Propensities and Transcendental Assumptions

In order to comprehend the world around us and construct explaining theories for this purpose, we need a conception of physical probability, since we come across many (apparently) probabilistic phenomena in our world. But how should we understand objective probability claims? Since pure frequency approaches of probability are not appropriate, we have to use a single case propensity interpretation. Unfortunately, many philosophers believe that this understanding of probability is burdened with significant difficulties. My main aim is to show that we can treat propensity as a theoretical concept that exhibits many similarities to other theoretical concepts, and its difficulties are not insuperable if we make explicit some general presuppositions of scientific practice and apply them to propensities. At least this is true if we formulate the right bridge principle for propensity and rely on further methodological rules in dealing with propensity assertions to make them empirically testable.     

Objective Content

We conceive of many general terms we use as having satisfaction conditions that are objective in that the thought that something meets them neither entails nor is entailed by the thought that we are currently in a position in which we are ready, or warranted, to apply those terms to it. How do we manage to use a given term in such a way that it is thereby endowed, and conceived to be endowed, with satisfaction conditions that are objective in this sense? In the first half of the paper, I present a number of interrelated problems for some extant metasemantical accounts of how use determines objective satisfaction conditions. In the second half, I then propose a novel account that avoids all of these problems.     

Mothergroup-as-a-whole formation and systemic boundarying events

Ego-transport mechanisms such as identification, splitting, container/contained, and projective identification are hypothesized to operate in group-as-a-whole formation just as they operate, according to object relations theory, in the separation-individuation phase of human personality development. However, because of the constraints of the Cartesian paradigm of objectivity upon which psychodynamic theory is based, such events can only be seen as either subjective fantasy events or objective physical reality events. As an alternative, a General System Theory-based Paradigm of Autonomy is introduced, which postulates a primary reality status to pairs of autonomous boundarying events such as opening/closing or moving inside/outside. The GST-boundarying model is shown to offer a more fruitful framework for clarifying how such important ego-transport mechanisms work, and for showing ways to apply our understanding of how they work in making interventions to facilitate group-as-a-whole formation.     

The origin of creative achievement: Spontaneity,responsibility, and individuals

Abstract

Simonton's essay raises a variety of problems and implies several directions for future inquiry. One problem concerns the need to select and focus the target so that the question of how pathologies affect originality does not apply simply to any act of making or writing, including routine processes. There is also a need to sort out the conditions under which creative persons or societies select subjects or content and how well or poorly they succeed in expressing insights about these subjects. The main problem concerns clearly distinguishing between and addressing either or both of two issues: (1) pathologies of whole societies and their creative output, or (2) the impacts of social pathologies on individuals within society. Attacking the last problem is important if we are to understand where the locus of responsibility for originality lies. It is suggested that the workings of creative activity should be studied by concentrating on how metaphors work.     

Surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization: Complexities,prospective solutions,and business case

Complexity in solving real‐world multicriteria optimization problems often stems from the fact that complex, expensive, and/or time‐consuming simulation tools or physical experiments are used to evaluate solutions to a problem. In such settings, it is common to use efficient computational models, often known as surrogates or metamodels, to approximate the outcome (objective or constraint function value) of a simulation or physical experiment. The presence of multiple objective functions poses an additional layer of complexity for surrogate‐assisted optimization. For example, complexities may relate to the appropriate selection of metamodels for the individual objective functions, extensive training time of surrogate models, or the optimal use of many‐core computers to approximate efficiently multiple objectives simultaneously. Thinking out of the box, complexity can also be shifted from approximating the individual objective functions to approximating the entire Pareto front. This leads to further complexities, namely, how to validate statistically and apply the techniques developed to real‐world problems. In this paper, we discuss emerging complexity‐related topics in surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization that may not be prevalent in nonsurrogate‐assisted single‐objective optimization. These complexities are motivated using several real‐world problems in which the authors were involved. We then discuss several promising future research directions and prospective solutions to tackle emerging complexities in surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization. Finally, we provide insights from an industrial point of view into how surrogate‐assisted multicriteria optimization techniques can be developed and applied within a collaborative business environment to tackle real‐world problems.     

