Anatomy of a proposition

Synthese - This paper addresses the mereological problem of the unity of structured propositions. The problem is how to make multiple parts interact such that they form a whole that is ultimately...     

Introduction: primitivism versus reductionism about the problem of the unity of the proposition

Synthese - We present here the papers selected for the volume on the Unity of Propositions problems. After summarizing what the problems are, we locate them in a spectrum from those aiming to...     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the behavior rating inventory of executive function in a neuro-pediatric sample and its application to mental disorders

The construct validity of the 9-scale version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) parent form was examined in a clinical sample of children and adolescents with neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders (N = 281). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model separating the inhibitory behavioral control dimension from the emotional control and metacognitive problem-solving dimensions. The Metacognitive factor was also related to a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after controlling for age, gender, IQ, adaptive functioning, and a conventional behavioral rating scale, which included inattention-hyperactivity symptoms. The Emotional Regulation factor was related to a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder. Correlational analyses indicated that child comorbid emotional and behavioral problems may exacerbate parental BRIEF reporting. Accordingly, when assessing executive function among children with neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, the BRIEF should be complemented with assessments of mental health problems.     

Symptomatic distress and effectiveness of psychological treatments delivered at a nationwide student counseling service

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of student counseling in Denmark and to compare the symptomatic distress among student counseling clients with that of Danish outpatients. The pre-intervention level of self-reported symptomatic distress among 1256 students closely paralleled that of psychiatric outpatients. Participants in the intervention study were the 739 student clients with two or more counseling sessions. For the 530 (71.7%) participants with both pre- and post-measurements, the mean pre–post Cohen’s d effect size (ES) was .76 on the Global Severity Index of the Symptom Check List-90-Revised. An intention-to-treat analysis of all 739 clients resulted in an ES of .59. The number of recovered clients according to the Jacobson and Truax criteria was 295 (68.8%) of the 429 (80.9%) clients above the clinical cut-off at pre-intervention, while 66 (12.5%) of the 530 clients reliably deteriorated. The mean number of sessions was 5.0. Individual counseling, number of sessions, and ending counseling in agreement predicted better outcome. In line with results from other countries, this study may indicate that in Denmark student counseling is an effective intervention for a highly needy clientele, even though a high proportion of clients deteriorated (12.5%) or dropped out (31.7%).     

Exposing the conjuring trick: Wittgenstein on subjectivity

Since the publication of the Philosophical Investigations in 1953, Wittgenstein's later philosophy of mind has been the subject of numerous books and articles. Although most commentators agree that Wittgenstein was neither a behaviorist nor a Cartesian dualist, many continue to ascribe to him a position that strongly resembles one of the alternatives. In contrast, this paper argues that Wittgenstein was strongly opposed to behaviorism and Cartesianism, and that he was concerned to show that these positions implicitly share a problematic assumption. This assumption is a seemingly innocent idea that subjectivity, or mind, is some kind of object or thing. The paper provides a detailed survey of Wittgenstein's critique of Cartesianism and behaviorism, as well as an outline of Wittgenstein's alternative account of subjectivity.     

Religious Unbelief in Three Western European Countries: Identifying and Characterizing Unbeliever Types Using Latent Class Analysis

The different forms of religious unbelief are still much of an open question. Using data (N = 4,404) from three European countries—Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands—we sought to identify underlying unbeliever groups among those with the strongest disbelief in God (N = 2,258). Latent class analyses were conducted on the nontheistic supernatural beliefs of this subsection of participants, resulting in the same three unbeliever groups in each country: analytic atheists, spiritual but not religious (SBNR), and uncertain nonbelievers. Next, we explored these groups on a variety of dimensions, especially on the group members’ attitudes to religion, certainty of beliefs, cognitive dispositions, and worldview. One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed similarities as well as distinct characters for each of the latent groups. The groups differed most in intuitive thinking style, overmentalizing bias, and other ontological confusions. To compare the latent groups to all other individuals who took part in the study, two discriminant analyses were run with all participants. This resulted in four meaningful dimensions that supported and extended the ANOVAs findings and allowed for the consideration of other (non)believers. Overall, this study supports earlier findings on analytic atheists and SBNR while providing new information about their dispositions. Of interest, the uncertain nonbeliever group has been largely unexplored previously, and it should gain more attention in future studies.     

