A base logic for default reasoning

Based on a close study of benchmark examples in default reasoning, such as Nixon Diamond, Penguin Principle, etc., this paper provides an in depth analysis of the basic features of default reasoning. We formalize default inferences based on Modus Ponens for Default Implication, and mark the distinction between “local inferences” (to infer a conclusion from a subset of given premises) and “global inferences” (to infer a conclusion from the entire set of given premises). These conceptual analyses are captured by a formal semantics that is built upon the set-selection function technique. A minimal logic system M of default reasoning that accommodates Modus Ponens for Default Implication and suitable for local inferences is proposed, and its soundness is proved. __________ Translated from Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Studies), 2003 (special issue) by Ye Feng     

大学生的角色期望研究

采用自编的大学生角色期望调查问卷和大学生人格健康调查表(UPI),对650名1-3年级大学生进行测试。结果表明:1、大学生角色期望集中体现在9个方面:整合性期望、就业性期望、志向性期望、评价性期望、学业性期望、恋爱性期望、悖离性期望、环境性期望、独立性期望;2、三个年级在角色期望多数因子上的平均分表现出"V"形结构,各年级之间存在显著差异(p<.05);3、就业性期望、学业性期望、独立性期望存在显著的性别差异,女生在前两个因子上的平均分明显高于男生,在后一个因子上的平均分明显低于男生;4、心理健康组在整合性期望因子的平均分显著高于心理不健康组(p<.05),在悖离性期望因子的平均分极显著低于心理不健康组(p<.01)。     

Unitization mitigates interference by intrinsic negative emotion in familiarity and recollection of associative memory: Electrophysiological evidence

Emotion exerts varied influences on memory. While task-relevant item memory is often enhanced by emotion, associative memory is generally impaired. Unitization is known to improve associative memory, but its effects and mechanisms in protecting associative memory from emotional interference are rather obscure. The current study investigated associative memory by employing experimental manipulation of unitization (vs. nonunitization) encoding strategy and stimulus emotion (neutral, intrinsic negative, and extrinsic negative), combined with event-related potential (ERP) signatures of familiarity (FN400 old/new effects) and recollection (parietal late positive component/LPC old/new effects) in memory recognition. Both behavioral and ERP indices of associative recognition from the nonunitization group confirmed emotional interference in associative memory. Importantly, it was primarily intrinsic (vs. extrinsic) emotion that impeded associative memory. Unitization encoding improved memory performance in general, accompanied by enhanced recollection process and induction of familiarity process, which is typically not involved in associative memory recognition and was indeed absent in the nonunitization group. Importantly, unitization helped to preserve behavioral performance (specifically, response speed though not recognition strength) from interference by intrinsic emotion while largely reversed the detriment of intrinsic emotion on ERP indices of familiarity and recollection processes. Interestingly, a synergy between intrinsic emotion and unitization encoding was observed, which could underpin the facilitation of familiarity process in associative recognition of emotional pairs. Overall, current findings highlight interference by intrinsic emotion in associative memory, which is nonetheless responsive to mitigation by unitization encoding.     

Identification of biological neurons using adaptive observers

This paper is to investigate the use of adaptive observers for the modeling of biological neurons and networks. Assuming that a neuron can be modeled as a continuous-time nonlinear system, it is possible to determine its unknown parameters using adaptive observer, based on the concept of adaptive synchronization. The same technique can be extended for the identification of an entire biological neural network. Some conventional observer designs are studied in this paper and satisfactory results are obtained, yet with some restrictions. To further extend the applicability of adaptive observers for the modeling process, a new design is suggested. It is based on a combination of linear feedback control approach and the dynamical minimization algorithm. The effectiveness of the designed adaptive observer is confirmed with simulations.     