Husserl and Nagel on subjectivity and the limits of physical objectivity

Thomas Nagel argues that the subjective character of mind inevitably eludes philosophical efforts to incorporate the mental into a single, complete, physically objective view of the world. Nagel sees contemporary philosophy as caught on the horns of a dilemma – one either follows phenomenology in making all objective phenomena subjective, or one follows physicalism in making all subjective phenomena objective. He contends that both approaches lead to different but equally untenable forms of idealism and suggests that we currently lack the forms of understanding required to tackle the question of how to relate the subjective and objective aspects of experience. This paper draws a number of positive comparisons between Nagel's position on subjectivity and that of the later Husserl. It is argued that Nagel is wrong to dismiss phenomenology as idealist, thus clearing the way for a plausible Husserlian interpretation of his position. Husserl's more developed treatment of the relationships between subjectivity and objectivity can be employed to clarify, strengthen and elaborate Nagel's claims in a number of ways. However, the comparison also serves to show that Nagel does not go far enough in his critique of physical objectivism. The paper concludes by remarking on the continuing relevance of some central Husserlian themes as a critique of and positive alternative to deeply sedimented objectivist assumptions currently prevalent in Anglo-American philosophy.     

State of the aRt personality research: A tutorial on network analysis of personality data in R

Network analysis represents a novel theoretical approach to personality. Network approaches motivate alternative ways of analyzing data, and suggest new ways of modeling and simulating personality processes. In the present paper, we provide an overview of network analysis strategies as they apply to personality data. We discuss different ways to construct networks from typical personality data, show how to compute and interpret important measures of centrality and clustering, and illustrate how one can simulate on networks to mimic personality processes. All analyses are illustrated using a data set on the commonly used HEXACO questionnaire using elementary R-code that readers may easily adapt to apply to their own data.     

Anti-psychologism about Necessity: Friedrich Albert Lange on Objective Inference

In the nineteenth century, the separation of naturalist or psychological accounts of validity from normative validity came into question. In his 1877 Logical Studies (Logische Studien), Friedrich Albert Lange argues that the basis for necessary inference is demonstration, which takes place by spatially delimiting the extension of concepts using imagined or physical diagrams. These diagrams are signs or indications of concepts’ extension, but do not represent their content. Only the inference as a whole captures the objective content of the proof. Thus, Lange argues, the necessity of an inference is independent of psychological accounts of how we grasp the content of a proposition.     

Building Capacity of State Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalitions to Implement Science-Based Approaches

A central question in adolescent reproductive health circles is how to effectively disseminate research to practitioners in a way that supports them in using the most scientifically sound and effective programming. In 2002, the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tackled this question by funding three national-level and five state-level organizations focused on adolescent pregnancy prevention to promote the use of science-based programs and approaches. Healthy Teen Network (HTN) and Education, Training and Research Associates (ETR), two national organizations, have partnered under this CDC funding to implement an effective model for capacity building. This paper provides an overview of the approaches used by HTN and ETR in capacity building using a seven-step process. We describe how we modified the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) for science-based innovations to apply to capacity-building for adolescent reproductive health (ARH) programs, and how we developed relevant, sustainable training and technical support. We conclude by reviewing some of the results of this training, and discuss the future work that will likely continue to advance the science behind effective dissemination of ARH research to practice.     

Observed Variability and Values Matter: Toward a Better Understanding of Information Search and Decisions from Experience

The search for different options before making a consequential choice is a central aspect of many important decisions, such as mate selection or purchasing a house. Despite its importance, surprisingly little is known about how search and choice are affected by the observed and objective properties of the decision problem. Here, we analyze the effects of two key properties in a binary choice task: the options' observed and objective values, and the variability of payoffs. First, in a large public data set of a binary choice task, we investigate how the observed value and variability relate to decision‐makers' efforts and preferences during search. Furthermore, we test how these properties influence the chance of correctly identifying the objectively maximizing option, and how they affect choice. Second, we designed a novel experiment to systematically analyze the role of the objective difference between the options. We find that a larger objective difference between options increases the chance for correctly identifying the maximizing option, but it does not affect behavior during search and choice. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TEXT COMPREHENSION RESEARCH TO CLASSROOM APPLICATION: DEVELOPING AN INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Reading comprehension skills are routinely taught and they are often learned to a point of “mastery” on criterion referenced tests; but students relatively seldom apply them effectively when they read content‐area materials. In this paper we argue that the problem can best be solved not by abandoning skill‐centered teaching but by discovering ways to help students make effective use of the skills they acquire through skill‐centered instruction. Our approach is to develop procedures for glossing expository text; that is, we are using marginal and other intratext notations‐‐gloss‐‐to direct students’ attention while they read in order to help them internalize, direct, and apply specific skills and strategies. We describe the purpose and rationale for our developmental approach and show how we are attempting to bring research implications to bear on our work.     

