Critical Thinking and Foundational Development

Studies in Philosophy and Education - We elaborate on Israel Scheffler's claim that principles of rationality can be rationally evaluated, focusing on foundational development, by which we mean...     

Location errors in partial-report bar-probe experiments: In search of the origin of cue-alignment problems

In studies using Averbach and Coriell’s (1961) partial-report bar-probe paradigm with linear arrays, most errors involve the naming of an item that was in the display but in a position other than the cued one. Up to now, there is no general agreement on the origin of these location errors. Point of departure in this paper is that part of the location errors arises from inappropriate application of the cue. It is tested whether this originates from problems to perceive the position of the cue (“cue-displacement hypothesis”) or from confusion about the order of the items in the array (“item-order hypothesis”). The results of two bar-probe experiments are reported. A novel, crucial, finding in both experiments is that, among the location errors, there was a preponderance of response letters that came from the central side of the cued item. In the second experiment, this was observed not only in the usual postcue conditions but also when the cue preceded the array. These results positively corroborate the cue-displacement hypothesis and do not support the item-order hypothesis: The cue tends to be perceived more toward the center of the visual field than it actually is exposed—that is, there is a central drift of the cue.     

THE CASE FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHEMISTRY

The philosophy of chemistry has been sadly neglected by most contempory literature in the philosophy of science. This paper argues that this neglect has been unfortunate and that there is much to be learned from paying greater philosophical attention to the set of issues defined by the philosophy of chemistry. The potential contribution of this field to such current topics as reduction, laws, explanation, and supervenience is explored, as are possible applications of insights gained by such study to the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of social science.     

Dysphoria and Children's Processing of Supportive Interactions

This study examined the processing of supportive interactions by dysphoric and nondysphoric preteens and early adolescents. Seventy-two youngsters between the ages of 10 and 13 evaluated the supportiveness and helpfulness of standardized, videotaped interactions between a distressed preadolescent and a maternal figure. The tape presentations varied in terms of the level of depicted maternal support and instructional condition (degree of self-reference). The results indicated that dysphoric youngsters evaluated both the supportiveness and helpfulness of interactions less positively than nondysphoric agemates. Group differences in support evaluations were most pronounced in the self-referenced condition. The level of depicted support did not affect processing differences. Dysphoric subjects reported lower levels of emotional support in prior relationships and a greater tendency to view supportive behavior as ingenuine than nondysphoric peers. Variation in prior support experiences accounted for group differences in the evaluation of the supportiveness of new interactions.     

WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY DISSOCIATES LEXICAL AND SENTENTIAL CONTEXT EFFECTS

Abstract— Semantically associated and unassociated word pairs were embedded in normal meaningful sentences and in sentences that were semantically anomalous throughout The influence of lexical context was isolated via comparison of responses to the second words of the associated and unassociated pairs. The influence of sentence-level context was isolated by comparing responses to the same words in the two sentence types Subjects of high, medium and low working memory capacity (as evaluated by the reading span test) showed modulations of event-related brain potentials in response so lexical context. In contrast, only the high- and medium-capacity groups were responsive to purely sentence-level semantic context. The results demonstrate that sentential context influences the processing of words in intermediate sentence positions at normal reading speeds but that the on-line utilization of this context is more demanding of working memory than single-word contexts.     

Referenzsemantik in der Partnermodellierung

How can we explain that an assertion on something perceived can be understood in the same manner by somebody who cannot perceive that scene? This problem bases the interest in computational linguistics in how listener modeling could possibly be harmonized with reference semantics. Mental images substituting real perception appear as a way out. The architecture of the listener model has to be adapted to the creation and use of such pictorial data structures. Furthermore, the relation between the latter and a verbal (i. e., propositional) representation must be understood. The resulting architecture of a listener model with reference semantics can be employed to solve communicational problems from three general classes in a better way, as is demonstrated by an example implementation.     

Changes in Newcomers' Person–Climate Fit following the First Stage of Socialization

The development of attitudes and activities of newcomers in the 18 months following the first period of socialization was investigated. At two points in time, persons' preferences for seven work climates were compared with perceived climate. Changes in person-climate fit were assessed, using a squared difference index, after alternative fit-indices were tested with hierarchical regression analysis. Person-climate fit and work attitudes at T1 (eight to ten months after entry) were examined by comparing three groups of respondents who did not change jobs, changed jobs within the organization or changed organizations. Results showed no alpha, beta or gamma changes for the total group of 108 respondents. Alpha changes were only found for respondents who changed jobs. They showed higher ratings for job satisfaction at T2. Finally, work attitudes at T1 were related to turnover. Organizational changers showed higher turnover intentions and higher discrepancies between preferred and perceived risk orientation and work pressure at T1.