Externalism, the environment, and thought-tokens

In “Contents just are in the head” (Erkenntnis 54, pp. 321–4.) I have presented two arguments against the thesis of semantic externalism. In “Contents just aren’t in the head” Anthony Brueckner has argued that my arguments are unsuccessful, since they rest upon some misconceptions regarding the nature of this thesis. (Erkenntnis 58, pp. 1–6.) In the present paper I will attempt to clarify and strengthen the case against semantic externalism, and show that Brueckner misses the point of my arguments.     

The Occipital Cortex in the Blind

ABSTRACT— Studying the brains of blind individuals provides a unique opportunity to investigate how the brain changes and adapts in response to afferent (input) and efferent (output) demands. We discuss evidence suggesting that regions of the brain normally associated with the processing of visual information undergo remarkable dynamic change in response to blindness. These neuroplastic changes implicate not only processing carried out by the remaining senses but also higher cognitive functions such as language and memory. A strong emphasis is placed on evidence obtained from advanced neuroimaging techniques that allow researchers to identify areas of human brain activity, as well as from lesion approaches (both reversible and irreversible) to address the functional relevance and role of these activated areas. A possible mechanism and conceptual framework for these physiological and behavioral changes is proposed.     

Differential effects of cannabinoid receptor agonist on social discrimination and contextual fear in amygdala and hippocampus

We examined whether the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (WIN; 5 μg/side) microinjected into the hippocampus or the amygdala would differentially affect memory processes in a neutral vs. an aversive task. In the aversive contextual fear task, WIN into the basolateral amygdala impaired fear acquisition/consolidation, but not retrieval. In the ventral subiculum (vSub), WIN impaired fear retrieval. In the neutral social discrimination task, WIN into the vSub impaired both acquisition/consolidation and retrieval, whereas in the medial amygdala WIN impaired acquisition. The results suggest that cannabinoid signaling differentially affects memory in a task-, region-, and memory stage-dependent manner.     

The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy bibliotherapy for enhancing the psychological health of Japanese college students living abroad

International students often experience significant psychological distress but empirically tested programs are few. Broadly distributed bibliotherapy may provide a cost-effective approach. About half of the Japanese international students in a western university in the United States (N = 70) were randomly assigned to a wait-list or to receive a Japanese translation of a broadly focused acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) self-help book. Although recruited without regard to health status, the sample was highly distressed with nearly 80% exceeding clinical cutoffs on one or more measures. After a 2-months period for the first treatment group to read the book and a 2-month follow up, wait-list participants also received the book. Students receiving the book showed significantly better general mental health at post and follow up. Moderately depressed or stressed, and severely anxious students showed improvement compared to those not receiving the book. These patterns were repeated when the wait-list participants finally received the book. Improvements in primary outcomes were related to how much was learned about an ACT model from the book. Follow-up outcomes were statistically mediated by changes in psychological flexibility, but not vice versa and were moderated by level of initial flexibility. Overall, the data suggest that ACT bibliotherapy improved the mental health and psychological flexibility of Japanese international students.     

Resting on laurels: the effects of discrete progress markers as subgoals on task performance and preferences

This article investigates the influence of progress certainty and discrete progress markers (DPMs) on performance and preferences. The authors suggest that the effects of DPMs depend on whether progress certainty is high or low. When the distance to the goal is uncertain, DPMs can help reduce uncertainty and thus improve performance and increase preference. However, when the distance to the goal is certain, DPMs may generate complacency, sway motivation away from the end goal, and decrease performance in the task, as well as its appeal. Therefore, the addition of more information, feedback, or progress indicators may not always improve task performance and preference for the task. The authors validate these claims in 4 experiments.     

Workplace worries: a preliminary look at online sexual activities at the office-emerging issues for clinicians and employers.

Concerns about the impact of online sexual activities (OSA) on work-life are drastically increasing. This study examined 3,466 respondents who reported OSA, 18.5% of whom reported engaging in OSA at work. They were compared with the 81.5% who engaged in OSA at home, on average time spent in OSA, workplace policies regarding OSA, and relationship status. Two themes were identified and discussed: opportunity and sexual distress. Our findings indicate that participants are cognizant of issues of opportunity (e.g., the OSA from home group was more likely to indicate their workplace has established policies regarding OSA), and privacy, representing an important aspect of this theme (e.g., participants engaging in OSA at work were found to be twice as likely to have extra-marital affairs, compared with the OSA from home group). Secondly, our data suggests that many participants, especially from the OSA at work group, experience OSA-related distress. Engaging in OSA at the workplace may result in decreased productivity, issues of sexual harassment, and concerns about employee well-being. Clearly stated and consistently enforced policies regulating OSA are likely to mitigate workplace OSA. However, a significant minority of employees may have difficulties curbing OSA. Therefore, more sophisticated strategies to deal with workplace OSA should be established. Additional implications of importance for organizations and mental health professionals who support them are discussed.     

Suggestion overrides the Stroop effect in highly hypnotizable individuals

Cognitive scientists distinguish between automatic and controlled mental processes. Automatic processes are either innately involuntary or become automatized through extensive practice. For example, reading words is a purportedly automatic process for proficient readers and the Stroop effect is consequently considered the "gold standard" of automated performance. Although the question of whether it is possible to regain control over an automatic process is mostly unasked, we provide compelling data showing that posthypnotic suggestion reduced and even removed Stroop interference in highly hypnotizable individuals. Drawing on a large sample of highly hypnotizable participants, we examined the effects of suggestion on Stroop performance both with and without a posthypnotic suggestion to perceive the input stream as meaningless symbols. We show that suggestion administered to highly hypnotizable persons significantly reduced Stroop interference and derailed a seemingly automatic process.     

Effects of fasting on visual flicker fusion

Two experiments are reported which investigated the effects of fasting on visual flicker fusion (VFF). In Exp. 1 the VFF of 40 undergraduate students, 20 men and 20 women, whose mean age was 22.5 yr., was measured in nonfasting conditions 1 to 2 weeks before and in fasting conditions during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. In Exp. 2 the VFF of a comparable group of 15 men and 15 women, whose mean age was 23.2 yr., was measured in a different month in both fasting and nonfasting conditions. Subjects were assigned randomly to these two conditions. Analysis shows that fasting reduced VFF significantly in both experiments. This finding indicates that fasting is likely to reduce perceptual sensitivity. The results were explained in terms of fatigue and physical exhaustion effects produced by fasting.     

It's lonely at the bottom (too): The effects of experienced powerlessness on social closeness and disengagement

Although “powerlessness” is a pervasive experience for employees, prior social power research has predominantly focused on consequences of “powerfulness.” This has led to contradictory predictions for how experienced powerlessness influences employees’ social perceptions and behaviors. To resolve this theoretical tension, we build on Social Distance Theory (Magee & Smith) to develop a theoretical model suggesting that experienced powerlessness reduces social closeness and subsequently causes social disengagement behaviors both at work (reduced helping and increased interaction avoidance) and at home (increased withdrawal). Our model also elucidates the processes that cause powerlessness to reduce social closeness, demonstrating that employees’ affiliation motive and their expectation of others’ interest in affiliating explain this relationship. We further propose that the effect of powerlessness on social closeness will be stronger for employees high (vs. low) in political skill because these employees are more attuned to workplace power dynamics. We find support for our model in an experience-sampling field experiment and two experimental scenario studies. Our research clarifies the effects of powerlessness on social closeness and organizationally relevant downstream consequences, qualifies dominant assumptions that the powerless always behave in ways opposite those of the powerful, and demonstrates the importance of political skill as a moderator of power's effects.