The “Grand Medium”: An Edwardsean Modification of Thomas Aquinas on the Beatific Vision

Jonathan Edwards's understanding of the beatific vision, which draws on Neoplatonist metaphysics, marks a modification of views that became dominant in the Western Church through the rise of Aristotelian anthropology as articulated in the theology of Thomas Aquinas. Edwards's account treats the resurrection of the body as significant, even indispensable for the deifying vision of God. It is also an account that regards Christ—the “grand medium” of the visio dei—as the consummate theophanic appearance of God. And it is, finally, an account that takes seriously the infinite progress of the vision of God, beginning in this life, continuing in the intermediate state, and on into the eternity of the resurrection.     

How to Model Heterogeneity in Costly Punishment: Insights from Responders' Response Times

We investigate what processes may underlie heterogeneity in social preferences. We address this question by examining participants' decisions and associated response times across 12 mini‐ultimatum games. Using a finite mixture model and cross‐validating its classification with a response time analysis, we identified four groups of responders: one group takes little to no account of the proposed split or the foregone allocation and swiftly accepts any positive offer; two groups process primarily the objective properties of the allocations (fairness and kindness) and need more time the more properties need to be examined; and a fourth group, which takes more time than the others, appears to take into account what they would have proposed had they been put in the role of the proposer. We discuss implications of this joint decision–response time analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A major modification of the Bousfield (1966) measure of category clustering

The measure of category clustering proposed by Bousfleld & Bousfleld (1966) was modified to take into account differences in the distribution of the expected value of number of repetitions. The possible effects of using the clustering index without this major modification are discussed.     

Flashbulb memories and the underlying mechanisms of their formation: Toward an emotional-integrative model

Flashbulb memories (FBMs) are detailed recollections of the context in which people first heard about important events. The present study investigates three models of the formation and maintenance of FBM. Two models have previously been proposed in the literature (Brown & Kulik, 1977; Conway et al., 1994). A third model of FBM that integrates theories of FBM and recent developments in the field of emotions is proposed. The present study compares these three competing models by investigating the FBMs that Belgian citizens developed upon learning of the unexpected death of their king Baudouin. Structural equation modeling revealed that, as compared to the two previously proposed models, the third model, which takes into account emotional processes, better explains FBM.     

Item selection by means of a maximizing function

A new item selection technique is presented which takes into account the intercorrelations of the items as well as their correlations with the criterion. The technique is regarded as superior to comparable techniques in that it is considered to achieve greater economy of time, greater objectivity of procedure, higher validity, and higher reliability. The mathematical theory underlying the method is developed. An approximate solution of the mathematical equations is suggested. An approximation procedure for the complete item selection technique is presented, based on the mathematical solution, but much simpler in procedure. The clerical operations involved in the approximation procedure are outlined and illustrated on a sample worksheet.     

Articulating an Uncompromising Forgiveness

I first pose a challenge which, it seems to me, any philosophical account of forgiveness must meet: the account must be articulate and it must allow for forgiveness that is uncompromising. I then examine an account of forgiveness (proposed by David Novitz in the June 1998 issue of this journal) which appears to meet this challenge. Upon closer examination we discover that this account actually fails to meet the challenge—but it fails in very instructive ways. the account takes two missteps which seem to be taken by almost everyone discussing forgiveness. At the end, I sketch an alternative account of forgiveness, one that I think meets the challenge and avoids the missteps.     

THE CONTROVERSY OVER SCORE BANDING IN PERSONNEL SELECTION: ANSWERS TO 10 KEY QUESTIONS

A particular form of test score banding, in which bands are based on the reliability of the test and in which selection within bands takes into account criteria that are likely to enhance workforce diversity, has been proposed as an alternative to the traditional top-down (rank-order) hiring systems, but it has been hotly debated among both scientists and practitioners. In a question-and-answer format, this article presents three different viewpoints (proponents, critics, and neutral observers) on the scientific, legal, and practical issues. The article also attempts to seek some consensus among experts on this controversial procedure.     

