Negative priming is not task bound: A consistent pattern across naming and categorization tasks

When a word that was a to-be-ignored flanker on an initial prime trial becomes the target on the subsequent probe trial, responding to that word on the probe trial is slowed, a phenomenon callednegative priming. Virtually all prior studies have required subjects to perform the same task on both the prime and the probe trials. Thus, the extent to which negative priming is task bound is uncertain. We manipulated task factorially on the prime and probe trials, resulting in four groups: name-name, name-categorize, categorize-name, and categorize-categorize. The results showed equivalent negative priming of about 22 msec both within and between tasks for identical words, but no negative priming for semantically related words from the same category. These findings suggest (1) that negative priming for identical words can readily cross task types; and (2) that semantic negative priming does not occur for words, at least when categorical relatedness alone determines the semantic relation.     

The problem of properties in quantum mechanics

The properties of classical and quantum systems are characterized by different algebraic structures. We know that the properties of a quantum mechanical system form a partial Boolean algebra not embeddable into a Boolean algebra, and so cannot all be co-determinate. We also know that maximal Boolean subalgebras of properties can be (separately) co-determinate. Are there larger subsets of properties that can be co-determinate without contradiction? Following an analysis of Bohrs response to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen objection to the complementarity interpretation of quantum mechanics, a principled argument is developed justifying the selection of particular subsets of properties as co-determinate for a quantum system in particular physical contexts. These subsets are generated by sets of maximal Boolean subalgebras, defined in each case by the relation between the quantum state and a measurement (possibly, but not necessarily, the measurement in terms of which we seek to establish whether or not a particular property of the system in question obtains). If we are required to interpret quantum mechanics in this way, then predication for quantum systems is quite unlike the corresponding notion for classical systems.     

A tactile stimulation device for measuring two-point and gap discrimination thresholds in humans

A device to measure two-point-discrimination and gap-discrimination thresholds is described. The apparatus is capable of controlled and reliable delivery of forces up to 42.50 g while determining point of skin contact and subsequent depth of skin indentation during threshold determination. Stimulus delivery is controlled by computer software that deactivates a solenoid, allowing a counterbalanced beam with one of two stimulus wheels mounted on its end to rise and stimulate the skin. Depth of skin indentation is recorded by hardware that monitors the output of a photocell reflecting the position of the beam. The apparatus allows complete computer control of all data acquisition and recording.     

The cosmological argument,sufficient reason,and why-questions

Summary To sum up the main results of this study: I have disentangled two distinct patterns of argument that Taylor runs together in his attempt to show that there is a reason or explanation for the world as a whole. The first is based on the causal dependency of things in the world, the second is based on their logical contingency. It seems to make the most sense of Taylor's discussion if we interpret him not as invoking the principle of sufficient reason at the crucial juncture, but as using these arguments to give backing to that principle by showing that it applies to the world in its totality. However, these arguments do not succeed in doing that. The first fails because it depends on a remote analogy between the world as a whole and the physical objects in the world. Concerning the second, an analysis of the logic of why-questions about the existence of things has revealed that the logical contingency of something is not a ground for thinking it has an explanation. The only promising interpretation of the principle of sufficient reason that we have found is as a causal principle pertaining to things in nature.     

Interim Managers: Distinguishing Personality Characteristics of Managers on Short-term Contracts

The use of interim managers by companies is increasing, and reasons for this trend are discussed. A study is reported in which the normative personality make-up of a group of interim managers is compared with that of a general sample of UK managers. Ninety-four interim managers completed the revised PA Preference Inventory (PAPI-N) and the results are compared with those from a general UK managerial sample. Statistically significant differences are reported for 12 out of 20 scales, with nine of the effect sizes ≥ 0.5. Results are also compared with a priori job expert predictions. Of nine predictions that interim managers would differ from the general management norm, seven are consistent with the statistical findings. Practical and methodological implications of the findings, and their relation to the ‘Big Five’, are discussed, together with broader implications for the study of workers in new and emerging forms of employment. The findings are also interpreted in the particular context of interim management roles.     

Cross-modal priming evidence for phonology-to-orthography activation in visual word recognition

Subjects were asked to indicate which item of a word/nonword pair was a word. On critical trials the nonword was a pseudohomophone of the word. RTs of dyslexics were shorter in blocks of trials in which a congruent auditory prime was simultaneously presented with the visual stimuli. RTs of normal readers were longer for high frequency words when there was auditory priming. This provides evidence that phonology can activate orthographic representations; the size and direction of the effect of auditory priming on visual lexical decision appear to be a function of the relative speeds with which sight and hearing activate orthography.     

Primary Progressive Aphasia: A Review of 112 Cases

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) was first recognized by Mesulam in 1982. Although dozens of cases have since been described, it has been difficult to place these cases into a coherent framework due to the wide variation in measures which have been reported. We review 170 contacts with 112 patients to provide a clinical, neuroanatomical, and neuropsychological profile of patients with the disorder. The progression of the disease is analyzed over a 10-year reporting period starting from symptom onset to show how progression affects five general linguistic skills: oral and written naming, reading, repetition, and general comprehension. The pattern of functional and neurological deficits in PPA is heterogeneous. Differences in the distribution of neurological anomalies between patients with bilateral and unilateral changes suggest that there may be two separate disease processes involved.     

Ajātasattu and the future of psychoanalytic anthropology. Part I: The promise of a culture

Conclusion Thus, we can see that Obeyesekere’s notion and usage of some psychoanalytic concepts is at variance with Freud’s formulations and with those of standard psychoanalytic theory. This divergence is also evident in Obeyesekere’s formulation of the concept of disconnection, which is arguably the most important construct in the first chapter of The work of culture. Space constraints prevent us taking-up this concept here. So let me now conclude this first part of the essay, and begin part 2 with an examination of ‘disconnection’ in the context of a discussion of Obeyesekere’s accounts of two South Asian ecstatics.