The Modes of Value

Contrary to the received view, decision theory is not primarily devoted to instrumental (ends-to-means) reasoning. Instead, its major preoccupation is the derivation of ends from other ends. Given preferences over basic alternatives, it constructs preferences over alternatives that have been modified through the addition of value object modifiers (modes) that specify probability, uncertainty, distance in time etc. A typology of the decision-theoretical modes is offered. The modes do not have (even extrinsic) value, but they transform the value of objects to which they are applied. A rational agent's total set of preferences should be coherent, but from this it does not follow that her preferences over mode-containing objects have to be derivable from her preferences over mode-free objects.     

Practical Modes of Presentation

The Intellectualist thesis that know‐how is a kind of propositional knowledge faces a simple problem: For any proposition p, it seems that one could know p without knowing how to do the activity in question. For example, it seems that one could know that w is a way to swim even if one didn't know how to swim oneself. In this paper I argue that this “sufficiency problem” cannot be adequately addressed by appealing to practical modes of presentation.     

Modes of vibrotactile pattern generation

Two modes of generating vibrotactile patterns, static and scanned, were examined. In the static mode, all elements making up the pattern were turned on and off simultaneously. In the scanned mode, the pattern to be identified was moved across the tactile array. The patterns were letters of the alphabet presented to the fingertips by means of the Optacon, a reading aid for the blind. The results of the first experiment showed that the performance on a letter recognition task decreased as pattern duration decreased and that at all durations below 200-msec performance in the static mode was better than in the scanned mode. Good letter recognition was possible at durations of 4 msec in the static mode. The results of the second experiment showed that letter recognition in the static mode was highly dependent on the perceived intensity of the letters presented, whereas intensity changes in the scanned mode had little effect on letter recognition. The results of the third experiment showed that both modes of pattern presentation produced similar results in the presence of masking stimuli. The implications of the results for cutaneous pattern perception and information transmission and visual letter recognition are discussed.     

Modes of Thinking and Classroom Adjustments

Abstract

A shift in preference of issues used in resolving moral dilemmas was considered to be a specific instance of the choice shift phenomenon. The present study tested a hypothesis formulated from persuasive arguments theory—that shifts in preference for the use of issues in resolving a moral dilemma would be influenced by the persuasiveness of arguments made available between ratings. To test this hypothesis, two conditions were devised: The first allowed 20 undergraduates to consider available arguments before the first of two preference ratings, and the second prevented 20 other undergraduates from giving initial, careful consideration. As predicted, persuasiveness of intervening arguments was found to correlate with the direction and degree of shift in the second condition but not the first.     

Spinoza on the Essences of Modes

This paper examines some aspects of Spinoza's metaphysics of the essences of modes.2 ²I would like to thank John Carriero, Calvin Normore, Eliot Michaelson, Eileen Nutting, Paul Nichols, Alexi Patsaouras, Rachel Johnson and Sarah Jansen for reading and commenting on earlier versions of this paper. I situate Spinoza's use of the notion of essence as a response to traditional, Aristotelian, ways of thinking about essence. I argue that, although Spinoza rejects part of the Aristotelian conception of essence, according to which it is in virtue of its essence that a thing is a member of a kind, he nevertheless retains a different part of such a conception, according to which an essence is some structural feature of a thing which causally explains other, non-essential features. I go on to develop an account of Spinoza's metaphysics of essence, according to which essences, what he sometimes calls formal essences, are produced by the divine essence prior to and independent of the creation of finite modes, and according to which essences are the formal or exemplar causes of finite modes. I then argue that finite modes, in virtue of the formal essences which they actualize, are genuine causal relata. Finally, I offer some speculations about Spinoza's answer to the question, ‘Why, in a necessitarian cosmos filled with formal essences, should there be temporal finite modes at all?’     

