Grades of individuality. A pluralistic view of identity in quantum mechanics and in the sciences

This paper offers a critical assessment of the current state of the debate about the identity and individuality of material objects. Its main aim, in particular, is to show that, in a sense to be carefully specified, the opposition between the Leibnizian ‘reductionist’ tradition, based on discernibility, and the sort of ‘primitivism’ that denies that facts of identity and individuality must be analysable has become outdated. In particular, it is argued that—contrary to a widespread consensus—‘naturalised’ metaphysics supports both the acceptability of non-qualitatively grounded (both ‘contextual’ and intrinsic) identity and a pluralistic approach to individuality and individuation. A case study is offered that focuses on non-relativistic quantum mechanics, in the context of which primitivism about identity and individuality, rather than being regarded as unscientific, is on the contrary suggested to be preferable to the complicated forms of reductionism that have recently been proposed. More generally, by assuming a plausible form of anti-reductionism about scientific theories and domains, it is claimed that science can be regarded as compatible with, or even as suggesting, the existence of a series of equally plausible grades of individuality. The kind of individuality that prevails in a certain context and at a given level can be ascertained only on the basis of the specific scientific theory at hand.     

Experimental Philosophy of Explanation Rising: The Case for a Plurality of Concepts of Explanation

This paper brings together results from the philosophy and the psychology of explanation to argue that there are multiple concepts of explanation in human psychology. Specifically, it is shown that pluralism about explanation coheres with the multiplicity of models of explanation available in the philosophy of science, and it is supported by evidence from the psychology of explanatory judgment. Focusing on the case of a norm of explanatory power, the paper concludes by responding to the worry that if there is a plurality of concepts of explanation, one will not be able to normatively evaluate what counts as good explanation.     

Similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescents' friendship dyads: selection or socialization?

This study examined friendship selection and socialization as mechanisms explaining similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescent same-gender best friend dyads. The sample consisted of 1,752 adolescents (51% male) ages 12-16 years (M = 13.77, SD = 0.73) forming 487 friend dyads and 389 nonfriend dyads (the nonfriend dyads served as a comparison group). To test our hypothesis, we applied a multigroup actor-partner interdependence model to 3 friendship types that started and ended at different time points during the 2 waves of data collection. Results showed that adolescents reported levels of depressive symptoms at follow-up that were similar to those of their best friends. Socialization processes explained the increase in similarity exclusively in female dyads, whereas no evidence for friendship selection emerged for either male or female dyads. Additional analyses revealed that similarity between friends was particularly evident in the actual best friend dyads (i.e., true best friends), in which evidence for socialization processes emerged for both female and male friend dyads. Findings highlight the importance of examining friendship relations as a potential context for the development of depressive symptoms.     

The representation of conceptual knowledge: visual,auditory, and olfactory imagery compared with semantic processing

Two experiments comparing imaginative processing in different modalities and semantic processing were carried out to investigate the issue of whether conceptual knowledge can be represented in different format. Participants were asked to judge the similarity between visual images, auditory images, and olfactory images in the imaginative block, if two items belonged to the same category in the semantic block. Items were verbally cued in both experiments. The degree of similarity between the imaginative and semantic items was changed across experiments. Experiment 1 showed that the semantic processing was faster than the visual and the auditory imaginative processing, whereas no differentiation was possible between the semantic processing and the olfactory imaginative processing. Experiment 2 revealed that only the visual imaginative processing could be differentiated from the semantic processing in terms of accuracy. These results showed that the visual and auditory imaginative processing can be differentiated from the semantic processing, although both visual and auditory images strongly rely on semantic representations. On the contrary, no differentiation is possible within the olfactory domain. Results are discussed in the frame of the imagery debate.     

Metaphysical Infinitism and the Regress of Being

This article offers a limited defense of metaphysical “infinitism,” the view that there are, or might be, infinite chains of ontological dependence. According to a widespread presupposition, there must be an ultimate ground of being—most likely, a plurality of fundamental atoms. Contrary to this view, this article shows that metaphysical infinitism is internally coherent. In particular, a parallel with the debate concerning infinitism about epistemic justification is suggested, and an “emergence model” of being is put forward. According to the emergence model, the being of any given entity gradually arises out of an infinite series of progressively less dependent entities—it is not wholly transmitted, as it were, from a basic, ungrounded level to all the dependent ones in a step‐by‐step fashion. Some objections are considered and rebutted.     

Assessing Resources in a Population of Hemodialysis Patients: A New Approach to Improve Quality of Care

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Hemodialysis patients constitute a vulnerable population. Their health needs are considerable and they often present psychological symptoms such as...     

Left inferior frontal cortex can compensate the inhibitory functions of right inferior frontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area

Right-IFG and pre-SMA are associated with inhibitory responses. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to explore whether the contralateral homotopic regions can functionally replace them. An adolescent, with an extensive traumatic lesion of the right cerebral hemisphere having occurred 5 years earlier, performed a motor response inhibition task (Go/Nogo), which was properly accomplished and associated to activations in the left-IFC, precuneus and occipital cortex. Such functional remodelling is in line with the theory of ‘near equipotentiality’ of the cerebral hemispheres.     

The effect of sex and gender-schematic processing on sport participation

This study examined the extent to which an individual's overall experience with and personal commitment to athletic activities is constrained by the sex appropriateness of the sport, the sex of the individual, and the individual's classification on the Bem Sex Role Inventory. No sex differences were found for levels of participation for either measure of participation. For both measures, neutral sports were preferred, followed by sex-appropriate and then sex-inappropriate sports. Females' experience and commitment was greater than males' to feminine activities, whereas males' was greater than females' for masculine activities. Sex-typed males reported significantly less experience with and commitment to feminine sports than androgynous and undifferentiated males. When sex-typed females were compared with androgynous and cross-sex-typed females, they reported significantly less commitment to masculine sports.     

DS14 is more likely to measure depression rather than a personality disposition in patients with acute coronary syndrome

It has been suggested that Type D Personality is a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the DS14 has been developed for its assessment. However, some of the items on the DS14 seem to evaluate depressive symptoms rather than personality features. Therefore, the present study aims to verify whether an overlap exists between the constructs of Type D Personality and depression. Three‐hundred‐and‐four consecutive patients who were both presenting their first ACS and had no history of major depression completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the DS14 to assess Type D personality at baseline and have been re‐evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12‐month follow‐ups. Out of 304 subjects (80.6% males), 40 were diagnosed as depressed. An exploratory factor analysis of HADS and the DS14 in the second month revealed that four out of seven items on the depressive subscale of HADS (HADS‐D) and six out of seven items on the Negative Affectivity (NA) subscale of the DS14 segregated on the same factor. Results were verified by a Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis performed at the twelfth month when most of the patients achieved complete remission from the depressive episode. Temporal stability was poor for NA and Type D Personality and these construct co‐vary with HADS‐D over time. Our data suggests that NA and depression are overlapping constructs, supporting the idea that the DS14 measures depressed features, rather than a personality disposition.