Integrating covariates into circumplex structures: an extension procedure for Browne’s circular stochastic process model

Circumplex structures are elements of various psychological domains. Most work focuses on assessing the circular ordering of circumplex indicators and their relationships with covariates. In this article, an extension procedure for Browne’s circumplex model is presented. Our approach models the relationships among circumplex indicators and the relationships of covariates with a latent circumplex simultaneously without affecting the circumplex indicators’ positions on the circumplex. The approach builds upon Browne’s Fourier series parameterization of a correlation function, which is used to model the latent circumplex correlation structure. It extends the shape of the correlation function to the profile of each covariate’s correlations with the circumplex. The model is specified in the framework of structural equation modeling, thereby making it possible to test various hypotheses. Procedures are presented for deriving interval estimates for the parameters that relate the covariates to the circumplex. The model is compared to other approaches for assessing the relationships of a circumplex with covariates. The results of the exemplary applications and a simulation study were in favor of the suggested model. The approach is furthermore illustrated with a real-data example, focusing on the relationships between the interpersonal circumplex and the rivalry and admiration aspects of narcissism.     

An adult model of preschool children’s speech memory

In previous work, it has been demonstrated that phonetic similarity among the items in a spoken list interferes with recall much more in school-aged children than in preschool children. The basis of this developmental change, however, is unclear. In the present study we examined the possibility that a developmental increase in the use of covert verbal rehearsal accounts for the change in the effects of phonetic similarity. Adults who recalled lists of spoken words during articulatory suppression tasks that blocked covert rehearsal were found to display patterns of recall that resembled those ordinarily found in 5-year-old children. The specific aspects of rehearsal responsible for these effects also were investigated.     

Automatic and strategic effects in semantic priming: An examination of Becker’s verification model

Becker’s (1980) verification model, in conjunction with a two-strategy hypothesis, is cited as an alternative to a dual-process model (e.g., Posner & Snyder, 1975) of word recognition and semantic priming. Becket’s approach suggests that individuals can use either an “expectancy” or a “prediction” strategy in word recognition, and maintains that the verification model successfully predicts certain patterns of facilitation and inhibition in a semantic priming task that a dual-process model cannot. The present study demonstrated that when a long stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA = 1,000 msec) is used between prime and target, support is given to Becker’s findings, and to the verification model approach. However, at a short SOA (200 msec), no evidence is found for the hypothesized difference between strategic processes. The results are consistent with other findings (e.g., Neely, 1977) in showing that strategic factors in semantic priming are largely inoperative at short prime-target SOAs, and suggests that Becker’s model is not general enough to rule out some type of dual-process model.     

Robert Hooke’s model of memory

In 1682 the scientist and inventor Robert Hooke read a lecture to the Royal Society of London, in which he described a mechanistic model of human memory. Yet few psychologists today seem to have heard of Hooke’s memory model. The lecture addressed questions of encoding, memory capacity, repetition, retrieval, and forgetting—some of these in a surprisingly modern way. Hooke’s model shares several characteristics with the theory of Richard Semon, which came more than 200 years later, but it is more complete. Among the model’s interesting properties are that (1) it allows for attention and other top-down influences on encoding; (2) it uses resonance to implement parallel, cue-dependent retrieval; (3) it explains memory for recency; (4) it offers a single-system account of repetition priming; and (5) the power law of forgetting can be derived from the model’s assumptions in a straightforward way.     

Knowing One’s Own Self: An Analysis of Vivekananda’s Approach to One’s Identity

A successful declaration of one’s identity in saying “ahaṃ Brahmāsmi” is a result of knowing one’s own self as indistinguishable from Brahman. The non-difference between oneself and the Brahman is one’s true identity, and it goes without saying, knowledge of one’s true identity constitutes the correct knowing of one’s own self. That the said non-difference is upheld by vedānta, and we need to put this ideal non-difference into practice is the crux of Vivekananda’s practical vedānta. Vivekananda gives certain reasons for the practicability of vedānta. This paper’s part I is an exposition of Vivekananda’s practical vedānta, focussing on those reasons for practical vedānta and orienting each towards an analytical understanding. In part II, a linguistic analysis of Vivekananda’s approach to one’s identity has been carried out after introducing J. Hintikka’s interpretation of Descartes’ “I think, therefore, I am” and G. Misra’s interpretation of sat (existence, reality or being) cit (consciousness, knowledge or cognition) ānanda (bliss, intense happiness or felicity). The latter’s interpretation displays a positivist’s linguistic analysis of vedānta, whereas the former’s does a speech act theorist’s analysis of Descartes’ cogito principle. The present analysis indicates that practical vedānta can be read in the light of analytic philosophy and Vivekananda’s approach to one’s identity can be understood in terms of speech acts.

     

Relative distance of lights: An extension of Bugelski’s findings

Three lights in various orientations were presented to two trained Ss. The Ss adjusted the three lights until they appeared equidistant. The results supported earlier work of a similar nature, in that the higher light was perceived as closer and horizontal separation between lights produced no significant differences in depth settings. The phenomenon was shown to occur with monocular vision, fixated vision, large angular separation of the stimuli, and with different directions of regard with respect to the fixation point. The relationship to other research is discussed.     

Dworkin’s Unity of Value: An Interpretation and Defense

Res Publica - Ronald Dworkin’s unity of value thesis underlies his influential moral, political, and legal thought. This essay presents an interpretation of the unity thesis designed to...     

