Toward a virtue-based normative ethics for the health professions

Virtue is the most perdurable concept in the history of ethics, which is understandable given the ineradicability of the moral agent in the events of the moral life. Historically, virtue enjoyed normative force as long as the philosophical anthropology and the metaphysics of the good that grounded virtue were viable. That grounding has eroded in both general and medical ethics. If virtue is to be restored to a normative status, its philosophical underpinnings must be reconstructed. Such reconstruction seems unlikely in general ethics, where the possibility of agreement on the good for humans is remote. However, it is a realistic possibility in the professional ethics fo the health professions where agreement on the telos of the healing relationship is more likely to arise. Nevertheless, virtue-based ethics must be related conceptually and normatively to other ethical theories in a comprehensive moral philosophy of the health professions. If he really does think there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our house, let us count our spoons. Samuel Johnson     

Lateral masking: limitations of the feature interaction account

Recognition performance for a target letter embedded in a string of characters is worse than that for targets presented in isolation. This lateral masking (LM) effect is known to depend on target eccentricity and spacing between target and flankers (Bouma, 1970), indicating that LM arises in early visual processing due to interactions among visual features. The feature interaction account would predict that flankers consisting of similar features produce similar LM effects and that differences in LM produced by different types of flanker diminish with increasing target eccentricity and decreasing spacing. However, in a series of six experiments, this prediction was shown not to be true. Flankers that did not access a higher level code (e.g., pseudoletters or rotated letters) produced more LM than standard letter flankers. Moreover, effects of different flanker types were most pronounced for medium target eccentricities and medium spacings for which recognition performance scores ranged between 40% and 60%.     

The Multitasking Preference Inventory: Toward an Improved Measure of Individual Differences in Polychronicity

This article describes the initial development of a new measure of individual polychronicity, a construct indicating a preference for multitasking as opposed to performing only one task at a time. Following a brief review of past definitional issues, a revised definition is offered and a new measure of polychronicity—the Multitasking Preference Inventory (MPI)—is created based on this definition. Three studies describe the creation, pilot testing, and psychometric refinement of an initial pool of items (Study 1); a convergent and discriminant validity analysis (Study 2); and initial findings with respect to the criterion-related validity of scores on the MPI (Study 3). Together, these findings provide preliminary evidence for the reliability of scores on the MPI and the validity of the MPI in predicting variables relevant to multitasking.     

Toward a causal realist account of causal understanding

Within a limited domain, humans can perceive causal relations directly. The term causal realism is used to denote this psychological hypothesis. The domain of causal realism is in actions upon objects and haptic perception of the effects of those actions: When we act upon an object we cannot be mistaken about the fact that we are acting upon it and perceive the causal relation directly through mechanoreceptors. Experiences of actions upon objects give rise to causal knowledge that can be used in the interpretation of perceptual input. Phenomenal causality, the occurrence of causal impressions in visual perception, is a product of the application of acquired causal knowledge in the automatic perceptual interpretation of appropriate stimuli. Causal realism could constitute the foundation on which all causal perception, judgment, inference, attribution, and knowledge develop.     

Toward a plausible event-causal indeterminist account of free will

Synthese - For those who maintain that free will is incompatible with causal determinism, a persistent problem is to give a coherent characterization of action that is neither determined by prior...     

Toward a unified account of spacing effects in explicit cued-memory tasks

Memory for repeated items improves when presentations are spaced during study. This effect is found in memory tasks using different types of material, paradigms, and participant populations. Although several explanations have been proposed, none explains the presence of spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli. Two experiments assessed the spacing effect on a yes-no recognition-memory task using nonwords and words as targets. The main results showed that changing the font between repeated occurrences of targets at study removed the spacing effect for nonwords only. A 3rd experiment using lexical decision showed that the font manipulation reduced repetition priming of nonwords when items were repeated at Lag 0. These results suggest that short-term perceptual priming supports spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli.     

Embodied grounding of memory: Toward the effects of motor execution on memory consolidation

Behavioural and neuroscientific research has provided evidence for a strong functional link between the neural motor system and lexical–semantic processing of action-related language. It remains unclear, however, whether the impact of motor actions is restricted to online language comprehension or whether sensorimotor codes are also important in the formation and consolidation of persisting memory representations of the word's referents. The current study now demonstrates that recognition performance for action words is modulated by motor actions performed during the retention interval. Specifically, participants were required to learn words denoting objects that were associated with either a pressing or a twisting action (e.g., piano, screwdriver) and words that were not associated to actions. During a 6–8-minute retention phase, participants performed an intervening task that required the execution of pressing or twisting responses. A subsequent recognition task revealed a better memory for words that denoted objects for which the functional use was congruent with the action performed during the retention interval (e.g., pepper mill–twisting action, doorbell–pressing action) than for words that denoted objects for which the functional use was incongruent. In further experiments, we were able to generalize this effect of selective memory enhancement of words by performing congruent motor actions to an implicit perceptual (Experiment 2) and implicit semantic memory test (Experiment 3). Our findings suggest that a reactivation of motor codes affects the process of memory consolidation and emphasizes therefore the important role of sensorimotor codes in establishing enduring semantic representations.     

