Representation and Reasoning about Evolutions of the World in the Context of Reasoning about Actions

The first step in reasoning about actions and change involves reasoning about how the world would evolve if a certain action is executed in a certain state. Most research on this assumes the evolution to be only a single step and focus on formulating the transition function that defines changes between states due to actions. In this paper we consider cases where the evolution is more than just a single change between one state and another. This is manifested when the execution of an action may trigger execution of other actions, or when multiple agents act on the environment following certain strategies.     

Representing Meta-Knowledge in Poole-Systems

We show how Poole-systems, a simple approach to nonmonotonic reasoning, can be extended to take meta-information into account adequately. The meta-information is used to guide the choice of formulas accepted by the reasoner as premises. Existence of a consistent set of conclusions is guaranteed by a least fixpoint construction. The proposed formalism has useful applications in defeasible reasoning, knowledge base fusion and belief revision.     

影响9点问题解决的关键行为

在已有研究的基础上,作者提出划出第三条线是解决9点问题关键行为的假设,并设计了三个实验来验证假设.结果表明:任意两条线的提示训练使9点问题的解决率接近或达到100%,因而,提示两条线不能被看成是解决9点问题的关键行为;而提示划出第三条线的训练使9点问题的解决率明显高于提示其它任何一条线训练的效果,可以被认为是解决9点问题的关键行为;能够引导被试划出第三条线的训练使9点问题的解决率明显提高.     

医疗活动中言语行为特征解析

随着医学模式的变化,医疗的人文关怀的提出,医疗活动中的言语行为也出现了新的特征.从现代医学的发展为医疗言语行为提供了大的语用背景、患者群体的特殊性及其演变延伸了言语行为的情感功能、语用环境的复合性凸现了言语行为的道德水准、医疗活动的风险特质决定了医疗言语行为的规范准确性等四个方面对这种特征加以解析.     

The Paraphrase Argument Against Collective Actions

This paper is about the status of collective actions. According to one view, collective actions metaphysically reduce to individual actions because sentences about collective actions are merely a shorthand for sentences about individual actions. I reconstruct an argument for this view and show via counterexamples that it is not sound. The argument relies on a paraphrase procedure to unpack alleged shorthand sentences about collective actions into sentences about individual actions. I argue that the best paraphrase procedure that has been put forward so far fails to produce adequate results.     

How to Identify Negative Actions with Positive Events

It is often assumed that, while ordinary actions are events, ‘negative actions’ (omissions, refrainments, etc.) are absences of events. I claim that a negative action is an ordinary, ‘positive’ event that plays a certain role. I argue that my approach can answer standard objections to the identity of negative actions and positive events.     

Inconsistencies in the Reporting of Perceived Trauma Severity Among Acute Physical Injury Survivors

This study aimed to identify and predict inconsistency in perceived trauma severity reports over time among trauma survivors. Hospitalized adult survivors of a traumatic injury completed trauma exposure assessments within 40 days post-injury and 6 weeks later (n = 77). The following trauma severity characteristics were examined: (1) threat of loss of life, (2) threat of loss of a body part, (3) threat of serious injury, and (4) peritraumatic emotionality. Potential predictors of inconsistency were also examined. About half of the reports regarding perceived trauma severity characteristics were inconsistent between the baseline to 6-week assessment. The inconsistent reports were mostly small and equally likely to be either more or less severe over time. Increases in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; especially avoidance) predicted increases in severity of life threat and threat of loss of a body part. Thus, acute reports of perceived trauma severity vary and are influenced by PTSD symptoms.     

Ability and Knowing How in the Situation Calculus

Most agents can acquire information about their environments as they operate. A good plan for such an agent is one that not only achieves the goal, but is also executable, i.e., ensures that the agent has enough information at every step to know what to do next. In this paper, we present a formal account of what it means for an agent to know how to execute a plan and to be able to achieve a goal. Such a theory is a prerequisite for producing specifications of planners for agents that can acquire information at run time. It is also essential to account for cooperation among agents. Our account is more general than previous proposals, correctly handles programs containing loops, and incorporates a solution to the frame problem. It can also be used to prove programs containing sensing actions correct.     

关于情绪与推理的理论与实验研究进展

人们普遍认为情绪会影响推理活动,但长期以来缺乏实证研究的证据。文章总结近年来有关情绪对推理影响研究的实验证据,围绕情绪的两方面因素即情绪状态与情绪信息是否影响逻辑推理的问题,对情绪与推理的关系进行探讨。简要介绍了情绪与推理的理论假设以及其实验范式,主要介绍情绪与推理研究的新进展。     

An epistemic and dynamic approach to abductive reasoning: Abductive problem and abductive solution

We propose a study of abductive reasoning addressing it as an epistemic process that involves both an agent?s information and the actions that modify this information. More precisely, we present and discuss definitions of an abductive problem and an abductive solution in terms of an agent?s information, that is, in terms of knowledge and beliefs. The discussion is then formalised by ‘implementing’ our definitions in a dynamic epistemic logic framework, where the properties of these definitions are studied, an epistemic action that represents the application of an abductive step is introduced, and an illustrative example is provided. A number of the most interesting properties of abductive reasoning (those highlighted by Peirce) are shown to be better modelled within this approach.     

