Nonconceptual Self-Consciousness And Cognitive Science

This paper explores some of the areaswhere neuroscientific and philosophical issuesintersect in the study of self-consciousness. Taking aspoint of departure a paradox (the paradox ofself-consciousness) that appears to blockphilosophical elucidation of self-consciousness, thepaper illustrates how the highly conceptual forms ofself-consciousness emerge from a rich foundation ofnonconceptual forms of self-awareness. Attention ispaid in particular to the primitive forms ofnonconceptual self-consciousness manifested in visualperception, somatic proprioception, spatial reasoningand interpersonal psychological interactions. Thestudy of these primitive forms of self-consciousnessis an interdisciplinaryenterprise and the paper considers a range of pointsof contact where philosophical work can illuminatework in the cognitive sciences, and vice versa.     

Aristotelian Categories And Cognitive Domains

This paper puts together an ancientand a recent approach to classificatory language, thought, and ontology.It includes on the one hand an interpretation of Aristotle's ten categories,with remarks on his first category, called (or translated as) substancein the Categories or What a thing is in the Topics. On the other hand is the ideaof domain-specific cognitive abilities urged in contemporary developmentalpsychology. Each family of ideas can be used to understand the other. Neitherthe metaphysical nor the psychological approach is intrinsically morefundamental; they complement each other. The paper incidentally clarifies distinct uses of the word category in different disciplines, and also attempts to make explicit several notions of domain. It also examines Aristotle's most exotic and least discussed categories, being-in-a-position (e.g., sitting) and having-(on) (e.g., armour). Finally the paper suggests a tentative connectionbetween Fred Sommers' theory of types and Aristotle's first category.     

Cognitive Links Between Fear Of Failure And Perfectionism

This study investigated links between three forms of perfectionism and beliefs associated with fear of failure (FF). College students (N = 372) enrolled in physical activity classes completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory in a single session. After controlling for other forms of perfectionism, only socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) was strongly associated with beliefs that failure led to aversive interpersonal consequences (i.e., important others losing interest, upsetting important others). Other-oriented perfectionism (OOP) exhibited a weak negative relation with beliefs that failure would lead to devaluation of one’s self-estimate; individuals who held the highest standards for others’ behavior had the weakest beliefs that failure would lead to them devaluing their self-estimate. Self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) was not associated with any beliefs that failure led to aversive consequences; however, when SOP and OOP were simultaneously elevated, they contributed positively to fears of experiencing shame and embarrassment (above and beyond main effects of SPP). Collectively these findings indicated that FF was not ubiquitous with all forms of perfectionism because the specific beliefs about the consequences of failure that underlie different forms of perfectionism varied tremendously. This research was supported in part by a grant from the College of Health & Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University.     

Demonstrative utterances

Conclusion We have worked out a small part of a program originally devised by Kaplan which included a clarification of the phrase y intends to demonstrate x. The analysis of demonstrative utterances, combined with a theory of deferred ostensive reference, enabled us to account for a much larger class of utterances (accompained by a relevant gesture) than expected. Regrettably, the analysis forces more questions on us than it answers. Although I have used the term gesture quite freely without providing any sort of explication, there is much more to say about gestures and their relation to speech. Especially questions concerning the ontological nature of gestures (What kind of a thing is a gesture anyway?), their epistemological status (How can we tell gestures apart from other actions?), and their semantic status (What makes a gesture have meaning?) have remained largely unexplored. To my knowledge, no philosopher in the analytic tradition has addressed those issues in any systematic manner.     

Centering on Demonstrative Thought

The nature of perceptual demonstratives, the ‘that F’ component of judgments of the form ‘that F is G’ based on perceptual input, has been a topic of interest for many philosophers. Another related, though distinct, question concerns the nature of demonstrative judgments based not on current perceptual input, but instead derived from memory. I argue that the account put forward by John Campbell fails to adequately account for memory-based demonstrative thought.     

