Avner Baz on the ‘Point’ of a Question

Abstract

Avner Baz claims that questions philosophers ask about hypothetical cases lack the kind of ‘point’ possessed by ‘everyday’ questions. He concludes from this that there is something wrong with the philosophical practice of asking questions about hypothetical cases. This paper defends the practice from Baz’s criticism.     

Variations of the Fechner wheel

The Fechner wheel is a disk that is printed in black and white. When the Fechner wheel spins at an appropriate speed, semicircles on the wheel appear to be in color. Modern computer technology makes it possible to rapidly and repeatedly present a series of images on a monitor screen. A series of still images of a Fechner wheel can be substituted for a Fechner wheel on a motor shaft. Straight lines and lines of text can be substituted for semicircles to obtain a color effect. A color effect can be obtained in small areas of black-and-white pictures.     

On the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat: can skills that don't rely heavily on working memory still be threatened?

Recent work suggests that stereotype threat (ST) harms performance by reducing available working memory capacity. Is this the only mechanism by which ST can occur? Three experiments examined ST's impact on expert golf putting, which is not harmed when working memory is reduced but is hurt when attention is allocated to proceduralized processes that normally run outside working memory. Experiment 1 showed that well learned golf putting is susceptible to ST. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that giving expert golfers a secondary task eliminates ST-induced impairment. Distracting attention away from the stereotype-related behavior eliminates the harmful impact of negative stereotype activation. These results are consistent with explicit monitoring theories of choking under pressure, which suggest that performance degradation can occur when too much attention is allocated to processes that usually run more automatically. Thus, ST alters information processing in multiple ways, inducing performance decrements for different reasons in different tasks.     

Construct validity of the Bender-Gestalt II: comparison with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III

This study investigated the relationships of visuomotor constructs as measured by the Bender-Gestalt II with the subtests of the WISC-III. A factor analysis included the standardized Copy and Recall scores of the Bender-Gestalt II and subtest scores of the WISC-III. The Copy score was predicted to load on measures of visual and spatial thinking and the Recall score on a short-term memory factor. The results of a principal components analysis suggest a four-factor solution with the Bender-Gestalt II Copy score loading on a visual and spatial thinking factor primarily with WISC-III Perceptual Organization subtests. The Recall score loaded on a visual and spatial thinking factor as well as a short-term memory factor with the WISC-III Digit Span subtest. The results suggest the Bender-Gestalt II Copy subtest shared commonality with the visual and spatial tasks given the similarity in the visuomotor demands of each test and was less influenced by processing speed or cultural knowledge than other tests on the visual and spatial thinking factor. Also, results suggest Bender-Gestalt II Recall measures elements of both visual and spatial thinking as well as aspects of short-term memory and memory retrieval. Clinical guidelines for co-administration and underlying processing demands are discussed.     

The linguistic and embodied nature of conceptual processing

Recent theories of cognition have argued that embodied experience is important for conceptual processing. Embodiment can be contrasted with linguistic factors such as the typical order in which words appear in language. Here, we report four experiments that investigated the conditions under which embodiment and linguistic factors determine performance. Participants made speeded judgments about whether pairs of words or pictures were semantically related or had an iconic relationship. The embodiment factor was operationalized as the degree to which stimulus pairs were presented in the spatial configurations in which they usually occur (i.e., an iconic configuration, e.g., attic presented above basement). The linguistic factor was operationalized as the frequency of the stimulus pairs in language. The embodiment factor predicted error rates and response time better for pictures, whereas the linguistic factor predicted error rates and response time better for words. These findings were modified by task, with the embodiment factor being strongest in iconicity judgments for pictures and the linguistic factor being strongest in semantic judgments for words. Both factors predicted error rates and response time for both semantic and iconicity judgments. These findings support the view that conceptual processing is both linguistic and embodied, with a bias for the embodiment or the linguistic factor depending on the nature of the task and the stimuli.     

USING COMPLEX AUDITORY—VISUAL SAMPLES TO PRODUCE EMERGENT RELATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Six participants with autism learned conditional relations between complex auditory‐visual sample stimuli (dictated words and pictures) and simple visual comparisons (printed words) using matching‐to‐sample training procedures. Pre‐ and posttests examined potential stimulus control by each element of the complex sample when presented individually and emergence of additional conditional relations and oral labeling. Tests revealed class‐consistent performance for all participants following training.     

Relations of familiarity with reasoning strategies in conspiracy beliefs

The prevalence and resilience of conspiracy beliefs suggest that such beliefs may derive in part from general information-processing mechanisms. Two predictions were tested: conspiracy beliefs would increase as familiarity with the conspiracy increased, and conspiracy beliefs would rest in part on the perception of the alleged conspirators' motive. Participants read condensed versions of four real-life conspiracy theories of varying familiarity, rated their belief in the conspiracies, and explained their ratings. Although belief was not associated with familiarity, participants used different justifications for their beliefs about familiar and unfamiliar conspiracies, relying prominently on motive when the conspiracy was unfamiliar. Preliminary data suggested that participants' beliefs in conspiracies may have been equally strong when they reasoned only in terms of motive as when they reasoned in terms of documented evidence. An additional finding suggested also that beliefs in conspiracies may increase as affiliation with the victim of the alleged conspiracy increases.     

Some Costs of American Corporate Capitalism: A Psychological Exploration of Value and Goal Conflicts

Evolutionary psychology has been proposed as a metatheoretical framework for psychology. We argue that evolutionary psychology should be expanded if it is to offer new insights regarding the major issues in psychology. Evolutionary developmental biology can provide valuable new insights into issues such as the domain-specificity of the human mind, the nature–nurture debate, stages in development, and the origin of individual differences. Evolutionary developmental biology provides evidence for the hypotheses that domain-general and domain-specific abilities co-occur, that nature and nurture interact in a dynamic and nonadditive way, that stages occur in development, and that individual differences are the result of pleiotropic effects during development.