Inward- and Outward-Directed Violence in the Lives of Urban Minority Adults Followed from Middle School into Their Thirties

This study explores connections between inward-directed violence and outward-directed violence using data from the Reach for Health sample, which was originally recruited in the 1990s from three middle schools in economically distressed, predominantly African American neighborhoods of New York City. Now in their thirties, participants (N = 595) completed surveys assessing current suicidal thoughts and behaviors as well as other violence involvements, including intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration. About 10% of males and females reported any suicidal ideation or attempt in the past 12 months. In logistic regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographics, prior reports of feeling blue in middle school (OR: 1.12, CI: 1.02–4.39) and young adult suicidality (OR: 2.54, CI: 1.30–4.95) are significantly related to later suicidality. So are concurrent aggressive behaviors, including reports of physical fighting outside the home (OR: 2.70, CI: 1.29–5.67) and IPV perpetration (OR: 2.09, CI: 1.11–3.94). Neither IPV victimization nor witnessing neighborhood violence is correlated. Findings shed light on the persistence of suicidality in the lives of those who come of age, and often remain, in communities with high levels of poverty, and confirm linkages of suicidality with externally directed aggression. Life-stage interventions are needed to counter the interwoven causes and consequences of multiple forms of violence.     

Kripke Semantics, Undecidability and Standard Completeness for Esteva and Godo's Logic MTL∀

The present paper deals with the predicate version MTL of the logic MTL by Esteva and Godo. We introduce a Kripke semantics for it, along the lines of Ono's Kripke semantics for the predicate version of FL_ew (cf. [O85]), and we prove a completeness theorem. Then we prove that every predicate logic between MTL and classical predicate logic is undecidable. Finally, we prove that MTL is complete with respect to the standard semantics, i.e., with respect to Kripke frames on the real interval [0,1], or equivalently, with respect to MTL-algebras whose lattice reduct is [0,1] with the usual order.     

Neubewertung kognitiver Leistungen im Lichte der F?higkeiten einzelliger Lebewesen

A closer look at unicellular organisms and their behavior as autonomous and social beings sheds new light on the nature of cognition. This allows, at the same time, a search for minimal conditions that help to identify the yet unknown appearance of cognition during evolution. Positive results might also serve as principles for the construction of intelligent artefacts as striven for in artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics research. Analyzing the abilities of prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes and comparing them to the abilities of "higher" organisms, we conclude that common definitions of cognition are not specific enough. The attempt to define cognition by focusing on the coupling between stimulus and response and asserting that (to have cognition) it has to be indirect and modifiable fails, simply because in all organisms every reaction to a stimulus is indirect and modifiable. A definition of cognition based on such a distinction cannot hold unless one is willing to ascribe cognitive capacities also to Escherichia coli bacteria, for instance. Viewing cognition as the sum of abilities necessary for coping with a complex physical and social environment is also highly questionable, i.e. unspecific. We show that functions comparable to the cognitive functions "perception" and "memory" in higher organisms can well be identified in unicellular beings. The "architecture" of the bacterial (prokaryotic) sensorimotor apparatus is also in some structures, but particularly at the functional level, comparable with that of higher organisms and should be, as a consequence, indicative of cognition. Furthermore, we discuss other, somewhat more delimitable, phenomena like detection of identity, counting, adaptation, habituation and learning in ethological categories and compare them to findings from the microorganismic world. In this context, we argue that so-called "true learning" and the appearance of nervous systems are not break-points in the evolution of cognition. The presence of nervous systems means only a huge amplification of the recognition power of individual organisms. The molecular net that realizes the regulation and transduction of signals in unicellular beings is comparable to the processes within a neural net, and a population of unicellular organisms can be viewed as an individual, multicellular net with amplified recognition power. Finally, we show that sophisticated forms of cooperation and competition developed also in populations of unicellular organisms. This seems not to be true for the phenomena imagination (rehearsal) and introspection, also to be seen as stemming from social problem-solving needs. As for these aspects, further research is needed, however, to put them on firm scientific grounds. Zusammenfassung. Eine genaue Betrachtung einzelliger Lebewesen und ihres Verhaltens als autonome und soziale Wesen wirft neues Licht auf die Natur von Kognition. Das erlaubt gleichzeitig eine Suche nach minimalen Bedingungen, die bei der Bestimmung des Erscheinens von Kognition in der Evolution helfen. Positive Ergebnisse könnten auch als Prinzipien für die Konstruktion intelligenter Artefakte dienen, wie sie in der Künstlichen Intelligenz und der kognitiven Robotikforschung angestrebt werden. Ein Vergleich der Fähigkeiten von Einzellern mit denen von "höheren" Organismen führt uns zu dem Schluß, daß gängige Definitionen von Kognition nicht spezifisch genug sind. Der Versuch, Kognition über die Indirektheit und Modifizierbarkeit der Kopplung zwischen Reiz und Reaktion zu definieren, scheitert, weil in allen Organismen Reiz-Reaktionsverbindungen indirekt und modifizierbar sind. Eine solche Definition ist nicht haltbar, es sei denn, man ist bereit, z.B. auch Escherichia coli-Bakterien kognitive Eigenschaften zuzubilligen. Die Definition von Kognition als Summe der Eigenschaften, die notwendig sind, um in einer komplexen physikalischen und sozialen Umgebung zu bestehen, ist ebenfalls hinterfragbar und unspezifisch. Wir zeigen, daß Leistungen, die mit den Kognitionsleistungen "Wahrnehmung" und "Gedächtnis" in höheren Organismen vergleichbar sind, in Einzellern nachweisbar sind. Die sensomotorische Komplexität von Einzellern ist auch in vieler Hinsicht strukturell, vor allem aber funktionell vergleichbar mit derjenigen höherer Organismen und kann deshalb als ein Hinweis auf Kognition gewertet werden. Darüber hinaus diskutieren wir andere, abgrenzbare Phänomene, wie Erfassung von Identität, Zählen, Adaptation, Habituation und Lernen, aus der Sicht der Verhaltensforschung und vergleichen sie mit Befunden aus der Welt der Mikroorganismen. In diesem Zusammenhang bestreiten wir, daß sogenanntes "echtes Lernen" und das Erscheinen von Nervensystemen Bruchstellen in der Evolution von Kognition sind. Die Anwesenheit von Nervensystemen bedeutet nur den Übergang von Systemen mit einem relativ begrenzten (Erkennungs-) Potential zu solchen mit einem riesigen Potential. Das molekulare Netz, das die Regulation und Transduktion von Signalen in Einzellern realisiert, ist vergleichbar mit den Prozessen innerhalb eines Nervennetzes. Eine Population von einzelligen Organismen kann als individuelles, multizelluläres Netz mit erhöhtem Erkennungspotential angesehen werden. Schließlich zeigen wir, daß raffinierte Formen von Kooperations- und Konkurrenzverhalten auch in Einzellerpopulationen vorhanden sind. Eine ähnliche Aussage scheint nicht für Phänomene wie Imagination (Probehandeln) und Introspektion möglich zu sein, die auch im Zusammenhang mit der Bewältigung sozialer Probleme zu sehen sind. Eine genaue naturwissenschaftliche Erfassung solcher Aspekte, die erst einen Vergleich zwischen Mehrzellern und Einzellern erlauben würde, ist allerdings noch zu leisten.     

