Born to adapt, but not in your dreams

The brain adapts to changes that take place in the body. Deprivation of input results in size reduction of cortical representations, whereas an increase in input results in an increase of representational space. Amputation forms one of the most dramatic disturbances of the integrity of the body. The brain adapts in many ways to this breakdown of the afferent–efferent equilibrium. However, almost all studies focus on the sensorimotor consequences. It is not known whether adaptation takes place also at other “levels” in the system. The present study addresses the question whether amputees dream about their intact body, as before the amputation, or about the body after the amputation and whether the dream content was a function of time since the amputation and type of amputation. The results show that the majority of the dreamers reported dreams about their intact body although the mean time that elapsed since the amputation was twelve years. There is no clear relation with the type of amputation. The results give modest evidence for the existence of a basic neural representation of the body that is, at least, partly genetically determined and by this relatively insensitive for changes in the sensory input.     

Must All be Saved? A Kierkegaardian Response to Theological Universalism

In this paper, I consider how a Kierkegaardian could respond critically to the question of strong theological universalism, i.e., the belief that all individuals must eventually be reconciled to God and experience everlasting happiness. A Kierkegaardian would likely reject what Thomas Talbott has called “conservative theism,” but has the resources to mount a sustained attack on the view that all individuals must experience everlasting happiness. Some have seen that Kierkegaard has some potential in this regard, but a full Kierkegaardian response to strong theological universalism has yet to be given. In this paper, I give such an account. That God could create beings free over against himself is the cross which philosophy could not bear but upon which it has remained hanging. – Kierkegaard     

Bedding preferences of pregnant laboratory-reared mice

Pregnant ARS Ha (ICR) Swiss mice were allowed to select from 10 commercially available bedding products for parturition and rearing young. Combinations of bedding materials were most often selected. Products of wood origin were overwhelmingly preferred. Rates for the selection of bedding materials from the 20 tests were Aspen Bed 100%, Cedar Shavings 75%, Pinewood Shavings 45%, Ab-Sorb-Dri 5%, and Stop “O” 5%.     

Heart rate variability in a binary choice reaction task: an evaluation of some scoring methods

Several scoring methods of heart rate variability have been investigated in a binary choice task. It was concluded that in this type of task the number of waves in the cardiotachogram and the sum of absolute differences between successive R-R intervals divided by the number of waves are the best indicators of the task levels (20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 binary choices per min). A detailed analysis of these scoring methods in different types of information processing tasks is recommended.     

Circular interpretation of regression coefficients

The interpretation of the effect of predictors in projected normal regression models is not straight-forward. The main aim of this paper is to make this interpretation easier such that these models can be employed more readily by social scientific researchers. We introduce three new measures: the slope at the inflection point (b_c), average slope (AS) and slope at mean (SAM) that help us assess the marginal effect of a predictor in a Bayesian projected normal regression model. The SAM or AS are preferably used in situations where the data for a specific predictor do not lie close to the inflection point of a circular regression curve. In this case b_c is an unstable and extrapolated effect. In addition, we outline how the projected normal regression model allows us to distinguish between an effect on the mean and spread of a circular outcome variable. We call these types of effects location and accuracy effects, respectively. The performance of the three new measures and of the methods to distinguish between location and accuracy effects is investigated in a simulation study. We conclude that the new measures and methods to distinguish between accuracy and location effects work well in situations with a clear location effect. In situations where the location effect is not clearly distinguishable from an accuracy effect not all measures work equally well and we recommend the use of the SAM.     

The availability versus the use of partial information: Multiple levels of selective processing between perception and action

Temporal overlap of cognitive processes occurs when partial information about a stimulus activates associated responses before the stimulus has been fully identified. Recent evidence obtained with psychophysiological measures suggests that such overlap sometimes does, and sometimes does not occur. In this contribution, we argue that in order to understand why, we have to distinguish between selection of partial information for perception and selection of partial information for control over activation of responses. We discuss several mechanisms and factors that may modulate the temporal overlap of mental processes because they selectively influence the perceptual availability or the use of partial information.     

The role of moral identity in the aftermath of dishonesty

People lie on a regular basis. However, lying can pose a threat to the self-view of being an honest and moral person. How do people respond to their previous dishonest acts? A way to deal with psychological discomfort arisen for previous lying is reconfirming oneself to be an honest and moral person, for example, by showing subsequent moral behavior. We hypothesize that people engage in this reconfirmation depending on whether their moral identity is central to their self-concept. This was supported in three studies in which, compared to low moral identifiers, high moral identifiers engaged in more efforts to uphold a moral self-image and were more likely to show a compensatory reaction rather than a consistency reaction to their previous dishonesty. Implications for the topics of moral self-regulation and compensatory ethics and for the concept of moral identity are discussed.