The relationship between sociocultural factors and autobiographical memories from childhood: the role of formal schooling

ABSTRACT

Cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory (AM) are associated with cultural variations. In models of the self and parental reminiscing style, but not many studies have analysed the relationship between AM and specific cultural practices such as formal schooling. Theoreticians like [Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting. pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45, 401–418. doi:10.1037/a0014726; Ka?itçiba?i, C. (2005). Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context. Implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 403–422. doi:10.1177/0022022105275959] and [Keller, H. (2007). Children development across cultures. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates] have considered formal schooling as an engine towards the model of independence; however, the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive: while some studies found evidence of a relation between formal schooling and characteristics of AM, others did not. To solve this inconsistency, the present study compared orally narrated childhood memories of Mexican adults with three different levels of education (from rudimentary literacy to university). Results support a relationship between formal schooling and AM in the predicted direction: More educated participants reported longer, more specific and more self-oriented memories than those with less schooling experience did. Some gender differences were also observed, with males generally reporting more individually and less socially oriented memories than females, except for university level participants. We conclude that these results support Greenfield’s theory about formal schooling as a sociocultural factor that promotes the cultural pathway to independence, as well as complexity and context-boundedness of gender differences in AM.     

Holistic face processing is penetrable … depending on the composite design

Holistic processing (HP) of faces is usually measured by the composite effect. While Weston and Perfect [2005. Effects of processing bias on the recognition of composite face halves. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 1038–1042. doi:10.3758/BF03206440] found that priming at the local level speeded recognition of components of faces, Gao et al. [2011. Priming global and local processing of composite faces: Revisiting the processing-bias effect on face perception. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 73, 1477–1486. doi:10.3758/s13414-011-0109-7] found that only global priming had an effect on HP of faces. The two studies used different versions of the composite task (the partial design, which is considered to be prone on bias, and the complete design). However, the two studies also differed in other respects and it is difficult to know to what extent issues with the partial design contributed to the differing conclusions. In the present study, the HP indexed by the complete design measure was augmented by global priming. In contrast, no effect was observed in the partial design index. We claim that the partial design index reflects other factors besides HP, including response bias, and conclude that HP can be understood within the context of domain-general attentional processes.     

Can propositional biases modulate syntactic repair processes? Insights from preceding comprehension questions

ABSTRACT

There is an ongoing debate about whether discourse biases can constrain sentence processing. Previous work has shown comprehension question accuracy to decrease for temporarily ambiguous sentences preceded by a context biasing towards an initial misinterpretation, suggesting a role of context for modulating comprehension. However, this creates limited modulation of reading times at the disambiguating word, suggesting initial syntactic processing may be unaffected by context [Christianson & Luke, 2011 Christianson, K. , & Luke, S. G. (2011). Context strengthens initial misinterpretations of text. Scientific Studies of Reading , 15 (2), 136–166. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10888431003636787 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Context strengthens initial misinterpretations of text. Scientific Studies of Reading, 15(2), 136–166]. The current experiments examine whether propositional and structural content from preceding comprehension questions can cue readers to expect certain structures in temporarily ambiguous garden-path sentences. The central finding is that syntactic repair processes remain unaffected while reading times in other regions are modulated by preceding questions. This suggests that reading strategies can be superficially influenced by preceding comprehension questions without impacting the fidelity of ultimate (mis)representations.     

The Relationship between Response-Time Effort and Accuracy in PISA Science Multiple Choice Items

The study examined the relationship between examinees’ test-taking effort and their accuracy rate on items from the PISA 2015 assessment. The 10% normative threshold method was applied on Science multiple-choice items in the Cyprus sample to detect rapid guessing behavior. Results showed that the extent of rapid guessing across simple and complex multiple-choice items was on average less than 6% per item. Rapid guessers were identified, and for most items their accuracy was lower than the accuracy for students engaging in solution-based behavior. A number of plausible explanations were graphically evaluated for items for which accuracy was higher for the rapid guessing subgroup. Overall, this empirical investigation presents original evidence on test-taking effort as measured by response time in PISA items and tests propositions of Wise’s (2017 Wise, S. L. (2017). Rapid‐guessing behavior: Its identification, interpretation, and implications. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 36(4), 52–61. doi:10.1111/emip.12165[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Test-Taking Theory.     

