Dehumanization and Guilt as Distinct but Related Predictors of Support for Reparation Policies

In two studies, we predicted that support for reparation policies would be influenced positively by feelings of group-based guilt and negatively by dehumanization of the outgroup. We also hypothesized that a valence manipulation of the ingroup's behavior would cause differences in such support which would be mediated by guilt. In the first study, we manipulated the valence of past ingroup behavior and assessed guilt, dehumanization, and reparation support. As expected, guilt predicted positively and dehumanization negatively participants' support. In addition, guilt partially mediated the manipulation effects on policy support. Consistent with previous research, guilt and dehumanization were unrelated. In Study 2, we assessed individual differences in dehumanization before the manipulation and examined their associations with guilt and reparation support. Initial analyses replicated Study 1. In addition, guilt partially mediated the influence of dehumanization on reparation support. Results suggest that the presence of guilt motivates support for reparation policies, while the absence of guilt explains in part why individual differences in dehumanization inhibit such support.     

Specified Meet Contraction

Specified meet contraction is the operation ?\div defined by the identity K ?p = K   ~  f(p)K \div p = K \,{\sim}\, f(p) where ∼ is full meet contraction and f is a sentential selector, a function from sentences to sentences. With suitable conditions on the sentential selector, specified meet contraction coincides with the partial meet contractions that yield a finite-based contraction outcome if the original belief set is finite-based. In terms of cognitive realism, specified meet contraction has an advantage over partial meet contraction in that the selection mechanism operates on sentences rather than on temporary infinite structures (remainders) that are cognitively inaccessible. Specified meet contraction provides a versatile framework in which other types of contraction, such as severe withdrawal and base-generated contraction, can be expressed with suitably chosen properties of the sentential selector.     

On building models of spoken-word recognition: When there is as much to learn from natural “oddities” as artificial normality

Much of what we know about spoken-word recognition comes from studies relying on speech stimuli either carefully produced in the laboratory or computer altered. Although such stimuli have allowed key constructs to be highlighted, the extent to which these constructs are operative in the processing of everyday speech is unclear. We argue that studying the recognition of naturally occurring degraded speech, such as that produced by individuals with neurological disease, can improve the external validity of existing spoken-word recognition models. This claim is illustrated in an experiment on the effect of talker-specific (indexical) variations on lexical access. We found that talker specificity effects, wherein words are better recalled if played in the same voice than in a different voice between two consecutive blocks, were greater when the words were spoken by dysarthric than by healthy individuals. The effects were found to relate to the increased processing time caused by the dysarthric stimuli, independently of their reduced intelligibility. This result is consistent with Luce, McLennan, and Charles-Luce's (2003) time-course hypothesis, which posits that reliance on indexical details increases when responses are delayed by suboptimal processing conditions. We conclude by advocating the use of laboratory and naturally occurring degraded speech in tandem and more systematic cross-talks between psycholinguistics and the speech sciences.     

Different responses in two strains of chickens (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gallus gallus</Emphasis>) in a magnetic orientation test

Previous studies demonstrated that layer strain domestic chicks bred for egg production can orient using directional cues from the magnetic field; here we report that chicks from a broiler strain bred for meat production do not use magnetic cues for orientation. We imprinted both strains of chicken on a red ball and subsequently trained them in a featureless testing arena. Between rewarded trials in the geomagnetic field, we inserted unrewarded tests under the following conditions: (1) in the geomagnetic field, (2) in a magnetic field with North shifted by 90 degrees and (3) in a magnetic field with the inclination inverted. The layer chicks made a correct axial response in 75-80% of the tests, shifting their choices following a rotation of magnetic North. Chicks of the broiler strain, in contrast, performed at chance level with between 47 and 60% of choices on the correct axis. This difference between the strains does not appear to be due to substantial strain differences in motivation to perform the task. It therefore appears possible that the selection of the broiler strain has led to the elimination of the specific ability to respond to magnetic cues in the test situation.     

Platitudes against Paradox

We present a strategy to dissolve semantic paradoxes which proceeds from an explanation of why paradoxical sentences or their definitions are semantically defective. This explanation is compatible with the acceptability of impredicative definitions, self-referential sentences and semantically closed languages and leaves the status of the so-called truth-teller sentence unaffected. It is based on platitudes which encode innocuous constraints on successful definition and successful expression of propositional content. We show that the construction of liar paradoxes and of certain versions of Curry’s paradox rests on presuppositions that violate these innocuous constraints. Other versions of Curry’s paradox are shown not to be paradoxical at all once their presuppositions are made explicit. Part of what we say rehearses a proposal originally made by Laurence Goldstein in 1985. Like Goldstein we dispose of certain paradoxes by rejecting some of the premises from which they must be taken to proceed. However, we disagree with his more recent view that the premises to be rejected are neither true nor false.     

Psychotherapeutenausbildung aus Sicht der Absolventen

Background

A survey was performed to assess the current situation in education and to identify critical issues 10 years after the inception of the psychotherapy act in Germany.

Methods

In August 2008 all non-medical psychotherapists who had graduated since 2002 according the psychotherapy act were invited to take part in the survey and a total of 863 persons participated. The answers from 666 could be evaluated corresponding to a participation rate of 20%.

Results

A total of 57.6% of the graduates had completed a full-time training and approximately 50% of the graduates had completed the training within the allotted time. In the majority of cases evaluation occurred only for the theoretical courses. During the practical work (PT I) 36.8% of the graduates did not receive any salary or remuneration, 82% had their own field of activity and of these 38% treated patients without the presence of qualified tutor.

Conclusions

The training often lasts longer than intended, the financial situation in the PT I is exceptionally critical and in clear contrast to the field of activity in this section of training. Further detailed results will be presented and discussed.     

Preserved Implicit Knowledge of a Forgotten Childhood Language

ABSTRACT— Previous research suggests that a language learned during early childhood is completely forgotten when contact to that language is severed. In contrast with these findings, we report leftover traces of early language exposure in individuals in their adult years, despite a complete absence of explicit memory for the language. Specifically, native English individuals under age 40 selectively relearned subtle Hindi or Zulu sound contrasts that they once knew. However, individuals over 40 failed to show any relearning, and young control participants with no previous exposure to Hindi or Zulu showed no learning. This research highlights the lasting impact of early language experience in shaping speech perception, and the value of exposing children to foreign languages even if such exposure does not continue into adulthood.     

Liberalism, entitlement, and verdict exclusion

In a series of recent papers, Crispin Wright has developed and defended an epistemic account of borderline cases which he calls ‘Liberalism’. If Verdict Exclusion is the claim that no polar verdict on borderline cases is knowledgeable, then Liberalism implies the view that Verdict Exclusion is itself nothing we are in a position to know. It is a matter of ongoing discussion what more Liberalism implies. In any case, Wright argues that Liberalism affords the means to account for the intuition that polar verdicts on borderline cases are equally permissible. Here I argue that Liberalism fails to deliver and that an account of borderline cases based on Verdict Exclusion fares much better when it comes to showing that our ordinary practice of reaching verdicts on borderline cases is fully legitimate: all it needs is a reassessment of the nature of the claims such verdicts express.