Active suppression in the mediotemporal lobe during directed forgetting

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether forgetting is merely a passive process or whether it can also be caused by active suppression of memory contents.We investigated effects of directed forgetting by intracranial event-related potentials (ERPs) in 12 patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. In a single-item directed forgetting paradigm, the patients were presented with words either followed by the instruction that this word has to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF). All patients were implanted with multicontact depth electrodes along the rhinal cortex and hippocampus as part of their presurgical evaluation.Patients recognized significantly less TBF than TBR words in a subsequent recognition test. In the hippocampus, TBF cues that caused subsequent forgetting were associated with decreased negative ERPs. In the rhinal cortex, TBF cues elicited a generally prolonged positivity, as compared to TBR cues.We interpret the decreased hippocampal ERPs following the TBF cues as an indication for an active suppression of hippocampal functions. The increased rhinal activity in response to the TBF cue might indicate an active involvement of this structure in the suppression of hippocampal memory formation.     

Human Decisions in Moral Dilemmas are Largely Described by Utilitarianism: Virtual Car Driving Study Provides Guidelines for Autonomous Driving Vehicles

Science and Engineering Ethics - Ethical thought experiments such as the trolley dilemma have been investigated extensively in the past, showing that humans act in utilitarian ways, trying to cause...     

Grouping in the shine-through effect

How the elements of a visual scene are grouped into objects is one of the most fundamental but still poorly understood questions in visual neuroscience. Most investigations of perceptual grouping focus on static stimuli, neglecting temporal aspects. Using a masking paradigm, we show that the neural mechanisms underlying grouping seem to be both fast and complex. For example, a vernier target was followed by, first, a briefly presented grating and, then, a long-lasting, extended grating. Under these conditions, the briefly presented grating is hardly visible. Still, vernier discrimination strongly changed with the number of elements of the briefly displayed grating being worst for small gratings. In accordance with a neural network model of masking, we propose that the edges of the briefly presented grating and the vernier interfere in spite of the short presentation time. We suggest that this fast edge processing is a first step for unconscious grouping processes.     

Rorty's critique of foundationalism

Summary and conclusion Rorty's critique concentrates on one aspect of foundationalism: the claim that nonpropositional sensory awareness serves as the basis for propositional justification. This claim is an essential component of classical foundationalism, though not necessarily of the more moderate versions of foundationalism that have been proposed. Thus even if it were a successful critique it would tell against only one type of foundationalism. But nothing in Rorty's argument provides any reason to doubt the plausibility of a classical foundationalist explanation of why sensory awareness justifies ordinary nonbasic propositions. Even classical foundationalism, then, remains untouched by Rorty's critique.     

Weibull analysis of the biaxial fracture strength of a cast p-type LAST-T thermoelectric material

This is the first study applying Weibull statistics to the strength distribution of a thermoelectric (TE) material and to determine the fracture strength of a member of the LAST-T (lead–antimony–silver–tellurium–tin) family of high-temperature TE compounds. The p-type TE material Ag_0.9Pb₉Sn₉Sb_0.6Te₂₀ was cast from the melt and specimens cut from the resulting ingot were fractured in a ball-on-ring biaxial fracture test. The Weibull parameters (characteristic strength and Weibull modulus) were obtained from the fracture data. Implications of the Weibull analysis on the fabrication of TE devices are discussed.     

Wittgenstein on the Infinity of Primes

It is controversial whether Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics is of critical importance for mathematical proofs, or is only concerned with the adequate philosophical interpretation of mathematics. Wittgenstein's remarks on the infinity of prime numbers provide a helpful example which will be used to clarify this question. His antiplatonistic view of mathematics contradicts the widespread understanding of proofs as logical derivations from a set of axioms or assumptions. Wittgenstein's critique of traditional proofs of the infinity of prime numbers, specifically those of Euler and Euclid, not only offers philosophical insight but also suggests substantive improvements. A careful examination of his comments leads to a deeper understanding of what proves the infinity of primes.     

Exploring the Effects of Creativity Training on Creative Performance and Creative Self‐Efficacy: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study

In organizations and educational institutions, creativity trainings are the preferred approach to enhancing individual creative abilities. However, three issues regarding these trainings still remain largely unsolved. First, the question of how long‐lasting creativity training effects are has not been sufficiently answered so far. Second, the question arises whether all participants benefit from such trainings equally in terms of their creative performance (CP). Third, an increasing number of studies have shown that creativity trainings may also be able to increase participants' creative self‐efficacy (CSE), that is, the confidence in one's own creativity. Other studies, however, did not find evidence for this effect. Therefore, this article aims to address these issues by analyzing data from three measurement waves. Results reveal that participants' CP increased during the training and decreased only slightly 4 weeks after the training. Additionally, we found an effect of diminishing training returns in that the higher a participant's CP before the training the lower the training effect was. In contrast to most prior literature, we found no support for an effect of creativity training on participants' CSE. We discuss these findings and offer implications for both theory and practice. Finally, we state this study's limitations and derive avenues for further research.     

From Johann to Maurice: Science and Expression in the Philosophical Praxis of Medicine

Human Studies - Phenomenology’s return to lived experience and “to the things themselves” is often contrasted with the synthesized perspective of science and its “view from...