Sinking Cohen's Flagship — or Why People with Expensive Tastes Should not be Compensated

G. A. Cohen argues that egalitarians should compensate for expensive tastes or for the fact that they are expensive. Ronald Dworkin, by contrast, regards most expensive tastes as unworthy of compensation — only if a person disidentifies with his own such tastes (i.e. wishes he did not have them) is compensation appropriate. Dworkinians appeal, inter alia, to the so‐called ‘first‐person’ or ‘continuity’ test. According to the continuity test, an appropriate standard of interpersonal comparison reflects people's own assessment of their relative standing: Person A can only legitimately demand compensation from person B if he regards himself as worse off, all things considered, than B. The typical bearer of expensive tastes does not regard herself as being worse off than others with less expensive tastes. Hence, in the typical case, pace Cohen, compensation for expensive tastes is inappropriate. The article scrutinizes this rationale for not compensating for expensive tastes. Especially, we try to bolster the continuity test by relating it to Dworkin's distinction between integrated and detached values, pointing out that an argument for the continuity test can be built on the assumption that equality has integrated value. In brief, the point is that a metric of equality should be assessed, partly, in virtue of its consequences for related ideals. One of these is the kind of justificatory community promoted by the continuity test. We defend this view against an objection to the effect that equality is a detached value. We conclude that the continuity test constitutes a strong foothold for the resourcist egalitarian reluctance to compensate people for their expensive tastes.     

Age Affects Strategic But Not Spontaneous Recall in 35- and 46-Month-old Children

ABSTRACT

It is well documented that young children have difficulties with strategically remembering past events. Recent evidence on event memory in 35- and 46-month-old children suggests that strategic retrieval (yes/no questions) improves with age, whereas spontaneous retrieval is relatively unaffected by age. We here replicate and extend those findings (N = 124): First, a novel free (strategic) recall test was added to improve ecological validity. Second, the free recall procedure allowed us to make direct comparisons between spontaneous and free strategic recall relative to age. The free recall test revealed similar results in the standard yes/no questions (older children outperformed younger). The direct comparison between spontaneous and free recall revealed a reliable interaction between age and retrieval mode: While the children’s age did not affect spontaneous recall, the 46-month-olds outperformed the 35-month-olds on the free recall test. The results add to the accumulating evidence that spontaneous recall of events is an early developmental achievement.     

Depression and cognitive sequelae registered within the first year among young Danish TBI survivors

The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of depression and cognitive sequelae among young (15-30 years) Danish TBI survivors referred to interdisciplinary evaluation through a nationwide government-initiated health initiative. The cross-sectional study is based on data from the “Danish register for young adults with acquired brain injury” on TBI survivors included from October 2013 to December 2016. The main measures were Major depression inventory, Trail making test A and B, Fluency, Word learning with selective reminding, Matrix reasoning, Coding and Glasgow outcome scale - extended (GOS-E). During the study period, 131 young TBI survivors were referred to one of five national outpatient clinics. Ninety-six had complete data and of these 14.6% fulfilled the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for depression and 34.4% had cognitive sequelae. An association was found between depression and cognitive sequelae (p = 0.004). Patients with both depression and cognitive sequelae (n = 10) had a significantly lower mean score on GOS-E (p = 0.0001). Depression and cognitive sequelae were frequent and associated with a poorer global functional outcome among young TBI survivors referred within a year after trauma. This finding and the notion that only 20% of the expected TBI population was referred to this nationwide health initiative indicate an unacknowledged need for interdisciplinary follow-up.