Internal approach to external sets and universes

A problem which enthusiasts ofIST, Nelson's internal set theory, usually face is how to treat external sets in the internal universe which does not contain them directly. To solve this problem, we considerBST,bounded set theory, a modification ofIST which is, briefly, a theory for the family of thoseIST sets which are members of standard sets.We show thatBST is strong enough to incorporate external sets in the internal universe in a way sufficient to develop the most advanced applications of nonstandard methods. In particular, we define inBST an enlargement of theBST universe which satisfies the axioms ofHST, an external theory close to a theory introduced by Hrbaek. HST includes Replacement and Saturation for all formulas but contradicts the Power Set and Choice axioms (either of them is incompatible with Replacement plus Saturation), therefore to get an external universe which satisfies all ofZFC minus Regularity one has to pay by a restriction of Saturation. We prove thatHST admits a system of subuniverses which modelZFC (minus Regularity but with Power Set and Choice) and Saturation in a form restricted by a fixed but arbitrary standard cardinal.Thus the proposed system of set theoretic foundations for nonstandard mathematics, based on the simple and natural axioms of the internal theoryBST, provides the treatment of external sets sufficient to carry out elaborate external constructions.Partially supported by AMS grants in 1993 and 1994 and DFG grant in 1994.Presented byRobert Goldblatt     

Certain Factors Related to Liberal and Conservative Attitudes of College Students: Parental Membership in Certain Organizations

Summary

Demand cues (experiment title) and evaluation apprehension (a “personality” test) were manipulated in the context of a typical attitude change experiment. A significant effect for demand cues and an interaction between demand cues and evaluation apprehension were found. These results were interpreted as illustrating the basic flaw in the laboratory attitude change experiment; demand characteristics are confounded with the actual impact of the persuasive communication. Also, the concept of cooperation is downgraded as a variable in explaining demand characteristics effects in favor of the concept of evaluation apprehension. When subjects report cooperation on a postexperimental rating scale, they may be basing their report upon what they actually did in the experiment.     

Verbal uncertainty expressions: A critical review of two decades of research

The frequency with which verbal uncertainty expressions are employed suggests that they play an important role in the communication of states of uncertainty and may have an important role in emerging technologies such as Expert Systems. This article critically reviews empirical studies of verbal uncertainty expressions spanning two decades of research between 1967 and 1987 with the principal conclusions that: (1) People are highly internally consistent in their use of verbal uncertainty expressions; (2) No conclusions about between-subject variability are justified principally because (a) there is currently no consensus as to what is to count as consistent or inconsistent use and (b) there are several factors that confound purported analyses of between-subject consistency such as the composition of the stimulus set and the scaling tasks themselves; (3) One study suggests that assessments of the meaning of verbal uncertainty expressions may be conditioned by the prior perceived probabilities of the events they describe. However, other interpretations of this study are open. The review also discusses the more general epistemological question of whether the concept of uncertainty as manifest by verbal uncertainty expressions is really amenable to the unidimensional framework within which empirical studies have been conceived. I am indebted to Dylan Jones (UWIST) for his encouragement and support and to John Fox, (ICRF), Tom Wallsten and David Budescu for comments on earlier drafts. This work was supported, in part, by the Science and Engineering Research Council while the author was a postgraduate student at the Department of Applied Psychology, UWIST (now UWCC School of Psychology).     

PHYSICAL SCALE EFFECTS AND PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS

Abstract: The scales across which physical properties exist are vast and subtle in their effects on particular systems placed locally on such scales. For example, human experiential access is restricted only to partial segments of the mass density, size, and temperature scales of the universe. I argue that philosophers must learn to appreciate better the effects of physical scales. Specifically, thought experiments in philosophy should be more sensitive to physical scale effects, because the conclusion of a thought experiment may be undermined by unintentionally ignored scale effects, and the changes required to obtain the foreground state of affairs in a thought experiment might require unacknowledged scale‐spanning changes to the contextual background. I discuss four philosophical thought experiments: Putnam's Twin Earth and Brain in a Vat, Searle's Chinese Room, and Chalmers's Zombies Without Qualia. I close by briefly defending the greater interest and importance of physical possibility over logical possibility.     

