ETERNITY,TIME, AND SPACE

Abstract. The concepts of space and time are important in physics and geometry, but their definition is not the exclusive prerogative of those sciences. Space and time are important for ordinary human experience, as well as for philosophy and theology. Samuel Clarke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant, and Albert Einstein are important figures in shaping our understandings of space, time, and eternity. The author subjects their arguments to critical examination. Space is neither an infinite and empty receptacle (Newton) nor a system of relations in the mind (Leibniz). Infinite space and time can be interpreted as expressing God's eternity and omnipresence in relating to the creation (Clarke), but such an interpretation is enhanced by Kant's thinking, to clarify that even though time and space are differentiated in individual events, the whole is at the same time present. Even human experience recognizes this wholeness, and for God eternity is the simultaneous presence and possession of the wholeness. The temporal existence of finite entities is also related to a future participation in God's eternal life. Concepts of contingency are brought into the discussion as well.     

自适应背景焦点显示技术在遥操作中的应用

遥操作界面中可视信息的有效呈现是提高操作绩效的重要途径。本研究提出自适应背景焦点显示技术原型,构建新型遥操作显示平台,并通过比较不同显示条件下遥操作绩效,考察其应用有效性及特点。结果显示：1）相比其他显示（单一纠正信息、单一指导信息、恒定背景信息和无背景信息）,自适应背景焦点显示可有效提高操作绩效;2）在降低主观负荷方面,单一纠正信息显示显著优于其他显示。本研究结果为遥操作显示界面的优化提供了新思路。     

The Costs of Silencing the Self and Divided Self in the Context of Physical Abuse,Racial/Ethnic Identity,and Medication Adherence in Women Living with HIV

Racial/ethnic minority status and physical abuse history are risk factors for higher mortality rates and lower adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in women living with HIV (WLWH) in the United States. The current study tested the hypotheses that minority status and physical abuse history might lead women to silence the self (minimize and hide thoughts and feelings in order to avoid relational conflict, loss, and/or abuse) as measured by the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), and that STSS might mediate and moderate relationships of physical abuse and racial/ethnic minority status with ART adherence. Divided Self (DS; acting in ways inconsistent with inner thoughts and feelings), an STSS subscale, was targeted for study along with the total STSS score. Participants were 513 women from the U.S. Women’s Interagency HIV Study (M_age?=?46; 387, 75%, Black; 66, 13%, Hispanic; 60, 12%, White). Multiple logistic regressions indicated that across all racial/ethnic groups, physical abuse history related to higher DS and lower adherence. DS significantly mediated relationships between abuse and adherence. Compared to White women, Black women demonstrated worse ART adherence, but had lower total STSS. Racial/ethnic minority women and women with a physical abuse history who had higher DS had lower adherence than other groups. Results indicate that being a racial/ethnic minority or having a history of physical abuse may increase vulnerability to the deleterious effects of DS on ART adherence, findings that can help inform interventions to decrease health disparities in WLWH.

     

Age and ability effects on test scores reflecting M-capacity, learning and cognitive style

Eight- and ten-year-old children of low and average ability were given four tests, one of which was developed by Pascual-Leone (1970) as a relatively pure measure of mental capacity (M-capacity) as conceived in his neo-Piagetian model. The remaining tests confounded knowledge base and cognitive style (field dependence/independence) with M-capacity to varying degrees. Age and ability effects were found, but were invariant over tests. This contradicts Globerson’s (1983) predictions for the hierarchy of tests used. Possible reasons for an apparent discrepancy between Globerson’s results and those of the present study are discussed.     

THE SILENCING THE SELF SCALE: Schemas of Intimacy Associated With Depression in Women

The Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), derived from a longitudinal study of clinically depressed women, measures specific schemas about how to make and maintain intimacy hypothesized to be associated with depression in women. To assess its psychometric properties, the STSS was administered with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to three samples of women: college students ( n = 63), residents in battered women's shelters ( n = 1401, and mothers ( n = 270) (of 4-month-old infants) who abused cocaine during pregnancy. The STSS had a high degree of internal consistency and test-retest reliability and was significantly correlated with the BDI in all three samples.     

