Inference and Epistemic Transparency

Topoi - In his paper “Explaining Deductive Inference” Prawitz states what he calls «a fundamental problem of logic and the philosophy of logic»: the problem of explaining...     

Patterns of comprehension performance in agrammatic Broca's aphasia: a test of the Trace Deletion Hypothesis

We tested the core prediction of the Trace Deletion Hypothesis (TDH) of agrammatic Broca's aphasia, which contends that such patients' comprehension performance is normal for active reversible sentences but at chance level for passive reversible sentences. We analyzed the comprehension performance of 38 Italian Broca's aphasics with verified damage to Broca's area, who completed sentence-to-picture matching tasks using active and passive reversible sentences as stimuli. The results failed to confirm the predictions made by TDH: only a small minority (15%) performed at chance on passive sentences and better than chance on active sentences. Furthermore, the distribution of the 38 subjects' performance on passive sentences differed from that predicted by the TDH since many more subjects performed at better-than-chance levels than expected. We discuss the implication of these results for claims about the distribution of language processing mechanisms in the brain.     

Principles derived from the study of simple skills do not generalize to complex skill learning

We review research related to the learning of complex motor skills with respect to principles developed on the basis of simple skill learning. Although some factors seem to have opposite effects on the learning of simple and of complex skills, other factors appear to be relevant mainly for the learning of more complex skills. We interpret these apparently contradictory findings as suggesting that situations with low processing demands benefit from practice conditions that increase the load and challenge the performer, whereas practice conditions that result in extremely high load should benefit from conditions that reduce the load to more manageable levels. The findings reviewed here call into question the generalizability of results from studies using simple laboratory tasks to the learning of complex motor skills. They also demonstrate the need to use more complex skills in motor-learning research in order to gain further insights into the learning process.     

The Contribution of Metacognitions and Attentional Control to Decisional Procrastination

Earlier research has implicated metacognitions and attentional control in procrastination and self-regulatory failure. This study tested several hypotheses: (1) that metacognitions would be positively correlated with decisional procrastination; (2) that attentional control would be negatively correlated with decisional procrastination; (3) that metacognitions would be negatively correlated with attentional control; and (4) that metacognitions and attentional control would predict decisional procrastination when controlling for negative affect. One hundred and twenty-nine participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21, the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the Decisional Procrastination Scale. Significant relationships were found between all three attentional control factors (focusing, shifting, and flexible control of thought) and two metacognitions factors (negative beliefs concerning thoughts about uncontrollability and danger, and cognitive confidence). Results also revealed that decisional procrastination was significantly associated with negative affect, all measured metacognitions factors, and all attentional control factors. In the final step of a hierarchical regression analysis only stress, cognitive confidence, and attention shifting were independent predictors of decisional procrastination. Overall these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model of psychological dysfunction. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Sex differences in verbal fluency: a short note

Adult male and female subjects performed two fluency tasks from the ‘Kit of Reference Tests for Cognitive Factors’. Although both word fluency and ideational fluency are said to show female superiority, a significant difference in favour of females could be found only in the task which primarily requires lexical access and not in the task requiring mental access to colour and form of objects.     

Applied Computer Diagnostics — Theoretical Foundations and Future Perspectives

The paper reviews and discusses a number of issues relating to the use of computer technology to assist the process of assessing psychologically relevant variables — computer-assisted diagnostics. A definition of computer-assisted diagnostics is given and theoretical developments are discussed. The paper emphasizes the need to consider theoretical issues relating to a number of domains: theory of content, test theory, human—computer interaction, programming theory, instructional theory, normative theory and situation theory. The paper concludes with a view of the current situation and future perspectives, and describes some important ethical issues.     

Temporal and atemporal truth in intuitionistic mathematics

In section 1 we argue that the adoption of a tenseless notion of truth entails a realistic view of propositions and provability. This view, in turn, opens the way to the intelligibility of theclassical meaning of the logical constants, and consequently is incompatible with the antirealism of orthodox intuitionism. In section 2 we show how what we call the potential intuitionistic meaning of the logical constants can be defined, on the one hand, by means of the notion of atemporal provability and, on the other, by means of the operator K of epistemic logic. Intuitionistic logic, as reconstructed within this perspective, turns out to be a part of epistemic logic, so that it loses its traditional foundational role, antithetic to that of classical logic. In section 3 we uphold the view that certain consequences of the adoption of atemporal notion of truth, despite their apparent oddity, are quite acceptable from an antirealist point of view.     

Reading the tea leaves in an intelligent Coffee Corner: Challenges for understanding behavior

This article discusses the challenges for methodological innovation on the basis of experiences in an experimental Living Lab setting: a context-aware Coffee Corner in a research institute. A context-aware infrastructure collects sensory information on users while they move and interact. People getting coffee can use a variety of services offered in the intelligent environment at the Coffee Corner’s site; for example, a colleague-radar application allows users to see the current positions of their colleagues in the building. At the same time, it identifies and authenticates users using proximity-aware and context-aware security features. Apart from proximity and context awareness, the analysis of contextual data allows the construction of a behavioral model of users that can be used to customize the services offered at the Coffee Corner. We explain how the Living Lab allows us to measure behavior in context in an unobtrusive and trustworthy way (e.g., by respecting a user’s right to privacy).     

Practicing REBT in Italy: Cultural Aspects

This paper attempts to explore the cultural background for the adoption and practice of REBT by cognitive therapists in Italy since the 1980s. It is not an attempt to capture the history of Italian culture and philosophy from antiquity. Italian therapists tend to prefer the assessment phase of the ABC framework and not fully adopt REBT disputing interventions. They also attempt to link the ABC not only to the here and now but also to clients’ personal development. In our experience, they have combined REBT with constructivism and metacognition. These current features parallel the historical lack of confidence shown by many Italian philosophical thinkers—from Machiavelli to Gianni Vattimo—in the possibility of reducing reality to verification as well as the reproducible rules of logical rationality. The foregoing highlights the interest in exploring the emotional roots of politics, history, and concrete reality in the time frame following the 1980s. Some typical features of Italian social life, such as individualism, hierarchy, remote social distance, and competition can also be thought of as corresponding with the historical features of the way REBT has been adopted and functions in Italy.