The Stability Theory of Knowledge and Belief Revision: Comments on Rott

In this commentary on Rotts paper Stability, Strength and Sensitivity: Converting Belief into Knowledge, I discuss two problems of the stability theory of knowledge which are pointed out by Rott. I conclude that these problems offer no reason for rejecting the stability theory, but might be grounds for deviating from the standard AGM account of belief revision which Rott presupposes.     

Writing errors by normal subjects

Writing is a complex process requiring visual memory, attention, phonological and semantic operations, and motor performance. For that reason, it can easily be disturbed by interfering with attention, memory, by interfering subvocalization, and so on. With 16 female third-year students (23.4 +/- 0.8 yr.) from the University of Trieste, we investigated the production of errors in three experimental conditions (control, articulatory suppression, and tapping). In the articulatory suppression condition, the participants produced significantly more linguistic impairments (such as agrammatism, unrelated substitutions, sentence omissions, and semantically deviant sentences), which are similar to linguistic impairments found in aphasia. On the tapping condition there were more perseverations, deletions, and substitutions of both letters and words. These data suggest that writing is not an automatic skill. Only after many years of experience and practice of processing information (through cortical to subcortical channels) can writing be considered an automatic skill. Limited experimental conditions can disrupt the writing system of normal subjects, probably interfering with the cortical to subcortical loops, and link normality to pathology.     

The abbreviated multidimensional acculturation scale: empirical validation with two Latino/Latina samples

Two studies were conducted to develop and examine internal consistencies and validate the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale. Study 1 participants were 156 Latino/Latina college students. Findings indicated good internal reliabilities for all 3 subscales. Adequate concurrent validity was established with length of residence in the United States. The scale also showed adequate convergent and discriminant validity. Study 2 participants were 90 Latino/Latina community members. The subscales were also reliable and showed adequate concurrent validity with length of residence in the United States. Convergent and discriminant validity were also adequate. Construct validity was further demonstrated through factorial analyses of the combined samples (N = 246). Three separate factors emerged: cultural identity, language competence, and cultural competence.     

Effects of the Novel Acetylcholinesterase InhibitorN-Octyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9-aminoacridine on Locomotor Activity and Avoidance Learning in Mice

The acetylcholinesterase reversible inhibitorN-octyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-9-aminoacridine (THA-C8) is a new synthesized derivative of tacrine (THA) characterized by an alkyl chain in the molecular structure which ameliorates the penetrability of the compound into the central nervous system. THA-C8 (0.1–5 mg/kg) significantly reduced spontaneous locomotor activity in CD1 mice at a dose of 3 mg/kg. Moreover, THA-C8 (0.2–2 mg/kg) significantly improved shuttle-box avoidance acquisition at doses (0.25, 0.3, 1 mg/kg) not affecting locomotion and that are much lower than the doses reported to be effective for THA in animal models. From the data reported it seems that the new compound could be interesting for therapeutic purposes.     

Figure-background segregation and the formation of illusory figures

Three experiments were carried out to test the relationship between figure-background segregation and illusory contours. Illusory figures are believed to arise as byproducts of figure-background segregation. When, in a scene, part of what should be the background becomes an illusory figure, a mechanism of contour attribution favoring the area in which the illusory figure appears takes place. This mechanism is prevented from operating when the attribution of the contour is inhibited by the presence of "groupable" (connectable) contours. Spatial proximity is one of the factors affecting such grouping: the closer the connectable contours, the more likely is their grouping in a single unit and the less likely is the emergence of an illusory figure. Experimental results showed that the illusory effect was established when contours were prevented from being connected. This outcome is interpreted as evidence that a mechanism of contour attribution is effective in the formation of illusory figures.