Control freaks, or ghost-(in-the-machine)-busters?

Attention and Performance XVIII: Control of Cognitive Processes, 13-17 July 1998, Windsor, UK.     

Streeck U, Leichsenring F (Hrsg) (2009) Handbuch psychoanalytisch-interaktionelle Therapie. Behandlung von Patienten mit strukturellen St?rungen und schweren Pers?nlichkeitsst?rungen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, G?ttingen, S.?237, ISBN?978-3-525-40160-6, EUR?24,90

Buchbesprechungen

Streeck U, Leichsenring F (Hrsg) (2009) Handbuch psychoanalytisch-interaktionelle Therapie. Behandlung von Patienten mit strukturellen St?rungen und schweren Pers?nlichkeitsst?rungen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, G?ttingen, S. 237, ISBN 978-3-525-40160-6, EUR 24,90     

Bauer S, Kordy H (Hrsg) (2009) E-Mental-Health – Neue Medien in der psychosozialen Versorgung Springer, Berlin, 350?S., ISBN-10: 354075735X, EUR?34,95

Buchbesprechungen

Bauer S, Kordy H (Hrsg) (2009) E-Mental-Health – Neue Medien in der psychosozialen Versorgung Springer, Berlin, 350 S., ISBN-10: 354075735X, EUR 34,95     

Edgar Heim (Hrsg) (2009) Die Welt der Psychotherapie Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart, 252?S., ISBN: 978-3-608-94549-2, EUR?24,90

Buchbesprechungen

Edgar Heim (Hrsg) (2009) Die Welt der Psychotherapie Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart, 252 S., ISBN: 978-3-608-94549-2, EUR 24,90     

Beyond curve fitting? Comment on Liu, Mayer-Kress, and Newell (2003)

Y.-T. Liu, G. Mayer-Kress, and K. M. Newell (2003) fit learning curves to movement time data and suggested 2 new methods for analyzing learning. They claimed that the methods go "beyond curve fitting." However, in neither their curve fitting nor their new methods is measurement noise accounted for, and therefore they produce inefficient and biased results. Using the data of Liu et al., in which variance caused by learning is small relative to the level of noise for most participants, the present authors demonstrate those problems and provide better alternatives that are more noise tolerant, more powerful, and go beyond curve fitting without displaying the extreme bias produced by the methods of Liu et al.     

Li (Ritual/Rite) and Tian (Heaven/Nature) in the Xunzi: Does Confucian li need metaphysics?

Ritual (li) is central to Confucian ethics and political philosophy. Robert Neville believes that Chinese Philosophy has an important role to play in our times by bringing ritual theory to the analysis of global moral and political issues. In a recent work, Neville maintains that ritual ??needs a contemporary metaphysical expression if its importance is to be seen.?? This paper examines Neville's claim through a detailed study of the ??ethics of ritual?? in one of the early Confucian texts, the Xunzi. This text has sometimes been read as offering a form of naturalism in its discussions of ??heaven (tian)?? as analogous to Western, even modern, concept of ??nature,?? while other interpreters insist that tian is a normative notion. Does this concept of tian offer a metaphysical ground for ethics of ritual advocated in the text? If so, what kind of metaphysics is it? Does Confucian ritual ethics need any metaphysical grounding? There is no specific metaphysical theory in the Xunzi and passages which could be referring to or implying metaphysical assumptions are open to hermeneutical debates. Even if metaphysical assumptions are necessary or beneficial to an ethics of ritual, the paper argues that the ??metaphysical flexibility?? of the text could work to its advantage in remaining relevant in contemporary context. The conclusion explores some possible directions for further exploring the metaphysics of ritual in a modern understanding of Xunzi.     

The leap (der Sprung) for Being in Heidegger''sBeitr?ge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis)

All translations in this study, unless indicated otherwise, are mine     

When, what, and whom to watch? Quantifying attention in ravens (Corvus corax) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula)

Complex social life requires monitoring of conspecifics. The amount and focus of attention toward others has been suggested to depend on the social relationships between individuals. Yet there are surprisingly few experiments that have tested these assumptions. This study compared attention patterns toward conspecifics in two corvid species, ravens (Corvus corax) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula). Birds were confronted with affiliated and non-affiliated conspecifics engaged in foraging and object manipulation. Visual access to the model bird was provided through two observation holes, which allowed measurement of exactly how often and for how long observers watched the other. Overall, ravens were more attentive to conspecifics than were jackdaws. Moreover, only ravens showed higher interest toward food-related than object-related behaviors of the model and toward close affiliates than non-affiliates by increasing the duration rather than the frequency of looks. These results are in accordance with predictions derived from the species' foraging biology and suggest that the facultative social, but highly manipulative, ravens use and value information from others differently than do the obligate social jackdaws.     

Can chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) discriminate appearance from reality?

