Is Easy Access Related to Better Life? Walkability and Overlapping of Personal and Communal Identity as Predictors of Quality of Life

Two studies (N?=?190 and N?=?447) were conducted to investigate the link between living in walkable neighborhoods and satisfaction with life in a city. Additionally, we explore possible mediators of this relationship. In both studies walkability was a significant predictor of perceived quality of life in a city, and overlap between personal and communal identity (in Study 1 and Study 2) and city identification (Study 2) were mediators of the walkability—quality of life relation. Implications for research on environmental qualities of neighborhoods and on self-concept and communal identity are discussed.     

Agency,communion and entitlement

In this study, the relationship between agency, communion, and the active, passive, and revenge forms of entitlement is examined. Results indicate that active entitlement was positively related to agency, negatively to communion (Study 1), and unrelated to unmitigated agency and communion (Study 2). Passive entitlement was positively related to communion (in regular and unmitigated forms) and negatively related to agency (in both forms). Revenge entitlement was positively related to agency (unmitigated and regular), and negatively related to both regular and unmitigated communal orientations. Detected relationships were independent from self‐esteem (Study 1). The findings are discussed in relation to distinctions between narcissistic and healthy entitlement, and within the context of the three‐dimensional model of entitlement.     

A Semantic Approach to Conservativity

The aim of this paper is to describe from a semantic perspective the problem of conservativity of classical first-order theories over their intuitionistic counterparts. In particular, we describe a class of formulae for which such conservativity results can be proven in case of any intuitionistic theory T which is complete with respect to a class of T-normal Kripke models. We also prove conservativity results for intuitionistic theories which are closed under the Friedman translation and complete with respect to a class of conversely well-founded Kripke models. The results can be applied to a wide class of intuitionistic theories and can be viewed as generalization of the results obtained by syntactic methods.     

Distribution of Cr atoms in a strained and strain-relaxed Fe89.15Cr10.75 alloy: a Mössbauer effect study

An Fe_89.15Cr_10.75 alloy in a heavily strained (by cold rolling) state and in strain-relaxed states was studied by means of conversion electrons Mössbauer spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra in terms of a two-shell model revealed significant differences between the studied samples, particularly in values of the hyperfine field and the distribution of Cr atoms within the first two neighbour shells. The latter is quantified in terms of short-range order parameters.     

The SameP-Relation as a Response to Critics of Baker's Theory of Constitution

According to the so-called “standard account” regarding the problem of material constitution, a statue and a lump of clay that makes it up are not identical. The usual objection is that this view yields many objects in the same place at the same time. Lynne Rudder Baker's theory of constitution is a recent and sophisticated version of the standard account. She argues that the aforementioned objection can be answered by defining a relation of being the same P as (sameP). In this paper I shall examine consequences of her response and show that sameP has wrong formal properties, as a result of which this solution cannot be accepted.     

The effect of motivation on working memory: an fMRI and SEM study

This study investigated the effective connectivity between prefrontal regions of human brain supporting motivational influence on working memory. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to examine the interaction between the lateral orbitofrontal (OFC), medial OFC, and dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) regions in the left and right hemisphere during performance of the verbal 2-back working memory task under two reinforcement conditions. The "low-motivation" condition was not associated with monetary reinforcement, while the "high-motivation" condition involved the probability of winning a certain amount of money. In the "low-motivation" condition, the OFC regions in both hemispheres positively influenced the left DLPFC activity. In the "high-motivation" condition, the connectivity in the network including the right OFC regions and left DLPFC changed from positive to negative, whereas the positive connectivity in the network composed of the left OFC and left DLPFC became slightly enhanced compared with the "low-motivation" condition. However, only the connection between the right lateral OFC and left DLPFC showed a significant condition-dependent change in the strength of influence conveyed through the pathway. This change appears to be the functional correlate of motivational influence on verbal working memory.     

Empty signifiers,education and politics

The paper assumes that education is part of the process of discursive construction of society. The theoretical framework on which this argument is based includes Ernesto Laclau’s theory of the “ontological impossibility and political necessity of society”, and the role discourse and empty signifiers play in the establishment of political identities. Laclau’s theory is supplemented here by ideas of Derrida, Lacan, Žižek and Marx, and by other traits in contemporary semiotics that relate to the notion of “the void” in semantic systems. My claim is that empty signifiers, crucial to the production of the totality of society, are discursively produced, among others, in pedagogical debates. This is illustrated by one historical example (Rouuseau), which gives ground for more contemporary analyses, and on the basis of the present economic discourse of educating and the idea of “knowledge society”. The main conclusion is that education, in contemporary discourse of learning, becomes a neurotic symptom of the lack of overt domination in social relations.

Against a Minimalist Reading of Bell's Theorem: Lessons from Fine

Since the validity of Bell's inequalities implies the existence of joint probabilities for non-commuting observables, there is no universal consensus as to what the violation of these inequalities signifies. While the majority view is that the violation teaches us an important lesson about the possibility of explanations, if not about metaphysical issues, there is also a minimalist position claiming that the violation is to be expected from simple facts about probability theory. This minimalist position is backed by theorems due to A. Fine and I. Pitowsky.Our paper shows that the minimalist position cannot be sustained. To this end,we give a formally rigorous interpretation of joint probabilities in thecombined modal and spatiotemporal framework of `stochastic outcomes inbranching space-time' (SOBST) (Kowalski and Placek, 1999; Placek, 2000). We show in this framework that the claim that there can be no joint probabilities fornon-commuting observables is incorrect. The lesson from Fine's theorem is notthat Bell's inequalities will be violated anyhow, but that an adequate modelfor the Bell/Aspect experiment must not define global joint probabilities. Thus we investigate the class of stochastic hidden variable models, whichprima facie do not define such joint probabilities. The reasonwhy these models fail supports the majority view: Bell's inequalities are notjust a mathematical artifact.