Conversation and conditionals

I outline and motivate a way of implementing a closest world theory of indicatives, appealing to Stalnaker’s framework of open conversational possibilities. Stalnakerian conversational dynamics helps us resolve two outstanding puzzles for a such a theory of indicative conditionals. The first puzzle—concerning so-called ‘reverse Sobel sequences’—can be resolved by conversation dynamics in a theory-neutral way: the explanation works as much for Lewisian counterfactuals as for the account of indicatives developed here. Resolving the second puzzle, by contrast, relies on the interplay between the particular theory of indicative conditionals developed here and Stalnakerian dynamics. The upshot is an attractive resolution of the so-called “Gibbard phenomenon” for indicative conditionals.     

Mental causation as multiple causation

The paper argues that mental causation can be explained from the sufficiency of counterfactual dependence for causation together with relatively weak assumptions about the metaphysics of mind. If a physical event counterfactually depends on an earlier physical event, it also counterfactually depends on, and hence is caused by, a mental event that correlates with (or supervenes on) this earlier physical event, provided that this correlation (or supervenience) is sufficiently modally robust. This account of mental causation is consistent with the overdetermination of physical events by mental events and other physical events, but does not entail it.

Validating the theory of mental self-government in a non-academic setting

This study pioneered the investigation of the efficacy of the theory of mental self-government in a non-academic setting. Three hundred and thirty-three people from various business sectors in Guangzhou, PR China, volunteered to participate in the research. The participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised and to a range of questions concerning their actual and perceived work environments. Results indicated that the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised is reliable and valid for assessing the thinking styles of the participants. Furthermore, the participants’ reported work environments statistically predicted their thinking styles. Results supported Sternberg’s claim that the theory of mental self-government is a general theory of styles that applies to both academic and non-academic settings. Implications of the findings are discussed for organizational psychologists, human resource management personnel, providers of management training and development, as well as for the ordinary workforce.     

The importance of contextual variables when judging fairness: An examination of counterfactual thoughts and fairness theory

This research empirically examines the underlying mechanisms of fairness theory (  and ), namely counterfactual thought processes. Study 1 used a policy-capturing design to examine the relative importance of contextual variables in predicting counterfactual thoughts and fairness perceptions. Study 2 utilized a between-subjects design and asked participants to generate their own counterfactuals in response to an unfortunate event. Results of both studies showed that fairness perceptions are influenced by contextual variables (i.e., outcome severity, target knowledge and expertise, sin of commission vs. omission) and counterfactual thinking. Counterfactual thoughts partially mediated the effects of contextual variables and fairness perceptions in Study 1. Exploratory analyses from Study 3 revealed that the measurement of counterfactual thoughts (frequency vs. strength) may capture different underlying constructs. Implications are discussed.     

传统中国历史思想中的"时间"与"超时间"概念

在中国文化中,“时间”铭记刻画了人所身处之境况、时势的脉动以及历史中的个人的种种表现,绝非只是对自然事件的机械式载录而已。在传统中国历史思维之中,以永恒典律(如“道”、“理”)或不朽范型(如尧、舜、三代)为标竿,而尝试去存留、体现的实践过程,构成了中国历史上各个时代的具体内容。在中国传统文化中,生命的意义与价值在于领悟历史上存在过的典范,并将这些典范接引、召唤至人们所生存的时代,也因此中国文化中的“时间”概念寓涵了某种的“超时间”特质：中国人对过往历史的学习,其实只是掌握“超时间”的基点,其究极目的在于将典律范型落实于当代时空之中。中国人所认知的“时间”概念与人文关怀紧密相系;历史上的“时代”就是“时间”的会串、整合与界分;所谓“超时间”乃是从各时代中提炼出的典律范型;而经由人们的描摹叙述,“时间”会经由口语及交书而被转化成“历史”。抽象的“超时间”概念实取自“时间”,俯瞰着“时间”的流转,并且贯穿了整部“历史”的发展。本文先论述中国人文主义具有强烈的“天人合一”特质,表现出明显的社会政治取向,一切思想都落实到当下即是的人生与现实。人与自然、超自然的关系在传统中国仍被统纳入“人事”的范畴。本文第一节论证中国史学体现：中国历史意识中,“时间”与“超时间”有其错综复杂的关系：“时间”将确切发生的一桩桩事件织结成全幅的网络,而“超时间”是从网络中凝塑出来的中心意义。第二节论证“时间”如何汇淬成“超时间”,而第三节分析“超时间”必须以“时间”为基础始可形成,最后一节则对中国历史思维的特质作进一步的探讨。     