Sometimes frequently means seldom: Context effects in the interpretation of quantitative expressions

Subjects supplied numerical definitions for five quantitative expressions embedded in two high-frequency contexts, one moderate-frequency context, two low-frequency contexts, and with no context specified. Mean definitions differed significantly across contexts and expressions with a Context-Expression interaction (p < .01). The variance in definition of an expression embedded in a context generally increased with the discrepancy between its no-context definition and the context event's estimated frequency (p < .05). Variance in the definitions of the sampled expressions gathered over diverse contexts increased with the expression's no-context definition (p < .05). Thus, the mean and variance of an expression's numerical definitions depended upon both the expression and its context.     

Compensation of neural delays in visual‐motor behaviour: No evidence for shorter afferent delays for visual motion

Abstract

Faces and other objects that share a configuration present a special problem to the visual system. Two components of the visual system's solution to this homogeneity problem have been identified. Inversion studies have identified the use of relational features (Diamond &; Carey, 1986; Rhodes, Brake, &; Atkinson, 1993), and caricature studies have identified norm-based coding (Carey, Rhodes, Diamond, &; Hamilton, in preparation; Rhodes, Brennan, &; Carey, 1987; Rhodes &; McLean, 1990). Here we explore a possible link between these two components, asking whether caricature effects depend selectively on exaggeration of relational features. If so, then inversion, which makes relational features particularly difficult to code (compared with isolated features), should reduce caricature effects. In three experiments we found a caricature equivalence effect (caricatures identified as accurately as undistorted images and both better than anticaricatures) that was unaffected by orientation, suggesting that relational feature coding is not necessary for caricatures to be effective. Therefore, caricature and inversion effects reflect distinct components of face recognition. Caricature level and orientation also interacted differently with other factors, as would be expected if their effects depend upon different underlying processes. For one set of faces there was a caricature advantage in accuracy (Experiments 1 and 3). This superportrait effect occurred even for subjects who were unfamiliar with the faces prior to the experiment (Experiment 3), a result with important forensic implications. Furthermore, the effect was restricted to upright faces. Therefm, although caricatures can be recognized as well as undistorted images whatever features are exaggerated, exaggeration of relational features may be needed for a superportrait effect.     

The tale of uncertain choices: inclusion versus exclusion

Abstract

This article investigates the effect of perceived uncertainty on two types of screening strategies – exclusion and inclusion. Results from five studies showed that perceived uncertainty increases the preference for exclusion strategy. Using both mediation and moderation methods, we find support for accuracy consideration as the driver underlying the effect of perceived uncertainty on screening strategy. Furthermore, we demonstrated a reversal of the relationship between perceived uncertainty and screening strategy by manipulating the consideration set size. While perceived uncertainty strengthened the preference for the exclusion strategy when forming smaller consideration sets, this relationship flipped when forming larger consideration sets. We also demonstrated the effects of perceived preference uncertainty on screening strategy over and above knowledge uncertainty, choice uncertainty, as well as dispositional attitude toward uncertainty. Finally, we demonstrated the generalisability of our results by analysing verbal protocol data from the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?     

Between Actor and Spectator: Arnout Geulincx and the Stoics

The work of Arnout Geulincx (1624–1669), a Flemish Cartesian that developed a highly curious ‘parallelistic’ view on the universe, shows striking prima facie resemblances to Stoicism. Should we label Geulincx a reinventor of Stoic tenets, albeit within a strict Cartesian theoretical framework? To answer this question, my contribution begins by discussing relevant aspects of Stoicism and by introducing the ‘existential’ philosophy of Geulincx, whose metaphysical views on man brought him to adopt an ethics based upon absolute obedience and humility. It will discuss Geulincx's own views on the Stoics and, finally, compare Geulincx's philosophy with the Stoic world view. The main argument will be that, despite a deep affinity and many parallels, one crucial difference remains, as the dualism any true Cartesian metaphysics implies has important consequences for Geulincx's ethics in general and for his view on man in particular. As we will see, man plays a very peculiar role in the cosmic drama that we call the ‘universe’.     

