Matrix representations for structural strengthenings of a propositional logic

The aim of this paper is to show that the operations of forming direct products and submatrices suffice to construct exhaustive semantics for all structural strengthenings of the consequence determined by a given class of logical matrices.     

The deceleration of inappropriate comments by a natural consequence

The characters of this study were two boys in a class for pupils with learning disabilities. The subject was a nine-year-old boy who emitted certain inappropriate comments in class. The manager throughout this study was a peer of the subject.Following a period of initial assessment, which revealed that the inappropriate verbalizations occurred about twice each day, the peer-manager, contingent on each inappropriate remark, moved away from the subject to another desk. Furthermore, before he moved, he explained to the subject why he was displeased. The peer-manager, after a period of time, returned to his original location contingent on appropriate verbalizations of the subject.This technique proved effective in that the subject rarely responded inappropriately throughout the remainder of the school term. Further, it was reported that follow-up observations taken the next year, when the pupil was in a different class, revealed that the inappropriate verbalizations had not reoccurred.     

The medieval theory of consequence

The recovery of Aristotle??s logic during the twelfth century was a great stimulus to medieval thinkers. Among their own theories developed to explain Aristotle??s theories of valid and invalid reasoning was a theory of consequence, of what arguments were valid, and why. By the fourteenth century, two main lines of thought had developed, one at Oxford, the other at Paris. Both schools distinguished formal from material consequence, but in very different ways. In Buridan and his followers in Paris, formal consequence was that preserved under uniform substitution. In Oxford, in contrast, formal consequence included analytic consequences such as ??If it??s a man, then it??s an animal??. Aristotle??s notion of syllogistic consequence was subsumed under the treatment of formal consequence. Buridan developed a general theory embracing the assertoric syllogism, the modal syllogism and syllogisms with oblique terms. The result was a thoroughly systematic and extensive treatment of logical theory and logical consequence which repays investigation.     

The consequence argument ungrounded

Peter van Inwagen’s original formulation of the Consequence Argument employed an inference rule (rule beta) that was shown to be invalid given van Inwagen’s interpretation of the modal operators in the Consequence Argument (McKay and Johnson in Philos Top 24:113–122, 1996). In response, van Inwagen (Metaphysics. The big questions, Blackwell, Oxford, 2008a, Harv Rev Philos 22:16–30, 2015) recently suggested a revised interpretation of his modal operators. Following up on a debate between Blum (Dialectica 57:423–429, 2003) and Schnieder (Synthese 162:101–115, 2008), I analyze van Inwagen’s revised interpretation in terms of explanatory notions and I argue that van Inwagen faces a dilemma: he either has to admit that beta entails fatalism, or he has to admit that a new counterexample invalidates beta. Either way, it seems reasonable to reject beta and to conclude that the Consequence Argument fails. Further, I argue that Widerker’s (Analysis 47:37–41, 1987) well-known substitute for rule beta is faced with a similar dilemma and, therefore, is bound to fail as well. I conclude that, if the modal operators are interpreted in terms of explanatory notions, neither van Inwagen’s nor Widerker’s rule of inference turns out to be valid.     

Cardinalities of proper ideals in some lattices of strengthenings of the intuitionistic propositional logic

We prove that each proper ideal in the lattice of axiomatic, resp. standard strengthenings of the intuitionistic propositional logic is of cardinality 2^?0. But, each proper ideal in the lattice of structural strengthenings of the intuitionistic propositional logic is of cardinality 2^2?0. As a corollary we have that each of these three lattices has no atoms.     

The consequence of a limited-capacity short-term memory on repeated visual search

ABSTRACT

When participants search the same letter display repeatedly for different targets we might expect performance to improve on each subsequent search as they memorize characteristics of the display. However, here we find that search performance improved from a first search to a second search but not for a third search of the same display. This is predicted by a simple model that supports search with only a limited capacity short-term memory for items in the display. To support this model we show that a short-term memory recency effect is present in both the second and the third search. The magnitude of these effects is the same in both searches and as a result there is no additional benefit from the second to the third search.     