Toward a neurophenomenology as an account of generative passages: a first empirical case study

This paper analyzes an explicit instantiation of the program of neurophenomenology in a neuroscientific protocol. Neurophenomenology takes seriously the importance of linking the scientific study of consciousness to the careful examination of experience with a specific first-person methodology. My first claim is that such strategy is a fruitful heuristic because it produces new data and illuminates their relation to subjective experience. My second claim is that the approach could open the door to a natural account of the structure of human experience as it is mobilized in itself in such methodology. In this view, generative passages define the type of circulation which explicitly roots the active and disciplined insight the subject has about his/her experience in a biological emergent process.     

Processing of disyllabic compound words in Chinese aphasia: evidence for the processing limitations account

The current study addresses the debate between so-called 'structural' and 'processing limitation' accounts of aphasia, i.e., whether language impairments reflect the 'loss' of linguistic knowledge or its representations, or instead reflect a limitation in processing resources. Confrontation-naming task and category-judgment tasks were used to examine and compare the performance of non-fluent and fluent aphasics on different compound types of nouns and verbs. We demonstrate that aphasic patients' performance is modulated by the canonicity of the particular compound type, a result that holds true even for the category in which patients show a 'selective category deficit.' These findings weigh against the 'loss' of linguistic representations as the underlying cause of noun-verb deficits, instead supporting a 'processing limitations' approach.     

Crossmodal versus intramodal evaluation of the knee joint angle : A normative study in a population of young adults

Normative data on position sense in the knee joint were obtained from a population of young adults (N = 46, mean age: 22). Kinaesthetic and visual evaluation of the knee joint angle was measured in crossmodal and intramodal matching tasks. In terms of absolute errors, the scores, although similar in both crossmodal tasks, were significantly lower in the unimodal matching task; the subjects' laterality had no significant effects. In terms of signed errors, the scores had opposite polarities between the kinaesthetic-visual and the visual-kinaesthetic tasks; moreover, the kinaesthetic intramodal task showed an obvious laterality bias. The angle reference value was found to affect the magnitude and sign of error variably depending on the task. The smallest errors were observed around the resting position in crossmodal matching, whereas they increased monotonically from extension to flexion in unimodal kinaesthetic matching. The data are interpreted in terms of the underlying physiological mechanisms and psychophysical determinants. Some clinical and sport applications are suggested.     

Rule selection versus rule execution in preschoolers: an error-detection approach.

In 2 experiments, an error-detection approach was used to determine whether 3-year-olds' perseverative errors on the postswitch phase of the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) are due to lack of response control or representational inflexibility. In Experiment 1, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds watched a puppet sort perseveratively on the postswitch phase and evaluated its responses. Most 4- and 5-year-olds detected the puppet's perseverative errors, whereas most 3-year-olds failed to do so despite detecting errors on a simpler card sort. Experiment 2 revealed that 3-year-olds who failed to correctly evaluate the puppet's behavior tended to fail their own DCCS. Results imply that perseveration on the DCCS cannot be attributed to difficulty inhibiting prepotent motor responses. Instead, changes in rule use between 3 and 5 years of age are interpreted in terms of the development of representational flexibility.     

Multitasking: multiple,domain-specific cognitive functions in a virtual environment

Multitasking among three or more different tasks is a ubiquitous requirement of everyday cognition, yet rarely is it addressed in research on healthy adults who have had no specific training in multitasking skills. Participants completed a set of diverse subtasks within a simulated shopping mall and office environment, the Edinburgh Virtual Errands Test (EVET). The aim was to investigate how different cognitive functions, such as planning, retrospective and prospective memory, and visuospatial and verbal working memory, contribute to everyday multitasking. Subtasks were chosen to be diverse, and predictions were derived from a statistical model of everyday multitasking impairments associated with frontal-lobe lesions (Burgess, Veitch, de Lacy Costello, & Shallice, 2000b). Multiple regression indicated significant independent contributions from measures of retrospective memory, visuospatial working memory, and online planning, but not from independent measures of prospective memory or verbal working memory. Structural equation modelling showed that the best fit to the data arose from three underlying constructs, with Memory and Planning having a weak link, but with both having a strong directional pathway to an Intent construct that reflected implementation of intentions. Participants who followed their preprepared plan achieved higher scores than those who altered their plan during multitask performance. This was true regardless of whether the plan was efficient or poor. These results substantially develop and extend the Burgess et al. (2000b) model to healthy adults and yield new insight into the poorly understood area of everyday multitasking. The findings also point to the utility of using virtual environments for investigating this form of complex human cognition.     

