When is an alternative possibility robust?

According to some, free will requires alternative possibilities. But not any old alternative possibility will do. Sometimes, being able to bring about an alternative does not bestow any control on an agent. In order to bestow control, and so be directly relevant qua alternative to grounding the agent's moral responsibility, alternatives need to be robust. Here, I investigate the nature of robust alternatives. I argue that Derk Pereboom's latest robustness criterion is too strong, and I suggest a different criterion based on the idea that what agents need to be able to do is keep open the possibility of securing their blamelessness, rather than needing to directly ensure their own blamelessness at the time of decision.     

Triviality Results for Probabilistic Modals

In recent years, a number of theorists have claimed that beliefs about probability are transparent. To believe probably p is simply to have a high credence that p. In this paper, I prove a variety of triviality results for theses like the above. I show that such claims are inconsistent with the thesis that probabilistic modal sentences have propositions or sets of worlds as their meaning. Then I consider the extent to which a dynamic semantics for probabilistic modals can capture theses connecting belief, certainty, credence, and probability. I show that although a dynamic semantics for probabilistic modals does allow one to validate such theses, it can only do so at a cost. I prove that such theses can only be valid if probabilistic modals do not satisfy the axioms of the probability calculus.     

Mood and Information Processing: When Happy and Sad Look the Same

Two studies were conducted to demonstrate that sad and happy moods can cause individuals to be similarly sensitive to the valence of observed stimuli with regard to how effortfully such stimuli are processed. In Study 1, individuals in whom a sad or happy mood had been induced unitized a behavior sequence less finely when its contents were neutral as opposed to positive. Individuals in a neutral mood state maintained a comparable level of unitization regardless of the valence of the behavior sequence. In Study 2, individuals in whom a sad or a happy mood had been induced processed the arguments in a persuasive communication more extensively when its contents were affectively uplifting rather than depressing. Sad individuals showed this pattern only if no prior affective expectation was provided. Taken together, these studies may fit with the notion that under certain conditions sad and happy individuals similarly decrease the amount of information processed from a neutral (Study 1) or depressing (Study 2), relative to a positive, stimulus.     

Anticipatory responses to perturbation of co-ordination in one-handed catching.

Anticipatory responses to perturbation have rarely been studied in the co-ordination of dynamic interceptive actions. In this study, the kinematics of ball catching were examined in skilled catchers when mechanical perturbation of the catching arm was expected and unexpected. During trials where the perturbation was anticipated, participants initiated movements earlier (207 +/- 32 ms) than in randomly perturbed trials (223 +/- 34 ms). Furthermore, several individuals also tended to move their hand faster when perturbations were expected compared to baseline trials. Individual analyses revealed that three out of eight participants exhibited changes in the relative timing of the grasp phase to adapt to the specific manipulation of task constraints. Anticipatory responses were revealed in changes not only at movement initiation but also in the resulting adaptations to the co-ordination of reach and grasp phases of ball catching. When the catchers could not anticipate perturbations, movement strategies suggested the use of a continuous tracking-based mode of control rather than a prediction-based mode of control.     

Reviews: Books

SCHOPENHAUER'S PORCUPINES: INTIMACY AND ITS DILEMMAS. By Deborah Anna Luepnitz. 275 pp. New York: Basic Books, 2002. $25.00. CITY OF ONE A MEMOIR. By Francine Cournos. 253 pp. New York: Plume, 2000. $12.95. YIDDISHE KOP: CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING IN JEWISH LEARNING, LORE, AND HUMOR. By Rabbi Nilton Bonder. Boston: Shambhala, 1999.     

Further evidence of a robust point-of-view bias in videotaped confessions

Four experiments were conducted to test possible limits on the previously demonstrated point-of-view bias in videotaped confessions. Study 1 showed that deliberation did not eliminate the bias. Study 2 showed that forewarning did not eliminate the bias. Study 3 showed that directing greater attention to the content of the confession did not eliminate the bias. Study 4 showed that using a lengthier, case-based confession also did not eliminate the bias. Taken together, this research clearly indicates that the legal system needs to be concerned with the potential for bias that exists in videotaped confessions. This research was supported by funds from the Ohio Board of Regents and the National Science Foundation (BNS-8911067 and SBR-9514966). We thank Kevin Apple, Kim Dudley, Kelly Kinnison, Melanie LaForce, Matthew Leafgren, Richelle Newvahner, Laurie Olsen, John Ray, Alicia Santuzzi, Jason Secondi, and Katie Strieker for their contributions to various aspects of the research. With the exception of Lassiter, order of authorship is alphabetical.     

Generating alternatives: A key component in human reasoning?

According to mental models theory, a key aspect of deductive reasoning is the production of alternative models that can falsify provisional conclusions. In the present paper, the possibility is investigated that there are individual differences in the ability to produce alternative models. The results indicate that some people do not proceed beyond the first model when they reason with syllogisms but that others do. Furthermore, the ability to generate alternatives can be independently measured by asking participants to generate different representations of pairs of premises. These findings support the predictions of mental models theory and also indicate the potential importance of alternatives generation as a measure of individual differences in processing style.     

Plumbing semantic depths in Amsterdam

The 13th Amsterdam Colloquium was held at the Institute for Logic, Language and Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam, on 17-19 December 2001.     

Construction of preferences by constraint satisfaction

Participants were given a choice between two multiattribute alternatives (job offers). Preferences for the attributes were measured before, during, and after the choices were made. We found that over the course of decision making, the preferences shifted to cohere with the choice: The attributes of the option that was eventually chosen came to be rated more favorably than they had been rated initially, while the attributes of the rejected option received lower preference ratings than before. These coherence shifts were triggered by a single attribute that decisively favored one option (Experiment 1), and occurred spontaneously in the absence of a decisive attribute (Experiment 2). The coherence shift preceded commitment to choice. These findings favor constraint-satisfaction models of decision making.