On the Relationship Between Naturalistic Semantics and Individuation Criteria for Terms in a Language of Thought

Naturalistically minded philosophers hope to identify a privileged nonsemantic relation that holds between a mental representation m and that which m represents, a relation whose privileged status underwrites the assignment of reference to m. The naturalist can accomplish this task only if she has in hand a nonsemantic criterion for individuating mental representations: it would be question-begging for the naturalist to characterize m, for the purpose of assigning content, as 'the representation with such and such content'. If we individuate mental representations using the tools of dynamical systems theory, we find that a given mental representation, characterized nonsemantically, emerges in the cognitive system as the result of causal interactions between the subject and her environment. At least for the most basic of our mental representations, I argue that the dynamical systems-based approach to individuation increases the plausibility of a theory that assigns reference as a function of the subject's causal history. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Privacy and the Computer: Why We Need Privacy in the Information Society

For more than thirty years an extensive and significant philosophical debate about the notion of privacy has been going on. Therefore it seems puzzling that most current authors on information technology and privacy assume that all individuals intuitively know why privacy is important. This assumption allows privacy to be seen as a liberal "nice to have" value: something that can easily be discarded in the face of other really important matters like national security, the doing of justice and the effective administration of the state and the corporation. In this paper I want to argue that there is something fundamental in the notion of privacy and that due to the profoundness of the notion it merits extraordinary measures of protection and overt support. I will also argue that the notion of transparency (as advocated by Wasserstrom) is a useless concept without privacy and that accountability and transparency can only be meaningful if encapsulated in the context of privacy. From philosophical and legal literature I will discuss and argue the value of privacy as the essential context and foundation of human autonomy in social relationships. In the conclusion of the paper I will discuss implications of this notion of privacy for the information society in general, and for the discipline of information systems in particular.     

The Relationship Between Artificial and Second Language Learning

Artificial language learning (ALL) experiments have become an important tool in exploring principles of language and language learning. A persistent question in all of this work, however, is whether ALL engages the linguistic system and whether ALL studies are ecologically valid assessments of natural language ability. In the present study, we considered these questions by examining the relationship between performance in an ALL task and second language learning ability. Participants enrolled in a Spanish language class were evaluated using a number of different measures of Spanish ability and classroom performance, which was compared to IQ and a number of different measures of ALL performance. The results show that success in ALL experiments, particularly more complex artificial languages, correlates positively with indices of L2 learning even after controlling for IQ. These findings provide a key link between studies involving ALL and our understanding of second language learning in the classroom.     

The Predictive Validity of Ideal Partner Preferences in Relationship Formation: What We Know,What We Don't Know,and Why It Matters

A great deal of research on interpersonal attraction implicitly assumes that stated ideal partner preferences guide the mate selection, and therefore relationship formation, process. Nevertheless, recent research has yielded contradictory results. Whereas some research has failed to demonstrate that ideal partner preferences influence attraction to actual potential romantic partners, other studies have provided empirical evidence for the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences following interactions with potential romantic partners. A new meta‐analysis on the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences concluded that people may not preferentially pursue potential partners that more closely match their stated preferences. This conclusion has significant implications for several empirical literatures that have relied on self‐reported ideal partner preferences to test hypotheses. We demonstrate, however, that the majority of the research on the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences, and thus research included in this meta‐analysis, focuses on interpersonal attraction or later relationship processes and not on individuals transitioning into actual new relationships. We suggest that research that directly focuses on the transition into actual relationships is needed before firm conclusions can be made regarding the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences in the formation of new relationships.     

The Changing Relationship Between Anatomic and Cognitive Explanation in the Neuropsychology of Language

Changing trends in the approach to neurolinguistics are reviewed. We suggest that these trends are marked by a distinct convergence between linguistic/cognitive and anatomic/physiological approaches to the study of aphasia. With respect to the former, we cite the refinement of analysis of language symptoms and the introduction of experimental methods that reveal real-time aspects of language processing. With respect to the latter, we cite the technical advances in static and dynamic brain imaging that have allowed the in vivo analysis of lesion sites in aphasic patients, and the identification of foci of metabolic activity during linguistic/cognitive tasks in normal brains. We cite recent imaging studies of category-specific lexical dissociations as examples of the productive convergence of anatomic and technological advances to illuminate a particularly challenging problem.     

心理理论和语言能力的关系

心理理论和语言能力的关系已日益引起研究者们的关注.文章综述了以非人灵长类动物、正常儿童和特殊人群为对象进行的有关心理理论和语言关系的研究,从比较和发展的角度进行了理论分析.提出一定的语言能力水平也许是通过心理理论测试的前提条件,但二者有着不同的发展规律,并表现为复杂的共存关系.     

The Relationship Between Dissociation and Religiosity: An Empirical Evaluation of Schumaker's Theory

Dissociation can be broadly understood as alterations in consciousness where integrated processing of psychological and/or sensory information is disrupted. Following Schumaker's (1995) suggestion that dissociation elicited by religious ritual provides the basis for religious beliefs, the current aim was to empirically assess the relationship between dissociation, religious ritual, and religious beliefs. Four samples with varying levels of religious commitment were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity-short form, and the Maranell Religious Ritual Scale. Dissociation scores were highest in the young Catholic sample and lowest in the Fellowship group. However, these results are largely affected by the covariate of age. No relationship was found between dissociation, religious attitude, and religious ritual in the student sample. However, small to moderate significant correlations were found in the Catholic sample. Results are discussed with reference to Schumaker's theoretical proposal and directions are suggested for future assessment of the dissociation-religiosity relationship.     