The face inversion effect is not a consequence of aberrant eye movements

The face inversion effect is the finding that inverted faces are more difficult to recognize than other inverted objects. The present study explored the possibility that eye movements have a role in producing the face inversion effect. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that the faces used here produce a robust face inversion effect when compared with another homogenous set of objects (antique radios). In Experiment 2, participants' eye movements were monitored while they learned a set of faces and during a recognition test. Although we clearly found a face inversion effect, the same features of a face were fixated during the learning and recognition test faces, whether the face was right side up or upside down. Thus, the face inversion effect is not a result of a different pattern of eye movements during the viewing of the face.     

The variety of consequence,according to Bolzano

Contemporary historians of logic tend to credit Bernard Bolzano with the invention of the semantic notion, of consequence, a full century before Tarski. Nevertheless, Bolzano's work played no significant rôle in the genesis of modern logical semantics. The purpose of this paper is to point out three highly original, and still quite relevant themes in Bolzano's work, being a systematic study of possible types of inference, of consistency, as well as their meta-theory. There are certain analogies with Tarski's concerns here, although the main thrust seems to be different, both philosophically and technically. Thus, if only obliquely, we also provide some additional historical perspective on Tarski's achievement.     

Strength of hindsight bias as a consequence of meta-cognitions

Hindsight bias is the tendency of people to falsely believe that they would have correctly predicted the outcome of an event once it is known. The present paper addresses the ongoing debate as to whether the hindsight bias is due to memory impairment or biased reconstruction. The memory impairment approach maintains that outcome information alters the memory trace of the initial judgement, whereas the biased reconstruction approach assumes that people who have forgotten their initial judgements are forced to guess and, in the presence of outcome information, are likely to use this information as an anchor. Whereas the latter approach emphasises the role of meta-cognitive considerations, meta-cognitions are not included in the memory impairment explanation. Two experiments show that the biased reconstruction approach provides a better explanation for empirical findings in hindsight bias research than does the memory impairment explanation.     

Strength of hindsight bias as a consequence of meta-cognitions

Hindsight bias is the tendency of people to falsely believe that they would have correctly predicted the outcome of an event once it is known. The present paper addresses the ongoing debate as to whether the hindsight bias is due to memory impairment or biased reconstruction. The memory impairment approach maintains that outcome information alters the memory trace of the initial judgement, whereas the biased reconstruction approach assumes that people who have forgotten their initial judgements are forced to guess and, in the presence of outcome information, are likely to use this information as an anchor. Whereas the latter approach emphasises the role of meta-cognitive considerations, meta-cognitions are not included in the memory impairment explanation. Two experiments show that the biased reconstruction approach provides a better explanation for empirical findings in hindsight bias research than does the memory impairment explanation.     

The detrimental effects of physical restraint as a consequence for inappropriate classroom behavior.

Functional analyses produced inconclusive results regarding variables that maintained problem behavior for 2 students with developmental disabilities. Procedures were modified to include a contingent physical restraint condition based on in‐class observations. Results indicated that under conditions in which physical restraint (i.e., basket‐hold time‐out) was applied contingent on problem behavior, rates of these behaviors increased across sessions for both subjects. Implications for the use of physical restraint in the classroom are discussed.     

The US-preexposure effect in lithium-induced flavor-aversion conditioning is a consequence of blocking by injection cues

In 2 experiments, rats received flavor-aversion conditioning in which the unconditioned stimulus (US) was an orally consumed solution of lithium chloride (LiCl). The resulting aversion was not attenuated by giving preexposure to injections of LiCl, although such preexposure did attenuate aversions established using injected LiCl as the US (Experiment 1). This outcome suggests that blocking by injection-related cues is responsible for the US-preexposure effect observed in this situation. Experiment 2 confirmed this interpretation by showing that presenting such cues (by giving an injection of saline) at the time that the LiCl was drunk resulted in an attenuation of conditioning in animals preexposed to injections of LiCl. The US-preexposure effect obtained in these experiments can be explained solely in terms of blocking by injection cues, although other mechanisms may contribute to the effect seen in other flavor-aversion paradigms.