Quantum-like logics and schizophrenia

Many researchers in different disciplines have independently concluded that brains are, possibly among other things, vector processing devices. In this paper we offer support for this hypothesis coming from a new perspective. Namely, we test it against some known anomalies in the processing by schizophrenic patients of certain logical tasks: they perform better at them than normal controls, despite the observation that they do not generally employ “normal” or “commonsense” logic. On the assumption that they are compelled to use the intrinsic logic of the brain instead of commonsense logic, and that this logic is linear or quantum-like, we are able to resolve these and other anomalies. Our conclusions support the idea that human brains (at least) perform intrinsic logical operations according to the dictates of a linear (or Grassmannian, or quantum-like) logic rather than “classical” or Aristotelian logic (which seems not to be intrinsic to brains, these having evolved under the pressure of different constraints). If this is the case, then commonsense logic must be acquired through experience and the construction of contexts, an ability schizophrenic patients seem to lack, and who are consequently compelled to rely on the intrinsic logic, which is quantum-like and more efficient at certain tasks. Moreover, the proclivity toward errors of von Domarus type (namely the inference that shared attributes imply identity), which seems to be endemic to human thinking and has been discussed in connection with schizophrenia, is also explained on this basis.     

Body ideals in women after viewing images of typical and healthy weight models

Viewing thin models, pervasive in popular culture, is correlated with body dissatisfaction and anxiety in women. Whether or not the same is true when viewing healthy weight models is unknown. In this study we tested whether viewing healthy weight models increases the ideal female body size. Body image, anxiety, happiness and depression were measured in 44 female participants following viewing of images of thin or healthy weight models (within-subject separated by two weeks). We found that after viewing images of healthy weight models, women's body ideals (as measured by a participant-adjusted virtual model) were significantly larger than when the same women viewed images of very thin models. This effect was greatest in those women with the highest levels of baseline anxiety (as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). These results suggest that viewing healthy weight models results in more healthy body ideals than those typically promoted through media.     

Book reviews

Prisons in Turmoil by John Irwin Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1980, 288 pages, $6.95, paper.

Deviant Behavior: An Interactionist Approach by Erich Goode Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice Hall, 1978, 470 pages, hard, $15.95.

Deviant Behavior: Readings in the Sociology of Deviance by Delos H. Kelly New York, St. Martins Press, 1979, 769 pages, paper, $7.95.

Deviant Behavior by Alex Thio Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978, 416 pages, hard, $15.75.

Defining Child Abuse by Jeannne M. Giovannoni and Rosina M. Becerra New York, The Free Press, 1979, 302 pages, $15.95, hard.

Demystifying Social Deviance by Stuart L. Hills New York, McGraw‐Hill, 1980, 210 pages, $8.95, paper.

Police and Policing: An Introduction by Richard J. Lundman New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980, 215 pages.