Avoiding and Alternate Possibilities

Greg Janzen has recently criticised my defence of Frankfurt’s counterexample to the Principle of Alternate Possibilities by arguing that Jones avoids killing Smith in the counterfactual scenario. Janzen’s argument consists in introducing a new thought-experiment which is supposed to be analogous to Frankfurt’s and where the agent is supposed to avoid A-ing. Here I argue that Janzen’s argument fails on two counts, because his new scenario is not analogous to Frankfurt’s and because the agent in his new scenario does not avoid A-ing.     

Decoupling stimulus duration from brightness in metacontrast masking: data and models

A brief target that is visible when displayed alone can be rendered invisible by a trailing stimulus (metacontrast masking). It has been difficult to determine the temporal dynamics of masking to date because increments in stimulus duration have been invariably confounded with apparent brightness (Bloch's law). In the research reported here, stimulus luminance was adjusted to maintain constant brightness across all durations. Increasing target duration yielded classical U-shaped masking functions, whereas increasing mask duration yielded monotonic decreasing functions. These results are compared with predictions from 6 theoretical models, with the lateral inhibition model providing the best overall fit. It is tentatively suggested that different underlying mechanisms may mediate the U-shaped and monotonic functions obtained with increasing durations of target and mask, respectively.     

A rehabilitative program for central executive deficits after traumatic brain injury

Deficits affecting Central Executive System (CES) of working memory (WM) are the main neuropsychological outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and can also explain deficits in other domains, like divided attention, executive functions and long-term memory. For this reason we developed a rehabilitative program based on CES functions and we expected to find an improvement in WM as well as in those cognitive functions controlled by the CES.The experimental group was composed by 9 TBIs, selected for WM deficits, whereas the control group was composed by 6 TBIs, without WM deficits, but with speed processing deficits. All patients performed a cognitive training, based on PASAT (Gronwall & Wrightson, 1981)and two new versions of this task.The results showed in the experimental group an improvement in WM and in the cognitive functions controlled by the CES, whereas control patients did not show any improvement after the cognitive training.     

《入法界品》研究史考察

《华严经.入法界品》可看作是整部经文的缩影,历史上曾出现过很多它的相关论著。立足于史料的考察,我们对这些论著从研究方法上加以整理,并说明由早期注疏、语言学研究发展到六经注我,所表现出的研究态度是基于不同的理论立场;而对《入法界品》的义理研究最终失音于实利追求,也是中国佛教义学发展的现实写照。     

Adolescent girls' representations of their genital inner space

Psychoanalytical theory and research based on Freud's observations have viewed female sexual development mainly in terms of the fantasies and sensations aroused by the external genitals of the child. Other authors refer to the significance of females' inner sexual organs that define the cavity surrounded by body mass, included in the body image. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between girls' representative modalities of their genital inner space and their identity formation. Randomly selected adolescent girls (n = 275) aged 11 to 18 years were asked to make a drawing (1) of the inside of their body and (2) of their sexual organs. Analysis of the main qualitative features of the drawings indicates that structuration and integration of genital inner space in the body image is a slow developmental process.     

Sex-role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics: A current replication

A mailed survey was conducted to determine differential stereotypes concerning Men, Women, and Successful Managers. A moderately high degree of similarity was found between stereotypes of Men and Managers, but none between Men and Women nor Women and Managers for male respondents. Female respondents perceived a moderately high similarity between Men and Managers and a slight degree of similarity between Women and both Men and Managers.     

The effect of conscious controlled verbalization cognitive strategy on transfer in problem solving

The effect of controlled verbalization on learning to solve complex problems was investigated. Fifty participants individually solved the six-disk Tower of Hanoi problem as a criterion task, following one of the five treatments represented in a 2 × 2 factorial design with an appended control group. One factor was the presence or absence of a practice series which required participants to provide verbal rationales for their moves. The other was the presence or absence of verbalization on the six-disk criterion task. The control participants performed the practice tasks and the criterion task without verbalization. Although practice tended to be more effective than no practice for improving performance, its strongest effect occurred when it was coupled with controlled verbalization. Controlled verbalization during the criterion task facilitated performance, but only for subjects who received no prior practice. It was concluded that verbalization was most helpful during the initial flexible stages of learning to solve problems before the skill had become organized. The discussion indicated that performance is facilitated by the quality and timing of the use of verbalizations rather than by the mere activity of verbalizing.     

Vocational and overall identity: A person-centered approach in Italian university students

Establishing a vocational and overall identity involve defining life altering plans and associated commitments to pursue and achieve them and are, therefore, among the most central aspects of the developmental tasks of late adolescents and emerging adults. In the Italian context, young adults' opportunity to develop coherent and fulfilling future plans are strongly threated by the current distressed economic climate in Italy. Assuming these features of the Italian context can produce specific identity patterns, the present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of overall and vocational identity processes in Italian emerging adults and to explore the relationship between the two domains of identity using a person-centered approach. The study is composed of two parts. The first study assessed the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA) in a sample of university students from Italy (N = 560). The second study included a cluster analytic approach in order to explore the configuration of both vocational and overall identity domains. The findings suggest that the Italian version of the VISA is a promising tool for assessing vocational identity dimensions in the Italian context. Furthermore, unlike the previous literature, we found different patterns of vocational and overall identity in Italian university students. The findings suggest that the current socio-economic Italian situation may be hindering students' progress toward achieving a vocational identity, especially for freshmen.