Perceived Esteem Support Predicts Competition Appraisals and Performance Satisfaction Among Varsity Athletes: A Test of Organizational Stressors as Moderators

Organizational stressors may be important factors influencing athletes' sport experiences. In this study, we examined organizational stressors as “background variables” (Gump & Matthews, 1999 Gump, B. B., & Matthews, K. A. (1999). Do background stressors influence reactivity to and recovery from acute stressors?. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29(3), 469–494. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01397.x[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) that may impact athletes' perceptions of support and appraisals of competitive stressors. Perceptions of available esteem support, organizational stressors, competitive appraisals, and performance satisfaction were prospectively examined among varsity team sport athletes (N = 84). Esteem support was positively related to athletes' perceptions of satisfaction with performance, and the indirect effect through secondary appraisal was significant. Two types of organizational stressors moderated the association between esteem support and secondary appraisal: More frequent coaching stressors weakened the association between esteem support and secondary appraisal, whereas more frequent team and culture stressors strengthened the association between esteem support and appraisal. These results support previous research (cf. Freeman & Rees, 2009 Freeman, P., & Rees, T. (2009). How does perceived support lead to better performance? An examination of potential mechanisms. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21, 429–441. doi:10.1080/10413200903222913[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), indicating that perceived available esteem support was positively associated with athletes' assessments that they had the necessary resources to cope with competitive stressors, which positively predicted performance satisfaction after a competition. Furthermore, these findings suggest that higher levels of coaching stressors were associated with poorer perceptions of having the necessary resources to cope with competition stressors, whereas conversely, higher team and culture stressors were not necessarily detrimental to athletes' perceptions of their resources to cope with competitive demands. These results suggest that different types of organizational stressors may have differential impacts on athletes' sport experiences.     

CS as an effect: action-based evaluative conditioning depends on temporal contiguity

ABSTRACT

In this study, we analysed Evaluative Conditioning (EC) with a recently introduced S-R paradigm [Blask et al., 2016 Blask, K. , Frings, C. , & Walther, E. (2016). Doing is for feeling. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 145 (10), 1263–1268. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/xge0000211 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Doing is for feeling. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(10), 1263–1268], in which valence first transfers from an affective US to a response and then from this valence-laden response to a novel CS. Based on action control research, the CS in this procedure could be interpreted as an effect of the response. Hence, temporal contiguity of the valence-laden response and the CS should determine whether EC occurs. We tested this hypothesis in an experiment, in which we varied the time interval between the response and the subsequent CS. Results show that EC effects occurred only under conditions of high temporal contiguity thus supporting our assumptions. This finding sheds light on the processes underlying action-based EC in particular and evaluative learning in general.     

Reciprocal altruism: It’s relationship to locus of control and dispositional optimism among Nigerian undergraduates

The study examined locus of control and dispositional optimism influences on reciprocal altruism among Nigerian university undergraduate students. Participants consisted of 253 undergraduate students in their second year of study (males = 151 (60%), females = 102 (40%); mean age = 21.2, SD = 9.10). They completed the Dispositional Optimism Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver, &; Bridges, 1994 Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., &; Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem: A re-evaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(6), 1063–1078. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1063[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the Altruistic Personality Scale (Rushton, Chrisjohn &; Fekken, 1981 Rushton, J. P., Chrisjohn, R. D., &; Fekken, G. C. (1981). The altruistic personality and the self-report altruism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 292–302. [Google Scholar]), and the Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966 Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0092976[Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]). Multiple regression analysis indicated that internal locus of control positively predicted reciprocal altruism; while dispositional optimism did not. Future research should examine other dimensions of optimism such as adaptive utility, comparative and strategic dispositional optimism involved that may provide more insight into the understanding of reciprocal altruism in Nigeria.     

Do part–whole relations produce facilitation in the picture–word interference task?

