西方资产阶级哲学的现时状况

3.试图克服非历史的和反进化主义的基本立场西方哲学的主要流派都持有反形而上学的立场,并固有着所谓的“现象学内在论”。这种内在论以各种方式断定人和世界的融合性或世界对人的直接赋予性;与以上两个特点密切相联系的是这些流派的其他一些基本原则和原理,特别是它们所共有的非历史的和反进化的研究方法,它们就是用这种方法来解释人的全部问题,解释文化生活和社会生活问题、认识的理论和方法论问题。形而上学的还原论对各种现实现象实质进行解释所依据的原则,是认为这些现象有一个外部的和     

萨特尔和他的《辩证理性批判》

萨特尔写的《辩证理性批判》(1960)实际上是他历史论的第一卷。这是一本令人兴奋而又晦涩难懂的著作,它那令人眼花缭乱的分析连接着离题万里的议论,天才的见解埋没在曲折的思路和叙述的沙漠中,人们总是无法弄清楚他是朝着哪条道路行进。在进行综合的崇高意愿背后,该书还显示了它的抱负:“对历史的认识在什么条件下才是可能的?在怎样的范围内,那些被揭示的联系是必要的?什么是辩证的理性?”(第135页,以下未注书名的均指《辩证理性批判》)这种计划表面看来是康德主义的,但它的新颖性又说明它是来自我们时代不可超越的理论——马克思主义。这本著作注意的就是这两方面要求的结合。这位战士和介     

阿尔都塞的多元决定与结构因果观

在阿尔都塞的马克思著作研究中,多元决定和结构因果性这两个概念是十分重要的。本文将通过考察阿尔都塞对这两个概念在理解马克思的“方法论”上的价值和应用的论述,来解释这两个概念。但这种研究方法并不认为在《资本论》或其他著作中,马克思实际上有一种具体的或明确的方法论。对我们来说,马克思主义中是否有方法论仍然是一个未解决的问题。对于任何的马克思方法论的探讨,这些概念都是重要的。本文的任务之一就是表明,马克思在政治经济学中的贡献和“理论革命”不能简单地用方法论来描绘。马克思对黑格尔的辩证法思     

Pursuing and distancing: the construct and its measurement

Although the concept of interpersonal pursuing and distancing has been introduced and used clinically, the lack of a reliable and valid measure has deterred its more formal investigation and relevance to personality theory. The Pursuing-Distancing (P-D) Scale, a 92-item measure of the behavioral expression of these characteristics, was developed. Evidence for internal consistency as well as internal support of construct validity is presented and discussed. An 80-item revised scale is available from the authors and is currently being evaluated in a variety of external validation settings.     

Effects of ratio reinforcement schedules on discrimination performance by Japanese monkeys

In Experiment 1, Japanese monkeys were trained on three conditional position-discrimination problems with colors as the conditional cues. Within each session, each problem was presented for two blocks of ten reinforcements; correct responses were reinforced under continuous-reinforcement, fixed-ratio 5, and variable-ratio 5 schedules, each assigned to one of the three problems. The assignment of schedules to problems was rotated a total of three times (15 sessions per assignment) after 30 sessions of acquisition training. Accuracy of discrimination increased to a moderate level with fewer trials under CRF than under ratio schedules. In contrast, the two ratio schedules, fixed and variable, were more effective in maintaining accurate discrimination than was CRF. With further training, as asymptotes were reached, accuracy was less affected by the schedule differences. These results demonstrated an interaction between the effects of reinforcement schedules and the level of acquisition. In Experiment 2, ratio sizes were gradually increased to 30. Discrimination accuracy was maintained until the ratio reached 20; ratio 30 strained the performance. Under FR conditions, accuracy increased as correct choice responses cumulated after reinforcement.     

Contributions of elicitation to measures of self-control

Pigeons' not pecking or pecking constituted choice between a delayed, large reinforcer and an immediate, small reinforcer (self-control) and at other times between a delayed reinforcer and no reinforcer (omission). Both a tone and a keylight were tested as choice signals, and the delayed reinforcer was either response independent or response dependent. Pigeons pecked during the choice signals on over 95% of the trials in the self-control procedure, and pecked during the choice signals on over 75% of the trials in the omission procedure. Consistent pecking was observed with either the tone or the keylight as a choice signal, with the exception that a tone paired with a response-independent delayed reinforcer did not maintain pecking in the omission procedure. Pigeons pecked during more choice signals when delayed reinforcers were response dependent than when the delayed reinforcers were response independent. These results indicate that Pavlovian conditioning influences self-control experiments, especially in single-key procedures.     

A scale for measuring persistence in children

Persistence and its assessment have been studied since the 1920s. One common approach in measuring persistence has been through testing the subject's ability to solve difficult or monotonous problems. Another approach has been through questionnaires. Although persistence is very important in academic achievement and in the general development of personality, no questionnaires have been developed for measuring persistence in children. The present research concerns the development of such a scale. It includes 40 items and was tested on 322 Israeli children aged 7-13. The internal reliability of the scale (Cronbach alpha) was .66, and the test-retest reliability after 6 months was .77. The scale differentiated active gymnasts from non-gymnasts as well as persistent gymnasts from dropout gymnasts. In addition, significant correlations were found between the scale and the need-persistence measure of the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study, Locus of Control, and other measures. We discuss these findings along with the significance of persistence in everyday life.     

Superstitious behavior in humans

Twenty undergraduate students were exposed to single response-independent schedules of reinforcer presentation, fixed-time or variable-time, each with values of 30 and 60 s. The reinforcer was a point on a counter accompanied by a red lamp and a brief buzzer. Three color signals were presented, without consistent relation to reinforcer or to the subjects' behavior. Three large levers were available, but the subjects were not asked to perform any particular behavior. Three of the 20 subjects developed persistent superstitious behavior. One engaged in a pattern of lever-pulling responses that consisted of long pulls after a few short pulls; the second touched many things in the experimental booth; the third showed biased responding called sensory superstition. However, most subjects did not show consistent superstitious behavior. Reinforcers can operate effectively on human behavior even in the absence of a response-reinforcer contingency and can, in some cases, shape stable superstitious patterns. However, superstitious behavior is not a consistent outcome of exposure of human subjects to response-independent reinforcer deliveries.     

Competitive fixed-interval performance in humans

Two persons responded in the same session in separate cubicles, but under a single schedule of reinforcement. Each time reinforcement was programmed, only the first response to occur, that is, the response of only one of the subjects, was reinforced. “Competitive” behavior that developed under these conditions was examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1 subjects responded under fixed-interval (FI) 30-s, 60-s, and 90-s schedules of reinforcement. Under the competition condition, relative to baseline conditions, the response rates were higher and the pattern was “break-and-run.” In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed first to a conventional FI schedule and then to an FI competition schedule. Next, they were trained to respond under either a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) or fixed-ratio (FR) schedule, and finally, the initial FI competition condition was reinstated. In this second exposure to the FI competition procedure, DRL subjects responded at lower rates than were emitted during the initial exposure to that condition and FR subjects responded at higher rates. For all subjects, however, responding gradually returned to the break-and-run pattern that had occurred during the first FI competition condition. Experiment 3 assessed potential variables contributing to the effects of the competitive FI contingencies during Experiments 1 and 2. Subjects were exposed to FI schedules where (a) probability of reinforcement at completion of each fixed interval was varied, or (b) a limited hold was in effect for reinforcement. Only under the limited hold was responding similar to that observed in previous experiments.