A general method for proving decidability of intuitionistic modal logics

We generalise the result of [H. Ganzinger, C. Meyer, M. Veanes, The two-variable guarded fragment with transitive relations, in: Proc. 14th IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1999, pp. 24–34] on decidability of the two variable monadic guarded fragment of first order logic with constraints on the guard relations expressible in monadic second order logic. In [H. Ganzinger, C. Meyer, M. Veanes, The two-variable guarded fragment with transitive relations, in: Proc. 14th IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1999, pp. 24–34], such constraints apply to one relation at a time. We modify their proof to obtain decidability for constraints involving several relations. Now we can use this result to prove decidability of multi-modal modal logics where conditions on accessibility relations involve more than one relation. Our main application is intuitionistic modal logic, where the intuitionistic and modal accessibility relations usually interact in a non-trivial way.     

Low-income, nonresident father involvement with their toddlers: variation by fathers' race and ethnicity

Using data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of low-income mothers of 2-year-old children participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (N = 883), the authors examined fathers' education and employment, mother-father relationship, and mothers' relationships with kin in the household to explain variation in nonresident father involvement across racial and ethnic groups. Nonresident White fathers were less involved with their children than were African American and Latino fathers. This difference was explained by the status of mother-father relationships. White nonresident fathers were less likely than minority nonresident fathers to maintain romantic relationships with their child's mother. Mothers in the White father group were also more likely to re-partner, which negatively related to biological fathers' involvement. These findings suggest that approaches to strengthen nonresident father involvement in children's lives need to consider how father ethnicity and mother-father relations are associated with differential patterns of father involvement.     

Preference-based belief revision for rule-based agents

Agents which perform inferences on the basis of unreliable information need an ability to revise their beliefs if they discover an inconsistency. Such a belief revision algorithm ideally should be rational, should respect any preference ordering over the agent’s beliefs (removing less preferred beliefs where possible) and should be fast. However, while standard approaches to rational belief revision for classical reasoners allow preferences to be taken into account, they typically have quite high complexity. In this paper, we consider belief revision for agents which reason in a simpler logic than full first-order logic, namely rule-based reasoners. We show that it is possible to define a contraction operation for rule-based reasoners, which we call McAllester contraction, which satisfies all the basic Alchourrón, Gärdenfors and Makinson (AGM) postulates for contraction (apart from the recovery postulate) and at the same time can be computed in polynomial time. We prove a representation theorem for McAllester contraction with respect to the basic AGM postulates (minus recovery), and two additional postulates. We then show that our contraction operation removes a set of beliefs which is least preferred, with respect to a natural interpretation of preference. Finally, we show how McAllester contraction can be used to define a revision operation which is also polynomial time, and prove a representation theorem for the revision operation.     

Access is mainly a second-order process: SDT models whether phenomenally (first-order) conscious states are accessed by reflectively (second-order) conscious processes

Access can either be first-order or second-order. First order access concerns whether contents achieve representation in phenomenal consciousness at all; second-order access concerns whether phenomenally conscious contents are selected for metacognitive, higher order processing by reflective consciousness. When the optional and flexible nature of second-order access is kept in mind, there remain strong reasons to believe that exclusion failure can indeed isolate phenomenally conscious stimuli that are not so accessed. Irvine’s [Irvine, E. (2009). Signal detection theory, the exclusion failure paradigm and weak consciousness—Evidence for the access/phenomenal distinction? Consciousness and Cognition.] partial access argument fails because exclusion failure is indeed due to lack of second-order access, not insufficient phenomenally conscious information. Further, the enable account conforms with both qualitative differences and subjective report, and is simpler than the endow account. Finally, although first-order access may be a distinct and important process, second-order access arguably reflects the core meaning of access generally.     

Dating violence in the United Kingdom: A preliminary study

A small-scale study of “dating violence” in a sample of UK college students is described. Methodology involved the rating-scale used in existing US studies, with the addition of an assessment of inter-respondent reliability, which was found to be high. A high incidence of some form of violence was found, with women showing higher levels than men, thus replicating previous US findings based on victim reports. Violence in the present relationship was found to be unrelated to violence in past relationships.     

Blickets and babies: the development of causal reasoning in toddlers and infants

Previous research has suggested that preschoolers possess a cognitive system that allows them to construct an abstract, coherent representation of causal relations among events. Such a system lets children reason retrospectively when they observe ambiguous data in a rational manner (e.g., D. M. Sobel, J. B. Tenenbaum, & A. Gopnik, 2004). However, there is little evidence that demonstrates whether younger children possess similar inferential abilities. In Experiment 1, the authors extended previous findings with older children to examine 19- and 24-month-olds' causal inferences. Twenty-four-month-olds' inferences were similar to those of preschoolers, but younger children lacked the ability to make retrospective causal inferences, perhaps because of performance limitations. In Experiment 2, the authors designed an eye-tracking paradigm to test younger participants that eliminated various manual search demands. Eight-month-olds' anticipatory eye movements, in response to retrospective data, revealed inferences similar to those of 24-month-olds in Experiment 1 and preschoolers in previous research. These data are discussed in terms of associative reasoning and causal inference.     

Neurocognitive function in monozygotic twins discordant for combat exposure: relationship to posttraumatic stress disorder

Neuropsychological deficits have been reported among trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is often assumed that these cognitive difficulties are toxic consequences of trauma exposure. Alternatively, they may reflect preexisting characteristics that contribute to the likelihood of developing PTSD. To address this possibility, the authors evaluated cognitive performance in monozygotic twin pairs who were discordant for combat exposure. Pairs were grouped according to whether the combat-exposed brother developed PTSD. The combat-unexposed cotwins of combat veterans with PTSD largely displayed the same performance as their brothers, which was significantly lower than that of non-PTSD combat veterans and their brothers. The results support the notion that specific domains of cognitive function may serve as premorbid risk or protective factors in PTSD.     

Not quite as grown-up as we like to think: parallels between cognition in childhood and adulthood

Greater continuity in cognition between children and adults may exist than is usually appreciated. It was thought that after 3 to 4 years of age, the problem in switching on the dimensional-change card-sort task disappears. We show here, however, that if speed is used as the dependent measure, the effect of the first dimension is evident even in adults. Adults, like preschoolers, show difficulty in switching from a block of sorting by color or shape to a block of sorting by the other dimension. Notably, performance throughout the session was affected by the first dimension by which stimuli were sorted. We hypothesize that perhaps adults never fully outgrow any of the cognitive and perceptual biases of infancy and early childhood. Other examples of such biases that appear to still be present in adults are discussed. Conversely, the assumption that the optimal dependent measure for adults is the most sensitive measure for children is questioned.     

IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF SELF-REPORTS OF ADHERENCE

Behavioral scientists who study socially important but difficult-to-measure behaviors often rely on self-reports. We evaluated the influence of three experimenter demands—demand for adherence, demand for accurate reports, and demand for accurate reports combined with a prompted recall strategy—on the accuracy of self-reports of adherence to a week-long prescribed regimen of twice-daily telephone calls. Self-reports of adherence were significantly more accurate in the accuracy demand/prompted recall group (p < .05). The analogue study should be replicated with other regimens and populations to determine the most effective strategies for enhancing the accuracy of self-reports.