空间参照框架的产生机制及与认知机能的关系

空间参照框架是个体表征空间方位的方式, 按照表征中心的不同分为自我中心和环境中心两种参照框架。长期对某一参照框架的持续激活可以形成对该空间参照框架的偏好, 不仅会影响个体的神经元结构, 还会对认知机能产生重要影响。偏好环境中心参照框架会增加海马及其附近脑区的灰质, 而偏好自我中心参照框架会增加尾状核的灰质。海马灰质体积增大会增强正常人的空间记忆能力。持续激活环境中心参照框架的个体会增加海马灰质体积, 从而降低患老年痴呆的风险。未来研究应关注, 地域差异、城乡差异等环境差异在空间参照框架与认知机能关系中的影响机制, 并进一步收集空间参照框架训练在老年痴呆病人中干预效果的实证证据。     

Is Intuition Necessary for Defending Platonism?

G?del asserts that his philosophy falls under the category of conceptual realism. This paper gives a general picture of G?del’s conceptual realism’s basic doctrines, and gives a way to understand conceptual realism in the background of Leibniz’s and Kant’s philosophies. Among philosophers of mathematics, there is a widespread view that Platonism encounters an epistemological difficulty because we do not have sensations of abstract objects. In his writings, G?del asserts that we have mathematical intuitions of mathematical objects. Some philosophers do not think it is necessary to resort to intuition to defend Platonism, and other philosophers think that the arguments resorting to intuition are too na?ve to be convincing. I argue that the epistemic difficulty is not particular to Platonism; when faced with skepticism, physicalists also need to give an answer concerning the relationship between our experience and reality. G?del and Kant both think that sensations or combinations of sensations are not ideas of physical objects, but that, to form ideas of physical objects, concepts must be added. However, unlike Kant, G?del thinks that concepts are not subjective but independent of our minds. Based on my analysis of G?del’s conceptual realism, I give an answer to the question in the title and show that arguments resorting to intuition are far from na?ve, despite what some philosophers have claimed.     

Beyond logic – entering the realm of mystery: hermeneutic phenomenology as a tool for reflecting on children’s spirituality

This paper suggests hermeneutic phenomenology as a theoretical framework for reflecting, interpreting and gaining insight into children’s spirituality. It describes an episode that took place in a Year 5 classroom involving a 10‐year‐old child and his response to an Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime story. The possibilities this observed incident opens for hermeneutic phenomenology are then explored using van Manen’s notion of lifeworld existentials as guides to reflection upon the life expression of this child. The four lifeworld existentials are lived space (spatiality), lived body (corporeality), lived time (temporality) and lived human relation (relationality). In using these as a means by which to interpret the life expression of this child, it is argued that some insights into his or her spirituality can be gleaned.     

Intersections of spirituality,religion and gender in children’s literature

This paper explores the intersections of spirituality, religion and gender in contemporary children’s books published in the United States. Background for the discussion includes a history of religion in children’s literature and the history of women’s roles in the Christian tradition. Representative works of realistic fiction – historical and contemporary – and one work of science fiction are discussed.     

Workplace mobbing: How the victim’s coping behavior influences bystander responses

Victims of workplace mobbing show diverse coping behavior. We investigated the impact of this behavior on bystander cognitions, emotions, and helping toward the victim, integrating coping literature with attribution theory. Adult part-time university students (N = 161) working at various organizations participated in a study with a 3(Coping: approach/avoidance/neutral) × 2(Gender Victim: male/female) × 2(Gender Bystander: male/female) design. Victims showing approach (vs. avoidance) coping were considered to be more self-reliant and less responsible for the continuation of the mobbing, and they elicited less anger. Continuation responsibility and self-reliance mediated the relationship between the victim’s coping behavior and bystanders’ helping intentions. Female (vs. male) participants reported more sympathy for the victim and greater willingness to help, and female (vs. male) victims elicited less anger. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

The ‘Constitutive Thought’ of Regret

In this paper I defend and develop Bernard Williams’ claim that the ‘constitutive thought’ of regret is ‘something like “how much better if it had been otherwise”’. An introductory section on cognitivist theories of emotion is followed by a detailed investigation of the concept of ‘agent-regret’ and of the ways in which the ‘constitutive thought’ might be articulated in different situations in which agents acknowledge casual responsibility for bringing about undesirable outcomes. Among problematic cases discussed are those in which agents have caused harm through no fault of their own, or have been constrained to choose the lesser of two evils or to act against their moral values. R. Jay Wallace’s ‘bourgeois predicament’ and related cases, in which we recognize that our present advantages have flowed from regrettable antecedents, further show that regret is often not a simple emotion, and it is argued that conflicted regrets are sometimes unavoidable. Finally, the paper looks at Descartes’ account of regret as a form of sadness engendered by the recollection of irrecoverable happy experiences, to which the ‘constitutive thought’ does not readily apply. It is suggested that what Descartes is discussing is a different genre of emotion for which ‘nostalgia’ might be a better name.     

The role of emotional maltreatment and looming cognitive style in the development of social anxiety symptoms in late adolescents

Background: Social looming constitutes a specific cognitive vulnerability that acts as a danger schema and biases the processing of threat-related information associated with the development of social anxiety disorder. This model characterizes early negative experiences as critical to the formation of looming cognitive style. Furthermore, research has found links between parental emotional abuse and peer victimization and social anxiety. Design: A three-wave longitudinal design was used to analyze the role of parents’ emotional abuse and peer victimization in the onset of social anxiety symptoms through the development of this cognitive style. Methods: The final sample was made up of 307 females and 243 males (M_age?=?16.97, SD_age?=?.81). Perceived parents’ emotional abuse and peer victimization by participants were measured at Time 1, social looming was measured at Time 1 and 2, and social anxiety symptoms were measured at Times 1, 2, and 3. Results: Parents’ emotional abuse and peer victimization were related to social anxiety cross-sectionally. Longitudinally, social looming acted as a mediator in the relationship between parents’ emotional abuse and social anxiety. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms through which emotional abuse and peer victimization impact social looming and contribute to social anxiety.     

Truthfulness and the permissibility of Falsehood in the Jewish tradition

Abstract

In this article, I deal with the concept of truth and lie in Jewish traditional literature, examining its development in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature. An essential aspect in understanding this concept is the dualism of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ impulses and the free will of human beings, who were created in the image of God and have the choice to decide between right and wrong.     

Spirituality and humour: making connections for early childhood education

In looking at the relations between children’s spirituality and children’s expressions of humour, this paper explores the connections between the findings and theoretical implications and contributions of two separate empirical studies carried out with children between the ages of 5 and 6, in Cyprus and the US. Findings from the phenomenological study in the US point to joy (joyfulness and delight), concern for others (kindness, compassion and caring), relationships (importance and value of friends and family) and imagination (use and exploration in play), as observed expressions of children’s spirituality. Initial links between these findings and findings from the study completed in Cyprus, using the theoretical framework of The Theory of the Absurd and the Empowerment Theory, point at the importance of children’s story productions and the use of their imagination, as an expression of both their spiritual and humourous selves. Educational implications point to teachers allowing for kindergarteners to participate in story telling including incongruity, humourous symbols, violation of rules and violence, to convey humour, mixing these elements with expressions of imagination, joy and concern, through nurturing relationships with others, to express aspects of their spirituality. Other connections between the findings in these studies point at the potential importance of engaging children in story telling to create spiritual meaning and understanding, and overall nurture children’s spirituality.