Practice and some methodological problems in unidimensional information transmission

Fifty circular lights differir.g in diameter from 4 to 53 cm and increasing by 1 cm were presented 135 times each to five Ss who were asked to identify each circle. Presentations were in random order. Indices of information transmission (T), response equivocation H S(R), and response uncertainty H(R) were calculated for different phases of the experiment for individual and pooled (across Ss) responses. Results have shown systematic rising of transmission and lowering of H S(R), while H(R) remained almost constant. All transmission indices calculated from pooled responses were systematically lower than comparable indices calculated from individual responses. Individual and pooled T values calculated from all responses given during the experiment were not representative for the level of identification performance at the end of the experiment. Conclusions were reached that (1) channel capacity indices should not be calculated from all individual responses given during the experiment or from pooled responses of different Ss, and (2) indices of channel capacity should be calculated only after the performance of Ss has reached a final and stable level, which means after enough repetitions of each stimulus.     

Progressive catatonia

We present the case of a young man with a diagnosis of a childhood-onset pervasive developmental disorder who developed a progressive neurologic deterioration with persistent catatonia and right hemiparesis. On his initial evaluation approximately three years after the onset of mutism, he manifested right hemiparesis and catalepsy. Two years later, although catalepsy had subsided, motor function had deteriorated so that he could not use his hands to feed or dress himself. Oral-facialbuccal dyskinesia manifested by blepharospasm and grimacing were present constantly during waking hours. Quantitative electroencephalography demonstrated markedly decreased amplitude, a finding associated with catatonia. Left sural nerve biopsy indicated large axon cylinder degeneration. Left deltoid biopsy demonstrated perimysial fibrosis and type II fiber predominance. Although magnetic resonance imaging of the head without contrast was normal, positron emission tomography indicated hypometabolism of the right cerebral and the right cerebellar hemispheres. The patient continues to deteriorate despite a course of 25 electroconvulsive treatments. He continues to manifest criteria for catatonia including motoric immobility, mutism, and peculiarities of voluntary movement such as prominent grimacing. We suspect an inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Since catatonia is a treatable condition frequently associated with medical and neurological diseases, examination for the features of catatonia must be included in the assessment of patients with progressive brain degeneration. This report is an attempt to clarify the traits of a serious variant of progressive brain degeneration.     

Priest Attended Death in Medieval and Early Modern Period: Translation and Commentary on an Old Croatian Text Circa 1600

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

Objective Consequentialism and the Rationales of ‘ “Ought” Implies “Can” ’

This paper argues that objective consequentialism is incompatible with the rationales of ‘ “ought” implies “can” ’ – with the considerations, that is, that explain or justify this principle. Objective consequentialism is the moral doctrine that an act is right if and only if there is no alternative with a better outcome, and wrong otherwise. An act is obligatory if and only if it is wrong not to perform it. According to ‘ “ought” implies “can” ’, a person is morally obligated to φ only if the person can φ. The rationales of ‘ “ought” implies “can” ’ include considerations related to intuitive plausibility, action‐guidance, blameworthiness and fairness, and the nature of practical reasons. 1     

Facilitating empathy through virtual reality

This research experimentally investigated whether virtual reality experience can prompt greater empathy and whether greater engagement with a virtual reality connects this virtual reality experience to empathy. Randomly assigned participants viewed a documentary featuring a young girl living in a refugee camp either in a virtual reality format or in a control two-dimensional format. Results indicated that the virtual reality experience resulted in greater engagement and a higher level of empathy for the refugee girl compared to the control condition. Greater engagement was a process connecting the virtual reality experience to empathy. Virtual reality has the potential to influence interpersonal emotions such as empathy.     

Children's understanding of the war in Iraq: views from Britain and Bosnia

Sixty‐one children (aged 9–17) from the United Kingdom (31) and Bosnia (30) were interviewed about the war in Iraq. Significant differences emerged in their views of the war. The Bosnian children were more affected by the Iraq War, more aware of who is involved in it, had different views about its causes, viewed the consequences of the war with greater gravity, and expressed a greater desire to end war and have peace. Two factors which might account for these differences – recent Bosnian history and the nature of media representations of the war in the two countries – are discussed.     

Why good thoughts block better ones: the mechanism of the pernicious Einstellung (set) effect

The Einstellung (set) effect occurs when the first idea that comes to mind, triggered by familiar features of a problem, prevents a better solution being found. It has been shown to affect both people facing novel problems and experts within their field of expertise. We show that it works by influencing mechanisms that determine what information is attended to. Having found one solution, expert chess players reported that they were looking for a better one. But their eye movements showed that they continued to look at features of the problem related to the solution they had already thought of. The mechanism which allows the first schema activated by familiar aspects of a problem to control the subsequent direction of attention may contribute to a wide range of biases both in everyday and expert thought - from confirmation bias in hypothesis testing to the tendency of scientists to ignore results that do not fit their favoured theories.