Cognitive And Self-Regulation Aspects Of Perfectionism And Their Implications For Treatment: Introduction To The Special Issue

The current article provides an overview of the papers included in this special issue on the cognitive and self-regulation aspects of perfectionism and their implications for treatment. Themes expressed in these papers include the association between perfectionism and deficits in cognitive self-management, the significant link between distress and automatic thoughts reflecting the need to be perfect, the importance of examining mediators and moderators of the association between perfectionism and psychological distress, and the specific role of perfectionism in suicidal tendencies and self-harm. It is also argued that certain core features of perfectionism and its associated correlates tend to impede treatment progress. Central factors associated with perfectionism that have a deleterious impact on treatment progress include the fear of failure and fear of embarrassment and exposure, a punishing orientation toward the self, pessimism and hopelessness about the possibility of recovery, and a rigid adherence to unrealistic goals and standards, including goals for treatment and recovery. We describe case studies illustrating treatment resistance among perfectionists and we reiterate the growing need for empirical research on the efficacy of clinical interventions designed for perfectionists. This article was supported by major research grants from Health Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada to the first two authors, and a Canada Research Chair in Personality & Health awarded to the first author.     

Demonstrative Concepts Without Re-Identification

Conceptualism in the philosophy of perception is the doctrine that perceptual experiences have a fully conceptualized content. Conceptualists have laid particular emphasis on the role demonstrative concepts play in experience, in order to deal with the objection that experiences are fine-grained. Normal perceivers, they point out, are able to form fine-grained demonstrative color concepts for the specific shades they perceptually discriminate. Recently, however, Sean Kelly (2001b: ‘Demonstrative concepts and Experience’, The Philosophical Review 110 (3), 397–420.) has argued that, in order to possess a particular demonstrative concept, a perceiver must be able to re-identify things which fall under that concept. Since normal perceivers typically fail at such re-identification, he concludes, they do not in fact possess demonstrative concepts for the specific shades of color they experience. In response to Kelly’s attempt to resurrect the objection from the fineness of grain of experience, I argue that his defense of this Re-identification constraint (i) is not as intuitive as it might seem, (ii) is ill-motivated, and (iii) appears to rest on a conflation between different kinds of concepts.     

论韩非思想对现代企业管理的借鉴意义

国家的振兴靠经济,经济的振兴靠企业,企业的振兴靠管理。对中国的实际情况来说,企业管理的出路在“法制”,这就需要提高全民的重“法”意识,从根本上改变我国重“礼”轻“法”的社会倾向。在企业管理中,就是要树立依“法”管理企业的思想,按照市场经济的客观要求,建立健全管理制度,以制度规范和约束企业及员工的行为,使现代企业管理走向理性和成熟。为此,我们有必要重温历史,研究和借鉴以韩非为代表的法家管理思想。     

Detached Mindfulness In Cognitive Therapy: A Metacognitive Analysis And Ten Techniques

This paper describes the nature and information processing requirements of detached mindfulness. The construct emerged from the self-regulatory information processing theory of emotional disorder (Wells & Matthews, 1994), and is viewed as a metacognitive state that facilitates change in core underlying pathological processes. Detached mindfulness has multiple components, requiring the activation of metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring and control, suspension of conceptual processing, attentional flexibility, and a de-centered relationship with thoughts. A model of the cognitive structures and processes supporting the state is presented. Implications of the model for the scientific development and effective use of mindfulness techniques are discussed. Ten techniques for rapidly achieving detached mindfulness in the course of metacognitive therapy are described.Address correspondence to Professor Adrian Wells, Academic Division of Clinical Psychology, The University of Manchester, Rawnsley Building, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK; e-mail: Adrian.Wells@manchester.ac.uk.     