资本逻辑语境中的"伦理学贫困"及学者使命

资本是现代社会的基础和根据,而资本逻辑则成为现代世界的核心逻辑.由资本逻辑及其霸权统治导致的当代道德困境成为当代伦理学难以消解的生命之痛,由此呈现出其在现实生活面前的"贫困".因此,在检视并创新当代伦理学的过程中,我们不能丧失资本逻辑的审视维度,这特别有赖于学者自觉立足于当代世界的资本性质,担负起探求伦理学知识真理和守护社会道德价值的历史重任.     

Consumer responses to brand elimination: An attributional perspective

While research on innovation and new product development abounds in the literature, studies on firms deleting brands from their portfolio are virtually non-existent. This paper provides a pioneering examination of how brand elimination might influence consumer evaluations of the firm. As compared to a widely-held belief that brand elimination would adversely affect firm image, we propose that in situations where brand elimination can be viewed as the firm's effort to improve performance, consumers will rate this action favorably, with concomitant outcomes relating to firm evaluation. These ideas are supported in three studies. Study 1 finds that elimination targeting a weak (vs. strong) brand is more likely to be associated with eliminate-to-improve attributions, and consequently, more favorable evaluations. Study 2 shows that explanations provided by the firm (as against explanations generated internally by the consumers) help consumers make positive attributions for elimination targeting a strong brand, but lower evaluations when a weak brand is being eliminated. Study 3 establishes that loyal consumers are more likely to assess the applicability of an ‘eliminate-to-improve’ attribution and give favorable evaluations only when the eliminated brand is weak. Non-loyal consumers in general respond favorably to the elimination, regardless of brand strength. Future directions for brand elimination research are discussed.     

对心理学本土化"本土性契合"问题的思考

心理学本土化是一个方兴未艾的话题,本文重点讨论了杨国枢提出的心理学本土化的“本土性契合”判准的含义,并举出两个引例对此一判准进行说明和解释,最后提出了对心理学本土化及“本土性契合”的几点思考,指出心理学本土化应该研究不断运动变化的人们的思维和行为模式,并对心理学本土化研究的具体方向和途径提出了看法。     

Cultural influences on Facebook photographs

Prior research in social psychology indicates that East Asians from collectivistic and interdependent sociocultural systems are more sensitive to contextual information than Westerners, whereas Westerners with individualistic and independent representation have a tendency to process focal and discrete attributes of the environment. Here we have demonstrated that such systematic cultural variations can also be observed in cyberspace, focusing on self‐presentation of photographs on Facebook, the most popular worldwide online social network site. We examined cultural differences in face/frame ratios for Facebook profile photographs in two studies. For Study 1, 200 digital profile face photographs of active Facebook users were randomly selected from native and immigrant Taiwanese and Americans. For Study 2, 312 Facebook profiles of undergraduate students of six public universities in East Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan) and the United States (California and Texas) were randomly selected. Overall, the two studies clearly showed that East Asian Facebook users are more likely to deemphasize their faces compared to Americans. Specifically, East Asians living in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan exhibited a predilection for context inclusiveness in their profile photographs, whereas Americans tended to prioritize their focal face at the expense of the background. Moreover, East Asian Facebook users had lower intensity of facial expression than Americans on their photographs. These results demonstrate marked cultural differences in context‐inclusive styles versus object‐focused styles between East Asian and American Facebook users. Our findings extend previous findings from the real world to cyberspace, and provide a novel approach to investigate cognition and behaviors across cultures by using Facebook as a data collection platform.     

Nanocrystallization induced by quasi-static fracture of metallic glasses at room temperature

Nanoparticles on the fracture surfaces of Co- and Fe-based metallic glasses during quasi-static compression at room temperature have been observed using a high-resolution scanning electron microscope. In terms of the differential scanning calorimeter, those nanoparticles were identified to be a result of nanocrystallization induced by the rapid fracture. Finally, the nanocrystallization behavior was evaluated by taking into account the super-high crack propagation rate and high elastic energy, which contributed to the local temperature rise up to the onset of crystallization, T _x.