Weshalb implizite definitionen nicht genug sind. Bedeutungstheorien und das verst?ndnis physikalischer begriffe

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

An eye‐tracking study on information processing in risky decisions: Evidence for compensatory strategies based on automatic processes

Many everyday decisions have to be made under risk and can be interpreted as choices between gambles with different outcomes that are realized with specific probabilities. The underlying cognitive processes were investigated by testing six sets of hypotheses concerning choices, decision times, and information search derived from cumulative prospect theory, decision field theory, priority heuristic and parallel constraint satisfaction models. Our participants completed 40 decision tasks of two gambles with two non‐negative outcomes each. Information search was recorded using eye‐tracking technology. Results for choices, decision time, the amount of information searched for, fixation durations, the direction of the information search, and the distribution of fixations conflict with the prediction of the non‐compensatory priority heuristic and indicate that individuals use compensatory strategies. Choice proportions are well in line with the predictions of cumulative prospect theory. Process measures indicate that individuals thereby do not rely on deliberate calculations of weighted sums. Information integration processes seem to be better explained by models that partially rely on automatic processes such as decision field theory or parallel constraint satisfaction models. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A perception-action strategy for hummingbirds

Many human and animal tasks are thought to be controlled with the tau informational variable. It is widely accepted that controlling the rate of change of tau (tau) during decelerative tasks, such as when braking or landing, is one common perceptual control strategy. However, many tasks require accelerating before decelerating to a goal, such as reaching. An advancement of tau theory shows how a single action formula may be used to control the full action unit from initiation to peak velocity, and to rest at the goal, with the same perceptual tau information as before and accounting for the same decelerative kinematics as before. Here, we test the theory against data from high-speed video of a hummingbird flying to its flower feeder. We find that the theory accounts for 97% of the variance in the data, and thus supports it.     

Self-efficacy as a health-protective resource in teachers? A biopsychological approach

OBJECTIVE: To examine the psychobiological correlates of self-efficacy in teachers. DESIGN: Study 1 examined associations between teacher self-efficacy and cardiac activation on a working day and Study 2 assessed the cortisol morning response in teachers with varying levels of teacher self-efficacy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Teacher self-efficacy was assessed by questionnaire. In Study 1 heart rate, heart rate variability, and locomotor activity were recorded by 22 hours ambulatory monitoring and subjective measures of stress and strain were obtained. Study 2 assessed the cortisol response to awakening to obtain a measure of HPA-axis activation and teachers filled in a questionnaire on physical complaints. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Study 1 found that self-efficacy proved protective for psychological well-being. Moreover, after controlling for locomotor activity, demographic, and lifestyle variables, self-efficacy was associated with elevated heart rate and attenuated heart rate variability during school and leisure time, respectively, but not during the night, thus questioning the health-implications of self-efficacy. Study 2 found that teachers high in self-efficacy exhibited an attenuated cortisol response to awakening and fewer cardiac complaints. The results of both studies are compatible with the view that teacher self-efficacy might act as a physiological toughening agent with possibly favorable health outcomes.     

Effects of implicit fear of failure on cognitive processing: A diffusion model analysis

Whereas previous studies suggest that individuals with high implicit fear of failure (FF) perform worse on various indicators of general performance, the underlying mechanisms of this effect have not yet been understood. In our experimental study, 280 participants worked on a binary color discrimination task. Half of the participants were frustrated by means of negative performance feedback, while the control group received mainly positive feedback. We employed a diffusion model analysis (Ratcliff in Psychol Rev 85(2):59–108, 1978) to disentangle the different components involved in the execution of the task. Results revealed that participants in the frustration condition adopted more conservative decision settings (threshold separation parameter of the diffusion model). Besides, high implicit FF was related to slow information accumulation (drift), and this relation was stronger in the frustration condition. Participants with higher FF further showed reduced learning rates during the task. Task related intrusive thoughts are discussed as mechanism for reduced performance of high FF individuals. We conclude that diffusion model analyses can contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the effects of psychological motives.     

Modular Semantics for Theories: An Approach to Paraconsistent Reasoning

Some scientific theories are inconsistent, yet non-trivial and meaningful. How is that possible? The present paper aims to show that we can analyse the inferential use of such theories in terms of consistent compositions of the applications of universal axioms. This technique will be represented by a preferred models semantics, which allows us to accept the instances of universal axioms selectively. For such a semantics to be developed, the framework of partial structures by da Costa and French will be extended by a few elements of the Sneed formalism, also known as the structuralist approach to science.