Identifying Profit-producing Salesforce Members

Abstract

A procedure for estimating a salesperson's long-run profit performance is proposed. Based on historical personnel and accounting data, it takes into account the flows of revenues and costs that a company is likely to experience when a “typical” salesperson of a prespecified profile is kept on territory. In the reported case study, salesmen with a degree in liberal arts (and to some extent in the sciences) and previous non-sales experience could be identified as the best long-run profit producers. The results showed important differences with the conclusions of a more conventional analysis which emphasized short-run sales performance.     

The Structure and Function of Near-Death Experiences: An Algorithmic Reincarnation Hypothesis

Hypothesizes that a near-death experience (NDE) is the subjective experience of having the state of consciousness in which a person experiences the last moment of his or her life being turned, in stages, into the state of consciousness experienced as the point of no return. The life review this, as is interpreted as a review of the states of consciousness experienced during our lives. Our responses to reviewing our own behaviors while in specific states reinforces and classifies them into those to repeat in future lives and those to avoid. We examine a modification of the traditional doctrine of reincarnation that takes into account biological and cultural evolution. This allows an understanding of how the attributes of NDEs could have undergone selection even though all opportunities for mating have already passed at the time of death.     

A note on parameter estimation for Lazarsfeld's latent class analysis

As the literature indicates, no method is presently available which takes explicitly into account that the parameters of Lazarsfeld's latent class analysis are defined as probabilities and are therefore restricted to the interval [0, 1]. In the present paper an appropriate transform on the parameters is performed in order to satisfy this constraint, and the estimation of the transformed parameters according to the maximum likelihood principle is outlined. In the sequel, a numerical example is given for which the basis solution and the usual maximum likelihood method failed. The different results are compared and the advantages of the proposed method discussed.     

Technical notes on a theory of simplicity

Recently Samuel Richmond, generalizing Nelson Goodman, has proposed a measure of the simplicity of a theory that takes into account not only the polymorphicity of its models but also their internal homogeneity. By this measure a theory is simple if small subsets of its models exhibit only a few distinct (i.e., non-isomorphic) structures. Richmond shows that his measure, unlike that given by Goodman's theory of simplicity of predicates, orders the order relations in an intuitively satisfactory manner. In this note I formalize his presentation and suggest an improvement designed to overcome certain technical difficulties.     

Vowel and consonant judgments are not independent when cued by the same information

Despite many attempts to define the major unit of speech perception, none has been generally accepted. In a unique study, Mermelstein (1978) claimed that consonants and vowels are the appropriate units because a single piece of information (duration, in this case) can be used for one distinction without affecting the other. In a replication, this apparent independence was found, instead, to reflect a lack of statistical power: The vowel and consonant judgments did interact. In another experiment, interdependence of two phonetic judgments was found in responses based on the fricative noise and the vocalic formants of a fricative-vowel syllable. These results show that each judgment made on speech signals must take into account other judgments that compete for information in the same signal. An account is proposed that takes segments as the primary units, with syllables imposing constraints on the shape they may take.     

Olfactory and gustatory sweating--case report on reflex facial hyperhidrosis

Localised hyperhidrosis is comparatively rare among the vegetative disorders. A case of pathological gustatory and olfactory sudation is reported, with the sequence of symptoms corresponding to that of the Frey syndrome. Working from the reflex nature of the phenomen, the paper puts forward a model to account for the delayed onset of the manifestation following a peripheral lesion. It is assumed that readjustment of the reflex excitation level takes place according to a modification in peripheral afference, and that a decompensation of the central control mechanisms results in a pathological enhancement of the reflex. The hypothesis of peripheral efferentisl denervation hypersensitivity appears insufficient to account for the delay in manifestation, or even to account for the classic Frey syndrome following an affection of the parotid gland.     