A milestone in human development is coming to recognize that how something looks is not necessarily how it is. We tested appearance-reality understanding in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) with a task requiring them to choose between a small grape and a big grape. The apparent relative size of the grapes was reversed using magnifying and minimizing lenses so that the truly bigger grape appeared to be the smaller one. Our Lens test involved a basic component adapted from standard procedures for children, as well as several components designed to rule out alternative explanations. There were large individual differences in performance, with some chimpanzees’ responses suggesting they appreciated the appearance-reality distinction. In contrast, all chimpanzees failed a Reverse Contingency control test, indicating that those who passed the Lens test did not do so by learning a simple reverse contingency rule. Four-year-old children given an adapted version of the Lens test failed it while 4.5-year-olds passed. Our study constitutes the first direct investigation of appearance-reality understanding in chimpanzees and the first cross-species comparison of this capacity.     

Is collective intelligence (mostly) the General Factor of Personality? A comment on Woolley,Chabris, Pentland,Hashmi and Malone (2010)

A recent paper [Woolley, Chabris, Pentland, Hashmi, & Malone. (2010). Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science, 330, 686–688] presents evidence for the existence of a general collective intelligence factor, ‘c,’ which may undergird performance on a variety of group tasks. This factor appears to be only modestly correlated with the average and maximum intelligence of group members whilst being more strongly correlated with the average social sensitivity of group members, a tendency for several members to contribute to group conversations rather than a small number dominating the discussions, and the proportion of females in the group. An alternative hypothesis, not considered by the authors, is that the General Factor of Personality (GFP) is able to account for the correlates of c observed, and that c may therefore be primarily a group level manifestation of the GFP, with a subordinate contribution from general intelligence. We maintain that a consideration of the GFP and its correlates as potential confounding variables would be of considerable benefit to future research into collective intelligence.     

Is absolute identification always relative? Comment on Stewart, Brown, and Chater (2005)

N. Stewart, G. D. A. Brown, and N. Chater's relative judgment model includes three core assumptions that enable it to predict accurately the vast majority of "classical" phenomena in absolute identification choices, but not the time taken to make them, including sequential effects, such as assimilation and contrast. These core assumptions, coupled with the parameter values used in the above-mentioned article, lead to the prediction that identification accuracy is low when a large stimulus on 1 trial is followed by a small stimulus on the next trial and vice versa. Data do not support this prediction. The authors identify a set of parameters that allow the model to better fit the data, but problems remain when the data are analyzed with a version of the discrimination measure (d') from signal detection theory. The fundamental problem is that the model fits data on average but at the expense of making incorrect predictions in detail.     

Spurious? Name similarity effects (implicit egotism) in marriage, job, and moving decisions

Three articles published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology have shown that a disproportionate share of people choose spouses, places to live, and occupations with names similar to their own. These findings, interpreted as evidence of implicit egotism, are included in most modern social psychology textbooks and many university courses. The current article successfully replicates the original findings but shows that they are most likely caused by a combination of cohort, geographic, and ethnic confounds as well as reverse causality.     

Inappropriate Sexuality? Sex Magic,S/M and Wicca (or ‘Whipping Harry Potter's Arse!’)

Abstract

Despite its often fervent claims to radicalism, openness and maturity, Wicca articulates a rather complex attitude towards sexuality. S/M concepts which have influenced the development of Wiccan ritual practice (through such figures as Algernon Swinburne, Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders) have been largely abstracted into symbolic forms which strongly deny the ‘inappropriate’ sexuality embedded in Wiccan initiation rituals (specifically) and formative ideologies (generally). A brief comparison between Wiccan initiation and the S/M dungeon, for example, suggests a common conceptual ground. But, while a rhetoric of disruptive sexuality is retained in Wicca through the use of scourging, binding, ritual nudity, and the ‘Great Rite’, the emphasis lies in its symbolic value and ‘dangerous sex’ is largely forbidden. Nevertheless, ‘dangerous sex’ remains an issue within Wicca. The overlaps between Wiccan S/M symbolism and rhetoric and the physical spirituality of some S/M practitioners remains unexplored, and issues of power, abuse, and gender are only just beginning to be recognized.     

What is (Dis)Agreement?

When do we agree? The answer might once have seemed simple and obvious; we agree that p when we each believe that p. But from a formal epistemological perspective, where degrees of belief are more fundamental than beliefs, this answer is unsatisfactory. On the one hand, there is reason to suppose that it is false; degrees of belief about p might differ when beliefs simpliciter on p do not. On the other hand, even if it is true, it is too vague; for what it is to believe simpliciter ought to be explained in terms of degrees of belief. This paper presents several possible notions of agreement, and corresponding notions of disagreement. It indicates how the findings are fruitful for the epistemology of disagreement, with special reference to the notion of epistemic peerhood.     

Does familiarity breed contempt or liking? Comment on Reis, Maniaci, Caprariello, Eastwick, and Finkel (2011)

Reis, Maniaci, Caprariello, Eastwick, and Finkel (see record 2011-04644-001) conducted 2 studies that demonstrate that in certain cases, familiarity can lead to liking--in seeming contrast to the results of our earlier article (see record 2006-23056-008). We believe that Reis et al. (a) utilized paradigms far removed from spontaneous, everyday social interactions that were particularly likely to demonstrate a positive link between familiarity and liking and (b) failed to include and incorporate other sources of data-both academic and real-world-showing that familiarity breeds contempt. We call for further research exploring when and why familiarity is likely to lead to contempt or liking, and we suggest several factors that are likely to inform this debate.