Why Husserl is a Moderate Foundationalist

Foundationalism and coherentism are two fundamentally opposed basic epistemological views about the structure of justification. Interestingly enough, there is no consensus on how to interpret Husserl. While interpreting Husserl as a foundationalist was the standard view in early Husserl scholarship, things have changed considerably as prominent commentators like Christian Beyer, John Drummond, Dagfinn Føllesdal, and Dan Zahavi have challenged this foundationalist interpretation. These anti-foundationalist interpretations have again been challenged, for instance, by Walter Hopp and Christian Erhard. One might suspect that inconsistencies in Husserl’s writings are the simple reason for this disagreement. I shall argue, however, that the real question is not so much how to read Husserl, but how to define foundationalism and that there is overwhelming textual evidence that Husserl championed the most tenable version of foundationalism: a moderate foundationalism that allows for incorporating coherentist elements.     

The effect of different distractions on remembering delayed intentions

In safety-critical domains, frequently intentions need to be delayed until an ongoing task is completed. Research using the delay-execute paradigm showed that interruptions during the delay cause forgetting. However, staff members often handle an initial distraction not by interrupting the ongoing task but by acknowledging the distraction or multitasking. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we observed that, compared to a no distraction condition, multitasking significantly decreased remembering of intentions and interrupting decreased remembering even further. In Experiment 2, interruptions with context change reduced remembering of intentions compared to uninterrupted delays, and at the same time, interruptions without context change improved memory performance compared to uninterrupted delays. However, improved memory performance resulted in decreased interrupting task performance. Theoretically, the results support the contextual cueing mechanism of delay-execute tasks. Considering safety-critical domains, multitasking, interruptions and context changes can contribute to forgetting of tasks.     

On Fair Person Classification Based on Efficient Factor Score Estimates in the Multidimensional Factor Analysis Model

Since Hooker, Finkelman and Schwartzman (Psychometrika 74(3): 419–442, 2009) it is known that person parameter estimates from multidimensional latent variable models can induce unfair classifications via paradoxical scoring effects. The open question as to whether there is a fair and at the same time multidimensional scoring scheme with adequate statistical properties is addressed in this paper. We develop a theorem on the existence of a fair, multidimensional classification scheme in the context of the classical linear factor analysis model and show how the computation of the scoring scheme can be embedded in the context of linear programming. The procedure is illustrated in the framework of scoring the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV).     

Ethical intuitionism and the linguistic analogy

It is a central tenet of ethical intuitionism as defended by W. D. Ross and others that moral theory should re?ect the convictions of mature moral agents. Hence, intuitionism is plausible to the extent that it corresponds to our well-considered moral judgments. After arguing for this claim, I discuss whether intuitionists o?er an empirically adequate account of our moral obligations. I do this by applying recent empirical research by John Mikhail that is based on the idea of a universal moral grammar to a number of claims implicit in W. D. Ross’s normative theory. I argue that the results at least partly vindicate intuitionism.     

Benefits of team participative decision making and its potential to affect individual creativity

How does team participative decision‐making affect individual creative performance? Building on team climate theory (Anderson & West, 1998; West 1990, 2002; West & Sacramento, 2012), this study investigates the indirect effect of team participative decision making on employee creativity through individual perception of cognition team diversity and psychological safety. Results from 256 supervisor–subordinate dyads in 45 teams show that team participative decision making is positively associated with cognitive team diversity and psychological safety. For the mediating effects, team participative decision‐making climate is positively indirectly related to creative performance via psychological safety but not via cognitive team diversity. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Religious Confession and Symptom Severity: A Prospective Comparative Study

Little research has been done on comparing confessions regarding mental health. In the present study, 320 people (78 Buddhists, 77 Catholics, 89 Protestants and 79 Muslims) were compared in terms of their symptom severity. Buddhists and Protestants had lower scores than Catholics and Muslims for obsessive–compulsive behavior and hostility. Muslim group had the highest comparative scores for psychoticism. Buddhists and Protestants had comparatively low scores for paranoid ideation and overall symptom severity, with Catholics and Muslims having high ones. Results reveal that confession should be taken in account in psychological research and diagnosis, since it is explicitly associated with psychological well-being.     

The development of route learning in Down syndrome,Williams syndrome and typical development: investigations with virtual environments

The ability to navigate new environments has a significant impact on the daily life and independence of people with learning difficulties. The aims of this study were to investigate the development of route learning in Down syndrome (N = 50), Williams syndrome (N = 19), and typically developing children between 5 and 11 years old (N = 108); to investigate use of landmarks; and to relate cognitive functions to route‐learning ability in these groups. Overall, measures of attention and long‐term memory were strongly associated with route learning, even once non‐verbal ability was controlled for. All of the groups, including 5‐ to 6‐year‐old TD children, demonstrated the ability to make use of all landmark types to aid route learning; those near junctions, those further from junctions, and also distant landmarks (e.g. church spire, radio mast). Individuals with WS performed better than a matched subset of TD children on more difficult routes; we suggest that this is supported by relatively strong visual feature recognition in the disorder. Participants with DS who had relatively high levels of non‐verbal ability performed at a similar level to TD participants.     

Choking under pressure and working memory capacity: When performance pressure reduces fluid intelligence

Recent findings (Beilock & Carr, 2005) have demonstrated that only individuals with a high working memory capacity (WMC) “choke under pressure” on math problems with high working memory demands. This suggests that performance pressure hinders those who are the most qualified to succeed, because it consumes the WMC they usually rely on to achieve superior performance. This puts into question the use of performance in high-pressure situations as a means of distinguishing individuals with lesser or greater WMC potentials. While addressing several limitations of past research, we offer evidence that such choking (1) occurs only in individuals with high WMC, because of their anxiety-ridden perceptions of high-stakes situations, and (2) is not confined to tasks involving acquired skills and knowledge, but encompasses fluid reasoning abilities or intelligence (Gf). These findings have strong implications for assessments of people’s intellectual capacities in academic, clinical, work, and research settings.     

Managing data for integrity: Policies and procedures for ensuring the accuracy and quality of the data in the laboratory

Management of the research data is an extremely important responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) and other members of the research team. Without accurate data, no worthwhile conclusions can be drawn from the research study. Integrity in data management is critical to the success of the research group and to public trust in the research outcomes. One of the primary responsibilities of the PI is to provide proper training to the junior members of the lab. This effort can be buttressed by institutional data policies that are implemented at the group level. Extensive and frequent guidance in good research practices by the PI and other senior research staff is critical to the proper training of new scientists.