The Epistemological Roots of Ecclesiastical Claims to Knowledge

In theoretical matters, ecclesiastical claims to knowledge have lead to various conflicts with science. Claims in orientational matters, sometimes connected to attempts to establish them as a rule for legislation, have often been in conflict with the justified claims of non-believers. In addition they violate the Principle of Autonomy of the individual, which is at the very heart of European identity so decisively shaped by the Enlightenment. The Principle of Autonomy implies that state legislation should not interfere in the life of individual citizens, as long as his or her actions do not violate the rights of others. This paper—using the example of the theory of evolution—rejects ecclesiastical claims to theoretical knowledge as completely unfounded and preposterous. In the case of orientational knowledge—using the example of euthanasia—ecclesiastical claims to (universalizable) knowledge are shown to be unfounded as well. The Church’s position with respect to euthanasia and a range of other bio-ethical topics, such as pre-marital sex, contraception, abortion, indissolubility of marriage, and homosexuality, rests on a very peculiar ethical position. This ethical position is the natural right theory, which—far from being universalizable—is shared by very few people. Among other things, this position presupposes the belief in God as the creator of nature, and the assumption that ethical norms can be derived from this premise. Thus ecclesiastical knowledge claims, cannot be justified in a way which could be reasonably supposed to be universally acceptable. Kant (see the quote) was the first to require this sort of justification. Claims that fail to implement Kant’s stipulations should be eliminated by what I would like to call “Kant’s razor”.     

Parent–Infant Synchrony: Biological Foundations and Developmental Outcomes

ABSTRACT— Synchrony—a construct used across multiple fields to denote the temporal relationship between events—has been applied to the study of mother–infant interaction and is suggested here as a framework for the study of interpersonal relationships. Defined as the temporal coordination of micro-level social behavior, parent–infant synchrony is charted in its development across infancy from the initial consolidation of biological rhythms during pregnancy to the emergence of symbolic exchange between parent and child. Synchrony is shown to depend on physiological mechanisms supporting bond formation in mammals—particularly physiological oscillators and neuroendocrine systems such as those involving the hormone oxytocin. Developmental outcomes of the synchrony experience are observed in the domains of self-regulation, symbol use, and the capacity for empathy across childhood and adolescence. Specific disruptions to the parameters of synchrony that may be observed in various pathological conditions, such as prematurity or maternal affective disorder, are detailed. A time-based, micro-analytic behavioral approach to the study of human relationship may offer new insights on intersubjectivity across the lifespan.     

Metamemorial Knowledge of Good and Poor Readers: A Developmental Perspective

Torgesen (1977b) suggested that reading-disabled children exhibit passivity in learning situations; they fail to employ strategies that enhance learning. Such passivity resembles that of young children who lack awareness of the utility of strategies that enhance cognitive efficiency in a variety of situations (e.g., listening, reading, and memory tasks). Such awareness is one aspect of metamemory, and children with reading problems may lag behind other children with regard to this aspect. Good readers (second-, third-, and fifth-graders) and poor readers (third- and fifth-graders) were interviewed to determine their level of knowledge about a number of variables that affect memory in real-life situations. Each child was asked questions concerning his or her memory ability, and then was shown pictures depicting manipulations of the variables number, time, category, and strategy, as well as two-way combinations of the four variables. Results generally failed to support the developmental lag hypothesis. Poor readers did not resemble younger children in their awareness of variables that affect memory but exhibited knowledge commensurate with that of good readers in the same grade.     

The Developmental Roots of Borderline Personality Disorder in Early Attachment Relationships: A Theory and Some Evidence

The paper suggests a way of understanding borderline personality disorder in terms of the failure of a secure base. We begin with an account of optimal self-development in a secure attachment context, highlighting the importance of the caregiver's ability to help the small child think about his own and others' minds. This optimal self-development is crucial in developing the child's capacity for mentalization, which can enhance his resilience in the face of later trauma. We discuss the impact of attachment trauma in later development, arguing that the extent of this impact depends on how well early attachment relationships facilitated the capacity for mentalization. We identify some of the consequences for the representations of the internal world of a failure of mentalization that may follow trauma in individuals made vulnerable by genetic predisposition or disorganized early attachment. We link these features to the clinical presentation associated with borderline personality organization. Finally, some of the necessary characteristics of successful psychotherapeutic treatment of borderline personality disorder are briefly considered.     

