Against qualia theory

Representational theorists identify experiences’ phenomenal properties with their representational properties. Qualia theorists reject this identity, insisting that experiences’ phenomenal properties can come apart from and completely outrun their representational properties. Qualia theorists account for phenomenal properties in terms of “qualia,” intrinsic mental properties they allege experiences to instantiate. The debate between representational theorists and qualia theorists has focused on whether phenomenal properties really can come apart from and completely outrun representational properties. As a result, qualia theorists have failed (1) to explain how experiences owe their phenomenal properties to their instantiation of qualia and (2) to clarify the nature of subjects’ epistemic access to qualia. I survey qualia theorists’ options for dealing with each issue and find them all wanting.     

Vantage point in episodic memory

University undergraduates undertook a series of manual tasks (e.g., shaping objects out of clay) and later recalled the experiences they had while doing so from either afield or anobserver vantage point. In the former case, the subjects mentally reinstated the original task environment as if they were seeing it again through their own eyes; in the latter condition, the original task environment was envisioned from the perspective of a detached spectator. Analysis of the subjects’ recollections revealed marked differences in the contents of field and observer memories. For instance, whereas field memories afforded richer accounts of the affective reactions, physical sensations, and psychological states that the subjects experienced as they performed the tasks, observer memories included more information about how the subjects looked, what they did, or where things were. Discussion focuses on prospects for future research whose aim would be to investigate the forensic and clinical implications of the field/observer distinction.     

The effects of self-modeling on cigarette smoking behavior

Two studies of self-modeling are described. Study 1 investigated whether self-modeling would inhibit cigarette smoking behavior. Fourteen cigarette smokers (four males and 10 females) served as subjects for a repeated-measures design. In the self-modeling condition, the subjects watched themselves on a television monitor while smoking; in the control condition, they watched a short cartoon film on the same monitor, also while smoking. The following were measured: (1) the amount of tobacco consumed, (2) the amount of time lit cigarettes were in contact with the subjects’ lips, and (3) the subjects’ physiological responses (GSRs). Study 2 investigated the role of cognitive factors in self-modeling. It followed much the same self-modeling procedures as Study 1. However, unlike Study 1, it incorporated a manipulated cognitive variable: attitudes toward cigarette smoking. Self-modeling reduced the amount of smoking relative to the control condition in Study 1. In Study 2 it was found that cognitive factors influenced the amount of smoking. Smoking increased in subjects supplied with information favorable to smoking, whereas it decreased in those supplied with information unfavorable to smoking. These findings and additional research on the efficacy of self-modeling relative to other procedures suggest the importance of cognitive factors in self-modeling.     

The type a behavior pattern and the need to prove oneself: A correlational study

This study set out to investigate the relationship between the Type A behavior pattern, the need for approval, and the need to prove oneself. One hundred and two subjects completed four questionnaires: two measuring A-type behavior, one social desirability, and one—especially devised for this study—the belief in the need to prove oneself consistently. Results showed that Type A’s have significantly lower needs for approval than Type B’s, yet appear to show considerably greater interest in comparing their achievements with others. It seems that Type A’s do not have any special need to prove their worth to others, but that they must constantly prove themselves to themselves. Limitations of this preliminary study are discussed.     

Undisclosed Paternal Identity in Narratives of Distress Among Young People in Eastern Cape,South Africa

Life trajectories of children with no connections to support from their fathers have received research attention. Within this group is a sub-group who do not know their fathers and no research has attempted to understand their experiences. We present accounts of how young South Africans deal with and seek to uncover undisclosed paternity. Forty young men and women aged 16 to 22 volunteered to participate in a qualitative study on distress that was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province. All interviews were conducted in isiXhosa, following a semi-structured guide. Our findings show that interest in father identity was motivated by harsh circumstances in the maternal home, notably when financial difficulties, exclusion from critical decision making and bullying by non-biological siblings were felt. The search for father identity was pursued in solitude by some participants: their fear of elders’ response restrained them from asking. Some thought that it would be interpreted as being disrespectful and ungrateful to ask ‘such a question’, whilst others worried that they might be victimized or, worse, thrown out by their mothers or maternal guardians. We present accounts of accidental disclosures by strangers and also inadvertent involvement in an incestuous relationship. Open and honest communication with children about their paternal identity should be promoted to prevent the currents of silence, secrecy and anxiety, and avoid unpleasant surprises for the children.     

