Melancholic epistemology

Too little attention has been paid by philosophers to the cognitive and epistemic dimensions of emotional disturbances such as depression, grief, and anxiety and to the possibility of justification or warrant for such conditions. The chief aim of the present paper is to help to remedy that deficiency with respect to depression. Taxonomy of depression reveals two distinct forms: depression (1) with intentionality and (2) without intentionality. Depression with intentionality can be justified or unjustified, warranted or unwarranted. I argue that the effort of Aaron Beck to show that depressive reasoning is necessarily illogical and distorted is flawed. I identify an essential characteristic of that depression which is a mental illness. Finally, I describe the potential of depression to provide credal contact with important truths.Many persons helped in writing this paper. Special thanks are owed to my wife, Patricia Sedgeman Graham, as well as to Richard Garrett and Hugh LaFollette.     

Research as a family therapy intervention technique

The utilization of the research process as an intervention has recently been described in the family therapy literature. However, it is important to draw a distinction between research as intervention and research as a unique family therapy intervention technique. From a family systems perspective, research as an intervention technique may make therapy more palatable for some families. A case study is presented in which this technique created the context for change for a family involved in a chronic illness research project.The author would like to thank Dr. Wendy L. Watson for her participation as a member of the clinical team and Drs. Fabie Duhamel and Wendy L. Watson for their helpful critiques on earlier drafts of this paper.Supported by a grant from the Albert Foundation for Nursing Research.     

一种快速记忆法个案报告

作者以自己为被试,运用自己创造的一系列数序形象挂钩法识记105位化学元素名称和300位圆周率数字,结果表明:运用此法记忆顺序性极强、数量很大、难于记住的材料快速高效,能倒顺背诵和随点随背,能冲破前摄和倒摄干扰,使识记很快通过短时记忆而迅速地顺利进入长时记忆,在识记后的开初(26小时)遗忘不多也不快,在隔一天以后进行检查(复习)并强化未记牢的材料,可使保持率在数百日后不下降,因而作者认为,艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线应界定为机械识记的遗忘曲线较为妥当。作者在文中第一次较详细地公开了在一天内就能倒顺背诵105位化学元素名称和300位圆周率数字的数序形象挂钩法及其关键与技巧。     

Predicting behavior on a computer from intentions, attitudes, and experience

Research on computer attitudes has generally focused on describing the cognitive elements. The present study used the Ajzen and Fishbein model to predict intentions to work hard in a computer course and actual time on the computer. In addition, the influence of experience on predictions was examined. Results from 74 social science students showed that the Ajzen and Fishbein model is effective at predicting both intentions and behavior. Unlike previous findings, experience did not interact with attitudes. Finally, a short cognitive attitude scale was an additional significant predictor beyond intentions in explaining behavior variance.     

Recalling pictures and words: Reversing the generation effect

Blind and sighted children’s memory for words and raised shape pictures was tested. The investigation compared performance with items when they were studied under neutral conditions (naming words and pictures) and when they were self-generated in response to cues (cue: hot ?: response: cold). The blind children could identify and name the raised shape pictures with the same apparent ease as blind-folded sighted children (as long as a cue was provided). The sighted children showed the generation effect (Slamecka and Graf, 1978) for both words and pictures, namely that self-generated items were far better recalled than neutral ones. The pattern of results for the blind children was markedly different. Although the level of memory performance overall was the same as that of the sighted controls, the congenitally blind children showed areverse generation effect. A stem completion study indicated that these results couldnot be accounted for by a relatively greater reliance on data-driven processing by the blind.     

恒河猴自由取食时利手的观察

本文观察记录了生活在自由条件下进行人工喂饲的没有实验经验的恒河猴自由取食时利手的现象。结果表明,从群体的材料看无一侧化利手优势现象;从个体材料看一侧化利手者是显著的。     

Effects of meaning training on overcoming functional fixedness

Functional fixedness (FF) consists in focusing on some function of an object while overlooking another necessary for problem solving. Assuming that FF occurs when too few meanings are assigned to the major problem aspects, it was hypothesized that widening the scope of meaning would reduce FF, particularly in subjects providing more responses. The task was completing two electrical circuits. Meaning training consisted in requesting the subjects to provide responses to questions reflecting 11 meaning variables concerning three referents of the task. The subjects were 64 high school girls about 15 years old, only half of whom got meaning training. The results showed that meaning training reduced FF: the experimental subjects solved the target task faster, especially if they assigned more direct or indirect function responses to the target referents. Discussion centered on the effects of specific and nonspecific meaning training on different phases of problem solving. This study is based partly on the data presented by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University.