When mechanistic models explain

Not all models are explanatory. Some models are data summaries. Some models sketch explanations but leave crucial details unspecified or hidden behind filler terms. Some models are used to conjecture a how-possibly explanation without regard to whether it is a how-actually explanation. I use the Hodgkin and Huxley model of the action potential to illustrate these ways that models can be useful without explaining. I then use the subsequent development of the explanation of the action potential to show what is required of an adequate mechanistic model. Mechanistic models are explanatory.     

Miracles or Mirages?: Some Elements of Pupil Work Experience

Some of the features of work experience for school-age students are examined. The major thesis is that work experience is underdeveloped both practically and theoretically. It has an uncertain place in educational institutions, and the uncertainty is compounded by competition between institutions for placements. Despite this underdevelopment, the activity is assented to by an unusually wide range of groups and interests. Extensive claims are made for work experience, many of which on examination are found wanting. Some of the meanings derived from work experience by students are analysed, and some of the learning goals set for work-experience programmes are discussed.     

A classification of Newcomb problems and decision theories

Newcomb-like problems are classified by the payoff table of their act-state pairs, and the causal structure that gives rise to the act-state correlation. Decision theories are classified by the one or more points of intervention whose causal role is taken to be relevant to rationality in various problems. Some decision theories suggest an inherent conflict between different notions of rationality that are all relevant. Some issues with causal modeling raise problems for decision theories in the contexts where Newcomb problems arise.

     

Characterizing the time course of an implicature: an evoked potentials study

This work employs Evoked Potential techniques as 19 participants are confronted with sentences that have the potential to produce scalar implicatures, like in Some elephants have trunks. Such an Underinformative utterance is of interest to pragmatists because it can be considered to have two different truth values. It can be considered true when taken at face value but false if one were to treat Some with the implicature Not All. Two accounts of implicature production are compared. The neo-Gricean approach (e.g., Levinson, 2000) assumes that implicatures intrude automatically on the semantics of a term like Some. Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson, 1985/1996) assumes that implicatures are effortful and not automatic. In this experiment, the participants are presented with 25 Underinformative sentences along with 25 sentences that are Patently True (e.g. Some houses have bricks) and 25 that are Patently False (e.g. Some crows have radios). As reported in an earlier study (Noveck, 2001), Underinformative sentences prompt strong individual differences. Seven participants here responded true to all (or nearly all) of the Underinformative sentences and the remaining 12 responded false to all (or nearly all) of them. The present study showed that those who responded false to the Underinformative sentences took significantly longer to do so that those who responded true. The ERP data indicate that: (a) the Patently True and Patently False sentences prompt steeper N400's--indicating greater semantic integration--than the Underinformative sentences and that (b) regardless of one's ultimate response to the Underinformative sentences, the N400's were remarkably flat, indicating no particular reaction to these sentences. Collectively, the data are taken to show that implicatures are part of a late-arriving, effort-demanding decision process.     

The issue of sexuality in group psychotherapy

Sexuality is an underlying, but often unspoken and ignored issue in group psychotherapy. Within the context of how a group reacts to and uses sexuality, the authors focus on three relationship areas: client/client, client/therapist, and therapist/therapist. Some of the hazards of failing to deal with sexually laden conflicts and intimacy issues in these relationships are explored. Some of the advantages of an open and honest approach to uncovering sexrole related stereotypes and behaviors are proposed. The authors attempt to demonstrate that recognition of therapists' and group members' sexuality must be appreciated as an important element in the therapeutic process.     

Sudden recovery from stuttering after an epileptic attack: A case report.

This case report concerns a boy 5.06 years of age, who began to stutter from about his fifth birthday. In the course of a six-month period, his disfluencies became more and more pronounced until a sudden and complete recovery took place following an epileptic attack. Some references are made to the literature on the relationship between stuttering and epilepsy. Some comparisons are made also with more-or-less-similar adult cases, as mentioned in the literature, but we have the strong feeling that these do not hold completely.     

Proof Theory for Reasoning with Euler Diagrams: A Logic Translation and Normalization

Proof-theoretical notions and techniques, developed on the basis of sentential/symbolic representations of formal proofs, are applied to Euler diagrams. A translation of an Euler diagrammatic system into a natural deduction system is given, and the soundness and faithfulness of the translation are proved. Some consequences of the translation are discussed in view of the notion of free ride, which is mainly discussed in the literature of cognitive science as an account of inferential efficacy of diagrams. The translation enables us to formalize and analyze free ride in terms of proof theory. The notion of normal form of Euler diagrammatic proofs is investigated, and a normalization theorem is proved. Some consequences of the theorem are further discussed: in particular, an analysis of the structure of normal diagrammatic proofs; a diagrammatic counterpart of the usual subformula property; and a characterization of diagrammatic proofs compared with natural deduction proofs.     