Motor response inhibition and execution in the stop-signal task: development and relation to ADHD behaviors.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the developmental course of motor response inhibition and execution as measured by the stop-signal task in a population-based sample of 525 4- to 12-year-olds. A further aspiration of the study was to enhance the limited knowledge on how the various stop-signal measures relate to ADHD behaviors in a normal sample. We also wanted to contribute to the theoretical understanding of the various stop-signal measures by examining the relations between the stop-signal measures and performance on tasks reflecting other aspects of response inhibition and execution. Our results showed that the ability to inhibit as well as to execute a motor response as measured by the stop-signal task improved with age during childhood. Of specific interest are the findings suggesting that this task captures the development of motor response inhibition in the late preschool years (age 5 years). Both of the inhibition measures derived from the stop-signal task (i.e., SSRT and probability of inhibition) related significantly to teacher ratings of inattention as well as to performance on tasks tapping other aspects of inhibition. The data provided by this study have thus contributed to the scarce knowledge on early development of motor response inhibition, as well as suggested that the stop-signal task may be a valuable tool for capturing deficient motor response inhibition in ADHD behaviors in normal samples.     

Multitasking in the military: Cognitive consequences and potential solutions

Multitasking—the performance of several tasks at the same time—is becoming increasingly prevalent in workplaces. Multitasking is known to disrupt performance, particularly in complex and dynamic situations, which is exactly what most military occupations entail. Because military errors can be consequential, the detrimental impact of multitasking on cognitive functioning in such contexts should be taken seriously. This review pertains to high‐consequence military occupations that require strong multitasking skills. More specifically, it highlights cognitive challenges arising from different forms of multitasking and discusses their underlying cognitive processes. Because such challenges are not expected to diminish, this review proposes context‐relevant solutions to decrease occupational workload, either by reducing the cognitive load ensuing from the to‐be‐performed tasks or by improving soldiers' multitasking abilities. To ensure effective implementation of these solutions, we stress the need to design context‐adapted tools and procedures, and to guide human resource managers in developing particular strategies.     

Eternalism and Propositional Multitasking: in defence of the Operator Argument

It is widely held that propositions perform a plethora of theoretical roles. They are believed to be the semantic values of sentences in contexts, the objects of attitudes, the contents of illocutionary acts, the referents of ??that??-clauses, and the primary bearers of truth. This assumption is often combined with the claim that propositions have their truth-values eternally. Following Kaplan??s and Lewis??s Operator Argument, I argue that the compositional semantic values of sentences do not correspond to eternal propositions. Therefore, we cannot hold on to both assumptions at the same time: either we regard the non-eternal entities that realize the compositional role of propositions as fulfilling the remaining theoretical roles, or we abandon the assumption that there is a unique realizer. The Operator Argument has recently come under attack, mainly for its intensional assumptions. However, rejecting these assumptions is not a sufficient defense of eternal propositions as compositional semantic values of sentences. Firstly, we can give a generalized version of the Operator Argument that seems independent of the contested assumptions. Secondly, the extensional alternative to the intensional framework does not allow us to retain eternal propositions as unique semantic values either.     

Grounding the normative: a problem for structured non-naturalism

Philosophical Studies - Many non-naturalists about the normative want to endorse the view that some normative facts hold in virtue of both non-normative facts and normative principles. In this...     

Being controlled by normative influences: self-determination as a moderator of a normative feedback alcohol intervention.

The objectives of this research were to evaluate the efficacy of computer-delivered personalized normative feedback among heavy drinking college students and to evaluate controlled orientation as a moderator of intervention efficacy. Participants (N = 217) included primarily freshman and sophomore, heavy drinking students who were randomly assigned to receive or not to receive personalized normative feedback immediately following baseline assessment. Perceived norms, number of drinks per week, and alcohol-related problems were the main outcome measures. Controlled orientation was specified as a moderator. At 2-month follow-up, students who received normative feedback reported drinking fewer drinks per week than did students who did not receive feedback, and this reduction was mediated by changes in perceived norms. The intervention also reduced alcohol-related negative consequences among students who were higher in controlled orientation. These results provide further support for computer-delivered personalized normative feedback as an empirically supported brief intervention for heavy drinking college students, and they enhance the understanding of why and for whom normative feedback is effective.