Three experiments used the picture–word interference task to evaluate competing models of lexical access in spoken word production. Both the presence of a part–whole relation and association between the target and the interfering word were manipulated. Part terms associated with targets produced facilitation at early stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs; –300?ms in Experiment 1, –300 and –150?ms in Experiment 3), but not at SOA 0?ms. Otherwise, part terms tended to produce interference, with unassociated part terms producing a significant semantic interference effect (SIE) at SOA of 0?ms in Experiment 1, and a similar trend in Experiment 3. Experiment 2 replicated the materials and procedure of Costa, Alario, and Caramazza (2005 Costa, A., Alario, F.-X., & Caramazza, A. (2005). On the categorical nature of the semantic interference effect in the picture-word interference paradigm. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12(1), 125–131. doi:10.3758/BF03196357.2005-04938-012[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Experiment 2. On the categorical nature of the semantic interference effect in the picture–word interference paradigm. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12(1), 125–131), yet failed to find any semantic facilitation at SOA 0?ms. We propose that these findings are consistent with lexical competition accounts of SIE but difficult to explain in terms of the plausibility of the interfering words as responses to the target.     

The vocational ID – connecting life design counselling and personality systems interaction theory

ABSTRACT

We introduce the Vocational ID that integrates linguistic and visual representations of a career counselling client’s self. Based upon findings from the Life Design paradigm [Savickas, M. L., Nota, L., Rossier, J., Dauwalder, J.-P., Duarte, M. E., Guichard, J.,?…?van Vianen, A. E. M. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the twenty-first century. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(3), 239–250. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.04.004] and the Personality Systems Interaction theory [Kuhl, J. (2000b). The volitional basis of personality systems interaction theory: Applications in learning and treatment contexts. International Journal of Educational Research, 33(7–8), 665–703. doi:10.1016/S0883-0355(00)00045-8], the Vocational ID facilitates working on clients' vocational identity. In this article, we present the theoretical framework, its practical applications, and a case study.     

Associations Between Peer Pressure and Adolescents’ Binge Behaviors: The Role of Basic Needs and Coping

Framed from a framework based on the integration of self-determination theory (Ryan &; Deci, 2000 Ryan, R. M., &; Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Endler and Parker’s (1990) conception of coping strategies, the authors analyzed the relationships between peer pressure and binge behaviors (binge eating and binge drinking) in adolescence. Moreover, the authors explored the mediating role of satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs and coping strategies in these associations. Participants were 570 high school students (M?=?15.75 years, SD?=?1.14 years) living in Italy. The study design was cross-sectional and adolescents were administered self-report questionnaires. Path analysis showed significant and positive direct associations of peer pressure with both binge eating and binge drinking. Moreover, findings show that there is an indirect path in which peer pressure is positively associated with need frustration that is related to the use of emotion-oriented coping strategies that, on their turn, are associated with binge eating. Differently, binge drinking seems to be only directly related to peer pressure. The authors put light to the complex nature of the relationships between peer pressure and binge behaviors in adolescence, taking into account the separate contribution of need satisfaction and need frustration, as well as of coping strategies. Finally, practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Shared structuring resources across domains: double task effects from linguistic processing on the structural integration of pitch sequences

Many studies have reported evidence suggesting that resources involved in linguistic structural processing might be domain-general by demonstrating interference from simultaneously presented non-linguistic stimuli on the processing of sentences (Slevc, Rosenberg, & Patel, 2009 Slevc, L. R., Rosenberg, J. C., & Patel, A. D. (2009). Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16(2), 374–381. doi:10.3758/16.2.374[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, the complexity of the analysed linguistic processes often precludes the interpretation of such interference as being based on structural—rather than more general—processing resources (Perruchet & Poulin-Charronnat, 2013 Perruchet, P., & Poulin-Charronnat, B. (2013). Challenging prior evidence for a shared syntactic processor for language and music. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20(2), 310–317. doi:10.3758/s13423-012-0344-5[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We therefore used linguistic structure as a source of interference for another structural processing task, by asking participants to read sentences while processing experimentally manipulated pitch sequences. Half of the sentences contained a segment with either an “out-of-context” sentential violation or a “garden path” unexpectancy. Furthermore, the pitch sequences contained a cluster shift, which did or did not align with the sentential unexpectancies. A two-tone recognition task followed each pitch sequence, providing an index of the strength with which this structural boundary was processed. When a “garden path” unexpectancy (requiring structural reintegration) accompanied the cluster shift, the structural boundary induced by this shift was processed more shallowly. No such effect occurred with non-reintegratable “out-of-context” sentential violations. Furthermore, the discussed interference effect can be isolated from general pitch recognition performance, supporting the interpretation of such interference as being based on overlapping structural processing resources (Kljajevic, 2010 Kljajevic, V. (2010). Is syntactic working memory language specific? Psihologija, 43(1), 85–101. doi:10.2298/PSI1001085K[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Patel, 2003 Patel, A. D. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 674–681. doi: 10.1038/nn1082[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