实体瘤治疗模式的展望

1　实体瘤的传统治疗手段与方法肿瘤主要是由肿瘤细胞组成 ,肿瘤细胞具有增殖自主性和分化失控性 ,侵袭性生长等生理特性。长期以来 ,肿瘤的研究主要针对肿瘤细胞 ,早期理论认为肿瘤是肿瘤细胞异常增殖引起的 ;80年代以来 ,人们逐渐认识到肿瘤的增殖不仅与肿瘤细胞增殖旺盛程度有关 ,也与细胞死亡速度有关 ,很多肿瘤是由于细胞增殖与死亡平衡失调而造成的。随后人们又进一步认识到肿瘤不仅是肿瘤细胞异常增殖引起的 ,而且还是一种肿瘤细胞分化紊乱及成熟障碍性疾病。在这些基础理论指导下 ,肿瘤的治疗手段在采用抑制肿瘤细胞增殖的同时 ,还…     

Modes and methods of personality research

Advances in knowledge about personality will be fostered by improved research methods, but corresponding improvements in our theories will be needed also, better methods will not be enough Theory itself can have methodological functions, and some methods provide strong impetus toward greater theoretical clarity and rigor Distinctions between methodological developments in research design, measurement, and analysis need to be maintained, and we badly need more research directed specifically toward improving methodologies Some papers in this volume point quite clearly to the need for all aspects of our research to be better rationalized and deliberate, casual and opportunistic decisions about how to carry out research simply will not do These papers indicate, for example, that the trait vs situation controversy would likely never have occurred had the issues been addressed with greater methodological, and logical, rigor This volume is not complete in its coverage of the potentially useful methods for personality research, and attention should ultimately be devoted to such methods as life histories and case studies and cross-cultural comparisons In general, however, the papers in this volume offer an opportunity to raise the level of research in personality to a new plane of sophistication and revealingness     

Modes and models in anxiety

Abstract

To examine within the realm of emotion the correspondences between personality models and classes of procedures for measuring individuality, a study was conducted in which self-rated anxiety, observations of anxious behaviors, and psychophysiological processes were recorded in multiple situations. Twenty-eight first-year psychology students participated in this study. For the specification of the basic concepts of personality a methodology is presented that is built on generalizability theory. Evidence is offered for a strong method-specificity of current personality models. Furthermore, the multimethod study revealed an absence of substantial multimode correlations.     

Representational Consequences of Two Modes of Learning

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that a non-strategic mode of rule learning results in atomic representations. In each case subjects were taught concepts under two different conditions, designed to favour either non-strategic or strategic learning. Following training, subjects demonstrated an equivalent ability to discriminate exemplars from non-exemplars of the concepts acquired under each of these two learning conditions. However, performance on a decompositional inference task, which required access to critical constituent elements within the rule representations, was disproportionately poor for a concept acquired under the training condition that favoured non-strategic learning. These findings lend support to the view that rule acquisition can be mediated by either of two modes of learning, and that the format of knowledge representations is not equivalent across these two learning modes.     

Cartesian Modes and The Simplicity of Mind

Malebranche argues that we lack a clear idea of the mind because we cannot, even in principle, derive all the possible modes of mind solely from the idea of thought. But we can, in principle, derive all the possible modes of body from the idea of extension. Therefore, there is epistemic asymmetry between our ideas of mind and body. I offer a defense of Descartes whereby he can assert that we have a clear idea of mind despite this asymmetry. I argue that he can do this by distinguishing the simplicity of mind from the divisibility of body.     

Identification and Testing of Modes in Beliefs

Characterizing diversity in beliefs is of paramount importance in empirical research on human behavior. In game theory, the focus is on the hypothesis formation. We present a data set with ideal properties for characterizing such diversity. The data consist of hypotheses on the empirical distribution of opponent choices. Using nonparametric techniques, we identify modes in the data corresponding to subpopulations of behavioral types and find the statistical significance of these modes in the underlying population distribution.     

Logical Modes of Attack in Argumentation Networks

This paper studies methodologically robust options for giving logical contents to nodes in abstract argumentation networks. It defines a variety of notions of attack in terms of the logical contents of the nodes in a network. General properties of logics are refined both in the object level and in the metalevel to suit the needs of the application. The network-based system improves upon some of the attempts in the literature to define attacks in terms of defeasible proofs, the so-called rule-based systems. We also provide a number of examples and consider a rigorous case study, which indicate that our system does not suffer from anomalies. We define consequence relations based on a notion of defeat, consider rationality postulates, and prove that one such consequence relation is consistent.     

论我国企业年金筹资模式的选择

完全积累制具有能够体现效率、不受人口老龄化高峰的影响、可以促进资本市场发展等优势,因此,绝大多数国家采用完全积累的筹资模式.我国企业年金也是采用的完全积累制,不过,我们只采用完全积累(个人账户)的筹资模式与DC给付模式相结合,我们还应该采用完全积累(团体账户)的筹资模式与DB给付模式相结合.