Reliabilism and the Suspension of Belief

What are the conditions under which suspension of belief—or suspension, for short—is justified? Process reliabilists hold that our beliefs are justified if and only if these are produced or sustained by reliable cognitive processes. But they have said relatively little about suspension. Perhaps they think that we may easily extend an account of justified belief to deal with justified suspension. But it's not immediately clear how we may do so; in which case, evidentialism has a distinct advantage over reliabilism. In this paper, I consider some proposals as to how process reliabilists might seek to account for justified suspension. Although several of these proposals do not work, two are promising. The first such proposal appeals to the notion of propositional justification; the second involves weaving evidentialist elements into reliabilism. I'll argue that the second proposal is better than the first.     

Hybrid cognitive-behaviour therapy for individuals with insomnia and chronic pain: A pilot randomised controlled trial

ObjectiveInsomnia is a debilitating comorbidity of chronic pain. This pilot trial tested the utility of a hybrid treatment that simultaneously targets insomnia and pain-related interference.MethodsChronic pain patients with clinical insomnia were randomly allocated to receive 4 weekly 2-h sessions of hybrid treatment (Hybrid Group; n = 10) or to keep a pain and sleep diary for 4 weeks, before receiving the hybrid treatment (Monitoring Group; n = 10). Participants were assessed at the beginning and end of this 4-week period. Primary outcomes were insomnia severity and pain interference. Secondary outcomes were fatigue, anxiety, depression and pain intensity. Ancillary information about the hybrid treatment's effect on psychological processes and sleep (as measured with sleep diary and actigraphy) are also presented, alongside data demonstrating the treatment's clinical significance, acceptability and durability after one and six months. Data from all participants (n = 20) were combined for this purpose.ResultsCompared to symptom monitoring, the hybrid intervention was associated with greater improvement in sleep (as measured with the Insomnia Severity Index and sleep diary) at post-treatment. Although pain intensity did not change, the Hybrid Group reported greater reductions in pain interference, fatigue and depression than the Monitoring Group. Overall, changes associated with the hybrid intervention were clinically significant and durable at 1- and 6-month follow-ups. Participants also rated highly on treatment acceptability.ConclusionThe hybrid intervention appeared to be an effective treatment for chronic pain patients with insomnia. It may be a treatment approach more suited to tackle challenges presented in clinical practice, where problems seldom occur in isolation.     

Age-related schema reliance of judgments of learning in predicting source memory

Source memory refers to mental processes of encoding and making attributions to the origin of information. We investigated schematic effects on source attributions of younger and older adults for different schema-based types of items, and their schema-utilization of judgments of learning (JOLs) in estimating source memory. Participants studied statements presented by two speakers either as a doctor or a lawyer: those in the schema-after-encoding condition were informed their occupation only before retrieving, while those of schema-before-encoding were presented the schematic information prior to study. Immediately after learning every item, they made judgments of the likelihood for it to be correctly attributed to the original source later. In the test, they fulfilled a task of source attributing. The results showed a two-edged effect of schemas: schema reliance improved source memory for schema-consistent items while impaired that for schema-inconsistent items, even with schematic information presented prior to encoding. Compared with younger adults, older adults benefited more from schema-based compensatory mechanisms. Both younger and older adults could make JOLs based on before-encoding schematic information, and the schema-based JOLs were more accurate in predicting source memory than JOLs made without schema support. However, even in the schema-after-encoding condition, older adults were able to make metacognitive judgments as accurately as younger adults did, though they did have great impairments in source memory itself.     

Innovation in Technology-Aided Psychotherapy Through Human Factors/Ergonomics: Toward a Collaborative Approach

Technologies are being used increasingly to aid psychotherapy and are becoming an integral part of mental health treatment. Although prior studies compared technology-aided psychotherapy (TAP) to traditional treatments, there are insufficient studies of the impact that specific design parameters and use of the technologies may have on the client and therapist, and treatment outcomes. This requires an understanding of human–technology interaction, which is the focus of the field of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E). The goal of this article is to raise awareness of the importance of the human–technology interaction in TAP, and to foster collaborations between psychotherapists and HF/E professionals. Toward these aims, this article examines the implications of findings in HF/E for the use of technologies (videoconferencing, text-based communication, and virtual environments) in psychotherapy. It is suggested that the manner in which technologies are designed and used may have important effects on the therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes, and in some cases (side effects of virtual reality) the health and safety of the client. Future research should examine effects of specific design factors on treatment including variables such as the visibility of gestures and degree of eye contact during videoconferencing, response delays during text-messaging, and presence and adverse effects when using virtual environments. Studies that compare TAP to traditional methods should report as much detail as possible about the human–technology interaction. It is essential that psychotherapists and HF/E professionals conduct research collaboratively to develop effective and innovative technologies and, ultimately, design principles for TAP.     

自我控制的力量模型

自我控制是人们克服冲动、习惯或自动化的反应,有意识地掌控自己行为方向的能力。自我控制的力量模型认为自我控制的执行会消耗有限的心理能量。力量模型的证据主要来自冲动行为、人际交互以及决策和判断等领域的研究,影响自我控制力量的因素包括人格和个体差异、情绪和动机以及自我控制训练等。自我损耗与疲劳感的区别、动机和信念在自我损耗中的作用以及力量模型的应用价值等是未来研究值得关注的问题。     

组织分割供给与工作情绪衰竭的关系:工作心理脱离和工作→非工作冲突的中介作用*

采用问卷调查法,对271名企业管理人员进行调查,探讨了组织分割供给与工作情绪衰竭的关系,以及工作心理脱离和工作→非工作冲突在其中的中介作用。结构方程模型分析表明:(1)组织分割供给不仅可以通过工作→非工作冲突的中介作用负向影响工作情绪衰竭;(2)还可以通过依次影响工作心理脱离和工作→非工作冲突进而负向影响工作情绪衰竭。因此,组织分割供给对个体的非工作角色和工作角色均有积极作用。     

Tunable wave-vector filtering in a two-dimensional electron gas modulated by magnetic barriers and δ-doping

We report a theoretical investigation on the control of wave-vector filtering (WVF) in a two-dimensional electron gas modulated by realistic magnetic barriers and δ-doping, which can be experimentally realised by depositing a ferromagnetic stripe on the surface of a GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs heterostructure and using atomic layer doping. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that a sizeable WVF effect still exists even if δ-doping is introduced into the device. Numerical calculation reveals that the WVF efficiency is related closely to the δ-doping. Thus, the WVF effect in a magnetic nanostructure can be conveniently manipulated by properly adjusting the weight and/or the position of the δ-doping, giving rise to a tunable momentum filter for nanoelectronics applications.     

结构化面试中评分量表对评分准确性的影响

采用2(组内变量:量尺大小(25分和9分))×2(组间变量:评分方法(相对和绝对))的混合实验设计探讨评分量表对115名大学生新手评委评分准确性的影响。对于评分准确性,采用Cronbach1955年提出的四个指标,Elevation(EL)、Differential elevation(DE)、Stereotype accuracy(SA)、Differential Accuracy(DA)。结果发现,评分方法只在SA上主效应显著,量尺大小在只在DA上主效应边缘显著,评分方法和量尺大小在DE、SA和DA三个指标上均有交互作用。总体上看,在结构化面试评分中,对于评分准确性,相对评分量表优于绝对评分量表,小量尺量表优于大量尺量表。