Comprehension of nonlexical categories in agrammatism

The focus of the paper is a proposal advanced by Grodzinsky (1984, 1986, 1990) concerning a possible syntactic deficit in agrammatism with respect to nonlexical categories. Eight native speakers of Serbo-Croatian, who presented a clinical picture of Broca's aphasia with agrammatism, were tested. Subject's sensitivity to traces and their knowledge of the inflectional and determiner system was investigated using a grammaticality judgment paradigm. The processing load was further minimized by use of short sentences that unequivocally exemplified different syntactic violations. These steps led to significant improvement in the performance of agrammatic aphasics, a result that is incompatible with the claim that the content of nonlexical elements is lost in agrammatism.A partial account of the findings was presented at the 31 st Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, October 24–26, 1993. Tucson, Arizona. The authors gratefully acknowledge help in data collection from Mile Vukovi, Faculty of Defectology, University of Belgrade, and from Jovanka Jezdimirovi and Veronika Ispanovi-Radojkovi, the Institute for Mental Health in Belgrade. This research was supported in part by a grant (HD-01994) to Haskins Laboratories from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.     

Propositional attitudes and formal ontology

This paper develops — within an axiomatic theory of properties, relations, and propositions which accords them well-defined existence and identity conditions — a sententialist-functionalist account of belief as a symbolically mediated relation to a special kind of propositional entity, theproxy-encoding abstract proposition. It is then shown how, in terms of this account, the truth conditions of English belief reports may be captured in a formally precise and empirically adequate way that accords genuinely semantic status to familiar opacity data.I am deeply indebted to Edward Zalta for many helpful comments and suggestions.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to pseudoregular auditory patterns

Musically trained and untrained subjects (N=30) were asked to synchronize their finger tapping with stimuli in auditory patterns. Each pattern comprised six successive tonal stimuli of the same duration, the first of which was accented by a different frequency. The duration of interstimulus onset intervals (ISIs) gradually increased or decreased in constant steps toward the end of the patterns. Four values of such steps were used in different trials: 20, 30, 45, and 60 msec. Various time-control mechanisms are hypothesized as being simultaneously responsible for subjects’ incorrect reproduction of the internal temporal ratios of the stimulus patterns. The mechanism of assimilation (of a central tendency) led subjects to enforce a regular (isochronous) structure on the patterns. The influence of other time-control mechanisms (distinction, subjective expression of an accent, sequential transfer) was expressed mainly in differences between intertap onset intervals (ITIs) and the corresponding ISIs at the beginning of the patterns. The duration of the first two ITIs was in the majority of the trials in an inverse ratio to the ratio of the respective ISIs. The distortions resulting from the timing mechanisms concerned were more pronounced in the performance of nonmusicians than in that of musicians.     

A model for the study of research and education in a transdisciplinary context

In an evaluation project at the Goteborg University, we have looked at the relationship between individual and collective production of knowledge within the Health sciences in order to facilitate a common ground for a Academy of Health Sciences. We found obstacles for developing an environment which could stimulate multilateral co-operation and creativity. Some of these obstacles have their root in the different cultural backgrounds indicated in the analysis and makes it difficult to find common aims and strategies. The Model used makes the organizations’ activities visible and encouraging transdisciplinary contacts and improve organizational, structural and ideological decision making emanating from overall policies of the boards concerned.     

Psychological cost-benefit as an intervening construct in career choice models

A causal model for career choice was outlined, encompassing psychological cost-benefit-profit as a central intervening construct. The model was applied to the career choice (education vs work) after high school graduation and tested on longitudinal data from 173 students. The main problem concerned the relationship among the components in the causal career choice model, using multiple correlation and path analysis as tools. The results showed clear sex differences. For boys, the model was a rather powerful predictor of career choice (R = 0.70), and Psychological profit with regard to continued education had a clear direct effect as well as an indirect effect on career choice. For girls, the predictive validity was low (R = 0.35) and Psychological profit affected career choice only indirectly via Educational aspiration.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to regular auditory patterns

Subjects (N = 32) were asked to synchronize a motor response with tones in auditory patterns. These patterns were created from six tones and six intertone intervals of equal duration. The pitch of the first tone differed from the others. It was found that subjects used three types of timing in their motor response: (1) the first intertone interval was prolonged and the second interval was shortened, (2) the second intertone interval was prolonged and the first interval was shortened, and/or (3) the first interval and the second interval were of approximately the same length. The prolongation of the fifth interval was observed during all three types of timing. The results are explained using the concept of suprasegmental control of timing, which explains a prolongation of intervals at critical control point of the patterns. The occurrence of three different strategies of timing is discussed in connection with similar principles in musical performance.     

COMPARISONS OF SOCIO-POLITICAL ATTITUDES BETWEEN TWO DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES

Three-hundred and twenty-seven Australian and 192 Swedish psychology students were compared with respect to four aspects of socio-politico attitudes: (a) differences in average levels for items and dimensions, (b) differences in degrees of consensus for specific issues (items), (c) differences in the structures of socio-politico attitudes and (d) differences in the profiles of attitudes across relevant items and dimensions. Analyses of variance showed that, in general, Swedes were significantly less conservative than Australians. The largest difference between the two samples were found for the dimension of punitiveness where Swedes were found to be much less punitive than Australians. The results also disclosed that there was greater ideological consensus and consistency among Swedes than among Australians. In line with earlier cross-cultural research, the results also disclosed a relatively high level of ideological profile and structural similarity among the two western nations.     

Personal Uniqueness and Events

Human Studies - In contrast to Anglophone debates on personal identity initially formed by John Locke’s investigation of personal identity in the sense of personal continuity or persistence...