Determinism and ontology

In the philosophical literature, there are two common criteria for a physical theory to be deterministic. The older one is due to the logical empiricists, and is a purely formal criterion. The newer one can be found in the work of John Earman and David Lewis and depends on the intended interpretation of the theory. In this paper I argue that the former must be rejected, and something like the latter adopted. I then discuss the relevance of these points to the current debate over the hole argument.     

Dimensions of perfectionism and goal commitment: A further comparison of two perfectionism measures

Research on perfectionism has suggested that a strong association exists between the setting and striving for excessively high standards. However, the motivational aspects of perfectionism have yet to be empirically identified. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness and psychometric properties of a new goal commitment scale by assessing commitment to perfection in seven content areas. In addition to identifying individual differences in perfectionism goal commitment, the current research also investigated the association between commitment to perfectionism and trait indices of perfectionism. A sample of 261 students rated degree of commitment to perfectionistic goals and completed two multidimensional perfectionism scales that assess the personal and social aspects of perfectionism. Analyses confirmed the presence of individual differences in perfectionism goal commitment. Correlational tests revealed that the trait perfectionism dimensions were correlated with the goal commitment measure, but the findings varied as a function of the specific perfectionism goal. Overall, the current data are consistent with the view that the perfectionism construct has a salient motivational component. Our findings suggest that the assessment of goal commitment is a useful means of examining specific facets of the perfectionism construct.     

Book reviews

Perspectives on Quantum Reality: Non‐Relativistic, Relativistic, and Field‐Theoretic, Rob Clifton, Ed., 1996. Dordrecht, The Netherlands Kluwer Academic Publishers, xi + 243, US$112.00, ISBN 0–7923–3812‐X

Reconstruction of Scientific Theory Change (Russian title: Rekonstrukcija Processa Smeni Fundamentalnih Nauchnih Teorii), Rinat M. Nugayev, 1989. Kazan, Kazan University Press, 208 pp., ISBN: 5–7464–0240–0

The Beat of a Different Drum: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, Jagdish Mehra, 1994. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. xxxii + 630, US$19.95 (Pbk), ISBN 0 19 853948 (Hbk), ISBN 0 19 851887 0 (Pbk)     

The role of attention in automatization: Does attention operate at encoding, or retrieval, or both?

In this research, we investigated whether attention operates in the encoding of automatized information, the retrieval of automatized information, or in both cases. Subjects searched two-word displays for members of a target category in focused-attention or divided-attention conditions that were crossed with block (training vs. transfer). To see whether subjects encoded all available items or only attended items, we compared performance for subjects in different training conditions but in the same transfer condition. Subjects encoded attended items. To see whether subjects retrieved all the items they had in memory, or only items associated with that to which they were attending at retrieval, we compared performance for subjects in the same training conditions but in different transfer conditions. Subjects retrieved attended items. Attention was found to operate at both encoding and retrieval. These findings support the instance theory of automaticity, which predicts the role of attention at encoding and retrieval