信念之谜(上)

在1972年《命名与必然性》的演讲中,作者提出了直接指称论的观点:名字的语义学内容仅仅就是所指称的对象。一般认为,如果接受直接指称论就必然导致信念之谜。因为,假如专名的语义学内容仅仅就是所指称的对象,那么两个共指称的专名,比如"Cicero"("西塞罗")和"Tully"("图利"),就应该在信念语境中可以替换。但这似乎是错误的,因为,似乎"琼斯相信西塞罗是秃子但不相信图利是秃子"可以是真的,而倘若作替换,就会得出矛盾。在本文中,作者试图论证:实际上导致信念之谜的乃是两个更为基本的原则,即去引号原则和翻译原则;不能把信念之谜的产生归咎于直接指称论。通过这种间接论证,作者认为,直接指称论没有被信念之谜难题驳倒,它还是能够获得辩护的。     

Stimulus-response compatibility effects in go-no-go tasks: a dimensional overlap account

According to the automatic response activation hypothesis of the dimensional overlap (DO) model (Kornblum, Stevens, Whipple, & Requin, 1999), stimulus-response compatibility effects are expected to occur in go-no-go tasks. This prediction is confirmed in two experiments in which subjects moved a hand to one side of the field on presentation of a go stimulus. Although the direction of movement was known in advance and the spatial attribute of the go stimuli was irrelevant to the go-no-go decision, the subjects' response time was shorter when the spatial attribute to the go stimulus corresponded to that of the response than when it did not. These effects are shown to depend on the similarity of the go and the no-go stimuli, as well as on whether the spatial attribute of the go stimuli was its actual location or its meaning. We discuss these results in terms of the temporal dynamics of automatic and controlled response processes, as hypothesized in the DO model.     

Relative mislocalization of briefly presented stimuli in the retinal periphery

We studied the ability to localize flashed stimuli, using a relative judgment task. When observers are asked to localize the peripheral position of a probe with respect to the midposition of a spatially extended comparison stimulus, they tend to judge the probe as being more toward the periphery than is the midposition of the comparison stimulus. We report seven experiments in which this novel phenomenon was explored. They reveal that the mislocalization occurs only when the probe and the comparison stimulus are presented in succession, independent of whether the probe or the comparison stimulus comes first (Experiment 1). The size of the mislocalization is dependent on the stimulus onset asynchrony (Experiment 2) and on the eccentricity of presentation (Experiment 3). In addition, the illusion also occurs in an absolute judgment task, which links mislocalization with the general tendency to judge peripherally presented stimuli as being more foveal than they actually are (Experiment 4). The last three experiments reveal that relative mislocalization is affected by the amount of spatial extension of the comparison stimulus (Experiment 5) and by its structure (Experiments 6 and 7). This pattern of results allows us to evaluate possible explanations of the illusion and to relate it to comparable tendencies observed in eye movement behavior. It is concluded that the system in charge of the guidance of saccadic eye movements is also the system that provides the metric in perceived visual space.     

More about brows: how poses that change brow position affect perceptions of gender

The speeded categorisation of gender from photographs of men's and women's faces under conditions of vertical brow and vertical head movement was explored in two sets of experiments. These studies were guided by the suggestion that a simple cue to gender in faces, the vertical distance between the eyelid and brow, could support such decisions. In men this distance is smaller than in women, and can be further reduced by lowering the brows and also by lowering the head and raising the eyes to camera. How does the gender-classification mechanism take changes in pose into account? Male faces with lowered brows (experiment 1) were more quickly and accurately categorised (there was little corresponding 'feminisation' of raised-brow faces). Lowering gaze had a similar effect, but failed to interact with head lowering in a simple manner (experiment 2). We conclude that the initial classification of gender from the facial image may not involve normalisation of the face image to a canonical state (the 'mug-shot view') for expressive pose (brow movement and direction of gaze). For head pose (relative position of the features when the face is not viewed head-on), normalisation cannot be ruled out. Some perceptual mechanisms for these effects, and their functional implications, are discussed.     

Developing a federal policy on research misconduct

Since April 1996, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), in collaboration with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President, has been leading the development of a government-wide Federal policy for research misconduct. The author is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and a participant in this process. This paper places the NSTC/OSTP effort in historical context, outlines the process by which the policy will be finalized, and discusses the principal issues raised during the policy development process.     

Time course of word identification and semantic integration in spoken language

The minimum duration signal necessary to identify a set of spoken words was established by the gating technique; most words could be identified before their acoustic offset. Gated words were used as congruous and incongruous sentence completions, and isolation points established in the gating experiment were compared with the time course of semantic integration evident in event-related brain potentials. Differential N400 responses to contextually appropriate and inappropriate words were observed about 200 ms before the isolation point. Semantic processing was evident before the acoustic signal was sufficient to identify the words uniquely. Results indicate that semantic integration can begin to operate with only partial, incomplete information about word identity. Influences of semantic constraint, word frequency, and rate of presentation are described.     

人类同等性和文化多样性

全人类有什么普遍之处？怎样把他们区别开？在考察这两个问题时,可以根据类型分成三个阶段：柏拉图式的论述、浪漫主义的对比法和当代的综合,最后是在当今的人类生物学和语言学中被推进和发展了的假说。一、柏拉图式的论述柏拉图式的论述中经常被引证的章句,不是见于柏拉图而是他的学生亚里士多德的著作中。在一本早期的小册子《论解释》的开头这样写道：全人类的书写标记是不相同的,他们的有声语言也是不相同的。但它们首先都是灵魂的情感符号,在这一点上全都是一样的;这些情感具有的事物相似性也是相同的。这说明人们所关心的都是相…     

转向语言学:1960-1975年的历史与理论和《历史与理论》

历史哲学看来是那些教小说的人的事。──弗兰克·科莫德要是在1950年,科莫德的观点一定会被当作奇谈怪论,在1968年时,它仍属前卫的观点,到1975年,在英语国家的历史哲学界,这种观点引起的问题已成了争论的最前沿问题。我将努力说明这种现象是怎样发生的,是在什么制度框架内发生的。直到第二次世界大战结束,相当程度上甚至直到今天,历史哲学几乎在任何地方都是一个学术孤儿。习惯上,它被视为是“柔弱的”,仅仅是一块可要可不要的研究领域。（软绵绵的恰恰是伦理学和美学,但很少有哲学系没有伦理学家和艺术哲学家,相反,确实没有…     

Impulse and Movement Space-Time Variability

In 3 experiments, the authors examined movement space-time variability as a function of the force-time properties of the initial impulse in a movement timing task. In the range of motion and movement time task conditions, peak force, initial rate of force, and force duration were manipulated either independently or in combination across a range of parameter values. The findings showed that (a) impulse variability is predicted well by the elaboration of the isometric force variability scaling functions of L. G. Carlton, K. H. Kim, Y. T. Liu, and K. M. Newell (1993) to movement, and (b) the movement spatial and temporal outcome variability are complementary and well predicted by an equation treating the variance of force and time in Newton's 2nd law as independent random variables. Collectively, the findings suggest that movement outcome variability is the product of a coherent space-time function that is driven by the nonlinear scaling of the force-time properties of the initial impulse.