The impact of socially projected group composition on behavior in a commons dilemma: A self-attention perspective

Socially projected group compositions, based on subjects’ expectancies about the behavior of others and the number of subjects taking part on the resource use task, were indexed using Mullen’s Additive Other-Total Ratio (Mullen, 1987) and used to predict harvesting behavior in a commons dilemma. One-hundred forty-three males took part in a resource use task in groups ranging in size from two to six members. Just prior to harvesting trials, subjects indicated the number of those taking part that they expected to overharvest and to underharvest, and indicated to which of these groups they had assigned themselves. Results indicated that harvesting behavior varied as a function of the number of others expected to behave differently from self, and conformed to patterns predicted by Self-Attention Theory. With increases in the number of others expected to underharvest, indexing an increase in self-attention, subjects who indicated they would overharvest become more conservative in resource use. However, subjects who indicated they would underharvest did not significantly decrease harvest size with increases in the number of others expected to overharvest. These subjects were already harvesting at an optimal or sub-optimal rate, and therefore had no need to reduce the size of their harvests to match their behavior to standards stressing conservatism in resource use.     

The experience of watching dance: phenomenological–neuroscience duets

This paper discusses possible correspondences between neuroscientific findings and phenomenologically informed methodologies in the investigation of kinesthetic empathy in watching dance. Interest in phenomenology has recently increased in cognitive science (Gallagher and Zahavi 2008) and dance scholars have recently contributed important new insights into the use of phenomenology in dance studies (e.g. Legrand and Ravn (Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 8(3):389–408, 2009); Parviainen (Dance Research Journal 34(1):11–26, 2002); Rothfield (Topoi 24:43–53, 2005)). In vision research, coherent neural mechanisms for perceptual phenomena were uncovered, thus supporting correlation of phenomenology and neurophysiology Spillmann (Vision Research 49(12):1507–1521, 2009). Correspondingly, correlating subjects’ neurophysiological data with qualitative responses has been proposed as a means to research the human brain in the study of consciousness (Gallagher and Zahavi 2008), with similar issues in clinical psychology Mishara (Current Opinion in Psychiatry 20(6):559–569, 2007) and biology Kosslyn et al. (American Psychologist 57:341–351, 2002). Yet the relationship between neuroscience and qualitative research informed by phenomenology remains problematic. How qualitative research normally handles subjective experiences is difficult to reconcile with standard statistical analysis of objective data. Recent technological developments in cognitive neuroscience have inspired a number of researchers to use more naturalistic stimuli, outside the laboratory environment, such as dance, thereby perhaps helping to open up the cognitive sciences to more phenomenologically informed approaches. A question central to our research, addressed here, is how the phenomenal experiences of a dance audience member, as accessed by qualitative research methods, can be related to underlying neurophysiological events. We outline below some methodological challenges encountered in relating audiences’ first-person accounts of watching live dance performance to neurophysiological evidence of their experiences.     

Proverb preferences across cultures: Dialecticality or poeticality?

Peng and Nisbett (1999) claimed that members of Asian cultures show a greater preference than Euro-Americans for proverbs expressing paradox (so-called dialectical proverbs; e.g.,Too humble is half proud). The present research sought to replicate this claim with the same set of stimuli used in Peng and Nisbett’s Experiment 2 and a new set of dialectical and nondialectical proverbs that were screened to be comparably pleasing in phrasing. Whereas the proverbs were rated as more familiar and (in Set 1) more poetic by Chinese than by American participants, no group differences were found in relation to proverb dialecticality. Both the Chinese and Americans in our study rated the dialectical proverbs from Peng and Nisbett’s study as more likable, higher in wisdom, and higher in poeticality than the nondialectical proverbs. For Set 2, both groups found the dialectical proverbs to be as likable, wise, and poetic as the nondialectical proverbs. When poeticality was covaried out, dialectical proverbs were liked better than nondialectical proverbs across both stimulus sets by the Chinese and the Americans alike, and when wisdom was covaried out, the effect of dialecticality was reduced in both sets and groups. Our findings indicate that caution should be taken in ascribing differences in proverb preferences solely to cultural differences in reasoning.     

Meaning in Life: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Life of Young Adults

The present study explores the relationship of meaning in life with subjective well-being among a sample of young adults launching their career. Using a qualitative approach, ten young adults were asked to share their life experiences using a semi structured interview schedule. A grounded theory analysis revealed that happiness forms a core concern for an individual where it depends not only on the cultural norm involving an individual where social relationships form an important part, but also goals and aims (s) he/she wishes to achieve in life. It exists in temporality but is impacted by the larger dimension of meaning in life which is relatively stable and covers a huge expanse of an individual’s existence. Finding a meaning in life involves both personal goals such as self growth and attainment of peace, and also professional goals like fulfillment of one’s academic aim. Meaning in life is also seen as being impacted by an individual’s past happenings, belief in self- worth and social responsibility.     