"Knowledge by acquaintance" and "Knowledge-about": A psychometrical demonstration

In two studies, students were asked to rate their knowledge of a number of different topics, extracurricular as well as drawn from their textbooks of the history of psychology and philosophy. The score distributions on a scale from "unknown" to "well known" were in all cases distinctly U-formed, as if knowledge were a question of either/or, rather than one of degree. However, when knowledge was rated on a scale from "know nothing about" to "know much about", the U-pattern failed to appear, and the students tended generally to give more cautious ratings. The differences are interpreted as evidence for the philosophical and linguistic distinction between "knowledge by acquaintance" (German: "kennen", French: "connaître") and "knowledge-about" (German: "wissen", French: "savoir").     

The Importance of Item Selection in "Knew-It-All-Along" Studies of General Knowledge

This study was designed to investigate the effects of item sampling on hindsight bias in experiments using general knowledge material. The results show that the use of random versus traditional experimenter-selected item samples can have different effects on hindsight bias. In a within-subjects study almost twice as many items in a random sample were connected with a reversed effect rather than with a traditional hindsight bias. The same items that resulted in overconfidence in foresight lead to a higher degree of hindsight bias than others. The results suggest that earlier findings of unusually large hindsight effects with general knowledge tasks may be explained by the selection of items used. No hindsight effect was found on confidence scores in a within-subjects design, but was obtained in a between-subjects design. Results suggest that the use of a within-subjects design itself can moderate hindsight bias by familiarizing subjects with the task. The study shows the importance of two conditions for decreasing the hindsight bias: (1) The use of randomly sampled items, and (2) The use of a within-subjects procedure. When these conditions were met, the "knew-it-all-along effect" was completely eliminated.     

Developmental Variation in Children's Creative Mathematical Thinking as a Function of Schooling,Age, and Knowledge

ABSTRACT: Prior researchers reported that children's creativity development displays a nonlinear trajectory. This article investigated the association of age, years of schooling, and domain-specific knowledge in the development of children's creativity in mathematics. DISCOVER math assessment was used to measure mathematical knowledge; originality, flexibility, and elaboration (OFE); and fluency as indexes of students' creativity. Participants included 841 first- to fifth-grade students from 4 schools. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that domain knowledge was progressively associated with fluency and OFE from lower to upper grades, whereas age was so associated only in lower grades. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that years of schooling significantly contributed to students' creativity even after domain knowledge was partialed out. Students displayed peaks and slumps as a function of age and domain knowledge, but not as a function of grade. Knowledge at the level of 2 SDs above the mean was found to be the threshold for creativity at the level of 1 SD above the mean.     

Science,Politics and the Production of Biological Knowledge: New Trends and Old Challenges

In the history of biology, knowledge about human differences often has been produced through an interaction with politics and values assumed to be external to science. Two recent books—Jonathan Marks’ Is Science Racist? and Maurizio Meloni’s Political Biology—shed new light on this interplay. While Marks looks into the field of anthropology, Meloni offers a historiographical view on the soft-hard heredity debate. Based on these new contributions, this essay addresses a number of current ways in which society and science conceptualize human differences through categories like race, gender, and class. Especially, this refers to the separation of what is taken as natural and purportedly fixed, from what is cultural and changeable.     

Cognitive "babyness": Developmental differences in the power of young children's supernatural thinking to influence positive and negative affect

Perceptions of maturational status may play an important role in facilitating caretaking and resources toward children expressing them. Previous work has revealed evidence that cues of cognitive immaturity foster positive perceptions in adults toward young children at a time during their lives when they are most dependent on adult care. In the current series of studies, the authors investigated when during development these biases emerge. They tested American and Spanish adolescents ranging from 10 to 17 years of age. Each participant rated a series of vignettes presenting different expressions of immature and mature thinking attributed to young children. Results revealed that older adolescents performed similarly to adults tested in previous studies (D. F. Bjorklund, C. Hernández Blasi, & V. A. Periss, 2010), rating positively expressions of supernatural thinking (e.g., animism) compared with other forms of immature cognition labeled as natural (e.g., overestimation). Both male and female participants 14 years and older favored children expressing the immature supernatural cognition on traits reflecting positive affect (e.g., endearing, likeable), while associating greater negative affect (e.g., sneaky, impatient with) with children expressing immature natural cognition. However, younger adolescents consistently rated all forms of immature thinking less positively than mature thinking, suggesting that a positive bias for some forms of immature thinking develops during adolescence. Based on an evolutionary developmental framework, the authors suggest that supernatural thinking may have a unique role in humans, fostering positive perceptions of young children in older adolescents (and adults) as they prepare themselves for the possible role of parenthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