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的整合

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的分歧由来已久。虽然“质”与“量”的研究方法各有其优势,但是也不可避免地存在一些弱点。如果将质与量的方法进行整合,使之进行优势互补,从而更大可能地揭示心理现象发生和发展的规律是我们所面临的课题。要对质的研究方法与量的研究方法进行整合,首先必须“去范式”,将研究的重点聚焦于研究问题,而非范式;其次必须将质性的资料与定量的资料放在同一个层面上进行比较。该文通过一个案例,向读者介绍如何进行“质”与“量”的研究方法的整合     

Within-day time-varying associations between motivation and movement-related behaviors in older adults

ObjectivesEmerging evidence suggests both motivation and movement-related behaviors vary within and across days. Yet common data analytic approaches assume static or consistent relationships between motivation and behavior across time. Just as motivation and behavior change across time, so too might associations between motivation and behavior. This study will apply time-varying effect modeling to Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data to examine time of day differences in how motivational constructs predict older adults’ subsequent movement-related behavior over the next 2 h.DesignOlder adults (n = 104) completed a 10-day EMA protocol.MethodParticipants answered up to 6 EMA prompts/day to assess momentary intentions and self-efficacy to stand or move as well as intentions and self-efficacy to limit sedentary time over the next 2 h. Participants wore an activPAL accelerometer continuously to measure time spent being upright (i.e., standing or moving) and time spent sitting.ResultsOn weekdays, intentions and self-efficacy were generally predictive of subsequent behavior in the expected direction over the majority of the day whereas these constructs predicted subsequent behavior in the expected directions over a smaller range of times on weekend days.ConclusionsThis study adds to emerging evidence that associations between motivational constructs and subsequent behavior change over the course of the day, but these time-varying associations may be different depending on the day of week. This work has implications for intervention design and the timing of intervention content delivery in approaches like just-in-time adaptive interventions.     

CONCEPTS AND OBJECTIVITY

Some philosophers—indeed, a large number—have presented us with a picture of human knowledge which makes it problematic as to whether we can ever be acquainted with an objective world. Given the nature of perception and thought as characterized by, e.g., Descartes and Hume, there is a problem about how anything I can be aware of can have any sort of objective status; there is a problem of how my awareness of anything can amount to anything other than its merely seeming to me that things are thus and so. And of course many of these same philosophers, and other philosophers, have tried in all sorts of different ways to counter this skeptical thrust. Some, like Descartes, have argued that although human perceiving and human thinking are themselves purely subjective affairs, nevertheless the content of some of our thoughts and ideas is such that it (the content) could not exist if there did not also exist certain things of a quite objective nature. Another way of putting Descartes' thesis is to say that although all our concepts of things are, as concepts, purely subjective entities, nevertheless the content of some of our concepts requires that there exist certain objective entities.     

What do we measure and how do we elicit it? The case for the use of repertory grid technique in multi-party psychological contract research

ABSTRACT

The psychological contract is a multi-faceted construct and, with the rise of gig work, increasingly the contract extends beyond the conventional employer-employee relationship to encompass multi-party exchanges. Against this backdrop, the question of what should be measured when assessing the contract and how it should be elicited remains a significant issue for scholars. We argue that the potential of psychological contract theory as an explanatory lens in understanding contemporary multi-party working relationships is constrained by two key limitations inherent in conventional measurement approaches. Firstly, such approaches have favoured singular rather than multiparty perspectives, and secondly, they have broadly accorded equal weight and significance to the content dimensions unearthed, despite the fact that they may differ markedly in how they are understood by each party to the employment relationship. In order to remedy these shortcomings, we make the case for adopting repertory grid technique as a methodological framework to address measurement limitations and to more rigorously assess the content of the complex multi-party psychological contract.     

