Direct Versus Indirect Causation as a Semantic Linguistic Universal: Using a Computational Model of English,Hebrew, Hindi,Japanese, and K'iche’ Mayan to Predict Grammaticality Judgments in Balinese

The aim of this study was to test the claim that languages universally employ morphosyntactic marking to differentiate events of more- versus less-direct causation, preferring to mark them with less- and more- overt marking, respectively (e.g., Somebody broke the window vs. Somebody MADE the window break; *Somebody cried the boy vs. Somebody MADE the boy cry). To this end, we investigated whether a recent computational model which learns to predict speakers’ by-verb relative preference for the two causatives in English, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, and K'iche’ Mayan is able to generalize to a sixth language on which it has never been trained: Balinese. Judgments of the relative acceptability of the less- and more-transparent causative forms of 60 verbs were collected from 48 native-speaking Balinese adults. The composite crosslinguistic computational model was able to predict these judgments, not only for verbs that it had seen, but also––in a split-half validation test––to verbs that it had never seen in any language. A “random-semantics” model showed only a relatively small decrement in performance with seen verbs, whose behavior can be learned on a verb-by-verb basis, but achieved zero correlation with human judgments when generalizing to unseen verbs. Together, these findings suggest that Balinese conceptualizes directness of causation in a similar way to these unrelated languages, and therefore constitute support for the view that the distinction between more- versus less-distinct causation constitutes a morphosyntactic universal.     

The Agential Point of View

Agentialist accounts of self‐knowledge seek to do justice to the connection between our identities as rational agents and our capacity to know our own minds. There are two strategies that agentialists have employed in developing their position: substantive and non‐substantive. My aim is to explicate and defend one particular example of the non‐substantive strategy, namely, that proposed by Tyler Burge. In particular, my concern is to defend Burge's claim that critical reasoning requires a relation of normative directness between reviewing and reviewed perspectives. My defence will involve supplementing Burge's view with a substantive agentialist account of self‐knowledge.     

Combining Action Observation and Motor Imagery Improves Eye–Hand Coordination during Novel Visuomotor Task Performance

Abstract

In this study, we compared the effectiveness of concurrent action observation and motor imagery (AO?+?MI), observing with the intent to imitate (active observation; AO), and passive observation (PO) training interventions for improving eye–hand coordination. Fifty participants were assigned to five groups [AO?+?MI, AO, PO, physical practice (PP); control] and performed a visuomotor rotation task, whilst eye movements were recorded. Each participant then performed 20 task trials in a training intervention before repeating the visuomotor rotation task in a post-test. As expected, PP produced the greatest improvement in task performance and eye–hand coordination. However, in comparison to the control group, AO?+?MI training produced a statistically significant increase in both task performance and eye–hand coordination, but no such improvements were found following AO or PO.     

The Validity of a Brief Risk Assessment Tool for Predicting Suicidal Behavior in Veterans Utilizing VHA Mental Health Care

Suicide risk among military veterans is an important and ongoing concern. The Veterans Administration (VA) mandates suicide risk screening of all veterans seen for mental health issues, but little is known about the effectiveness of this screening. A retrospective chart review to examine all suicide risk screens at VA San Diego between October and December 2012 (n = 3,365) was conducted to assess whether results were associated with suicidal behavior over the subsequent 12 months. Patients judged to be at increased risk for suicide were 3 to 16 times more likely to attempt suicide and 7 to 25 times more likely to engage in self‐directed violence over the next 12 months compared with others. The screening tool may be a useful addition to clinical practice.