Two Puzzles Concerning Spinoza's Conception of Belief

Spinoza's account of belief entails that if A has two ideas, p and q, with incompatible content, A believes that p (and not that q) if the idea of p is stronger than the idea of q. This seems to leave little space for dominant non‐beliefs, or cases in which there is discord between one's beliefs and one's affective‐behavioral responses. And yet Spinoza does allow for two classes of dominant non‐beliefs: efficacious fictions [fictiones] and ideas that conduce to akrasia. I show how Spinoza can account for dominant non‐beliefs within his model of cognition by distinguishing between the doxastic and the affective powers of ideas and by suggesting that doxastic power is best understood diachronically. While other scholars have stressed the elegance of Spinoza's account of ideas, this paper highlights the sophistication and flexibility of his account.     

Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger

Amongst a number of negative life sequelae associated with childhood adversity is the later expression of a higher dispositional tendency to experience anger and frustration to a wide range of situations (i.e., trait anger). We recently reported that an association between childhood adversity and trait anger is moderated by individual differences in both threat-related amygdala activity and executive control-related dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity, wherein individuals with relatively low amygdala and high dlPFC activity do not express higher trait anger even when having experienced childhood adversity. Here, we examine possible structural correlates of this functional dynamic using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data from 647 young adult men and women volunteers. Specifically, we tested whether the degree of white matter microstructural integrity as indexed by fractional anisotropy modulated the association between childhood adversity and trait anger. Our analyses revealed that higher microstructural integrity of multiple pathways was associated with an attenuated link between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Amongst these pathways was the uncinate fasciculus (UF; ΔR ² = 0.01), which not only provides a major anatomical link between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex but also is associated with individual differences in regulating negative emotion through top-down cognitive reappraisal. These findings suggest that higher microstructural integrity of distributed white matter pathways including but not limited to the UF may represent an anatomical foundation serving to buffer against the expression of childhood adversity as later trait anger, which is itself associated with multiple negative health outcomes.     

Partitioning the sources of recognition confidence: The role of individual differences

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Confidence ratings during old–new recognition memory tasks are thought to index the strength of memory evidence elicited by test probes. However, various...     

Presenting concerns of emerging adults seeking treatment at an early intervention outpatient mood and anxiety program

This study examined presenting concerns and characteristics of emerging adults (EAs) seeking treatment at an early intervention program for mood and anxiety disorders to better understand presenting concerns when treatment is needed. During an intake assessment conducted by a social worker or clinical psychologist, participants (N = 548; 62% female, 38% male) reported their top three current life concerns, which were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires assessing demographic information, symptomatology, and daily functioning. Females presented with significantly higher levels of anxiety, and both females and younger individuals (age 16–18) presented with significantly higher levels of depression compared to males and older individuals (age 19–26), respectively. The two most commonly reported presenting concerns were problems in interpersonal relationships and academics, and females were more likely to report academic concerns than males. The majority of participants reported seeking help for a wide range of problems commonly faced by EAs (83.7%), and participants rarely expressed concerns about particular symptoms of mood and/or anxiety disorders (16.3%). EAs and those supporting EAs may benefit from learning when psychosocial concerns are indicative of mental health challenges warranting professional attention.     

Representations of numerical and non‐numerical magnitude both contribute to mathematical competence in children

A growing body of evidence suggests that non‐symbolic representations of number, which humans share with nonhuman animals, are functionally related to uniquely human mathematical thought. Other research suggesting that numerical and non‐numerical magnitudes not only share analog format but also form part of a general magnitude system raises questions about whether the non‐symbolic basis of mathematical thinking is unique to numerical magnitude. Here we examined this issue in 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children using comparison tasks of non‐symbolic number arrays and cumulative area as well as standardized tests of math competence. One set of findings revealed that scores on both magnitude comparison tasks were modulated by ratio, consistent with shared analog format. Moreover, scores on these tasks were moderately correlated, suggesting overlap in the precision of numerical and non‐numerical magnitudes, as expected under a general magnitude system. Another set of findings revealed that the precision of both types of magnitude contributed shared and unique variance to the same math measures (e.g. calculation and geometry), after accounting for age and verbal competence. These findings argue against an exclusive role for non‐symbolic number in supporting early mathematical understanding. Moreover, they suggest that mathematical understanding may be rooted in a general system of magnitude representation that is not specific to numerical magnitude but that also encompasses non‐numerical magnitude.     

The Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS): Development and Psychometric Properties

The aim of the current study was to create a new measure of parenting practices, constituted by items from already established measures, to advance the measurement of parenting practices in clinical and research settings. Five stages were utilized to select optimal parenting items, establish a factor structure consisting of positive and negative dimensions of parenting, meaningfully consider child developmental stage, and ensure strong psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the final measure. A total of 1790 parents (44% fathers) were recruited online through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk for three cohorts: Stages 1 (N?=?611), 2 (N?=?615), and 3 (N?=?564). Each sample was equally divided by child developmental stage: Young childhood (3 to 7 years old), middle childhood (8 to 12 years old), and adolescence (13 to 17 years old). Through the five-stage empirical approach, the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS) was developed, successfully achieving all aims. The MAPS factor structure included both positive and negative dimensions of warmth/hostility and behavioral control that were appropriate for parents of children across the developmental span. The MAPS demonstrated strong reliability and longitudinal analyses provided initial support for the validity of MAPS subscales.     

Measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds

How long does it take for a newborn to recognize an object? Adults can recognize objects rapidly, but measuring object recognition speed in newborns has not previously been possible. Here we introduce an automated controlled‐rearing method for measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds. We raised newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) in strictly controlled environments that contained no objects other than a single virtual object, and then measured the speed at which the chicks could recognize that object from familiar and novel viewpoints. The chicks were able to recognize the object rapidly, at presentation rates of 125 ms per image. Further, recognition speed was equally fast whether the object was presented from familiar viewpoints or novel viewpoints (30° and 60° azimuth rotations). Thus, newborn chicks can recognize objects across novel viewpoints within a fraction of a second. These results demonstrate that newborns are capable of both rapid and invariant object recognition at the onset of vision.     

A Wholehearted Defense of Ambivalence

Despite widespread agreement that ambivalence precludes agency “at its best,” in this paper I argue that ambivalence as such is no threat to one’s agency. In particular, against “unificationists” like Harry Frankfurt I argue that failing to be fully integrated as an agent, lacking purity of heart, or being less than wholehearted in one’s choices, tells us nothing about whether an agent’s will is properly functioning. Moreover, it will turn out that in many common circumstances, wholeheartedness with respect to some motive or course of action is itself a defect in an agent’s will.     

Strolling through Temporary Temples: Buddhism and Installation Art in Modern Thailand

Thai installation art provides a view into modern, non-monastic experiences of Buddhism. Buddhist practice and scholarship often depend on centuries-old ritual practices and texts, and designated religious sites and persons. However, installation art illumines a fluxing and organic Buddhism – and one that is increasingly globalised and public. An evolving artistic zeitgeist is fused with classical tenets of Buddhism and diverse spiritualties. Each with a unique flair and multi-media repertoire, artists such as Jakkai Siributr, Montien Boonma, Sarawut Duangjampa, Chalermchai Kositpipat and others are offering creative contemplations on Buddhism today. Their works are often experienced in a leisurely fashion by the attending public, amidst social outings or intellectual excursions. People are encouraged to react however they wish to installations, which are themselves fundamentally transient – lasting usually between three and six months. Buddhism is thus asserted as an on-going project: a continual discovery rather than a quest for knowledge from the past.     

The impact of familiarization strategies on the missing-letter effect

When reading a text and searching for a target letter, readers make more omissions of the target letter if it is embedded in frequent function words than if it is in rare content words. While word frequency effects are consistently found, few studies have examined the impacts of passage familiarity on the missing-letter effect and studies that have present conflicting evidence. The present study examines the effects of passage familiarity, as well as the impacts of passage familiarization strategy promoting surface or deep encoding, on the missing-letter effect. Participants were familiarized with a passage by retyping a text, replacing all common nouns with synonyms, or generating a text on the same topic as that of the original text, and then completed a letter search task on the familiar passage as well as an unfamiliar passage. In Experiment 1, when both familiar and unfamiliar passages use the same words, results revealed fewer omissions for the retyping and synonyms conditions. However, in Experiment 2, when different words are used in both types of texts, no effect of familiarization strategy was observed. Furthermore, the missing-letter effect is maintained in all conditions, adding support to the robustness of the effect regardless of familiarity with the text.