寻求最佳说明的推理——访彼得·理普顿教授

彼得·理普顿是当代科学哲学领域内的著名学者。他在牛津大学获得哲学学士和博士学位,现任汉斯·罗森教授席位,剑桥大学科学史和科学哲学系主任,国王学院荣誉成员。同时,他也是研究生命伦理的努费尔德委员会成员,并主持其中的生物基因研究小组。他的哲学兴趣集中在科学中的说明和推理、科学进步、社会认识论、科学与宗教之间的关系以及生物医学伦理等。著有《最佳说明的推理》(1991年第1版,2004年第2版),该书于2004年获得了英国皇家学会讲座的梅达沃奖。作者就当代科学哲学领域内的一些问题,尤其是有关最佳说明的推理问题对他做了一次专访。…     

"行为式"本体论研究(下)——"How performatives really work"对塞尔观点的抨击

塞尔的"行为式如何进行"一文发表在1989年的<语言学与哲学>(Linguistics and Philosophy)期刊上;三年后,同样从事言语行为理论研究的学者巴赫(Bach)和汉利什(Harnish)在同一个期刊上联名发表"行为式如何真正进行:给塞尔的回复(How Performatives Really work:A Reply to Searle)".塞尔在文章中曾抨击其他学者对行为式话语的研究,巴赫、汉利什就是遭他点名批评的当事人.     

Factor analysis to examine psychometric properties of family functioning measures

To assess the relationship of family functioning to problem behaviors and alcohol and drug use among youth, researchers must test the effects of interventions using suitably constructed and psychometrically sound scales. This study evaluated whether originally calculated coefficients alpha underestimate the reliability of the family functioning measures given. Through exploratory factor analysis, estimates of alternative internal consistency reliability which might improve the estimate of reliability were examined. Responses of 755 adults from Strengthening Multi-ethnic Families and Communities were analyzed. Coefficients alpha for two scales were modest (alpha = .68 and alpha = .75), and factor analysis indicated that the scales were multidimensional. After exploratory factor analysis, the reassessment of reliability based on the extracted factors indicated an overall increase in the coefficients alpha.     

The structure of traits delineating personality disorder in a Chinese sample

The present study examined the factorial structure of a Chinese language version of the self-report Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology Questionnaire in 581 adults. Four factors were extracted (Emotional Dysregulation, Dissocial, Inhibition, and Compulsivity) that are similar to the factors extracted in the scales' normative clinical and general population samples from North America (factor comparability coefficients range from .88 to .96), supporting the idea that this trait structure is invariant across diverse populations. The internal consistency of the scales (Cronbach's alpha) was satisfactory across age and gender groups with the exception of the Intimacy Problems scale. Possible explanations for the poor internal consistency of the Intimacy Problems scale, such as cultural differences in social factors influencing marital and romantic relationships in Chinese populations, as opposed to other populations are discussed.     

Observing emotion in infants: facial expression,body behavior,and rater judgments of responses to an expectancy-violating event

Eleven-month-old European-American, Japanese, and Chinese infants (ns = 23, 21, and 15, respectively) were videotaped during baseline and stimulus episodes of a covert toy-switch procedure. Infants looked longer at the object during the expectancy-violating event (stimulus episode) but did not produce more surprise-related facial expressions. American and Japanese infants produced more bodily stilling during stimulus than baseline, and American infants also produced more facial sobering. Naive raters viewing both episodes could correctly identify the expectancy-violating event. Rater judgments of surprise were significantly related to infants' bodily stilling and facial sobering. Judgments of interest were related to cessation of fussing. Thus, observer judgments of infant emotions can be systematically related to behaviors other than prototypic emotional facial expressions.     

Object recognition is mediated by extraretinal information

Many previous studies of object recognition have found view-dependent recognition performance when view changes are produced by rotating objects relative to a stationary viewing position. However, the assumption that an object rotation is equivalent to an observer viewpoint change ignores the potential contribution of extraretinal information that accompanies observer movement. In four experiments, we investigated the role of extraretinal information on real-world object recognition. As in previous studies focusing on the recognition of spatial layouts across view changes, observers performed better in an old/new object recognition task when view changes were caused by viewer movement than when they were caused by object rotation. This difference between viewpoint and orientation changes was due not to the visual background, but to the extraretinal information available during real observer movements. Models of object recognition need to consider other information available to an observer in addition to the retinal projection in order to fully understand object recognition in the real world.     

The role of priming in conjunctive visual search

To assess the role of priming in conjunctive visual search tasks, we systematically varied the consistency of the target and distractor identity between different conditions. Search was fastest in the standard conjunctive search paradigm where identities remained constant. Search was slowest when potential target identity varied predictably for each successive trial (the 'switch' condition). The role of priming was also demonstrated on a trial-by-trial basis in a 'streak' condition where target and distractor identity was unpredictable yet was consistent within streaks. When the target to be found was the same for a few trials in a row, search performance became similar to that when the potential target was the same on all trials. A similar pattern was found for the target absent trials, suggesting that priming is based on the whole search array rather than just the target in each case. Further analysis indicated that the effects of priming are sufficiently strong to account for the advantage seen for the conjunctive search task. We conclude that the role of priming in visual search is underestimated in current theories of visual search and that differences in search times often attributed to top-down guidance may instead reflect the benefits of priming.     

Prescribing conventional antipsychotics at two Veterans Administration hospitals: are there geographical differences?

The medical records of 110 patients receiving conventional antipsychotics at two geographically distinct Veterans Administration hospitals (Syracuse, New York, and Omaha, Nebraska) were reviewed. The most common reasons for continuation of conventional antipsychotics were good response and patient or physician choice. Frequently, physicians did not discuss the reasons for continuing conventional antipsychotics or the availability of alternative therapies with their patients. Geographic differences in physicians' prescribing practices of conventional antipsychotics were apparent.     

Effects of number and strength of competing solutions on the perceptual interference effect

Five-letter fragments of recently studied 8-letter words are easier to solve when presented all at once than when clarified from a more degraded form (i.e., by starting with a 2-letter fragment and adding letters). The competition explanation proposes that highly degraded stimuli activate alternative hypotheses that interfere with target identification. In Experiment 1, the number of solutions that fit the initial, 2-letter fragment was varied. Performance was better in the 2-solution than in the 1-solution condition. In Experiment 2, distractor solutions (solutions that fit the 2-letter fragment but not subsequent fragments) were either primed (previously studied) or unprimed. Solution performance was better when distractors were primed rather than unprimed. Perceptual interference appears to result from negative feedback operating on a prematurely activated correct hypothesis, rather than from competition between hypotheses.