The own-age face recognition bias in children and adults

Children recognize children's faces more accurately than adult faces, and adults recognize adult faces more accurately than children's faces (e.g., Anastasi & Rhodes, 2005 Anastasi, J. S. and Rhodes, M. G. 2005. An own-age bias in face recognition for children and older adults. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12: 1043–1047. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This is the own-age bias. Research has shown that this bias is at least partially based on experience since trainee teachers show less of an own-age bias than do other adults (Harrison & Hole, 2009 Harrison, V. and Hole, G. J. 2009. Evidence for a contact-based explanation of the own-age bias in face recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 16: 264–269. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The present research tested the own-age bias in three groups of children (age 4–6, 7–9, 10–12 years) and a group of adults in the recognition of three age groups of faces (age 7–9, 20–22, and 65–90 years). Results showed an own-age bias for 7- to 9-year-old children and adults. Specifically, children could recognize faces more accurately if they were less than two years different from their own age than if they were more than two years older or younger. These results are discussed in terms of short-term experience with faces creating biases, and this rapidly changes with age.     

Perceptual simulations and linguistic representations have differential effects on speeded relatedness judgements and recognition memory

We examined the effect of spatial iconicity (a perceptual simulation of canonical locations of objects) and word-order frequency on language processing and episodic memory of orientation. Participants made speeded relatedness judgements to pairs of words presented in locations typical of their real-world arrangements (e.g., ceiling on top and floor on bottom). They then engaged in a surprise orientation recognition task for the word pairs. We replicated Louwerse's (2008) Louwerse, M. M. 2008. Embodied representations are encoded in language. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15: 838–844. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] finding that word-order frequency has a stronger effect on semantic relatedness judgements than does spatial iconicity. This is consistent with recent suggestions that linguistic representations have a stronger impact on immediate decisions about verbal materials than do perceptual simulations. In contrast, spatial iconicity enhanced episodic memory of orientation to a greater extent than word-order frequency did. This new finding indicates that perceptual simulations have an important role in episodic memory. Results are discussed with respect to theories of perceptual representation and linguistic processing.     

Stimulus type and the list strength paradigm

In recognition memory, increasing the strength of studied items does not reduce performance on other items, an effect dubbed the null list strength effect (LSE). While this finding has been replicated many times, it has rarely been tested using stimuli other than single words. Kinnell and Dennis (2012 Kinnell, A., & Dennis, S. (2012). The role of stimulus type in list length effects in recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 40, 311–325. doi: 10.3758/s13421-011-0164-2[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) recently tested for the presence of list length effects using non-word stimulus classes while controlling for the confounds that are present in list length designs. Small list length effects were found for fractal and face images. We adopted the same paradigm and stimuli used by Kinnell and Dennis to test whether these stimuli would be susceptible to list strength effects as well. We found significant LSEs for fractal images, but null LSEs for face images and natural scene photographs. Stimuli other than words do appear to be susceptible to list strength effects, but these effects are small and restricted to particular stimulus classes, as is the case in list length designs. Models of memory may be able to address differences between these stimulus classes by attributing differences in representational overlap between the stimulus classes.     

