Berkeley and the Primary Qualities: Idealization vs. Abstraction

In the First of the Three Dialogues, Berkeley’s Hylas, responding to Philonous’s question whether extension and motion are separable from secondary qualities, says:

What! Is it not an easy matter, to consider extension and motion by themselves, . . . Pray how do the mathematicians treat of them?

After some introductory comments I propose to contrast Philonous’s (Berkeley’s) answer to this question, with an alternative, arguing for the following. (1) A distinction, Berkeley would accept should be made between abstraction as Berkeley conceives it in The Introduction to the Principles of Human Knowledge and idealization, exemplified by Galileo’s ignoring friction in formulating the law of free-fall. (2) Idealizations, being neither sensible objects nor Platonic forms, illustrate the way mathematically inclined natural philosophers of the time would treat some sensible objects. (3) Therefore one puzzle Berkeley raises, whether extension can exist without color or tactile qualities, disappears. (4) So too can the resemblance puzzle be easily avoided, that is how ideas (taken here to be sensible objects) can resemble what’s in principle insensible. Lastly I suggest this way of developing Hylas’s above remark is consistent with, though not requiring, Berkeley’s idealist metaphysics.     

Role of thought-related beliefs and coping strategies in the escalation of intrusive thoughts: an analog to obsessive-compulsive disorder

Cognitive-behavioral models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) assume that obsessions have their origin in normal intrusive thoughts. These models propose that certain beliefs, such as thought-action fusion (TAF) beliefs, combined with the use of ineffective coping strategies, such as thought suppression, lead to the development of OCD. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between these variables in a non-clinical sample in addition to exploring the effects of an alternative, acceptance-based coping strategy. This study explored the relationship between TAF beliefs, thought suppression, and OC-consistent symptoms via mediational analyses. Results showed that thought suppression mediated the relationship between TAF beliefs and OC-consistent symptoms. This study also experimentally examined the effects of various coping strategies (suppression, acceptance, or monitor-only) on the frequency of a distressing intrusion and appraisal ratings (e.g., anxiety, guilt, responsibility) after a TAF induction. Spontaneous suppression in the monitor-only group made comparisons of the experimental data difficult. However, analyses provided preliminary evidence suggesting that thought suppression is related to more intrusions, higher levels of anxiety, and negative appraisals, whereas an acceptance-based approach may be a useful alternative. Additional findings, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Agreement between observers when the categories are not specified in advance

To test the agreement between two observers who categorize a number of objects when the categories have not been specified in advance, Brennan & Light (1974) developed a statistic A′ and suggested a normal approximation for its distribution. In this paper it is shown that this approximation is inadequate particularly when one, or both, of the observers place a fairly equal number of objects in all of their categories. A chi-squared approximation to the distribution of A′ is developed and is shown to work well in a variety of situations. The relative powers of A′ and the ordinary X² test for association are dependent on the type of ‘agreement between the observers’ that is assumed. However a simulation for a fairly general type of agreement indicates that the X² test is more powerful. As the X² test is also much easier to apply, it would seem preferable in most situations.     

Further routes to psychological constructionism

In this commentary, we do two things. First, we sketch two further routes to psychological constructionism. They are complementary to Lindquist et al.'s meta-analyses and have potential to add new evidence. Second, we look at a challenging kind of case for constructionism, namely, emotional anomalies where there are correlated, and probably relevant, brain anomalies. Psychopaths are our example.     

Adolescent Precursors of Intensity of Marijuana and Other Illicit Drug Use Among Adult Initiators

This study examined (a) adolescent psychosocial risk factors for frequency (intensity) of marijuana use and for other illicit drug use among those who started using these drugs in early adulthood (adult initiators) and (b) the protective role of parent-adolescent relations in reducing or preventing drug use when adolescents enter early adulthood. The study's participants were male and female youth from a longitudinal prospective study. The participants' mean ages were 17 and 22 years at late adolescence and early adulthood, respectively. Independent measures assessed personality, parental, peer, and self-drug-use factors during late adolescence; dependent measures assessed frequency of marijuana use and other illicit drug use during early adulthood for initiators of the respective drug categories. The authors found that intensity of marijuana use was directly associated with the personality, parental, and self-drug-use domains and indirectly associated with the peer domain. Intensity of other illicit drug use was directly associated with personality and self-drug use. Analyses also revealed that some parent-adolescent relations factors buffered the effects of risk factors for both marijuana and other illicit drug-use intensity, whereas others enhanced the effects of protective factors against other illicit drug-use intensity. The results indicate that there are both commonalities and differences in precursors of marijuana and other illicit drug-use intensity among initiators of these drugs during early adulthood.     

Henze on logic,creativity and art

Book Information The Indispensability of Mathematics. By Mark Colyvan. Oxford University Press. New York. 2001. Pp. 172. Hardback, £30.00.     

Students' preferences for male or female counselors for social and educational problems

Fifty-eight male and 66 female junior high school students were examined to determine their preferences for sex of counselor under personal/social and educational hypothetical counseling situations. Girls demonstrated a definite same-sex preference for both counseling situations, while boys preferred male counselors for personal/social counseling and had opposite-sex preferences for educational counseling. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of earlier contradictory results from research on college students.