The indeterminacy of color vision

A critical survey of recent work on the ontological status of colors supports the conclusion that, while some accounts of color can plausibly be dismissed, no single account can yet be endorsed. Among the remaining options are certain forms of color realism according which familiar colors are instantiated by objects in our extra-cranial visual environment. Also still an option is color anti-realism, the view that familiar colors are, at best, biologically adaptive fictions, instantiated nowhere.I argue that there is simply no fact of the matter as to which of these remaining options is correct. I blame this indeterminacy on the fact that color vision exhibits several of the hallmarks of a modular input system, as described by Jerry Fodor in The Modularity of Mind.Finally, I speculate that the range of live options falling within the scope of the indeterminacy may be even broader than initially indicated.     

MECHANISMS OF PLACEBO PAIN REDUCTION:

Abstract— Identical experimental pain stimuli were applied to the right and left index fingers of 56 university students, following the application of a placebo in the guise of a topical anesthetic to one of the fingers. The pain stimuli were administered simultaneously to treated and untreated fingers for half of the subjects and sequentially for the others Significant and equtvalent reductions in pain were reported in both conditions as a function of placebo administration. These data indicate that reductions of experimental pain produced by placebos presented in the guise of local anesthetics are not mediated by such global mechanisms as anxiety reduction or the release of endogenous opioids.     

Grades of Explanation in Cognitive Science

I sketch an explanatory framework that fits a variety of contemporary research programs in cognitive science. I then investigate the scope and the implications of this framework. The framework emphasizes (a) the explanatory role played by the semantic content of cognitive representations, and (b) the important mechanistic, non-intentional dimension of cognitive explanations. I show how both of these features are present simultaneously in certain varieties of cognitive explanation. I also consider the explanatory role played by grounded representational content, that is, content evaluated by appeal to its truth, falsity, accuracy, inaccuracy and other relational properties.     

Magnitude scales,category scales,and the general psychophysical differential equation

The general psychophysical differential equation (GPDE) which relates scale values and Weber functions for two subjective variables was tested statistically with data from a number of category rating and magnitude estimation experiments. In all tests. it was investigated whether the GPDE is compatible with the assumption that the Weber function of the category scale is constant. This assumption implies that the category scale may be regarded as a discrimination scale. The tests were carried out by estimating the Weber function of the category scale by means of the GPDE and testing these estimates for constancy, For group data, there were fairly small systematic deviations from constancy across different experiments in the Weber functions that were estimated by the GPDE, and the hypothesis of a constant estimated Weber function could not be rejected statistically (p>.05) in most experiments. For individual data the estimated Weber functions deviated from constancy in idiosyncratic ways, and these deviations were statistically significant (p<.05)for most subjects.     

Short form and factor-analytic studies of the WISC-R with behavior problem children

Two analyses of the WISC-R protocols of 100 children referred for behavioral problems in school were conducted to study (a) the utility of a variety of WISC short forms and (b) the factor structure of the WISC-R. Although the correlations between short form and WISC-R IQs were highly significant, mean differences and a high percentage of IQ classification changes indicated that the short forms were not acceptable WISC-R substitutes. Different factor analyses consistently evidenced two factors, Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Organization, which corresponded perfectly to the Verbal and Performance.     

What’s wrong with vote buying

Philosophical Studies - Almost everyone would agree that vote buying is morally wrong, and that prohibitions on vote buying are morally justified. Yet, recently, several philosophers have argued...     

Beyond ‘Liberals’ and ‘Conservatives’: Complexity in Ideology,Moral Intuitions,and Worldview Among Swedish Voters

This research investigated the congruence between the ideologies of political parties and the ideological preferences (N = 1515), moral intuitions (N = 1048), and political values and worldviews (N = 1345) of diverse samples of Swedish adults who voted or intended to vote for the parties. Logistic regression analyses yielded support for a series of hypotheses about variations in ideology beyond the left–right division. With respect to social ideology, resistance to change and binding moral intuitions predicted stronger preference for a social democratic (vs. progressive) party on the left and weaker preference for a social liberal (vs. social conservative or liberal-conservative) party on the right. With respect to political values and broader worldviews, normativism and low acceptance of immigrants predicted the strongest preference for a nationalist party, while environmentalism predicted the strongest preference for a green party. The effects were generally strong and robust when we controlled for left–right self-placements, economic ideology, and demographic characteristics. These results show that personality variation in the ideological domain is not reducible to the simplistic contrast between ‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives’, which ignores differences between progressive and non-progressive leftists, economic and green progressives, social liberal and conservative rightists, and nationalist and non-nationalist conservatives.     

Cancer Victim Identity for Individuals with Histories of Cancer and Childhood Sexual Abuse

Identifying as a ‘cancer victim’ has been linked to adverse psychosocial sequelae in individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer. Being a childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivor may predispose individuals towards a “victim” identity in general. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of identifying as a ‘cancer victim’ among CSA survivors who were diagnosed with cancer as adults, and to explore psychological factors associated with identification as a cancer victim. 105 adults reporting both a history of CSA and of having been diagnosed with cancer as an adult were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Variables assessed included CSA severity, abuse-related powerlessness, general mastery, and cancer victim identity. Fifty-one percent of the sample endorsed a cancer victim identity. Path analysis revealed that abuse-related powerlessness was related to decreased feelings of general mastery, which was in turn associated with cancer victim identification (x ² = .12, DF = 1, p < .73; RMSEA = .00; SRMR = .01: Bentler CFI = 1.0). From a clinical perspective, the results suggest that increasing general mastery in CSA survivors in the cancer setting may be an important mechanism for attenuating the risk for developing a cancer victim identity and, presumably, for downstream adverse psychosocial sequelae.