Updating egocentric representations in human navigation

Seven experiments tested whether human navigation depends on enduring representations, or on momentary egocentric representations that are updated as one moves. Human subjects pointed to unseen targets, either while remaining oriented or after they had been disoriented by self-rotation. Disorientation reduced not only the absolute accuracy of pointing to all objects ('heading error') but also the relative accuracy of pointing to different objects ('configuration error'). A single light providing a directional cue reduced both heading and configuration errors if it was present throughout the experiment. If the light was present during learning and test but absent during the disorientation procedure, however, subjects showed low heading errors (indicating that they reoriented by the light) but high configuration errors (indicating that they failed to retrieve an accurate cognitive map of their surroundings). These findings provide evidence that object locations are represented egocentrically. Nevertheless, disorientation had little effect on the coherence of pointing to different room corners, suggesting both (a) that the disorientation effect on representations of object locations is not due to the experimental paradigm and (b) that room geometry is captured by an enduring representation. These findings cast doubt on the view that accurate navigation depends primarily on an enduring, observer-free cognitive map, for humans construct such a representation of extended surfaces but not of objects. Like insects, humans represent the egocentric distances and directions of objects and continuously update these representations as they move. The principal evolutionary advance in animal navigation may concern the number of unseen targets whose egocentric directions and distances can be represented and updated simultaneously, rather than a qualitative shift in navigation toward reliance on an allocentric map.     

On the study of foreign philosophy in Chinese cultural construction and its future

Since the “Conference on Foreign Philosophy” held in Wuhu in October 1978, the study of foreign philosophy in China has undergone a prosperous stage. This article discusses the significance of the study of foreign philosophy in the context of renovation, transformation and remolding of Chinese contemporary culture, explores the role of the discipline in the context of Chinese cultural construction, and anticipates the future of this discipline. A cross-cultural perspective is needed for a proper understanding of the significance of the learning and study of foreign philosophy in Chinese cultural construction; otherwise we might fall into cultural conservationism. Secondly, to make philosophy and social sciences prosperous is also a task for foreign philosophy studies, and whether or not foreign philosophy can be well studied should be a mark of the prosperousness of the construction of Chinese culture. Finally, philosophy is a product of human beings and should eventually serve human beings. Chinese culture should open itself up to the world and so should foreign philosophy studies in China. __________ Translated from Jiangxi Shehui Kexue 江西社会科学 (Jiangxi Social Sciences), 2005 (2) by Chen Yuehua & Ma Minghui     

Decreased approach motivation in depression

The present study examined relations between choice preference and reaction time to emotionally valenced words, dysphoric symptoms (BDI), and dysfunctional attitudes (DAS) in clinically depressed (CD; n= 61), previously depressed (PD; n= 42), and never depressed controls (ND; n= 46). The results showed: (1) NDs and PDs exhibited a choice preference for the relatively more positive words and differed significantly from CDs; (2) PDs and CDs exhibited longer reaction time and differed significantly from NDs; and (3) BDI and DAS were positively associated with reaction time to positively valenced words, whereas no associations were found for reaction time to negatively valenced words. The increased reaction time, in PDs and CDs, is discussed as a possible vulnerability factor to depression, which may be related to decreased approach motivation.     

元认知的本质与要素

该文就元认知的本质和要素进行了探讨。文章首先对已有的相关观点进行了分析,在此基础上,将元认知的内涵界定为“个体对当前认知活动的认知调节”,并确定了元认知活动的三要素,即元认知技能、元认知知识、元认知体验,论述了每一要素在元认知活动中的作用,并以元认知三要素关系示意图描述了三者之间的关系。     

宗教界人士迎春茶话会在京举行

2006年1月23日,中共中央统战部、全国政协民族和宗教委员会、国家宗教事务局在全国政协礼堂三楼大厅举行了“宗教界人士迎春茶话会”。中共中央统战部副部长朱维群、二局副局长周宁、七局局长斯塔,全国政协民宗委副主任黄璜、全国政协办公厅副秘书长齐绪春,国家宗教事务局局长叶小文、副局长王作安、蒋坚永等有关方面领导和全国性爱国宗教团体负责人出席了茶话会。中国道教协会会长任法融道长,副会长张继禹道长、黄信阳道长,秘书长袁炳栋等出席了茶话会。中共中央统战部副部长朱维群代表中共中央统战部、全国政协民宗委、国家宗教事务局讲话…     

管仲生年考

本文从民间传说入手,对照史籍,探求管仲生年。     

Time in philosophy and in physics: From Kant and Einstein to Gödel

The essay centers on Gödel's views on the place of our intuitive concept of time in philosophy and in physics. It presents my interpretation of his work on the theory of relativity, his observations on the relationship between Einstein's theory and Kantian philosophy, as well as some of the scattered remarks in his conversations with me in the seventies — namely, those on the philosophies of Leibniz, Hegel and Husserl — as a successor of Kant — in relation to their conceptions of time.For the physical world, the four dimensions are natural. But for the mind, there is no such natural coordinate system; time is the only natural frame of reference.Gödel, conversation on 15.3.72     

Ternary eutectic growth during directional solidification of Ag–Cu–Sb alloy

The directional solidification process of ternary Ag_42.4Cu_21.6Sb₃₆ eutectic alloy within a wide growth rate range from 2 to 60 μm/s was accomplished at a constant temperature gradient of 50 K/cm. As growth rate increases, the ternary (θ(Cu₂Sb) + ε(Ag₃Sb) + Sb) eutectic morphology evolves from “lamellar (θ + ε) plus fibrous (Sb)” structure into “(θ + Sb) fibres in continuous ε matrix” structure. The θ and (Sb) phase spacings decrease with the increase of growth rate according to power functions with exponent values of 0.55 and 0.56, respectively. It is also found that the microhardness of directionally solidified Ag_42.4Cu_21.6Sb₃₆ alloy samples is enhanced with the increase of growth rate, and the decrease of θ and (Sb) phase spacings.     

老子之道及其创生因子探究

"道"是老子哲学体系中的核心,老子不仅提出虚空的道是宇宙的本体,是无法用语言来描述的,而且说明道是混成之物,即道是有精妙的内部结构属性的,并从不同的侧面说明了认识"道"是混成之物的路径。道是由无限创生因子混融而成的系统,宇宙在创生及万物演化的过程中,道或无限的创生因子始终起着根本性的作用,即宇宙间的一切事物现象都是道所为。道是由创生因子混融而成的思想观点,可为现代宇宙论的发展提供新的思维维度,为科学探索真空世界的奥秘提供新的研究途径,推进现代宇宙学的进步。     

汉语“心理学”一词是如何确立的

在19世纪70~90年代的中国,当指称"mental philosophy"与"psychology"时,译者主要使用了"性学"、"心理(学)"、"性理(学)"、"心才学"、"心灵学"和"心学"等6个名称。据现有史料,尽管汉语"心理学"一词由执权居士于1872年首译,但当时并未受到中国学人的重视。现在通行的汉语"心理学"一词是来自日本人西周,经康有为与梁启超等人的共同努力才逐渐被中国人所接受,并于1902年以后被普遍使用。汉语"心理学"一词在这场"比赛"中能够最终胜出,内因是既受中国文化传统和思维方式的影响,又为避免将一门新兴学科等同于旧学科从而产生"新瓶装旧酒"的误会;外因是中国新学科体系在创建时深受日本和西方国家的影响。