Understanding and philosophical methodology

According to Conceptualism, philosophy is an independent discipline that can be pursued from the armchair because philosophy seeks truths that can be discovered purely on the basis of our understanding of expressions and the concepts they express. In his recent book, The Philosophy of Philosophy, Timothy Williamson argues that while philosophy can indeed be pursued from the armchair, we should reject any form of Conceptualism. In this paper, we show that Williamson??s arguments against Conceptualism are not successful, and we sketch a way to understand understanding that shows that there is a clear sense in which we can indeed come to know the answers to (many) philosophical questions purely on the basis of understanding.     

Associations between personality traits, physical activity level, and muscle strength

Associations among personality as measured by the Five Factor Model, physical activity, and muscle strength were assessed using data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (N = 1220, age: mean = 58, SD = 16). General linear modeling with adjustment for age, sex, race, and body mass index, and bootstrapping for mediation were used. We found neuroticism and most of its facets to negatively correlate with strength. The extraversion domain and its facets of warmth, activity, and positive-emotions were positively correlated with strength, independent of covariates. Mediation analysis results suggest that these associations are partly explained by physical activity level. Findings extend the evidence of an association between personality and physical function to its strength component and indicate health behavior as an important pathway.     

Interactive voice response for relapse prevention following cognitive-behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorders: a pilot study

Relapse after alcoholism treatment is high. Alcohol Therapeutic Interactive Voice Response (ATIVR) is an automated telephone program for posttreatment self-monitoring, skills practice, and feedback. This pilot study examined feasibility of ATIVR. Participants (n = 21; 57% male) had access to ATIVR for 90 days following outpatient group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to make daily reports of mood, confidence in sobriety, urges to use substances, and actual use. Reports of relapse or risk were followed with additional questions. Participants received personalized therapist feedback based on responses, and could access recorded CBT skill reviews. Pre-post assessments included: alcohol consumption (Timeline Follow-Back), self-efficacy (Situational Confidence Questionnaire), and perceived coping ability (Effectiveness of Coping Behaviors Inventory). Participants called on 59% of scheduled days and continued making calls for an average of 84 days. Following ATIVR, participants gave feedback that ATIVR was easy to use and increased self-awareness. Participants particularly liked the therapist feedback component. Abstinence rate increased significantly during ATIVR (p = .03), and both self-efficacy and coping significantly improved from pre-CBT to post-ATIVR (p < .01). Results indicate ATIVR is feasible and acceptable. Its efficacy should be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.     

Zusammen k?mpfen, zusammen schlagen?

Regarding criminal offences by adolescents, the question is asked to what extent violent behavior is the expression of poor or even pathological personal development. Or in antithesis it is asked whether there may be a necessary delevopmental phase, particularly for male children and adolescents, during which they experiment with their own inherent capability and propensity for violence, which is linked to their male self-concept or the topos of knights and heroes, i.e. prosocial violence. During that time also connected with the capability of violence are social virtues such as cooperativeness, helpfulness, reliability, resilience, courage, bravery and productivity. Each individual case demands an unbiased view of the developmental capabilities and resources of the adolescent during a critical phase.     

Ambivalence Toward Men: Comparing Sexism Among Polish, South African and British University Students

This study extends the literature on attitudes toward gender roles by exploring whether the nature of sexism (i.e., benevolence and hostility directed at men) differs among university students from two under-researched countries, Poland (n?=?190) and South Africa (n?=?188), in a comparison with students in the United Kingdom (n?=?166). Based on empirical literature applying Ambivalent Sexism Theory, and in the light of the socio-political context, it was hypothesized that: (1) both hostile and benevolent attitudes toward men in Poland would be more liberal than in South Africa and more conservative than in the United Kingdom, and (2), women would exhibit more hostile but less benevolent attitudes than men in relatively more conservative South Africa. The Ambivalence to Men Inventory was used to measure the two types of sexist attitudes about men. Findings supported the first hypothesis for hostile attitudes and partially for benevolent attitudes. South African and Polish students were more benevolent and hostile to men than British students, and students from South Africa were more hostile than those from Poland. Moreover, as predicted, a significant country-by-gender interaction revealed that South African women had more hostile and less benevolent attitudes to men than South African men. No such gender gap was present in the case of hostile attitudes in Poland and benevolent attitudes in the United Kingdom. Findings are discussed in terms of Ambivalent Sexism Theory and the countries’ socio-cultural context.     

Inverse cue priming is not limited to masks with relevant features

Apart from positive priming effects, masked prime stimuli can impair responses to a subsequent target stimulus which shares response-critical features in contrast to a target assigned to the opposite response. This counterintuitive phenomenon is called inverse priming (or negative compatibility effect). Here we examine the generality of this phenomenon beyond priming of motor responses. We used a non-motor cue-priming paradigm to study the underlying mechanism of inverse priming for relevant features masks which include task-relevant stimulus features and for irrelevant masks which omit task-relevant features. We found inverse cue-priming effects with both types of masks. With task-irrelevant masks inverse cue-priming was emphasized in those participants being unable to perceive the prime. The existence of inverse non-motor priming under conditions where simple perceptual interactions between the stimuli are ruled out as the source of inverse priming is at odds with the view that inverse priming reflects motor inhibition. Alternatives are discussed.     

Age Affects Strategic But Not Spontaneous Recall in 35- and 46-Month-old Children

ABSTRACT

It is well documented that young children have difficulties with strategically remembering past events. Recent evidence on event memory in 35- and 46-month-old children suggests that strategic retrieval (yes/no questions) improves with age, whereas spontaneous retrieval is relatively unaffected by age. We here replicate and extend those findings (N = 124): First, a novel free (strategic) recall test was added to improve ecological validity. Second, the free recall procedure allowed us to make direct comparisons between spontaneous and free strategic recall relative to age. The free recall test revealed similar results in the standard yes/no questions (older children outperformed younger). The direct comparison between spontaneous and free recall revealed a reliable interaction between age and retrieval mode: While the children’s age did not affect spontaneous recall, the 46-month-olds outperformed the 35-month-olds on the free recall test. The results add to the accumulating evidence that spontaneous recall of events is an early developmental achievement.     

Practical and psychological problems in invalidation evaluation

Practical and psychological problems to give opinions of invalid were discussed and the defects of the practice in the neurologic and psychiatric branch of science are shown. The declaration of psychiatric findings is called to special attention.