Successful Treatment of Olfactory Reference Syndrome With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Case Study

Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is characterized by a preoccupation with the belief that one's body emits a foul odor. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was used to treat a woman in her 50s who presented in our outpatient anxiety disorders specialty clinic with ORS, accompanied by embarrassment, shame, distress, avoidance behavior, and social isolation. Monitoring and systematic reduction of safety behaviors, combined with exposure to anxiety-provoking situations, resulted in elimination of the perceived body odor over the course of ten treatment sessions. Scores on the Overvalued Ideas Scale indicated improvements in the client's insight over the course of treatment, and there was an 82.6% reduction in her preoccupation and compulsive behaviors as measured by the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Indices of depression, anxiety, and stress as measured by the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales were also reduced from the extremely severe to normal range. These findings suggest further investigation of CBT in the treatment of ORS is warranted.     

Enhancing Cognitive Functioning in Healthly Older Adults: a Systematic Review of the Clinical Significance of Commercially Available Computerized Cognitive Training in Preventing Cognitive Decline

Successfully assisting older adults to maintain or improve cognitive function, particularly when they are dealing with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), remains a major challenge. Cognitive training may stimulate neuroplasticity thereby increasing cognitive and brain reserve. Commercial brain training programs are computerized, readily-available, easy-to-administer and adaptive but often lack supportive data and their clinical validation literature has not been previously reviewed. Therefore, in this review, we report the characteristics of commercially available brain training programs, critically assess the number and quality of studies evaluating the empirical evidence of these programs for promoting brain health in healthy older adults, and discuss underlying causal mechanisms. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar and each program’s website for relevant studies reporting the effects of computerized cognitive training on cognitively healthy older adults. The evidence for each program was assessed via the number and quality (PEDro score) of studies, including Randomized Control Trials (RCTs). Programs with clinical studies were subsequently classified as possessing Level I, II or III evidence. Out of 18 identified programs, 7 programs were investigated in 26 studies including follow-ups. Two programs were identified as possessing Level I evidence, three programs demonstrated Level II evidence and an additional two programs demonstrated Level III evidence. Overall, studies showed generally high methodological quality (average PEDro score?=?7.05). Although caution must be taken regarding any potential bias due to selective reporting, current evidence supports that at least some commercially available computerized brain training products can assist in promoting healthy brain aging.     

Locke's Theory of Demonstration and Demonstrative Morality

Locke famously claimed that morality was capable of demonstration. But he also refused to provide a system of demonstrative morality. This paper addresses the mismatch between Locke's stated views and his actual philosophical practice. While Locke's claims about demonstrative morality have received a lot of attention it is rare to see them discussed in the context of his general theory of demonstration and his specific discussions of particular demonstrations. This paper explores Locke's general remarks about demonstration as well as his claims about demonstration in natural philosophy, mathematics, and morality. Careful attention to these detailed discussions motivates a reevaluation of Locke's views on demonstrative knowledge of morality. Specifically, while Locke did believe that some demonstrative moral knowledge might be in‐principle available to us he also believed that facts about the difficulty of demonstration meant that this knowledge would in‐practice be largely unattainable.     

Perceptions Of Treatment Helpfulness And Depressive Symptomology In Psychiatric Inpatients On A Cognitive Therapy Unit

This study examined 123 psychiatric inpatients' perceptions of treatment helpfulness using the Treatment Experience Questionnaire (TEQ), a measure that includes perceived elpfulness ratings for specific cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of treatment. It was predicted that (a) the inpatients on the cognitive therapy unit would perceive the cognitive therapy components of the program as more helpful than the non-cognitive components, and that (b) the perception of the helpfulness of the cognitive and noncognitive therapy components would significantly predict discharge depression scores, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The results indicated that the inpatients rated the helpfulness of both the cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of treatment highly and that there was a modest yet significant relationship between perceived helpfulness and symptom change. The BDI scores at admission explained considerably more of the variation in discharge BDI scores than the perceptions of helpfulness. These results are discussed in light of past and future research.     

Perceptual Demonstrative Thought: A Property-Dependent Theory

Topoi - The paper presents a new theory of perceptual demonstrative thought, the property-dependent theory. It argues that the theory is superior to both the object-dependent theory (Evans,...