Properties of Goal Systems: Consistency, Conflict, and Coherence

The paper provides a formal representation of goal systems. The focus is on three properties: consistency, conflict, and coherence. An aim is to attain conceptual clarity of these properties. It is argued that consistency is adequately regarded as a property relative to the decision situation or, more specifically, the set of alternatives that the agent faces. Moreover, as a condition of rationality, consistency is stronger than some writers have claimed. Conflict is adequately regarded as a relation over subsets of a given goal system and should likewise be regarded as relative to the set of alternatives that the agent faces. Coherence is given a probabilistic interpretation, based on a support relation over subsets of goal systems. Presented by Heinrich Wansing     

Frequency effects in language acquisition, language use, and diachronic change

Recent work in psychology and linguistics has shown that frequency of occurrence is an important determinant of language acquisition, language use, and diachronic change. This paper surveys the effects of frequency on the use and development of language and considers the psychological mechanisms that underlie the various frequency effects. The paper shows that frequency has an impact on the emergence of linguistic structure and that some well-known cross-linguistic tendencies arise from frequency effects.     

Response expectancy theory and application: A decennial review

Response expectancy is the anticipation of automatic, subjective, and behavioral responses to particular situational cues. More than a decade of research in diverse laboratories indicates that response expectancies are important considerations in designing and administering treatments and prevention programs for such problems as anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse, and sexual dysfunction. Response expectancy also plays a central role in the effects of antidepressive medication, psychotherapy, and hypnosis. In addition, studies of the effects of placebos reveal that response expectancies can produce lasting changes in pain, anxiety, depression, alertness, tension, sexual arousal, alcohol craving and consumption, aggression, asthma, warts, and contact dermatitis. The veracity of many self-reported placebo effects have been corroborated by changes in physiological function.     

Aggression,defense, and coping in humans

One way of identifying emotional behaviors across species, language, and cultures is to describe the “instrumental” effects of each particular behavior. Since aggression and defense may be instrumental they also represent coping behavior. The term coping is being used partly to indicate whether or not the behavior is successful and partly to describe how a situation is being handled (coping strategies). This review deals with how these behaviors are observed and quantified in humans and how they are linked to physiological changes. The internal state of the individual is decided by the expectancy of the outcome of a given situation, but each behavior strategy may have specific links to particular brain mechanisms and particular physiological effectors. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Structures,dynamics and mechanisms in neuroscience: an integrative account

Proponents of mechanistic explanations have recently proclaimed that all explanations in the neurosciences appeal to mechanisms. The purpose of the paper is to critically assess this statement and to develop an integrative account that connects a large range of both mechanistic and dynamical explanations. I develop and defend four theses about the relationship between dynamical and mechanistic explanations: that dynamical explanations are structurally grounded, that they are multiply realizable, possess realizing mechanisms and provide a powerful top-down heuristic. Four examples shall support my points: the harmonic oscillator, the Haken–Kelso–Bunz model of bimanual coordination, the Watt governor and the Gierer–Meinhardt model of biological pattern formation. I also develop the picture of “horizontal” and “vertical” directions of explanations to illustrate the different perspectives of the dynamical and mechanistic approach as well as their potential integration by means of intersection points.     

Deductive Reasoning in the Structuralist Approach

The distinction between the syntactic and the semantic approach to scientific theories emerged in formal philosophy of science. The semantic approach is commonly considered more advanced and more successful than the syntactic one, but the transition from the one approach to the other was not brought about without any loss. In essence, it is the formal analysis of atomic propositions and the analysis of deductive reasoning that dropped out of consideration in at least some of the elaborated versions of the semantic approach. In structuralist theory of science, as founded by Sneed and Stegmüller, the focus is on global propositions concerning the question of whether or not certain empirical systems satisfy a set-theoretic predicate that encodes the axioms of a scientific theory. Hence, an analysis of deductive reasoning from atomic premisses with the help of a given theory is missing. The objective of the present paper is to develop a deductive system on the basis of the structuralist framework. This system comes with a novel formulation of empirical propositions in structuralism.     

Apostolos in the new testament

This article examines the intersection between the therapeutic and the Christian cultures, and the common conviction among scholars of the therapeutic, such as Philip Rieff, that the subjective turn eventually will overthrow organized Christianity. The culture clash between secularism and religion is engaged through the Protestant Church of Norway's liturgical reform of the Sunday high mass 2004–2011, which aims to make the liturgical service more relevant. The analysis of both institutional and theological attempts at finding a balance between the old and the new suggests that the authority of the emotive self strongly challenges the truth of God. Still, there are signs of a cultural merger that suggest the Church of Norway will prevail. The outcome, however, will not satisfy conservative theologians and critics of the therapeutic culture, as God, in order to survive, must accept a more subordinate supportive role as an optional remedy for well-being.