Margaret R. Miles’ Augustine and the Fundamentalist’s Daughter: An Eriksonian Perspective

My perspective on Margaret R. Miles’s Augustine and the Fundamentalist’s Daughter is informed by Erik H. Erikson’s life cycle model (Erikson 1950, 1959, 1963, 1964, 1968a, b, 1982; Erikson and Erikson 1997) and, more specifically, by my relocation of his life stages and their accompanying human strengths (Erikson 1964) according to decades (Capps 2008). I interpret Miles’s account of her life from birth to age forty as revealing the selves that comprise the composite Self (Erikson 1968a) that come into their own during the first four decades of the life cycle, i.e., the hopeful, willing, purposeful, and competent selves     

Reflexive monism versus complementarism: An analysis and criticism of the conceptual groundwork of Max Velmans’s reflexive model of consciousness

From 1990 on, the London psychologist Max Velmans developed a novel approach to (phenomenal) consciousness according to which an experience of an object is phenomenologically identical to an object as experienced. On the face of it I agree; but unlike Velmans I argue that the latter should be understood as comparable, not to a Kantian, but rather to a noematic ‘phenomenon’ in the Husserlian sense. Consequently, I replace Velmans’s reflexive model with a complementaristic approach in a strict sense which leaves no room for either monistic or dualistic views (including Velmans’s ontological monism and his dual-aspect interpretation of complementarity) and hence requires us to radically reinterpret the concept of psychophysical causation.

An Infinitary Extension of Jankov’s Theorem

It is known that for any subdirectly irreducible finite Heyting algebra A and any Heyting algebra B, A is embeddable into a quotient algebra of B, if and only if Jankov’s formula χ _A for A is refuted in B. In this paper, we present an infinitary extension of the above theorem given by Jankov. More precisely, for any cardinal number κ, we present Jankov’s theorem for homomorphisms preserving infinite meets and joins, a class of subdirectly irreducible complete κ-Heyting algebras and κ-infinitary logic, where a κ-Heyting algebra is a Heyting algebra A with # ≥  κ and κ-infinitary logic is the infinitary logic such that for any set Θ of formulas with # Θ ≥  κ, ∨Θ and ∧Θ are well defined formulas.     

An axiomatic version of Fitch’s paradox

A variation of Fitch’s paradox is given, where no special rules of inference are assumed, only axioms. These axioms follow from the familiar assumptions which involve rules of inference. We show (by constructing a model) that by allowing that possibly the knower doesn’t know his own soundness (while still requiring he be sound), Fitch’s paradox is avoided. Provided one is willing to admit that sound knowers may be ignorant of their own soundness, this might offer a way out of the paradox.     

Preembryo Personhood: An Assessment of the President’s Council Arguments

The President’s Council on Bioethics has addressed the moral status of human preembryos in its reports on stem cell research and human therapeutic cloning. Although the Council has been criticized for being hand-picked to favor the right-to-life viewpoint concerning human preembryos, it has embraced the idea that the right-to-life position should be defended in secular terms. This is an important feature of the Council’s work, and it demonstrates a recognition of the need for genuine engagement between opposing sides in the debate over stem cell research. To promote this engagement, the Council has stated in secular terms several arguments for the personhood of human preembryos. This essay presents and critiques those arguments, and it concludes that they are unsuccessful. If the best arguments in support of the personhood of human preembryos have been presented by the Council, then there are no reasonable secular arguments in support of that view.     

Different senses of finitude: An inquiry into Hilbert’s finitism

This article develops a critical investigation of the epistemological core of Hilbert’s foundational project, the so-called the finitary attitude. The investigation proceeds by distinguishing different senses of ‘number’ and ‘finitude’ that have been used in the philosophical arguments. The usual notion of modern pure mathematics, i.e. the sense of number which is implicit in the notion of an arbitrary finite sequence and iteration is one sense of number and finitude. Another sense, of older origin, is connected with practices of counting concrete things, and a third sense is linked up with the immediate intuitive experience of multitudes of concrete things. Hilbert’s finitism is examined with respect to these differences, and it will be shown that there is a tendency to conflate the different senses of number and finitude, a tendency which has been a source of problems in the discussion of the foundations of mathematics and in the philosophy of logic and language.     

Millennials and the World of Work: An Economist’s Perspective

This article uses an economic approach to address whether and how the Millennial generation is significantly different from its predecessors. Particular attention is paid to the normal life cycle stages through which all generations pass, and the implications for forecasting how the Millennials’ relationship with the world of work will evolve. A second key issue is the extremely large differences in economic opportunity that exist among the members of each generation, and which have increased for more recent generations, particularly those with lower levels of education. Other key issues include the rise in international competition for jobs, and the rising cost of a college education. These factors together imply that simple stereotypes about Millennials taking a privileged view of the world of work may be simplistic at best, and likely are significantly off target.     

Wu Song’s Killing of His Sister-in-law: An Ethical Analysis

The Water Margin is a great Chinese classical novel; Wu Song’s 武松 killing of his sister-in-law, Pan Jinlian 潘金蓮, is one of the most popular episodes of the novel. It depicts Wu as the hero and defender of traditional values, and Pan as the adulterous woman. In contemporary discussion, there has been a dearth of ethical analyses regarding Wu’s killing of Pan. How should we judge the moral status of his action? Does the killing signify Wu Song’s ethical achievement or his ethical failure? What does the killing tell us about Wu’s character or his virtues? Does our appraisal of Wu’s action square with our modern belief regarding the treatment of women? I will examine these questions in the article.