Can we model organismic causes of working memory,efficiency and fluid intelligence? A meta-subjective perspective

I critically examine the target paper by Demetriou et al. (2013) noticing that their epistemological perspective is meta-empiricist (i.e., taking the viewpoint of an external observer). This viewpoint is contrasted with to a metasubjective perspective (i.e., that of the subject-matter itself — organismic processes). I explain working memory (whose key developmental determinant is mental – M – attention), as well as processing speed, and Gf from a metasubjective perspective; and I emphasize that difficulty of an item/task is relative to the trade-off level between its item/task mental–attentional demand and the participant's mental–attentional capacity. I list principles of measurement for proper assessment of mental/executive/endogenous attention (M-capacity) and explain some of the results of Demetriou et al. as resulting from inadequate control of this M-demand/M-capacity trade off in their tasks. Demetriou et al. have achieved clear demonstration that WM, Gf, and processing speed are distinct latent variables whose inter-relations change with age. To clarify further their organismic causal determinants they should make a “metasubjective turn” in their theorizing.     

Confusing developmental and individual differences

T. Globerson (1985, Developmental Review, 5, 261–273) compared the relative effects of an individual difference variable field dependency (FD/I) with a developmental variable (age) on a measure of M-capacity, in an analysis of variance (ANOVA) design. Age is a highly significant effect and the sum of squares associated with this factor accounts for 66% of the variance in M-capacity. FD/I is not significant and accounts for less than 1% of the variance in M-capacity. This is interpreted as indicating that M-capacity is a purely developmental phenomenon showing negligible individual differences. This paper argues that this result is an inevitable artifact of the experimental design. Further, the design is a common one in developmental psychology, and its dangers are largely unrecognized. The main problems concern (1) dichotomizing a continuous variable and treating the dichotomy as two levels of a factorial variable, (2) drawing inferences about the size of relationship between the continuous variable and the dependent variable on the basis of the variance accounted for by the factorial variable in the ANOVA, (3) differential reliability of measures of the independent variables, and (4) selective control of the sampling of the independent variables. These issues are explored in a simulation of Globerson's data and in an analogous analysis of data relating age and height, as independent variables, with weight as a dependent variable.     

Food-related stimuli increase desire to eat in hungry and satiated human subjects

In the present study, the effect of food-related cues on the desire to eat chocolate in hungry and satiated subjects was investigated. Subjects (n=46) were randomly assigned to either a hungry or satiated group and then assigned to a group receiving one of the following stimuli: taste (2 M&Ms), sight (a photograph of M&Ms), cognition (a passage describin M&Ms), or control (no stimulus). In each testing session, subjects rated their desire to eat chocolate before and after the 90-s presentation of the particular stimulus. Each subject was then given a half pound of M&Ms so that actual consumption could also be measured. Results indicated that, following the presentation of the sight and taste stimuli, the subjects’ desire to eat chocolate was significantly increased. Furthermore, no differences in chocolate consumption due to state of hunger or type of food-related stimulus presented were found.     

Food-related stimuli increase desire to eat in hungry and satiated human subjects

In the present study, the effect of food-related cues on the desire to eat chocolate in hungry and satiated subjects was investigated. Subjects (n=46) were randomly assigned to either a hungry or satiated group and then assigned to a group receiving one of the following stimuli: taste (2 M&Ms), sight (a photograph of M&Ms), cognition (a passage describin M&Ms), or control (no stimulus). In each testing session, subjects rated their desire to eat chocolate before and after the 90-s presentation of the particular stimulus. Each subject was then given a half pound of M&Ms so that actual consumption could also be measured. Results indicated that, following the presentation of the sight and taste stimuli, the subjects’ desire to eat chocolate was significantly increased. Furthermore, no differences in chocolate consumption due to state of hunger or type of food-related stimulus presented were found.     

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENDER AND ETHNICITY TO SELF-SILENCING AND DEPRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study expands on the initial work with the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack, 1991) by presenting data using a more diverse, nonclinical sample. Included were both men and women ( n = 604) who were African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic. It was expected that women would be more self-silencing than men, and that there would be ethnic differences. There were three principal findings: (a) men were more self-silencing than were women on the STSS; (b) there was a main effect for ethnicity on the STSS, with Asians expressing the highest levels of self-silencing; and (c) there was a positive correlation between self-silencing and depression for all ethnic/gender groups.     

The influence of training for the atomistic schema on the development of the density concept among gifted and nongifted children

The present study was conducted for two purposes. The first was to test the relations between the schema of atomism and the concept of density, and to examine the effects of Piagetian stage and M-capacity on these relations. This was accomplished by giving training for the schema of atomism to children at different stages and with varying M- capacities. The second purpose was to test the effects of age (9–10 versus 11–12 years) and IQ (gifted versus nongified children) as variables that would influence the outcome of training. A total of 120 children were tested. The findings were that the effects of the training and the IQ variables were significant while the effect of the age variable was not. When stage and M-capacity were covaried the effects of training and IQ remained significant. Implications for issues of developmental theory and educational practice are discussed.     