创业自我效能的中介作用机制探究

摘要 近年来,创业自我效能的研究日益受到重视,已有的研究大多把创业自我效能作为预测变量,探讨其对创业意向及创业绩效的影响。本研究梳理了性别角色取向及认知风格对创业自我效能的影响,探讨了创业自我效能的中介作用机制及其这种中介效应对理论及实践的启示。     

PERSPECTIVE‐NEUTRAL INTRINSIC VALUE

Is it possible to do a good thing, or to make the world a better place? Some argue that it is not possible, because perspective‐neutral value does not exist. Some argue that ‘good’ does not play the right grammatical role; or that all good things are good ‘in a way’; or that goodness is inherently perspective‐dependent. I argue that the logical and semantic properties of ‘good’ are what we should expect of an evaluative predicate; that the many ways of being good don't threaten the thesis that some ways are perspective‐independent; and that there are clear examples of perspective‐independent goodness.     

Using the microcomputer as a visual aid in the statistics classroom

A microcomputer running a spreadsheet program makes an excellent visual aid for demonstrating statistical concepts and procedures. Some advantages of this setup over traditional visual aids are described. Several statistical demonstrations that I have found to work well are presented.     

On Leaving Flatland and Honoring Maslow

Abstract

This article is about the failure of humanistic psychology to live up to the challenge of Maslow's basic idea of levels of psychospiritual development. Too many humanistic writers are still living in Flatland, where there are no levels, no differences in ways of looking at the world, no grades of consciousness. Some examples are given. This article argues that it would be more in keeping with Maslow's humanistic legacy to acknowledge an evolutionary hierarchy of thought in action. Ken Wilber shows how this could be taken even further. Some examples are given of what this might look like in practice.     

The symbol of telephoning

Two clinical excerpts illustrate the patient's use of telephoning as an equivalent for and a symbol of masturbation. Some of the many and multidetermined latent meanings of telephoning are indicated.     

Reconsidering the Logic of Emotion

It is customarily assumed that propositional attitudes present two independent components: a propositional component and a psychological component, in the form of an attitudes. These two components are caught by means of two different methods: propositions by some model theoretic theory, psychological attitudes by making appeal to their functional or psychological role. Some authors have seek a convergence by individuating propositions by some Functional role semantics. In this paper I show that when it comes to emotional attitudes with propositional content, either the independence of proposition and attitude collapses or functional role semantics brings to unstable individuation conditions for propositions. Some consequences of these two outcomes are considered.     

When 'knowing how' is not enough

Two cases are described of students with a common presenting problem — an inability to concentrate while studying. The factors contributing to poor concentration are explored. Some conclusions are drawn about the types of counsellor interventions which might be useful when working with such students.     

Interpreting quantification

Alternative readings of quantification are considered. The absence of an unequivocal translation into ordinary speech is noted. Some examples are cited which, in the opinion of the author, are a result of equivocal readings of quantification, or unnecessarily restrictive readings which obscure its primary function.     

A rose is a rose is a rose: Minimalism in perception

The article by Wilcox and Edwards (1982) is discussed in terms of the notion of a Physics necessary for an explanatory theory of Perception. Phenomenological explanations, while true, are rejected as lacking explanatory adequacy. Some examples of succesful computational theories, covering the phenomena Gibson considered basic to an Ecological Physics, are given which are based upon a classical optics.     

Why This Makes Me Think of That

This study was aimed at explaining how and under what conditions surface similarity leads to the retrieval of an analogous base problem in LTM. Some elements of a theory of the organisation of knowledge in memory are proposed. Two levels of representation are distinguished. The first level represents directly accessible, local surface properties. The second level represents more abstract information pertaining to the category with which each analogous problem can be associated. Some results will be described showing that access to an analogue in LTM based on surface properties is determined by the existence of a similarity at a higher level of abstraction. This is a “search-area” effect, in that categorical information seems to delimit a memory search space, within which the connection between local surface properties is more likely to be made.     

Prediction of weightlifter’s motor behavior to evaluate snatch weightlifting techniques based on a new method of investigation of consumed energy

Using proper technique in different sports is an inevitable factor. In this study, available techniques for snatch weightlifting are mathematically evaluated. The optimal motion trajectory is a technique used by weightlifters, which could be determined based on minimizing specific object functions. Object functions based on total kinetic energy, total torque and total power and some new multiobjective functions are minimized using genetic algorithm and the minimax principle. Some important motion characteristics of 13 professional weightlifters were extracted and used to validate the mathematical results. The double knee bending (DKB) technique was studied as a benchmark test. Some important movement features of the technique were shown by the mathematical analysis when applying an object function, that minimized joint torques and powers of different muscles independently. An object function based on joint forces did not show these features.     

Harnessing the river of time: a theoretical framework of time use efficiency with suggestions for counselors

Some individuals have difficulty using their time efficiently and, subsequently, completing tasks in an allotted amount of time. This article offers an operational definition and a theoretical framework of time use efficiency. Suggestions are offered for counselors working with clients who have difficulties using their time efficiently.