马克思对"本体思维方式"的历史性变革

传统本论在黑格尔哲学中达到了它的最高形态,同时暴露出严重问题。对此,马克思没有采取与他同时代的其他哲学家（如叔本华、尼采等）仅仅改变“本体论哲学”的某种理论形态的做法,而是从根本上否定了传统本体论借以立立论的那种“绝对化”的基本思想原则和思维方式,使哲学找回了具有双重生命本性的现实的人和由人参与开拓的现实生活世界。即使如此,也不宜把马克思的哲学归结为“实践本体论”。     

Can a Rude Waiter Make Your Food Less Tasty? Social Class Differences in Thinking Style and Carryover in Consumer Judgments

Building on the notion that cognitive processes vary across social classes, we predict that social class shapes thinking style, which in turn affects consumer judgments. In doing so, we employ service failure domains as a way to understand social class effects. Across four studies, we show that, when faced with a failure incident occurring in one service dimension (e.g., rude employees), consumers in the low social class, relative to those in the high social class, carry over to influence their evaluations of the other service dimensions (e.g., food quality) that are unrelated to the failure incident. We further show that low‐class consumers favor a holistic style of thinking, whereas high‐class consumers favor an analytic style of thinking and that these differences in thinking style account for the carryover effects on evaluations. The pattern of the effects exists when the service failure is perceived to be severe rather than minor.     

The Long‐Term Impact of Natural Mentoring Relationships: A Counterfactual Analysis

Previous research suggests that youth's natural mentoring relationships are associated with better academic, vocational, and psychosocial functioning. However, little is known about the extent to which the impact of mentoring endures beyond adolescence and early adulthood. Furthermore, most natural mentoring research is confounded by selection bias. In this study, we examined the long‐term impact of mentoring using the nationally representative, longitudinal Add Health dataset. We conducted counterfactual analysis, a more stringent test of causality than regression‐based approaches. Compared to their unmentored counterparts, adults (ages 33–42) who had a natural mentor during adolescence or emerging adulthood reported higher educational attainment, more time spent volunteering, and more close friends, after controlling for a range of confounding factors. However, outcomes differed when mentors were classified as “strong ties” (e.g., grandparents, friends) or “weak ties” (e.g., teachers, coaches, employers). Having a strong‐tie mentor was associated with having more close friends and a lower income. In contrast, having a weak‐tie mentor was associated with higher educational attainment, higher income, and more time spent volunteering. These findings suggest that natural mentoring relationships can exert lasting influence on young people's developmental trajectories, providing strong rationale for efforts to expand their availability and scope.     

Characterizing the subjective experience of episodic past,future, and counterfactual thinking in healthy younger and older adults

Recent evidence demonstrates remarkable overlap in the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying episodic memory, episodic future thinking, and episodic counterfactual thinking. However, the extent to which the phenomenological characteristics associated with these mental simulations change as a result of ageing remains largely unexplored. The current study employs adapted versions of the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire and the Autobiographical Interview to compare the phenomenological characteristics associated with both positive and negative episodic past, future, and counterfactual simulations in younger and older adults. Additionally, it explores the influence of perceived likelihood in the experience of such simulations. The results indicate that, across all simulations, older adults generate more external details and report higher ratings of vividness, composition, and intensity than young adults. Conversely, younger adults generate more internal details across all conditions and rated positive and negative likely future events as more likely than did older adults. Additionally, both younger and older adults reported higher ratings for sensory, composition, and intensity factors during episodic memories relative to future and counterfactual thoughts. Finally, for both groups, ratings of spatial coherence and composition were higher for likely counterfactuals than for both unlikely counterfactuals and future simulations. Implications for the psychology of mental simulation and ageing are discussed.     

The role of dichotomous thinking and rigidity in perfectionism

Perfectionism is a complex psychological construct that has been defined in many different ways. Recent conceptualisations of perfectionism have involved dividing the construct into positive and negative components. Negative perfectionism is associated with high emotional distress whereas positive perfectionism is associated with positive affect and lower levels of distress. Although these distinctions have been made it remains unclear as to how distinct the two aspects of perfectionism are particularly in terms of their cognitive profiles. This study investigated two cognitive constructs that have been theoretically linked to perfectionism. Dichotomous thinking and rigidity were examined in three samples (40 clinical participants, 111 athletes, 101 students). As hypothesised, the clinical sample had the highest score on negative perfectionism, however, no differences were observed between groups on positive perfectionism. Dichotomous thinking emerged as the variable most predictive of negative perfectionism, and was less strongly related to positive perfectionism. These results highlight the importance of dichotomous thinking as a cognitive construct worthy of further research to understand negative perfectionism. Implications for the development of cognitive therapy interventions for negative perfectionism are discussed.