Discussing the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) rebellion: non-Islamist women and religious revival in urban Bangladesh

This article explores the piety/politics nexus by asking what it means when educated, urban Bangladeshi women who are embracing religion anew claim that their pursuit of piety, and the learning circles that inspire it, are apolitical. I explain this self-proclaimed apolitical stance through women’s own accounts of why and how they maintain political neutrality. The article demonstrates that organizers of many Islamic discussion circles in Dhaka consciously strive to attain a certain political neutrality, while allowing whoever is interested to attend, irrespective of the latter’s political affinities. This decision stems from an understanding of the lack of trust that accompanies organized religion in Bangladesh, and its alliance, in the national imaginary, with the explicit political agenda of the Jama’at-i Islami. The article provides an account of different discussion circle members’ varied articulation of political neutrality and how they draw from different ideas and discourses about being publicly religious in their molding of the ideal, pious, Bangladeshi woman. To exemplify the pious self-fashioning of urban, educated, Bangladeshi women, I will recount the ways in which several women discussed the March 2009 Bangladesh Rifles mutiny—a highly politically charged event. Women’s accounts of the mutiny serve to unify lesson attendees around the cultivation of piety. Contestations over national politics and political affinities are made secondary, as women focus on giving an ethical bend to the deeply personal, subjective and gendered experiences of being educated and upwardly-mobile in present day urban Bangladesh.     

Cognitive manipulation of GSR extinction: Analogues for conditioning therapies

Cognitive determinants of GSR activity during extinction trials were examined following conditioning. Conditioned GSRs extinguished rapidly when subjects were informed the UCS would not again be administered, compared to subjects not given this information. Of greater interest was the finding that (false) high feedback concerning subjects’ responsivity to the Cs+ during extinction served to maintain GSR activity at a higher level than subjects receiving (false) low feedback. The relationship was observed within both information conditions. Implications are drawn for both aversive conditioning therapy and systematic desensitization.     

Dialectical Displacement and Redeployment of Attachments in the Kenotic Mode of Conversion: The Leaving Behind of Anton Boisen in Psychosis

This paper introduces a kenotic theory of conversion that builds from simple attachment to childhood experience of peak states to encompass dialectical stages of development: Priming, Decentering, Reflection, Encounter, Denucleation, Emplacement and Discipline. Thereafter, the dialectical mode gives rise to the mature phase of conversion—the continuing integration of the religious worldview through Metamorphosis and Embassy. The conversion theory is illustrated by an interpretation of a dialectical set of experiences of Anton Boisen. I interpret Anton Boisen’s conversion from a 19th Century Christianity that was wedded to religious and racial manifest destiny to that of a reborn Christian living with the 20th Century’s experience of evangelical and evolutionary universalism. Boisen’s clinical desolations (“psychosis”) and adoption of vocation (“change of allegiance”) suggest his conversion counterposed the instinctual with the higher order ideals he struggled to embody—a dialectical negation of his younger static and triumphalist Christian cultural identity that developed into a more integrated, expansive, and inclusive view of the human family and deepening allegiance to the ordinary, underserved, and growing population of the mentally suffering.

The emergence of cultural self-constructs: autobiographical memory and self-description in European American and Chinese children

This study examined the emergence of cultural self-constructs as reflected in children's remembered and conceptual aspects of the self. European American and Chinese children in preschool through 2nd grade participated (N=180). Children each recounted 4 autobiographical events and described themselves in response to open-ended questions. American children often provided elaborate and detailed memories focusing on their own roles, preferences, and feelings; they also frequently described themselves in terms of personal attributes, abstract dispositions, and inner traits in a positive light. Chinese children provided relatively skeletal accounts of past experiences that centered on social interactions and daily routines, and they often described themselves in terms of social roles, context-specific characteristics, and oven behaviors in a neutral or modest tone. Findings are discussed in light of the self as a constructed meaning system of culture that emerges early in life.     

