Kitcher,mathematics, and naturalism

This paper argues that Philip Kitcher's epistemology of mathematics, codified in his Naturalistic Constructivism, is not naturalistic on Kitcher's own conception of naturalism. Kitcher's conception of naturalism is committed to (i) explaining the correctness of belief-regulating norms and (ii) a realist notion of truth. Naturalistic Constructivism is unable to simultaneously meet both of these commitments.     

Binding time: Evidence for integration of temporal stimulus features

Several lines of evidence suggest that during processing of events, the features of these events become connected via episodic bindings. Such bindings have been demonstrated for a large number of visual and auditory stimulus features, like color and orientation, or pitch and loudness. Importantly, most visual and auditory events typically also involve temporal features, like onset time or duration. So far, however, whether temporal stimulus features are also bound into event representations has never been tested directly. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible binding between stimulus duration and other features of auditory events. In Experiment 1, participants had to respond with two keys to a low or high pitch sinus tone. Critically, the tones were presented with two different presentation durations. Sequential analysis of RT data indicated binding of stimulus duration into the event representation: at pitch repetitions, performance was better when both pitch and duration repeated, relative to when only pitch repeated and duration switched. This finding was replicated with loudness as relevant stimulus feature in Experiment 2. In sum, the results demonstrate that temporal features are bound into auditory event representations. This finding is an important advancement for binding theory in general, and raises several new questions for future research.     

Anticipatory affect during action preparation: evidence from backward compatibility in dual-task performance

Upcoming responses in the second of two subsequently performed tasks can speed up compatible responses in the temporally preceding first task. Two experiments extend previous demonstration of such backward compatibility to affective features: responses to affective stimuli were faster in Task 1 when an affectively compatible response effect was anticipated for Task 2. This emotional backward-compatibility effect demonstrates that representations of the affective consequences of the Task 2 response were activated before the selection of a response in Task 1 was completed. This finding is problematic for the assumption of a serial stimulus-response translation stage. It also shows that the affective consequence of a response is anticipated during, and has an impact on stimulus-response translation, which implies that action planning considers codes representing and predicting the emotional consequences of actions. Implications for the control of emotional actions are discussed.     

Working memory interference during processing texts and pictures: Implications for the explanation of the modality effect

Auditory text presentation improves learning with pictures and texts. With sequential text–picture presentation, cognitive models of multimedia learning explain this modality effect in terms of greater visuo‐spatial working memory load with visual as compared to auditory texts. Visual texts are assumed to demand the same working memory subsystem as pictures, while auditory texts make use of an additional cognitive resource. We provide two alternative assumptions that relate to more basic processes: First, acoustic‐sensory information causes a retention advantage for auditory over visual texts which occurs no matter if a picture is presented or not. Second, eye movements during reading hamper visuo‐spatial rehearsal. Two experiments applying elementary procedures provide first evidence for these assumptions. Experiment 1 demonstrates that, regarding text recall, the auditory advantage is independent of visuo‐spatial working memory load. Experiment 2 reveals worse matrix recognition performance after reading text requiring eye movements than after listening or reading without eye movements. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF READINESS FOR FINE-TUNING AND CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION CHANGES

This study examined employee readiness for fine-tuning changes and for corporate transformation changes. It was proposed that employees would report different degrees of readiness for these two types of change and that different variables would be associated with readiness for the two types of change. Results of regression analyses indicated that trust in peers and logistics and system support displayed strong positive relationships with readiness for fine-tuning changes, while trust in senior leaders and self-efficacy displayed strong positive relationships with readiness for corporate transformation changes. The implications of this study focus on the appropriateness of traditional change management strategies in light of findings that multiple change readiness attitudes exist within an organization.     

Identification and location tasks rely on different mental processes: a diffusion model account of validity effects in spatial cueing paradigms with emotional stimuli

Spatial cueing paradigms are popular tools to assess human attention to emotional stimuli, but different variants of these paradigms differ in what participants’ primary task is. In one variant, participants indicate the location of the target (location task), whereas in the other they indicate the shape of the target (identification task). In the present paper we test the idea that although these two variants produce seemingly comparable cue validity effects on response times, they rest on different underlying processes. Across four studies (total N?=?397; two in the supplement) using both variants and manipulating the motivational relevance of cue content, diffusion model analyses revealed that cue validity effects in location tasks are primarily driven by response biases, whereas the same effect rests on delay due to attention to the cue in identification tasks. Based on this, we predict and empirically support that a symmetrical distribution of valid and invalid cues would reduce cue validity effects in location tasks to a greater extent than in identification tasks. Across all variants of the task, we fail to replicate the effect of greater cue validity effects for arousing (vs. neutral) stimuli. We discuss the implications of these findings for best practice in spatial cueing research.