On Using Ethical Theories to Teach Engineering Ethics

Many engineering ethics classes and textbooks introduce theories such as utilitarianism and Kantianism (and most others draw from these theories without mentioning them explicitly). Yet using ethical theories to teach engineering ethics is not devoid of difficulty. First, their status is unclear (should one pick a single theory or use them all? does it make a difference?) Also, textbooks generally assume or fallaciously ‘prove’ that egoism (or even simply accounting for one’s interests) is wrong. Further, the drawbacks of ethical theories are underestimated and the theories are also otherwise misrepresented to make them more suitable for engineering ethics as the authors construe it, viz. the ‘moral reasoning’ process. Stating in what various theories disagree would allow the students to frame the problem more productively in terms of motive–consequence or society–individual dichotomies rather than in terms of Kant–utilitarian.     

Eternalist Theories of Persistence Through Time: Where the Differences Really Lie

The eternalist endurantist and perdurantist theories of persistence through time come in various versions, namely the two versions of perdurantism: the worm view and the stage view, and the two versions of endurantism: indexicalism and adverbialism. Using as a starting point the instructive case of what is depicted by photographs, I will examine these four views, and compare them, with some interesting results. Notably, we will see that two traditional enemies—the perdurantist worm view and the endurantist theories—are more like allies: they are much less different than what is usually thought, and some alleged points of central disagreement fall prey to closer scrutiny. The aim of this paper is to examine carefully all those points, and to call attention to the places where the real differences between these views lie. I will then turn to the perdurantist stage view, and claim that with respect to some central issues it is the view that is the most different from the other three, but that in some places the reason why it different is also the reason why it is less satisfactory.

The Process Through Which an Advocacy Intervention Resulted in Positive Change for Battered Women Over Time

A prior experimental evaluation of a community-based advocacy program for women with abusive partners demonstrated positive change in the lives of women even 2 years postintervention (C. M. Sullivan & D. I. Bybee, 1999). The current study explored the complex mediational process through which this change occurred, using longitudinal structural equation modeling and formal tests of mediation. As hypothesized, the advocacy intervention first resulted in women successfully obtaining desired community resources and increasing their social support, which enhanced their overall quality of life. This improvement in well-being appeared to serve as a protective factor from subsequent abuse, as women who received the intervention were significantly less likely to be abused at 2-year follow-up compared with women in the control condition. Increased quality of life completely mediated the impact of the advocacy intervention on later reabuse. Discussion places advocacy for women in the context of other efforts that are needed to build an effective community response to preventing intimate violence against women.     

中外两种推理理论的实验比较研究

通过两个实验对中国学者提出的“推理题与推理者的推理知识双重结构模型”和Evans提出的“双重加工理论”进行了实验比较研究。实验一通过两种评定方法对相应性质命题进行评定后所得实验结果表明Evans等(1983)有关“信念效应”研究中的“结论可信性”变量可以视为与胡竹菁等(1996)实验中的“内容正确性”变量是同一性质的变量; 实验二根据“形式正确性”和“内容正确性”两个自变量设计的推理实验结果与Evans等(1983)的研究结果基本一致; 但增加“内容熟悉性”这一自变量设计的推理实验结果表明“推理题与推理者的推理知识双重结构模型”比Evans提出的“双重加工理论”能更好地解释推理者对性质三段论的推理结果。     

Adult age differences in memory for schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent objects in a real-world setting

The present study examined age-related differences in the inconsistency effect, in which memory is enhanced for schema-inconsistent information compared to schema-consistent information. Young and older adults studied schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent objects in an academic office under either intentional or incidental encoding instructions, and were given two recognition tests either immediately or after 48 hr: A yes/no item recognition test that included modified remember/know judgments and a token recognition test that required determining whether an original object was replaced with a different object with the same name. Young and older adults showed equivalent inconsistency effects in both item and token recognition tests, although older adults reported phenomenologically less rich memories of schema-inconsistent objects relative to young adults. These findings run counter to previous reports suggesting that aging is associated with processing declines at encoding that impair memory for details of schema-inconsistent or distinctive events. The results are consistent with a retrieval-based account in which age-related difficulties in retrieving contextual details can be offset by environmental support.     

Negativity bias in defeasible reasoning

In defeasible reasoning, initially drawn conclusions can be withdrawn in light of new information. In this paper, we examine how the conclusions drawn from conditionals describing positive or negative situations can be defeated by subsequent negative or positive information, respectively. Participants were confronted with conditionals of the form “If [situation], then I am happy/sad” which were either followed by no additional information or by additional information describing situations of the same or the opposite valence. The participant's task was to decide on a question asking for a possible conclusion (“Am I happy?” vs. “Am I sad?”). We found a negativity bias in defeasible reasoning: negative information defeated positively charged conclusions more strongly than positive information defeated negatively charged conclusions. We discuss our results in relation to the new psychology of reasoning.     

复合命题推理能力相关影响因素的实证研究

本研究由两个实验组成,探讨了影响9-11岁的儿童,少年和成年人的复合命题推理能力发展的相关因素,主要有格式类型、性别、材料性质等因素.结果表明:小同的格式类型、性别对被试的复合命题推理能力有着碌著的影响.而材料性质对被试的复合命题推理能力的影响体现在阶段性上,它只对儿童阶段的被试有影响,而对少年阶段和成年阶段的被试影响却不大.