Blame it on me

Journal of Philosophical Logic - In this paper, we develop a formalisation of the main ideas of the work of Van de Poel on responsibility. Using the basic concepts through which the meanings of...     

The Effectiveness of Using a Video iPod as a Prompting Device in Employment Settings

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a video iPod as a prompting device for teaching three job-related tasks to a young man with developmental disabilities in a community-based employment setting. The effectiveness of the prompting device was evaluated using a multiple probe across behaviors design. Results indicated that the introduction of the video iPod was associated with immediate and substantial gains in independent correct responding with an associated decrease in the number of prompts given from a job coach. In addition, the participant used the video iPod independently. Instructional implications and future research will be discussed.     

Excessive daydreaming: A case history and discussion of mind wandering and high fantasy proneness

This case study describes a patient presenting with a long history of excessive daydreaming which has caused her distress but is not incident to any other apparent clinical psychiatric disorders. We have treated this patient for over 10 years, and she has responded favorably to fluvoxamine therapy, stating that it helps to control her daydreaming. Our patient, and other psychotherpists, have brought to our attention other possible cases of excessive daydreaming. We examine the available literature regarding daydreaming, mind wandering, and fantasy proneness relative to current cognitive and neuroanatomical models of executive attention.     

Answering the Bayesian Challenge

This essay answers the “Bayesian Challenge,” which is an argument offered by Bayesians that concludes that belief is not relevant to rational action. Patrick Maher and Mark Kaplan argued that this is so because there is no satisfactory way of making sense of how it would matter. The two ways considered so far, acting as if a belief is true and acting as if a belief has a probability over a threshold, do not work. Contrary to Maher and Kaplan, Keith Frankish argued that there is a way to make sense of how belief matters by introducing a dual process theory of mind in which decisions are made at the conscious level using premising policies. I argue that Bayesian decision theory alone shows that it is sometimes rational to base decisions on beliefs; we do not need a dual process theory of mind to solve the Bayesian Challenge. This point is made clearer when we consider decision levels: acting as if a belief is true is sometimes rational at higher decision levels.

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How extending your middle finger affects your perception of others: Learned movements influence concept accessibility

Body movements both express and influence how people feel and think. Conceptualizations of this bidirectional influence assume that movement-concept associations can be innate or learned, although evidence for learned associations remained ambiguous. Providing a conservative test of learned movement-concept associations, two studies investigate the influence of culture-specific body movements, which involve an arbitrary relationship between movements and associated concepts. Paralleling the influence of hostility primes, extending the middle finger influenced the interpretation of ambiguously aggressive behaviors as hostile, but did not influence unrelated trait judgments (Study 1). Paralleling the effects of global evaluative primes, upward extension of the thumb resulted in more positive evaluations of the same target along all trait dimensions and higher liking of the target (Study 2).     

The Interpersonal Basis of Stereotype-Relevant Self-Views

ABSTRACT Recent research examining the interpersonal basis of self-stereotyping is considered from the perspective of Cognitive–Affective Personality System (CAPS) theory. The reviewed work shows that individuals tend to see themselves in a stereotypic manner when interacting with someone who engenders affiliative motivation and is thought to hold stereotypic views of their group. Evidence suggesting that this context-dependent self-stereotyping is extended temporally through future psychologically similar interactions and the invocation of significant others thought to endorse stereotypes is also discussed. These findings and the theoretical framework that stimulated them strongly resonate with the notion of if … then contingencies of the self articulated in CAPS theory. The implications of each viewpoint for the other are discussed.     

Content difference between normal and abnormal obsessions

Although it has long been thought that experiencing an obsession is a psychiatric symptom, more recent literature, has seen the normalisation of obsessions and other presumably clinical phenomena. That is, not only people suffering from psychiatric disorders experience obsessions but non-clinical individuals also do so. Furthermore, it has been argued that such normal obsessions are very similar to abnormal ones, in terms of content. However, in the present study, evidence was obtained indicating that normal and abnormal obsessions do differ in content. A sample of 133 healthy undergraduates was given a list of 70 obsessions, with some originating from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and others stemming from healthy volunteers. Participants were asked to indicate whether they had ever experienced these obsessions. Participants endorsed significantly more normal than abnormal obsessions, suggesting that the two kinds of obsessions do differ from each other. In addition, the experience of clinical obsessions was more strongly associated with scores on a measure of OCD symptoms, than was the experience of normal obsessions.     

Leibniz,creation and the best of all possible worlds

Leibniz argued that God would not create a world unless it was the best possible world. I defend Leibniz’s argument. I then consider whether God could refrain from creating if there were no best possible world. I argue that God, on pain of contradiction, could not refrain from creating in such a situation. I conclude that either this is the best possible world or God is not our creator.     

Cross‐Cultural Conflict Resolution in the Schools: Some Practical Intervention Strategies for Counselors

The authors present a context for understanding the increase in school violence as a function of poor conflict resolution skills. They provide counselors with selected cross‐cultural approaches for conflict resolution and problem solving. They also discuss how the methods could be implemented in a school setting. A case study is used to demonstrate the approaches in action.     

Mapping Religion's Other: A Review of the Study of Nonreligion and Secularity

In this article, we review the research literature on nonreligion, secularity, the nones, and other forms of “religion's other.” As a relatively new area of sustained and still growing research activity, with its attendant theoretical and methodological implications continuing to take shape, our focus is on the social science research from the mid‐2000s to the present. We consider the challenges of definition and perspective in this line of inquiry, highlight key arguments, and summarize the main findings from empirical studies of nonreligion and its relationship to topics including identity, health, family, and prejudice. After discussing the organizational and social movement aspects of nonreligious communities, as well as related developments in how scholars are studying these communities, we conclude our assessment of the state of this field by proffering questions relevant to both current efforts and whatever future directions are in store for research on religion's other.