Assessing visual STM in infants and adults: eye movements and pupil dynamics reflect memory maintenance

Though previous work has demonstrated substantial short-term memory (STM) development in the first year of life (e.g., Ross-Sheehy, S., Oakes, L. M., & Luck, S. J. 2003. The development of visual short-term memory capacity in Infants. Child Development, 74(6), 1807–1822. doi:10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00639.x), limitations in infant-based procedures make it difficult to assess the continuity of STM mechanisms from infancy though adulthood. The goal of the current work is to present data collected from both infants and adults using a novel STM assessment task. Eye-tracking was used to capture gaze and pupillometry in 5-, 8- and 11-month-old infants and adults (n?=?176). Infant data replicate and extend previous findings demonstrating clear evidence of STM improvement from 5- to 11-months-of-age. Analysis of adult data reveal qualitatively similar patterns of responding, and additionally reveal several behavioural markers of STM accuracy including pupil dilation, saccade count, and switching. These results suggest that change-detection tasks recruit similar memory mechanisms in both infants and adults, and further suggest that visual dynamics may provide important new continuous measures of STM from infancy through adulthood.     

Of Fallacies and Errors,New and Repeated: A Rejoinder to Butcher et al. (2018)

Butcher, Hass, Greene, Nelson, Nichols, and Williams (2018 Butcher, J. N., Hass, G. A., Greene, R. L., Nelson, L. D., Nichols, D. S., & Williams, C. L. (2018). Using the MMPI-2 in forensic assessment: Response to criticism about a case study. Journal of Personality Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/00223891.2018.1493488.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) responded to my (Ben-Porath, 2018 Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2018). Uses and misuses of Ted Kaczynski’s MMPI. Journal of Personality Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/00223891.2018.1468337.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) critique of Butcher, Hass, Greene, and Nelson’s (2015) analysis of Ted Kaczynski’s MMPI–2–RF, purporting to find logical fallacies in my arguments and shortcomings in my interpretation of MMPI–2–RF scales. Butcher et al. (2018 Butcher, J. N., Hass, G. A., Greene, R. L., Nelson, L. D., Nichols, D. S., & Williams, C. L. (2018). Using the MMPI-2 in forensic assessment: Response to criticism about a case study. Journal of Personality Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/00223891.2018.1493488.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) repeated several previously refuted arguments and opinions, while failing to acknowledge, let alone consider, prior responses to their claims. In this rejoinder I refute (again) Butcher et al.’s assertion that empirical data raise questions about the “clinical sensitivity” of MMPI–2–RF scales, identify an extensive literature relevant to forensic use of the MMPI–2–RF that Butcher and colleagues have systematically ignored, and identify a series of logical and factual fallacies along with new and repeated errors of omission and commission in Butcher et al.’s response.     

