priori signal probability with three well-practiced observers. Two sets of data are taken with the only difference being the modality of the reaction signal. In one set of conditions it is auditory, in the other, visual. The auditory reaction times are faster than the visual and in addition several other differences are noted. The latency of the errors and correct responses are nearly equal for the auditory data. Error latencies are nearly 30% faster for the visual data. Non-stationary effects, autocorrelation between successive latencies and non-homogeneous distribution of errors, are clearly evident in the visual data, but are small or non-existent in the auditory data. The data are compared with several models of the choice reaction time process but none of the models is completely adequate.     

Testing Event-Based Forms of Causality

Three fundamental types of causal relations are those of necessity, sufficiency, and necessity and sufficiency. These types are defined in contexts of categorical variables or events. Using statement calculus or Boolean algebra, one can determine which patterns of events are in support of a particular form of causal relation. In this article, we approach the analysis of these forms of causality taking the perspective of the analyst of empirical data. It is proposed using Configural Frequency Analysis (CFA) to test hypotheses about type of causal relation. Models are proposed for two-variable and multi-variable cases. Two CFA approaches are proposed. In the first, individual patterns (configurations) are examined under the question whether they are in support of a particular type of causal relation. In the second, patterns that are in support are compared with corresponding patterns that are not in support. In an empirical example, hypotheses are tested on the prediction of sustainability of change in dietary fat intake habits.     

Feature importance in feature generation and typicality rating

Many theoretical models of cognition are based on the assumption that cognitive processes and representations are hierarchically structured. The issue of whether these hierarchies are mere constructs or conceptual tools, or whether they have psychological and neurological reality, is addressed. Theories across a range of cognitive domains are reviewed and four kinds of evidence are considered: behavioural, neuropsychological, ontogenetic, and logical. Logical constraints are identified in relation to operating principles of control, access, economy and analogy. The general characteristics of hierarchical structures and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed.     

A Note on Formality and Logical Consequence

Logic is formal in the sense that all arguments of the same form as logically valid arguments are also logically valid and hence truth-preserving. However, it is not known whether all arguments that are valid in the usual model-theoretic sense are truth-preserving. Tarski claimed that it could be proved that all arguments that are valid (in the sense of validity he contemplated in his 1936 paper on logical consequence) are truth-preserving. But he did not offer the proof. The question arises whether the usual model-theoretic sense of validity and Tarski's 1936 sense are the same. I argue in this paper that they probably are not, and that the proof Tarski had in mind, although unusable to prove that model-theoretically valid arguments are truth-preserving, can be used to prove that arguments valid in Tarski's 1936 sense are truth-preserving.     

Habit and persistence

Voluntary behaviors (operants) can come in two varieties: Goal-directed actions, which are emitted based on the remembered value of the reinforcer, and habits, which are evoked by antecedent cues and performed without the reinforcer's value in active memory. The two are perhaps most clearly distinguished with the reinforcer-devaluation test: Goal-directed actions are suppressed when the reinforcer is separately devalued and responding is tested in extinction, and habitual behaviors are not. But what is the function of habit learning? Habits are often thought to be strong and unusually persistent. The present selective review examines this idea by asking whether habits identified by the reinforcer-devaluation test are more resistant to extinction, resistant to the effects of other contingency change, vulnerable to relapse, resistant to the weakening effects of context change, or permanently in place once they are learned. Surprisingly little evidence supports the idea that habits are permanent or more persistent. Habits are more context-specific than goal-directed actions are. Methods that make behavior persistent do not necessarily work by encouraging habit. The function of habit learning may not be to make a behavior strong or more persistent but to make it automatic and efficient in a particular context.     

COST-BENEFIT CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING AMONG CROSS-VALIDATION METHODS

There are two general methods of cross-validation: (a) empirical estimation, and (b) formula estimation. In choosing a specific cross-validation procedure, one should consider both costs (eg. inefficient use of available data in estimating regression parameters) and benefits (eg. accuracy in estimating population cross-validity). Empirical cross-validation methods involve significant costs, since they are typically laborious and wasteful of data, but under conditions represented in Monte Carlo studies, they are generally not more accurate than formula estimates. Consideration of costs and benefits suggests that empirical estimation methods are typically not worth the cost, except in a limited number of cases in which Monte Carlo sampling assumptions are not met in the derivation sample. Designs which use multiple samples to estimate the cross-validity of a single regression equation are clearly preferable to single-sample designs; the latter are never expected to be more accurate than formula estimates and thus are never worth the cost. Multi-equation designs are more accurate than single equation designs, but they appear to estimate the wrong parameter, and thus are difficult to interpret.     