Generalizability of scores influenced by multiple sources of variance

Generalizability theory concerns the adequacy with which a universe score can be inferred from a set of observations. In this paper the theory is applied to a universe in which observations are classifiable according to two independent variable aspects of the measuring procedure. Several types of universe scores are developed and the variance components ascertained for each type. The composition of expected observed-score variance and the adequacy of inference to a particular type of universe score is a function of the procedure used in gathering data. A generalizability study provides estimates of variance components which can be used in designing an efficient procedure for a particular decision purpose.This study was conducted under Grant M-1839 from the National Institute of Mental Health while the authors were on the staff of the University of Illinois. Dr. Rajaratnam shared responsibility for the technical report of July, 1961 on which this paper is based. The present revision was made subsequent to her death in 1963. The present addresses of the other authors are: Goldine C. Gleser, Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinic, Cincinatti, 29, Ohio; Lee J. Cronbach, School of Education, Stanford University.     

An investigation of the role of scale values in the DS/AHP method of multi‐criteria decision making

DS/AHP is a method of multi‐criteria decision making based on the Dempster–Shafer theory of evidence and the analytic hierarchy process. Central to the utilization of DS/AHP is the composing of preference judgements on identified groups of decision alternatives (DA) across a number of criteria against all the DA present in the problem in question. This paper exposits a series of results whose objectives are to aid in the development of an effective set of preference scale values for use within DS/AHP. These results relate directly to the concomitant level of ignorance (uncertainty) with the judgements made on a single criterion. Two particular directions of investigation are undertaken, firstly in determining the necessary number of scale values available and secondly finding the necessary differences between scale values, dependent on whether an arithmetic or geometric progression is the basis for the scale values. Through an example, the implications and utilization of these results within DS/AHP are illustrated. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Promoting Consumer Adoption of High‐Technology Products: Is More Information Always Better?

An important challenge for firms commercializing technology‐based new products is to reduce consumers' perceptions of performance uncertainty. We build on prior research in consumer decision making and acceptance of high‐technology products and focus on the role of information in influencing perceptions of performance uncertainty of new product interfaces. In contrast to prior literature, we show here that more information is not always better in reducing performance uncertainty. We argue that the effects of more (vs. less) information on the performance uncertainty of a new interface and consumer adoption intentions of the new product are moderated by the degree of newness of the particular functionality (i.e., set of potential benefits) that is delivered by the new product. We report two experiments that investigate this problem and show that more information helps to reduce performance uncertainty only when the product provides a preexisting functionality. However, high levels of information about the new interface actually intensify performance uncertainty when the product delivers a new functionality. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.     

Variation of Preference Inconsistency When Applying Ratio and Interval Scale Pairwise Comparisons

Several studies on numerical rating in discrete choice problems address the tendency of inconsistencies in decision makers' measured preferences. This is partly due to true inconsistencies in preferences or the decision makers' uncertainty on what he or she really wants. This uncertainty may be reflected in the elicited preferences in different ways depending on the questions asked and methods used in deriving the preferences for alternatives. Some part of the inconsistency is due to only having a discrete set of possible judgments. This study examined the variation of preference inconsistency when applying different pairwise preference elicitation techniques in a five‐item discrete choice problem. The study data comprised preferences of five career alternatives elicited applying interval scale and numerically and verbally anchored ratio scale pairwise comparisons. Statistical regression technique was used to analyse the differences of inconsistencies between the tested methods. The resulting relative residual variances showed that the interval ratio scale comparison technique provided the greatest variation of inconsistencies between respondents, thus being the most sensitive to inconsistency in preferences. The numeric ratio scale comparison gave the most uniform preferences between the respondents. The verbal ratio scale comparison performed between the latter two when relative residual variances were considered. However, the verbal ratio scale comparison had weaker ability to differentiate the alternatives. The results indicated that the decision recommendation may not be sensitive to the selection between these preference elicitation methods in this kind of five‐item discrete choice problem. The numeric ratio scale comparison technique seemed to be the most suitable method to reveal the decision makers' true preferences. However, to confirm this result, more studying will be needed, with an attention paid to users' comprehension and learning in the course of the experiment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Argument From Scale Revisited

ABSTRACT

Several philosophers and scientists have claimed that modern cosmology forces us to think that humans are insignificant from the cosmic point of view. This argument for atheism derived from the scale of the universe became popular in the twentieth century, but its roots are long. Interestingly, it has not typically been considered as a very strong anti-theistic argument, and the size of the universe has also been used as proof for theism. This article offers a brief overview of how the argument from scale has been used in the past, and then discusses modern versions of it.     