SKED systems: Paper tape,Tennecomp, and OS/8

The SKED system has been developed at different levels of complexity and power for differing hardware configurations. The simplest of these, and the least expensive, is the paper-tape SKED system. Some of the drawbacks associated with the use of paper tape are absent in the Tennecomp magnetic tape cartridge system. Users with mass storage capabilities can make use of the OS/8 operating system (copyright DEC) to speed up all aspects of the SKED system (especially editing, compilation, and loading of programs), and take advantage of a file-oriented system structure for data storage and analysis.     

Kant's Conceptualism: a New Reading of the Transcendental Deduction

I defend a novel interpretation of Kant's conceptualism regarding the contents of our perceptual experiences. Conceptualist interpreters agree that Kant's Deduction aims to prove that intuitions require the categories for their spatiality and temporality. But conceptualists disagree as to which features of space and time make intuitions require the categories. Interpreters have cited the singularity, unity, infinity, and homogeneity of space and time. But this is incompatible with Kant's Aesthetic, which aims to prove that these same features qualify space and time as intuitions, not concepts. On my interpretation, the feature is objectivity. Space and time are objective, in that they ground our judgments in geometry and mechanics.     

Human software

Just as the hardware of a large computer system requires a large program, often called software or an operating system (OS), to supervise and control its performance, so too do human beings require a mind to control the brain. Our OS, however, is hardwired in neuronal circuitry and also involves the endocrine system. Much evidence attests to the built-in nature and existence of our OS. Examples are our abilities (1) to conceive ideas, (2) to process them internally and symbolically, (3) to express them in any of several modes (e.g., as verbal strings, as visual images, in sign language, in body language), (4) to dream. Some of the probable anatomical components of the human OS are identified and some indications of its systematic effects on consciousness are discussed. Some research relating psychopathology to the OS is cited.     

Gender Differences in the Construct Validity of the Silencing the Self Scale

Gender differences in the construct validity of Jack's (1991) Silencing the Self Scale (STSS) were assessed using 187 female and 169 male undergraduates. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed gender differences in the scale's latent structure and at best provided only limited support for the validity of the scale's four subscales for women. Among men, the studies exposed a weakness in the scale's construct validity and provided insights into possible alternative interpretations made by men when responding to the scale's items. Convergent and discriminant validity of the scale were assessed by correlating it with measures of neuroticism and attachment. Whereas the construct validity of the STSS for use with women was supported, evidence was weaker for men. For men, data suggest that the STSS, in part, taps a motive to avoid intimacy and relationship situations that limit one's sense of independence and autonomy, a construct incongruous with Jack's notion of self-silencing.     

MMPI-2 scores of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and U.S. Latino college students: a research note

In this brief report, we present MMPI-2 basic validity and clinical scale data of Latino-descent persons from Puerto Rico (n = 290), Mexico (n = 1,920), and the United States (n = 28). All were administered one of three Spanish translations of the MMPI-2. A review of the mean scores of these respective groups indicates similarities across all scales. Differences among these three groups, with the exception of the Mf scale (which is keyed to sex), were well within the one standard deviation band. More importantly, these findings are promising given the fact that three different translations of the MMPI-2 were applied.     

初始信念、组织诱引对员工心理契约变化的影响

心理契约是员工——组织关系的重要形式,组织中的心理契约是发展变化的。该研究采用追踪设计,以189名大学本科毕业生为研究对象,考察员工入职前初始信念和入职后组织提供的诱引因素以及两者之间的交互作用如何影响员工对组织义务感的改变。研究发现：组织支持对关系型义务感和交易型义务感的变化都有明显的影响作用,其对关系型义务感的影响强于对交易型义务感的影响;员工入职前初始信念对员工义务感发展的影响作用受到组织诱引包括工作奖赏和组织支持的调节     

The New Meaning of MS.: Single, But Too Old for Miss

We examined understanding of the title Ms ., in college students and individuals surveyed via the Internet. Participants were asked to define Ms. and other titles, and rate the likely marital status and age of those using the titles. While some participants indicated that Ms. was a title for women of any marital status, a common alternative definition of Ms. was a title for unmarried women. Younger participants (those under 20) were significantly more likely to use this definition. We also asked what title women preferred for themselves. Older unmarried women were more likely to prefer Ms. as their own title than were younger unmarried women, while married women overwhelmingly preferred the use of Mrs . Perhaps this is why many younger people assume that Ms. is a title for unmarried women too old to use Miss .