Conditionals and Curry

Curry’s paradox for “if.. then..” concerns the paradoxical features of sentences of the form “If this very sentence is true, then 2 + 2 = 5”. Standard inference principles lead us to the conclusion that such conditionals have true consequents: so, for example, 2 + 2 = 5 after all. There has been a lot of technical work done on formal options for blocking Curry paradoxes while only compromising a little on the various central principles of logic and meaning that are under threat. Once we have a sense of the technical options, though, a philosophical choice remains. When dealing with puzzles in the logic of conditionals, a natural place to turn is independently motivated semantic theories of the behaviour of “if... then...”. This paper argues that a closest-worlds approach outlined in previous work offers a philosophically satisfying reason to deny conditional proof and so block the paradoxical Curry reasoning, and can give the verdict that standard Curry conditionals are false, along with related “contraction conditionals”.     

Anxiety,anticipation and contextual information: A test of attentional control theory

We tested the assumptions of Attentional Control Theory (ACT) by examining the impact of anxiety on anticipation using a dynamic, time-constrained task. Moreover, we examined the involvement of high- and low-level cognitive processes in anticipation and how their importance may interact with anxiety. Skilled and less-skilled tennis players anticipated the shots of opponents under low- and high-anxiety conditions. Participants viewed three types of video stimuli, each depicting different levels of contextual information. Performance effectiveness (response accuracy) and processing efficiency (response accuracy divided by corresponding mental effort) were measured. Skilled players recorded higher levels of response accuracy and processing efficiency compared to less-skilled counterparts. Processing efficiency significantly decreased under high- compared to low-anxiety conditions. No difference in response accuracy was observed. When reviewing directional errors, anxiety was most detrimental to performance in the condition conveying only contextual information, suggesting that anxiety may have a greater impact on high-level (top-down) cognitive processes, potentially due to a shift in attentional control. Our findings provide partial support for ACT; anxiety elicited greater decrements in processing efficiency than performance effectiveness, possibly due to predominance of the stimulus-driven attentional system.     

Neurocognitive predictors of performance‐based functional capacity in bipolar disorder

Neurocognitive impairment can predict functional capacity in individuals with bipolar disorder, though little research has examined whether different neurocognitive domains impact specific types of tasks. This study examined the relationship between several neurocognitive variables and the UCSD Performance‐Based Skills Assessment (UPSA; Patterson et al., 2011) to identify the domains and tests that best predict the performance across the subscales. Forty‐seven euthymic participants who were diagnosed with either Bipolar I or Bipolar II were recruited and assessed on a battery of neuropsychological measures and the UPSA. Correlational and regression analyses were run to identify neurocognitive predictors of UPSA subscales. Per the literature, verbal learning and memory and executive function composites were first examined. Verbal learning and memory predicted the Communication subscale and Total score variables above and beyond the estimated FSIQ and symptom rating scales. In a secondary exploratory analysis, the Benton Judgment of Line Orientation subtest predicted the Finance subscale while the California Verbal Learning Test predicted the UPSA total score. Verbal learning and memory emerged as the strongest predictor of functional capacity, suggesting that this domain should be investigated in future mediational and longitudinal studies with the UPSA.     

The Wished‐For Always Wins Until the Winner Was Inevitable All Along: Motivated Reasoning and Belief Bias Regulate Emotion During Elections

How do biases affect political information processing? A variant of the Wason selection task, which tests for confirmation bias, was used to characterize how the dynamics of the recent U.S. presidential election affected how people reasoned about political information. Participants were asked to evaluate pundit‐style conditional claims like “The incumbent always wins in a year when unemployment drops” either immediately before or immediately after the 2012 presidential election. A three‐way interaction between ideology, predicted winner (whether the proposition predicted that Obama or Romney would win), and the time of test indicated complex effects of bias on reasoning. Before the election, there was partial evidence of motivated reasoning—liberals performed especially well at looking for falsifying information when the pundit's claim predicted Romney would win. After the election, once the outcome was known, there was evidence of a belief bias—people sought to falsify claims that were inconsistent with the real‐world outcome rather than their ideology. These results suggest that people seek to implicitly regulate emotion when reasoning about political predictions. Before elections, people like to think their preferred candidate will win. After elections, people like to think the winner was inevitable all along.     