Determining the number of factors to retain in an exploratory factor analysis using comparison data of known factorial structure

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used routinely in the development and validation of assessment instruments. One of the most significant challenges when one is performing EFA is determining how many factors to retain. Parallel analysis (PA) is an effective stopping rule that compares the eigenvalues of randomly generated data with those for the actual data. PA takes into account sampling error, and at present it is widely considered the best available method. We introduce a variant of PA that goes even further by reproducing the observed correlation matrix rather than generating random data. Comparison data (CD) with known factorial structure are first generated using 1 factor, and then the number of factors is increased until the reproduction of the observed eigenvalues fails to improve significantly. We evaluated the performance of PA, CD with known factorial structure, and 7 other techniques in a simulation study spanning a wide range of challenging data conditions. In terms of accuracy and robustness across data conditions, the CD technique outperformed all other methods, including a nontrivial superiority to PA. We provide program code to implement the CD technique, which requires no more specialized knowledge or skills than performing PA.     

When family considerations influence work decisions: Decision-making processes

The work–family literature has provided an abundance of evidence that various family factors are linked to various work decisions, suggesting that the “family-relatedness” of work decisions is a prevalent phenomenon (Greenhaus & Powell, 2012). However, the cognitive processes by which such linkages occur have received little attention. We offer a framework by which to examine individuals' decision-making processes when they take family considerations into account in their work decisions. The framework suggests stages through which individuals proceed when making a work decision that takes family considerations into account and cognitive processes that influence how they proceed through each stage.     

Pour une approche contextuelle et clinique de la demande de recrutement : la transformation d’une demande initiale dans une entreprise familiale

Studies of psychology in the work place usually analyse job offers from an explicit and functional point of view, forgetting the more implicit and strategic dimensions associated with them. This activity of recruitment takes into account the understanding of the specific context of the job offer and of the structure of the organisation which is looking to recruit. The clinical case study described here takes into consideration these contextual elements of very small company and proposes recruitment methods which include a third party, emphasising the particular role of psychologists or consultancies as recruitment advisers.     

The abstract selection task: new data and an almost comprehensive model

A complete quantitative account of P. Wason's (1966) abstract selection task is proposed. The account takes the form of a mathematical model. It is assumed that some response patterns are caused by inferential reasoning, whereas other responses reflect cognitive processes that affect each card selection separately and independently of other card selections. The model parameters assess the contributions of different interpretational, inferential, and heuristic factors that jointly determine performance in the selection task. The interpretation of most of the model parameters in terms of these different factors is validated experimentally. This model of the selection task is the first to account for the observed frequencies of all 16 possible response patterns that can arise.     

How to be a Normativist about the Nature of Belief

According to the normativist, it is built into the nature of belief itself that beliefs are subject to a certain set of norms. I argue here that only a normativist account can explain certain non‐normative facts about what it takes to have the capacity for belief. But this way of defending normativism places an explanatory burden on any normativist account that an account on which a truth norm is explanatorily fundamental simply cannot discharge. I develop an alternative account that can achieve explanatory adequacy where this sort of truth privileging account falls short.     

When family considerations influence work decisions: Decision-making processes

The work–family literature has provided an abundance of evidence that various family factors are linked to various work decisions, suggesting that the “family-relatedness” of work decisions is a prevalent phenomenon (Greenhaus & Powell, 2012). However, the cognitive processes by which such linkages occur have received little attention. We offer a framework by which to examine individuals' decision-making processes when they take family considerations into account in their work decisions. The framework suggests stages through which individuals proceed when making a work decision that takes family considerations into account and cognitive processes that influence how they proceed through each stage.     

具身认知:认知心理学的新取向

具身认知强调身体在认知的实现中发挥着关键作用。其中心含义包括:(1)认知过程的进行方式和步骤实际上是被身体的物理属性所决定的;(2)认知的内容是身体提供的;(3)认知、身体、环境是一体的,认知存在于大脑,大脑存在于身体,身体存在于环境。具身认知最初仅仅是一种哲学思考,有深刻的哲学思想渊源,但是现在这种哲学思考已经开始走向实证领域,实验的认知心理学家开始从具身的角度看待认知,形成了具身认知研究思潮。但是具身认知研究也面临着许多亟待解决的问题。