Tracking the train of thought from the laboratory into everyday life: An experience-sampling study of mind wandering across controlled and ecological contexts

In an experience-sampling study that bridged laboratory, ecological, and individual-differences approaches to mind-wandering research, 72 subjects completed an executive-control task with periodic thought probes (reported by McVay & Kane, 2009) and then carried PDAs for a week that signaled them eight times daily to report immediately whether their thoughts were off task. Subjects who reported more mind wandering during the laboratory task endorsed more mind-wandering experiences during everyday life (and were more likely to report worries as off-task thought content). We also conceptually replicated laboratory findings that mind wandering predicts task performance: Subjects rated their daily-life performance to be impaired when they reported off-task thoughts, with greatest impairment when subjects’ mind wandering lacked metaconsciousness. The propensity to mind wander appears to be a stable cognitive characteristic and seems to predict performance difficulties in daily life, just as it does in the laboratory     

How does dominance rank status affect individual and social learning performance in the dog (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis familiaris</Emphasis>)?

Dogs can learn effectively to detour around a V-shaped fence after observing a demonstration from either an unfamiliar human or dog demonstrator. We found earlier that there is substantial individual variation between the dogs’ performance, even when using the same experimental conditions. Here, we investigate if the subjects’ relative dominance rank with other dogs had an effect on their social learning performance. On the basis of the owners’ answers to a questionnaire, subjects from multi-dog homes were sorted into groups of dominant and subordinate dogs. In Experiment 1, dominant and subordinate dogs were tested without demonstration and we did not find any difference between the groups—they had similarly low detour performances on their own. In Experiment 2 and 3, dogs from single dog and multi-dog households were tested in the detour task with demonstration by an unfamiliar dog, or human, respectively. The results showed that social learning performance of the single dogs fell between the dominant and subordinate multi-dogs with both dog and human demonstration. Subordinate dogs displayed significantly better performance after having observed a dog demonstrator in comparison to dominant dogs. In contrast, the performance of dominant and subordinate dogs was almost similar, when they observed a human demonstrator. These results suggest that perceived dominance rank in its own group has a strong effect on social learning in dogs, but this effect seems to depend also on the demonstrator species. This finding reveals an intricate organization of the social structure in multi-dog households, which can contribute to individual differences existing among dogs.     

Feminist identity development: Psychometric analyses of two feminist identity scales

N. E. Downing and K. L. Roush [(1985) “From Passive Acceptance to Active Commitment: A Model of Feminist Identity Development,”The Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 13, pp. 695–709] proposed a five-level developmental model of feminist identity that charts development from passive acceptance of traditional gender roles toward active commitment to feminist ideals and an egalitarian society. A Bargad and J. S. Hyde [(1991) “Women’s Studies: A Study of Feminist Identity Development in Women,”Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol. 15, pp. 181–201] and K. M. Rickard [(1989) “The Relationship of Self-Monitored Dating Behaviors to Level of Feminist Identity on the Feminist Identity Scale,Sex Roles, Vol. 20, pp. 213–226] developed questionnaires to measure the Downing and Roush levels. The goal of the present study was to further explore the reliability and validity of the two feminist identity development scales. Participants included 198 female students who were taking either a women’s studies class or a general psychology class. They were administered Rickard’s and Bargad and Hyde’s scales of feminist identity development and a measure of cognitive development both at the beginning and end of the semester. Sixty-six percent of the participants classified themselves as Caucasian, 13% as Asian, 7% as African American, 4% as Hispanic, 3% as Indian, 5% as Other, and 2% left the item blank. Within this framework, we demonstrated support for (1) the psychometric/statistical properties of each scale, including (a) internal consistency and reliability, (b) component structure, (c) the relationship among the two scales, and (d) discrimination from social desirability; and (2) construct validity, as determined by (a) distinction between general psychology students who were interested in taking a women’s studies class in the future and those who were not, (b) the impact of a women’s studies class on feminist identity development, and (c) relationship of the scales to a measure of cognitive development. The authors wish to thank Richard Ashmore and Erich Labouvie for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. We also would like to thank the instructors of the general psychology and women’s studies classes, especially Barbara Balliet, for allowing us to recruit participants in their classes.     

The selfish meme & the selflessATMA

The word ‘meme’ was first used by Richard Dawkins (Dawkins, 1976)¹ in the sense of a replicator to introduce the idea of cultural transmission through the process of imitation, just as genes are responsible for the evolution of organisms. Following Dawkins several writers came forth to have a closer look at ‘meme’. The consensus was that this was a fascinating way of explaining cultural evolution and transmission; that meme is the basic unit of (cultural) information whose existence influences events so as to make more copies of itself (Brodie, 1996).² The book which got most attention in this line of literature wasThe Meme Machine (Blackmore, 1993),³ which favours the idea that culture, like biology, evolves through the process of variation, selection and replication. Something striking in Blackmore’s thesis is that emotions and attitudes do not count as memes since they are subjective and never get passed on.