三维干预促进小学生心理健康的研究

为了探索有效的小学生心理健康教育模式,以昆明市两所普通小学分别作为实验组和对照组进行了为期两年的实验研究,对影响小学生心理健康的主要因素:教师、家长和学生自身三个子系统进行了多侧面的三维干预。结果表明:(1)实验组学生比对照组学生的总体一般焦虑水平下降;(2)学习适应性提高;(3)问题行为症候群的学生人数和问题行为比干预前明显减少。验证了教师、家长、学生三维干预结合模式对促进小学生心理健康的有效性。     

Temporal shifts in eye gaze and facial expressions independently contribute to the perceived attractiveness of unfamiliar faces

ABSTRACT

We investigated whether attractiveness ratings of expressive faces would be affected by gaze shifts towards or away from the observer. In all experiments, effects of facial expression were found, with higher attractiveness ratings to positive over negative expressions, irrespective of effects of gaze-shifts. In the first experiment faces with gaze shifts away from the observer were preferred. However, when the dynamics of the gaze shift was disrupted, by adding an intermediate delay, the effect of direction of gaze shift disappeared. By manipulating the relative duration of each gaze direction during a gaze shift we found higher attractiveness ratings to faces with a longer duration of direct gaze, particularly in the initial exposure to a face. Our findings suggest that although the temporal dynamics of eye gaze and facial expressions influence the aesthetic evaluation of faces, these cues appear to act independently rather than in an integrated manner for social perception.     

注意定势及时间不确定性对基于空间的返回抑制的影响

在两个实验中使用比例控制范式 ,研究了基于空间位置的注意定势及时间不确定性对检测任务中IOR出现时程的影响。实验 1以 75名本科生为被试 ,将SOA水平作为组间变量 ,从而消除了时间不确定性。结果发现 ,当被试形成“更依赖于提示位置”的注意定势时 ,IOR出现的时程延长。实验 2以 2 2名本科生为被试 ,将SOA作为组内变量 ,从而将时间不确定性引入实验任务。结果表明 ,存在时间不确定性时 ,IOR出现的时程恢复到正常水平。两个实验的结果表明 ,IOR的时程受到内源和外源性注意之间交互作用的影响 ,而注意定势和时间不确定性是决定IOR何时出现及持续时间的两个十分关键的因素。     

Does “Intelligent Design” Have a Chance? An Essay Review

A number of authors have agued the case that there is empirical evidence that the universe (or particular configurations within it) must be the outcome of intelligent design. Recent books by William Dembski and Dean Overman, though different in style and level of argumentation, reach a similar conclusion: the universe, or certain forms within it, cannot be explained without appeal to design as a mode of causation. But exactly what is the operative definition for intelligent design in these works? And how convincing is their case for the necessity of appealing to this type of design in causal explanations?     

Internal approach to external sets and universes

In this article we show how the universe ofBST,bounded set theory (a modification ofIST which is, briefly, a theory for the family of those sets inIST which are members of standard sets) can be enlarged by definable subclasses of sets (which are not necessarily sest in internal theories likeBST orIST) so that Separation and Replacement are true in the enlargement for all formulas, including those in which the standardness predicate may occur.ThusBST is strong enough to incorporate external sets in the internal universe in a way sufficient to develop topics in nonstandard analysis inaccessible in the framework of a purely internal approach, such as Loeb measures.Presented byRobert Goldblatt     

The personality basis of justice: The five‐factor model as an integrative model of personality and procedural fairness effects on cooperation

Building upon the self‐based model of cooperation (De Cremer & Tyler, 2005 ), the present study investigates the relationship between the five‐factor model (FFM) and cooperation. Study 1 (N = 56), an experiment conducted in the laboratory, and Study 2 (N = 116), a field study conducted in an organisational context, yielded a moderator effect between neuroticism and procedural fairness in explaining cooperation. Study 3 (N = 177) showed that this moderator effect was mediated by the self‐uncertainty and relational variables proposed by the self‐based model of cooperation. It is concluded that the FFM is useful in explaining cooperation and contributes to a better understanding of (procedural) fairness effects. Moreover, the necessity to build integrative, multi‐level models that combine core and surface aspects of personality to explain the effects of fairness on cooperation is elaborated upon. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.