The Counseling Service in the Administrative Setting: Problems and Possible Solutions

Friction between counseling personnel and administrators affects the work of each. Background reasons for difficulties in working together are explored. Four areas offering possible remedial measures are examined: the nature of compromise, problems in communication, emotional health, and a framework for understanding behavior. Aspects of a program model are provided. Suggestions are made for specific areas in which data are needed and proposals for method are offered.     

Perceptual boundedness and perceptual support in conceptual development.

A theoretical framework for describing the role of perceptual information in early conceptual development is presented. In the main section of the article, a general operationalization of perceptual boundedness is introduced, 3 causes of this limitation are identified, the conditions under which infants and children seem to be perceptually bound are formulated, and the mechanisms by which this limitation declines are described. Traditional claims that young children are perceptually bound, as well as contemporary objections to these claims, are often based on the assumption that perceptual information is generally unveridical or insufficient. Recent doubts about this assumption are evaluated in the final section of the article. It is concluded that although realist arguments are untenable, there are limited forms of perceptual support for conceptual development.     

自我意识情绪：人类高级情绪

自我意识情绪是个体在具有一定自我评价的基础上,通过自我反思而产生的情绪。自我意识情绪与基本情绪既有区别又有联系。自我表征、自我觉察、自我评价过程的卷入是自我意识情绪产生的重要条件。对个体行为进行自我调节、服务于人际交流、人际互惠和个体心理内部需要是自我意识情绪具有的主要功能。自我意识情绪是随着认知的发展而逐渐形成和发展的,并会受到文化的影响。自我报告、非言语行为编码技术、言语报告和行为编码、神经成像技术是自我意识情绪的主要研究方法。自我意识情绪的普遍性和特殊性需要进一步跨文化研究的验证     

The Portrayal of Men's Family Roles in Television Commercials

This study examines the portrayal of men infamily roles, as fathers and husbands, on televisioncommercials. A content analysis of commercials airedduring football, daytime, and prime time is carried out. The sample size of characters is 944, mostof whom are middle-class, non-Hispanic whites. Men withchildren but no spouse are more likely to be shownduring football than are women with children but no spouse. Advertisements for computers andelectronics are more likely to include men with childrenbut no spouse than women with children but no spouse.Men appearing alone with children are more likely to be shown outside than women alone withchildren. Men are less likely to be portrayed cooking,cleaning, washing dishes, and shopping than women. Menwithout spouses are more likely to be shown with boys and less likely to be shown with infants thanwomen without spouses. Men are infrequently shown takingcare of a child and are never shown caring for girls.However, men are often shown teaching, reading, talking, eating, and playing with children. Tothe extent that men are shown as more involved in familylife, they still tend to depend largely on knowledge andactivities that are stereotypically male.     

Neuropsychological Functioning Associated with High-Altitude Exposure

This article focuses on neuropsychological functioning at moderate, high, and extreme altitude. This article summarizes the available literature on respiratory, circulatory, and brain determinants on adaptation to hypoxia that are hypothesized to be responsible for neuropsychological impairment due to altitude. Effects on sleep are also described. At central level, periventricular focal damages (leuko-araiosis) and cortical atrophy have been observed. Frontal lobe and middle temporal lobe alterations are also presumed. A review is provided regarding the effects on psychomotor performance, perception, learning, memory, language, cognitive flexibility, and metamemory. Increase of reaction time and latency of P300 are observed. Reduced thresholds of tact, smell, pain, and taste, together with somesthetic illusions and visual hallucinations have been reported. Impairment in codification and short-term memory are especially noticeable above 6,000 m. Alterations in accuracy and motor speed are identified at lower altitudes. Deficits in verbal fluency, language production, cognitive fluency, and metamemory are also detected. The moderating effects of personality variables over the above-mentioned processes are discussed. Finally, methodological flaws found in the literature are detailed and some applied proposals are suggested.