The interfaith network (UK) and interfaith relations

The InterFaith Network (UK) was formed officially in 1988 as the result of almost two years of negotiations, conversations and preparatory meetings. In the late 1980s there was a feeling in circles working in interfaith affairs that the time might have come for some form of national effort.     

Convergence to the Truth Without Countable Additivity

Must probabilities be countably additive? On the one hand, arguably, requiring countable additivity is too restrictive. As de Finetti pointed out, there are situations in which it is reasonable to use merely finitely additive probabilities. On the other hand, countable additivity is fruitful. It can be used to prove deep mathematical theorems that do not follow from finite additivity alone. One of the most philosophically important examples of such a result is the Bayesian convergence to the truth theorem, which says that conditional probabilities converge to 1 for true hypotheses and to 0 for false hypotheses. In view of the long-standing debate about countable additivity, it is natural to ask in what circumstances finitely additive theories deliver the same results as the countably additive theory. This paper addresses that question and initiates a systematic study of convergence to the truth in a finitely additive setting. There is also some discussion of how the formal results can be applied to ongoing debates in epistemology and the philosophy of science.

     

Reassessing working memory: comment on Just and Carpenter (1992) and Waters and Caplan (1996)

M. A. Just and P. A. Carpenter's (1992) capacity theory of comprehension posits a linguistic working memory functionally separated from the representation of linguistic knowledge. G. S. Waters and D. Caplan's (1996) critique of this approach retained the notion of a separate working memory. In this article, the authors present an alternative account motivated by a connectionist approach to language comprehension. In their view, processing capacity emerges from network architecture and experience and is not a primitive that can vary independently. Individual differences in comprehension do not stem from variations in a separate working memory capacity; instead they emerge from an interaction of biological factors and language experience. This alternative is argued to provide a superior account of comprehension results previously attributed to a separate working memory capacity.     

Orthography as a handicap? A direct comparison of spelling acquisition in Danish and Icelandic

Spelling of cross-linguistically very similar nonwords was compared in 115 Danish and 77 Icelandic children (primarily 3rd and 4th graders). Danish children made more errors than Icelandic children on word medial consonant doublets and on word initial consonant clusters, even when the groups compared were matched on simpler spelling tasks. These results suggest that the acquisition of phonemic encoding skills is slower in "deep" orthography such as Danish than in more "transparent" orthography such as Icelandic. The effect of orthography was expected for consonant doublets because of the relatively more complex sound-letter correspondences in Danish. For consonant clusters, however, sound-letter correspondences are perfectly regular in both languages. The study thus points to the conclusion that even the mastery of regular sound-letter correspondences may be delayed in deep orthography.     

Validity of test score interpretations for three self-concept measures based on differing theoretical models

Three theoretical models have been proposed to represent self-concept: (a) unidimensional; (b) multidimensional; (c) multidimensional hierarchical. Inventories have been developed under each of the three competing theoretical models; which model best represents self-concept is unclear. Typically, self-concept construct validation has utilized various approaches including correlational, multitrait-multimethod, and factor analytic methods. Another method, however, for assessing validity would be to determine the consequences of score interpretations using different measures specific to each of the theoretical models. This paper examined Messick's notion (1989) of the validity of test-score interpretations as applied to three of the most widely used measures derived under each of the three different theoretical models of self-concept. Results suggest that overall multidimensional measures are more consistent in classifying individual's self-concept than unidimensional measures.     

Behavioral treatment of insomnia in older adults: an open clinical trial comparing two interventions

Fifty-five insomniacs, 60 years or above, participated in a behavioral treatment program, comparing two interventions (sleep hygiene+stimulus control vs sleep hygiene+relaxation tape). Half of the subjects were randomized to a waiting-list condition prior to treatment. No significant changes were observed during the waiting-list period. During the treatment period however, the subjects improved on several sleep parameters, and treatment gains were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. The effects of treatment were greater for nocturnal measures (e.g. sleep onset latency and total sleep time) as compared to daytime measures (e.g. life satisfaction, daytime alertness) and not-targeted behavior (medication use). There were no differences in treatment effects for the two interventions.