Kant: constitutivism as capacities-first philosophy

Over the last two decades, Kant’s name has become closely associated with the “constitutivist” program within metaethics.¹1 The association of Kant and constitutivism is due above all to the work of Korsgaard – see for example Korsgaard (1996 Korsgaard, Christine. 1996. The Sources of Normativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2008 Korsgaard, Christine. 2008. The Constitution of Agency: Essays on Practical Reason and Moral Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2009 Korsgaard, Christine. 2009. Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). A close second in significance in this regard is Velleman (2000 Velleman, David. 2000. The Possibility of Practical Reason. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Google Scholar], 2009 Velleman, David. 2009. How We Get Along. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). For some of the other (Kantian and anti-Kantian) variants on the constitutivist idea, see Foot (2003 Foot, Philippa. 2003. Natural Goodness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]), O'Neill (1989 O’Neill, Onora. 1989. Constructions of Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]), Thomson (2008 Thomson, J. J. 2008. Normativity. New York: Open Court. [Google Scholar]), Thompson (2008 Thompson, Michael. 2008. Life and Action: Elementary Structures of Practice and Practical Thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Smith (2012 Smith, Michael. 2012. “Agents and Patients, or: What We Learn About Reasons for Action by Reflecting on Our Choices in Process-of-Thought Cases.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 112 (3): 309–331. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9264.2012.00337.x[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2013 Smith, Michael. 2013. “A Constitutivist Theory of Reasons: Its Promise and Parts.” LEAP: Law, Ethics, and Philosophy 1: 9–30. [Google Scholar]), James (2012 James, Aaron. 2012. “Constructing Protagorean Objectivity.” In Constructivism in Practical Philosophy, edited by J. Lenman, and Y. Shemmer, 60–80. Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Walden (2012 Walden, Kenny. 2012. “Laws of Nature, Laws of Freedom, and the Social Construction of Normativity.” Oxford Studies in Metaethics 7: 37–79. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653492.003.0002[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Katsafanas (2013 Katsafanas, Paul. 2013. Agency and the Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Setiya (2013 Setiya, Kieran. 2013. Knowing Right from Wrong. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]), and Lavin (forthcoming Lavin, Doug. forthcoming. “Pluralism about Agency”. [Google Scholar]). But is Kant best read as pursuing a constitutivist approach to meta-normative questions? And if so, in what sense?²2 I’ve discussed this question previously (with a contemporary focus) in Schafer (2015a Schafer, Karl. 2015a. “Realism and Constructivism in Kantian Metaethics 1.” Philosophy Compass 10: 690–701. doi: 10.1111/phc3.12253[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2015b Schafer, Karl. 2015b. “Realism and Constructivism in Kantian Metaethics 2.” Philosophy Compass 10: 702–713. doi: 10.1111/phc3.12252[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2018a Schafer, Karl. 2018a. “Constitutivism About Reasons: Autonomy and Understanding.” In The Many Moral Rationalisms, edited by K. Jones, and F. Schroeter, 70–90. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]). See also the discussion of Sensen (2013 Sensen, Oliver. 2013. “Kant’s Constructisivm.” In Constructivism in Ethics, edited by Carla Bagnoli, 63–81. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), which arrives at a somewhat similar conclusion, albeit in a different systematic context. In this essay, I argue that we can best answer these questions by considering them in the context of how Kant understands the proper methodology for philosophy in general. The result of this investigation will be that, while Kant can indeed be read as a sort of constitutivist, his constitutivism is ultimately one instance of a more general approach to philosophy, which treats as fundamental our basic, self-conscious rational capacities. Thus, to truly understand why and how Kant is a constitutivist, we need to consider this question within the context of his more fundamental commitment to “capacities-first philosophy”.     

The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A response to "A Modest Proposal"

ABSTRACT

A response to Moser and Devereux (2017 Moser, C. A., & Devereux, M. T. (2016). A modest proposal. International Journal of Transgenderism, Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/15532739.2016.1217446</bib[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), “A Modest Proposal.”     

Processing of compound-word characters in reading Chinese: An eye-movement-contingent display change study

Readers’ eye movements were monitored as they read Chinese two-constituent compound words in sentence contexts. The first compound-word constituent was either an infrequent character with a highly predictable second constituent or a frequent character with an unpredictable second constituent. The parafoveal preview of the second constituent was manipulated, with four preview conditions: identical to the correct form; a semantically related character to the second constituent; a semantically unrelated character to the second constituent; and a pseudocharacter. An invisible boundary was set between the two constituents; when the eyes moved across the boundary, the previewed character was changed to its intended form. The main findings were that preview effects occurred for the second constituent of the compound word. Providing an incorrect preview of the second constituent affected fixations on the first constituent, but only when the second constituent was predictable from the first. The frequency of the initial character of the compound constrained the identity of the second character, and this in turn modulated the extent to which the semantic characteristics of the preview influenced processing of the second constituent and the compound word as a whole. The results are considered in relation to current accounts of Chinese compound-word recognition and the constraint hypothesis of Hyönä, Bertram, and Pollatsek (2004 Hyönä, J., Bertram, R. and Pollatsek, A. 2004. Are long compound words identified serially via their constituents? Evidence from an eye-movement-contingent display change study. Memory & Cognition, 32: 523–532. (doi:10.3758/BF03195844)[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We conclude that word identification in Chinese is flexible, and parafoveal processing of upcoming characters is influenced both by the characteristics of the fixated character and by its relationship with the characters in the parafovea.