社会计量器理论的研究进展：社交接纳/拒绝与自尊的关系

社会计量器理论提出自尊是个体对社交接纳或拒绝的主观计量器,它监控和调节着人们的人际关系质量。目前,该领域的研究主要从两方面展开：一方面从社交反馈的角度探讨了社交接纳与人际评价对状态自尊的影响;另一方面从社交行为的角度探讨了特质自尊对社交意愿和社交决策的影响。未来的研究需要对影响自尊的社交情境进行具体区分,并就社交反馈、心理变化与社交行为的关系,任务特性的认知过程对自尊的影响进行综合探讨。     

认知加工中时间与非时间信息的相互关系

在认知心理学领域，关于时间信息和非时间信息在认知加工中关系的争论有：相互独立、相互竞争、相互促进三大观点。本文对支持这三种观点的实验分别进行了分析、整理，并在此基础上概括出特定条件下时间信息与非时间信息的相互关系：事件结构一致条件下，两类信息在认知加工中表现为相互促进；如果事件结构不一致，而心理负荷(即两类信息所需注意资源之和)超过了注意总资源，两类信息表现为相互竞争；若心理负荷没有超过注意总资源，两类信息则表现为相互独立。     

The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology (Book)

The growth of religious psychology with specific reference to the Malay people as the majority culture is discussed. This article describes attitudes of the Malays toward religion, and reviews related programs and developments in Malaysian universities and institutes. It covers contents of major seminars and conferences held in recent years; the application of religious psychology in the general Malay population and an analysis of some problems and prospects relevant to the general psychology of religion area. The article concludes that, although psychology of religion does not exist here in the Western sense, immense opportunities exist for psychological research on religion. Suggestions for improving the psychology-religion interface are given.     

表扬与内在动机关系的三种观点

目前表扬与内在动机的关系共有三种观点：一种观点认为表扬对内在动机有促进作用,另外一些观点则认为表扬会对内在动机产生损害。Henderlong和Lepper对这两类观点进行了整合,提出了第三种观点,他们认为不能简单地说表扬会促进还是损害内在动机,他们引入了5个概念变量(conceptual variables)：自主性(perceived autonomy)、归因方式(performance attributions)、自我效能感(competence self—efficacy)、真诚性(sincerity)、成就标准(standards and expectations),并认为这5个变量决定着表扬对内在动机的影响效果。     

An Examination of the Relationship Between Parent Language and Child Anxiety

Research suggests that parents of anxious children behave differently when interacting with their children than do parents of nonanxious children. However, the relationship between parent language use in this context and child anxiety remains unclear. The present study investigates how parent language use relates to child anxiety during parent–child interactions using a community sample recruited to participate in a study of familial anxiety. Results indicate that parent language use varies in relation to child anxiety. Further, this idiosyncratic pattern of parent linguistic activity uniquely predicts child anxiety diagnostic status. Implications of this study and future directions for research are discussed.     

The More You Have, the More You Do: The Relationship Between Wife's Employment, Sex-Role Attitudes, and Household Behavior

This study explores the relationship between wife's employment, sex-role traditionalism, and the reported division of household tasks and decisions. Data were collected from three samples of currently married women between the ages of 18 and 49 in Los Angeles County. Sex-role traditionalism was positively related to wives' relative performance of feminine tasks, but generally unrelated to masculine task performance and decision-making between spouses. Employed or professional women took primary responsibility for relatively fewer feminine tasks than did nonemployed or nonprofessional women. The findings suggest that despite differences among women in sex-role traditionalism and employment status, most women say that they and their spouses divide tasks in a traditional sex-role fashion.     

Why We Should Create Artificial Offspring: Meaning and the Collective Afterlife

This article argues that the creation of artificial offspring could make our lives more meaningful (i.e. satisfy more meaning-relevant conditions of value). By ‘artificial offspring’ I mean beings that we construct, with a mix of human and non-human-like qualities. Robotic artificial intelligences are paradigmatic examples of the form. There are two reasons for thinking that the creation of such beings could make our lives more meaningful and valuable. The first is that the existence of a collective afterlife—i.e. a set of human-like lives that continue after we die—is likely to be an important source and sustainer of meaning in our present lives (Scheffler in Death and the afterlife, OUP, Oxford, 2013). The second is that the creation of artificial offspring provides a plausible and potentially better pathway to a collective afterlife than the traditional biological pathway (i.e. there are reasons to favour this pathway and there are no good defeaters to trying it out). Both of these arguments are defended from a variety of objections and misunderstandings.     

Examining the Relationship Between Gender DIF and Language Complexity in Mathematics Assessments

This study investigated whether the linguistic complexity of items leads to gender differential item functioning (DIF) on mathematics assessments. Two forms of a mathematics test were developed. The first form consisted of algebra items based on mathematical expressions, terms, and equations. In the second form, the same items were written as word problems without changing their contents and solutions. The test forms were given to a sample of 671 sixth-grade students from 10 middle schools in Turkey. The tests were administered to the students with a 4-week interval. Explanatory item response modeling and logistic regression approaches were used to examine gender DIF. Several word problems were flagged as having gender DIF in favor of female examinees, whereas mathematically expressed forms of the same items did not function differently across male and female examinees. The verbal content of word problems seems to influence the way males and females respond to items.