On love, hate and knowledge

In this short theoretical paper, I discuss Bion's three relations of love, hate, and knowledge, using Peirce's semiotic theory of relations and Bakhtin's semiotic/philosophical writings. Reading Bion through the prism of these resources allows us to better understand the meaning and ontogenesis of the basic relations and to examine their clinical explanatory value.     

Evolutionary Debunking Arguments Meet Evolutionary Science

Evolutionary debunking arguments appeal to selective etiologies of human morality in an attempt to undermine moral realism. But is morality actually the product of evolution by natural selection? Although debunking arguments have attracted considerable attention in recent years, little of it has been devoted to whether the underlying evolutionary assumptions are credible. In this paper, we take a closer look at the evolutionary hypotheses put forward by two leading debunkers, namely Sharon Street and Richard Joyce. We raise a battery of considerations, both empirical and theoretical, that combine to cast doubt on the plausibility of both hypotheses. We also suggest that it is unlikely that there is in the vicinity a plausible alternative hypothesis suitable for the debunker's cause.     

Split-Brain: What We Know Now and Why This is Important for Understanding Consciousness

Neuropsychology Review - Recently, the discussion regarding the consequences of cutting the corpus callosum (“split-brain”) has regained momentum (Corballis, Corballis, Berlucchi,...     

Calories,beauty, and ovulation: The effects of the menstrual cycle on food and appearance-related consumption

The menstrual cycle has been largely ignored within the consumer research literature. Using a survey panel, women's food and appearance-related consumption was tracked for 35 consecutive days. As predicted, food-related desires, dollars spent, and eating behaviors were greater during the luteal (non-fertile) phase, whereas appearance-related desires, dollars spent, and beautification behaviors increased during the fertile phase. Dollars spent on products unrelated to food or beautification were not significantly influenced by the menstrual cycle. Hence, women's consumption desires, preferences, and dollars spent in evolutionarily relevant product categories (food and mating) fluctuate across their ovulatory cycle. Branding-related implications are briefly discussed.     

The experimenter module of the DSMAC (Dynamic Sequential MultiAttribute Choice) interface

The DSMAC (Dynamic Sequential MultiAttribute Choice) interface is a process-tracing methodology that permits a researcher to investigate subjects’ behaviors in an optional-stopping task. In such an environment, an individual decides after each piece of acquired information whether to make a choice between a pair of competing alternatives or to acquire additional information. DSMAC consists of two modules-an experimenter and a subject interface. The former allows the researcher to specify all of the relevant experimental parameters for a particular study, which is subsequently used as input by the latter. The bimodular nature of DSMAC significantly reduces the set-up time required for constructing novel stimuli for new experiments. DSMAC runs on a Macintosh computer. It is compatible with most Mactintosh models that use a system 7.0 (or higher) operating system. The source code was written in ThinkPascal 4.0.1.     

How does our search engine “see” the world? The case of amodal completion

This article illustrates a dissociation between the perceived attributes of an object and the ability of those attributes to guide the deployment of attention in visual search. Orientation is an attribute that guides search. Thus, a vertical line will “pop out” amid horizontal distractors. Amodal completion can create perceptually convincing oriented stimuli when two elements appear to form a complete object partially hidden behind an occluder. Previous work (e.g., Rensink &; Enns, Vision Research, 38, 2489–2505, 1998) has shown a preattentive role for amodal completion in search tasks. Here, we show that orientation based on perceptually compelling amodal completion may fail to guide attention. The broader conclusion is that introspection is a poor guide to the capabilities of our internal search engine.     

Evolutionary consumption

An overview of the field of evolutionary consumption is provided. Brief summaries of disciplines within the evolutionary behavioral sciences that preceded evolutionary psychology (EP) are first offered. This is followed by a discussion of important EP principles including the domain-specificity of the human mind, and the difference between ultimate and proximate scientific explanations. The evolutionary bases of memory, attitude formation/change, emotions, perception (our five senses), personality, and decision making are addressed next, along with specific links to consumer research. Next, I demonstrate how numerous consumer acts could be classified into one of four basal Darwinian modules: survival, reproduction (mating), kin selection, and reciprocal altruism. The paper continues with an exploration of the evolutionary roots of cultural products (e.g., song lyrics) and Darwinian happiness (along with the evolutionary etiology of maladaptive phenomena such as pathological gambling and compulsive buying). I conclude with a discussion of key epistemological benefits of Darwinizing consumer research including greater consilience, increased interdisciplinarity, and an ethos of methodological pluralism.     

The effect of a reason's truth-value on the judgment of a fallacious argument

Informal reasoning fallacies are arguments that are psychologically persuasive but not valid. In the context of informal reasoning fallacies, the truth-value of the reason in support of a given claim is irrelevant to judging the validity of the argument as a whole. This property stands in sharp contrast with the general role of the reason's truth-value in judging arguments in general. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that in the context of informal reasoning fallacies the truth-value of a reason influences pupils' judgment of the extent to which the reason supports the claim. The results of the study confirm the research hypothesis.     

REDUCTIONS IN SELF-INJURY PRODUCED BY TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is used to reduce pain but also may be useful for self-injurious behavior (SIB). In the current investigation, a microcurrent electromedical device, classified as a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS), was applied with a man with Down syndrome who displayed SIB that persisted in the absence of social contingencies. Although clinically significant results were not maintained, a clear difference in the rates of SIB during active and inactive TENS was observed.