Learning as Leaving Home: Fear,Empathy, and Hospitality in the Theology and Religion Classroom

The article is a response to this journal's call for papers on metaphors for teaching, and also draws from a previous publication in which Kent Eilers developed a methodology for teaching global theologies. In this methodology, the ultimate goal was the development of “hermeneutical dispositions of empathy, hospitality, and receptivity toward culturally diverse voices” (2014, 165). This article considers the goals of Eilers' methodology, and others like his, and how it is that the metaphors of “leaving home” and “communal imagination” highlight the importance of the ambient and interpersonal features of a classroom and their effect on the attainment of the above goals. In so doing, it extends the conversation beyond content and methodology in teaching theology and religion into the realms of philosophy of education, as well as the fields of moral and values education. It is contended that the metaphors informed by these areas of study facilitate the attainment of such goals, and similar ones, by demonstrating that the cultivation of an ambience of care, trust, and compassion within the classroom constitutes an essential foundation for learning in which students “leave home” and cultivate “communal imagination.” The article finishes with practical suggestions for educators in theology and religion.     

Loud versus quiet praise: A direct behavioral comparison in secondary classrooms

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of teacher public (i.e., loud) and private (i.e., quiet) praise on students' appropriately engaged behavior (AEB) and disruptive behaviors (DB). Employing a combined multiple-baseline withdrawal design, the effects of loud and quiet praise were assessed across two pairs of secondary classrooms. Each classroom's mean percentage of observed intervals of AEB and DB across loud and quiet praise intervention phases was assessed and compared. Overall, visual analysis of the data, multilevel modeling, and effect sizes showed that both loud and quiet praises were more effective than no treatment at increasing AEB and decreasing DB. In addition, there were no statistical or clinically significant differences between the loud and quiet praise interventions. The results are discussed in light of appropriate practices and controversies in the literature.     

Caring for the Caregiver: Identifying the Needs of Those Called to Care Through Partnerships with Congregations

As the older adult population continues to grow, the prevalence of chronic diseases is also increasing, leading to the need for novel ways of managing this large population of patients. One solution is to focus on informal caregivers. These informal caregivers already make a substantial contribution to our nation’s healthcare finances and patient health outcomes. Caregivers also derive benefits from caring for their family member or friend; however, it is not uncommon for these individuals to experience negative health consequences, or what is often called “burden of care.” Those called to care are not without their own burdens, and they must frequently make significant lifestyle adjustments that impact their own health. Therefore, for caregivers to be effective, caring for the caregivers must be a focus of medicine in the twenty-first century.     

Youth’s Help-Seeking Intentions for ADHD and Depression: Findings from a National Survey

This study investigates the role that youth-level factors play in predicting help-seeking intentions in a nationally representative sample. Eleven help-seeking intentions were examined separately by target conditions (ADHD and depression), gender, race/ethnicity, and self-reported diagnosed/non-diagnosed in respect to the target conditions, and interaction effects were tested. Using factor analysis, a traditional help-seeking scale was created, which captured four help-seeking items, and predictive power of youth-level factors in accounting for traditional help-seeking was tested. Study findings provide practitioners and researchers with fresh evidence on what youth-level factors are associated with which help-seeking intentions, and illustrate the challenges involved in better understanding the complexity of the help-seeking process among youth in the context of ADHD/Depression. With increased understanding of youth’s perceptions and the complexity of their help-seeking behavior, community-based efforts to develop effective strategies that support active help-seeking behavior and eliminate barriers to appropriate care can have a greater likelihood of success.     

A Meno Problem for Evidentialism

The original Meno problem is to explain why knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief. In this paper I argue that evidentialists face an additional Meno problem, a Meno problem that, to date, no evidentialist has considered. Specifically, evidentialists must account for the additional epistemic value of a doxastically justified doxastic attitude as compared to a doxastic attitude that is merely propositionally justified. I consider the nature of the problem facing evidentialism and critically discuss two attempts to account for this additional epistemic value. Then, I highlight the remaining options and present the alternative I favor. According to this alternative, while the nature of doxastic justification is analyzed in terms of propositional justification, the value of doxastic justification is not. Holding a doxastic attitude on the basis of propositionally justifying evidence is a fundamental epistemic good. In virtue of this, doxastically justified doxastic attitudes have fundamental epistemic value.