An interactive fuzzy satisficing method for multiobjective stochastic linear programming problems using chance constrained conditions

Two major approaches to deal with randomness or ambiguity involved in mathematical programming problems have been developed. They are stochastic programming approaches and fuzzy programming approaches. In this paper, we focus on multiobjective linear programming problems with random variable coefficients in objective functions and/or constraints. Using chance constrained programming techniques, the stochastic programming problems are transformed into deterministic ones. As a fusion of stochastic approaches and fuzzy ones, after determining the fuzzy goals of the decision maker, interactive fuzzy satisficing methods to derive a satisficing solution for the decision maker by updating the reference membership levels is presented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Doubts on Spirituality: Interpreting Waldorf ritual

To investigate whether some kinds of kindergartens are better than others at bringing order, calm and stability to children's lives is, though not without its problems, fairly straightforward: the kinds of behaviour that count as evidence are relatively uncontroversial. Researchers can apply themselves, without too many qualms, to figuring out how kindergartens do it. Where spiritual development is concerned, because many kindergartens are already differentiated by religious or spiritual orientation - Jewish, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Waldorf, etc. - there is a temptation similarly to focus on how it is achieved. Relationships between the approaches and distinctive methodologies are prime areas for investigation. But such research might be premature. Any answer to the question 'To what extent have children been spiritually changed?' needs some agreement on the kinds of things we take as evidence of spiritual change. There are few signs of such agreement. This presents researchers, and also teachers, with a problem in proving their claims. In this article we try to substantiate this doubt by reflecting on some of our own research on Waldorf education. It too focused on 'how' and identified 'ritual' as a crucial factor in the Waldorf approach but we gradually realized that the epistemological issue was prior and had to be addressed.     

Making Numbers Come to Life: Two Scoring Methods for Creativity in Aurora's Cartoon Numbers

Although creativity has long been recognized as an important aspect of mathematical thinking, both for the advancement of the field and in students' developing expertise in mathematics, assessments of student creativity in that domain have been limited in number and focus. This article presents an assessment developed for creativity that provides a score for mathematical creativity (MaC) in addition to a score for general creativity in the numeric domain, or what we might call numerical creativity (NuC). We developed different rating scales for each and then explored how each scoring method accounts for the students' mathematical/numerical and creative skills. The psychometric properties for both scoring approaches were examined. Each method was shown to reflect different relationships with other performance tests. In addition, it is proposed that MaC may provide useful insight into students' levels of adaptive expertise in mathematics, as reflected by their ability to apply mathematical knowledge (i.e., language, operations, concepts) to novel situations, representing an informative supplement to performance indicators of math achievement.     

Teaching Approaches and Occupational Therapy Psychoeducation

Abstract

Patient education has become an important feature of any treatment program. Psychoeducational procedures dominate the treatment used by occupational therapy practitioners in psychiatric rehabilitation. Occupational therapy literature frequently describes the content of psychoeducational programs but rarely examines the teaching approach therapists use in them. It is necessary, therefore, to begin carefully questioning how we are approaching psychoeducation and justifying it as a method compatible with our basic philosophical principles and our growing understanding of occupation. Three approaches to teaching are examined and contrasted with occupational therapy values: the executive approach, the therapist approach, and the liberationist approach. Each of these approaches points to dramatically different outcomes of the therapeutic process. Ultimately, they bring into question the way in which we build a relationship with our clients. The liberationist approach is proposed as the best guide of how and why to use psychoeducation in the quest for providing authentic occupational therapy.     

When, what, and how much to reward in reinforcement learning-based models of cognition

Reinforcement learning approaches to cognitive modeling represent task acquisition as learning to choose the sequence of steps that accomplishes the task while maximizing a reward. However, an apparently unrecognized problem for modelers is choosing when, what, and how much to reward; that is, when (the moment: end of trial, subtask, or some other interval of task performance), what (the objective function: e.g., performance time or performance accuracy), and how much (the magnitude: with binary, categorical, or continuous values). In this article, we explore the problem space of these three parameters in the context of a task whose completion entails some combination of 36 state-action pairs, where all intermediate states (i.e., after the initial state and prior to the end state) represent progressive but partial completion of the task. Different choices produce profoundly different learning paths and outcomes, with the strongest effect for moment. Unfortunately, there is little discussion in the literature of the effect of such choices. This absence is disappointing, as the choice of when, what, and how much needs to be made by a modeler for every learning model.