欧洲哲学视野中的"知识"和"道德"——读列维纳斯《存在之外》一些感想

追问“什么”是欧洲形而上学的核心,它真正追问的乃是人与自然的关系,也就是在理性观照下,事物在不同层次上的显现与本质。事物的这种显现与本质,既是它们的存在,也是关于它们的知识。但是,对于列维纳斯来说,在人与自然的关系之前,尚有人与他人的关系。这种关系外于“知识”,外于“存在”。因为它是自由者间的关系,他者不可由“我”来显现、观照,是完全异于“我”的。因此,人与人之间首先是伦理-道德的关系,而不是知识的关系。在这个意义上,伦理-道德外于、高于知识。然而,对于人这种有限存在者来说,他的一切知识,实质上都是对“不断（的经验事物）”的一种断,都是在不全处作出全的论断。因此,知识实乃包含着自由与责任于自身。换言之,伦理-道德也在知识中,知识实际上也是事物的一种自由的存在。因此,存在论-知识论与伦理学之关系,是否如列维纳斯所认为的那样,仍值得深究。     

Developmental Experiments in Hypnosis

Two-hundred-forty children, including ten boys and girls at each year level from five through sixteen, were selected from the entire public school population of a small city for testing on the Children's Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. For most of these children, testing was repeated yearly for the next two years. Reliability for the Children's Scale was quite satisfactory for individual prediction. There were absolutely no differences in the hypnotic susceptibility of boys and girls in this sample. Intelligence had only low positive correlations with susceptibility. The correlation of age with susceptibility, measured either cross-sectionally or longitudinally, is positive and significant, but small. Changes in individual performance over time are generally minimal, and hypnotic susceptibility may be considered a relatively stable component of personality structure.     

Developmental regulation before and after a developmental deadline: the sample case of "biological clock" for childbearing

This quasi-experimental research investigates developmental regulation around a critical life-span transition, the "biological clock" for childbearing. The action-phase model of developmental regulation proposes contrasting control orientations in individuals approaching versus those having passed a developmental deadline. Individuals in an urgency phase close to the deadline should be invested in goal pursuit, whereas those who have passed the deadline without attaining the goal should focus on goal disengagement and self-protection. In 2 studies, women at different ages and with or without children were compared with regard to various indicators of primary and secondary control striving for goal attainment versus goal disengagement and self-protection. Findings support the action-phase model of developmental regulation. Patterns of control striving congruent with the participants' status as pre- versus postdeadline were associated with superior psychological well-being.     

"Queremos Aprender": Latino Immigrants' Call to Integrate Cultural Adaptation with Best Practice Knowledge in a Parenting Intervention

Despite the unique and challenging circumstances confronting Latino immigrant families, debate still exists as to the need to culturally adapt evidence-based interventions for dissemination with this population. Following the grounded theory approach, the current qualitative investigation utilized focus group interviews with 83 Latino immigrant parents to explore the relevance of culturally adapting an evidence-based parenting intervention to be disseminated within this population. Findings from this study indicate that Latino immigrant parents want to participate in a culturally adapted parenting intervention as long as it is culturally relevant, respectful, and responsive to their life experiences. Research results also suggest that the parenting skills participants seek to enhance are among those commonly targeted by evidence-based parenting interventions. This study contributes to the cultural adaptation/fidelity balance debate by highlighting the necessity of exploring ways to develop culturally adapted interventions characterized by high cultural relevance, as well as high fidelity to the core components that have established efficacy for evidence-based parenting interventions.     

论知识经济与"人的全面而自由的发展"间关系的复杂性

目前学术界在关于知识经济与“人的全面而自由的发展”间关系的研究中,有两种代表性的观点:一是认为知识经济为人的全面而自由的发展创设了条件,并使之成为可能”。我以为这种观点值得推敲。从“人的全面而自由的发展”的共时性来看,迄今为止,没有任何充足的根据可以说明知识经济使“人的全面而自由的发展成为可能”。因为,当一些人举出许多知识经济有助于“人的全面而自由的发展”例证的同时,另一些人也可以信手拈来与此相悖的例证。从“人的全面而自由的发展”的历时性来看,我们也只能说知识经济使“人的全面而自由的发展”的一些因素和前…     

Developmental changes in mental rotation

Subjects from Grades 3, 4, 6, and college judged whether pairs of stimuli were identical or mirror-image reversals. One stimulus of a pair was presented upright; the other was rotated 0 to 150° from the standard. The pairs were either alphanumeric symbols or unfamiliar, letter-like characters of the type found on the PMA Spatial Ability Test. Response latencies were measured. The primary results were that (a) the speed of mental rotation increased with development, (b) unfamiliar characters were rotated more slowly than alphanumeric characters, by approximately the same amount at each grade, and (c) unfamiliar characters were encoded and compared more slowly than alphanumeric symbols, by an amount that declined with development. The results are discussed in terms of the component processes that underlie developmental change and individual variation in mental rotation skill.