Beyond belief bias: Reasoning from conceptual structures by mental models manipulation

Mental models constitute an alternative to the rule-based systems in the explanation of human reasoning (Johnson-Laird, 1983). In this paper, we claim that the concept of believability generally used to categorize content and context effects is of little use within a semantic theory. Thus, we propose the use of categories that are directly extracted from subjective relations among concepts within the reasoning problem. We demonstrate that manipulations based on this kind of categorization produce predictable patterns of responses in reasoning problems. We present two experiments to test our predictions, using conditional and syllogistic reasoning problems, and in both cases, we demonstrate the influence of conceptual knowledge not only in natural contexts, but also in experimentally created artificial contexts.     

Correlates of gender role orientation during pregnancy and the postpartum

This study was designed to examine the relationship between gender role orientation and psychological adjustment during pregnancy and the postpartum period in a large sample of French-speaking Caucasian mothers. Gender role was assessed with the Bem Sex Role Inventory, which classifies subjects into four categories: androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated. A discriminant analysis showed a relationship between androgyny and the following measures of psychological adaptation: self-esteem, satisfaction with social support, and level of apprehension toward perinatal stressors. The masculine gender role was linked with self-esteem, work involvement, age, and severity of perinatal stress. No relationship was found between gender role and the level of antenatal or postnatal depressive symptomatology. Stress, marital support, and social support were among the predictors of postpartum depression, which underlined the importance of taking these variables into account when studying the well-being of mothers during the postnatal period. Results are discussed in light of previous literature on the association between gender role and motherhood. The limitations of Bem's model and inventory are also considered.     

Sentence processing: Evidence against the serial,independent stage assumption

The assumption that the processing stages involved in sentence comprehension are serially and independently executed was tested in two separate experiments using two new sentence types. One experiment was a sentence-picture verification task, the other was not. In Experiment I, subjects viewed sentences such as It's false that the dots are red and indicated, by pressing the appropriate response key, which of two colors would make the sentence true. In Experiment II, subjects verified sentences such as It isn't true that the dots aren't red against pictures of colored dots. On the strength of Sternberg's additive factor method, present findings challenge the validity of the serial, independent stage assumption, and results are alternatively discussed in terms of a capacity sharing model.This research was supported by PHS research grant MH 23401 to Sam Glucksberg, principal investigator.     

Forest lights: Notes on the conceptualization of the unconscious

Using the metaphor of lights appearing unexplained in the night, the author argues for a conceptualization of the unconscious based on a posture of trust and acceptance rather than one of fear and explanation.His last book,Idea and Experience, dealt with Husserl's project of phenomenology inIdeas I. He has recently completed another book,The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature.     

Zur Geschichte und gegenwärtigen Lage der Philosophie in der ČSR

Official Czech philosophy has been dominated by a mix of Engelsian philosophy of science and positivism, a combination explained in part by the survival of positivism in Czechoslovakia and the failure of analytic philosophy to make inroads into Czech thinking. However, due to Jan Patoka's influence in espousing the works of Husserl and Heidegger, there was an anthropologically oriented Marxism (K. Kosik) although its successes were greater abroad than in Czechoslovakia. A more neopositivistic variant (L. Tondl) of Marxism also appeared, but it was a short-lived phenomenon without purchase on mainstream philosophy.A certain renewal of Czech philosophy was evident before 1968, once again largely due to Patoka's influence. Foreign guests who took part in informally organized, often secret, seminars and discussion groups were very instrumental in spreading new ideas. Despite these positive occurrences, Czech philosophy is experiencing a crisis at the level of the middle generation of non-academic, philosophically competent intellectuals among whom sceptical and nihilist attitudes prevail. A rebirth of spirit may be in the offing if the recovery of the specific sense of the Czech Reformation's idea of truth is pursued.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to regular auditory patterns

Subjects (N = 32) were asked to synchronize a motor response with tones in auditory patterns. These patterns were created from six tones and six intertone intervals of equal duration. The pitch of the first tone differed from the others. It was found that subjects used three types of timing in their motor response: (1) the first intertone interval was prolonged and the second interval was shortened, (2) the second intertone interval was prolonged and the first interval was shortened, and/or (3) the first interval and the second interval were of approximately the same length. The prolongation of the fifth interval was observed during all three types of timing. The results are explained using the concept of suprasegmental control of timing, which explains a prolongation of intervals at critical control point of the patterns. The occurrence of three different strategies of timing is discussed in connection with similar principles in musical performance.