Felt presence: paranoid delusion or hallucinatory social imagery?

Cheyne and Girard characterize felt presence (FP) during sleep paralysis attacks as a pre-hallucinatory expression of a threat-activated vigilance system. While their results may be consistent with this interpretation, they are nonetheless correlational and do not address a parsimonious alternative explanation. This alternative stipulates that FP is a purely spatial, hallucinatory form of a common cognitive phenomenon—social imagery—that is often, but not necessarily, linked with threat and fear and that may induce distress among susceptible individuals. The occurrence of both fearful and non-fearful FPs in a multiplicity of situations other than sleep paralysis attacks supports the notion that FPs are hallucinatory variants of social imagery and that they are not necessarily bound to threat-activated vigilance. Evidence linking FPs with anxiety disorders supports the notion that the distress they evoke may be mediated by a more general affective distress personality factor. To illustrate the predominantly spatial character of FP hallucinations, similarities between FP and phantom limbs are summarized and the possibility that these two phenomena are parallel expressions (self- vs. other-presence) of a mirror neuron system is considered.     

主观幸福感的脑机制

主观幸福感是社会认知领域一直关注的重要问题。Kahneman等人提出的评价系统模型为主观幸福感的研究提供了基本框架。主观幸福感形成过程中,评价系统的主要产物包括即时效用、回忆效用、抉择效用和预期效用,这些效用都有着各自特殊的神经机制。主观幸福感的影响因素分为内部和外部因素,它们也对应着各异的神经基础。未来主观幸福感领域的研究应遵循生理机制和心理机制相结合的整合研究思路。     

群体过程与互动分析系统

群体过程由各种行动和行为反应组成,具有动态性和复杂性。以往研究根据群体均衡理论、功能观点或时间理论等分别开发了各种基于研究者视角的群体互动过程观察分析系统。但很多研究结论并不一致,主要原因在于各个分析系统的关注点不同。本研究从信效度、理论基础、分析对象以及编码难易等角度总结了各个系统的优点和不足,并进一步提出未来研究可能的方向：构建适当的群体决策动态实验任务、明确群体过程作用机制、以及开发运用于实践的群体互动过程分析系统。     

专科医生应注重整体性和系统思维训练——由一例甲亢患者门诊长期误诊引发的哲学思考

临床医学专科的发展对促进医学科学的进步起到了重要的推动作用,尽管它可能缺乏整体性、系统性临床思维,但在可预见的将来,它仍是综合性医院医疗实践的主旋律,医学界应对此有较为清醒的认识。本文从哲学的角度分析了造成误诊的原因,然后指出防止或减少误诊的途径是培养科学的临床思维,并提出了在临床过程中培养整体思维和系统性科学思维的一些方法。     

A new dynamical model of brainstorming: Linear, nonlinear, continuous (simultaneous) and impulsive (sequential) cases

In this paper, we extended the linear dynamical model of [Brown, V., Paulus, P. B. (1996). A simple dynamic model of social factors in group brainstorming. Small Group Research, 27, 91-114] on two accounts. First, we modelled the sequential type brainstorming using impulsive differential equations by treating each category as an impulse and tested its validity in the two experiments that investigated and demonstrated the beneficial effects of sequential priming and memory in individual brainstorming. Finally, we considered the nonlinear case of brainstorming in writing or brainwriting where dyads exchanged their ideas in a written format and that eliminated negative factors occurring in oral brainstorming (e.g., evaluation apprehension, free-riding, production blocking) and enhanced the upward performance matching, and conducted the second experiment in order to test its validity in this paradigm with the effects of sequential priming and memory. Comparisons showed good agreement between results of experiments and those of the mathematical model.     

Computing the uncomputable; or,The discrete charm of second-order simulacra

We examine a case in which non-computable behavior in a model is revealed by computer simulation. This is possible due to differing notions of computability for sets in a continuous space. The argument originally given for the validity of the simulation involves a simpler simulation of the simulation, still further simulations thereof, and a universality conjecture. There are difficulties with that argument, but there are other, heuristic arguments supporting the qualitative results. It is urged, using this example, that absolute validation, while highly desirable, is overvalued. Simulations also provide valuable insights that we cannot yet (if ever) prove.     

《管子》与汉初法制重构

《管予》渊源于齐文化,法制思想以礼、法并重为特色,齐用之而为东方大国;秦用商、韩之法迅速强大并统一六国,但秦法严苛激进,任法而废礼,致秦二世而亡。汉承秦之弊,在历史与现实中寻求适合自己发展的道路,于偶然,也是必然中选择了礼法并重的《管子》法制思想作为治国方略,史称黄老政治,使国家逐步实现了稳定与繁荣,并开创了二千多年的秦汉制度。     

Driver distraction based lane-keeping assistance

Driver assistance systems could be much more effective, if they were adaptive to the driver’s state. Following the idea of a lane-keeping assistance system, which is adaptive to the use of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS), two field experiments were conducted. The first experiment concerned the influence of typical IVIS tasks on lane-keeping. Most IVIS tasks increased the lateral deviations, but in the majority of cases the drivers were still able to stay in their lane.The second experiment concerned two questions: (1) how much lateral support would be needed and (2) how drivers accept this kind of support. The results show that all lateral support algorithms increased the lane-keeping performance with the algorithms providing a higher amount of assistance proving the most useful. All assistance systems were rated as helpful and were considered to increase driver safety, both by the drivers who did not have problems in lane-keeping without assistance.In light of these results an adaptation of a lateral support system to the IVIS-use seems to be useful and worthwhile.     

Mom’s shadow: structure-from-motion in newly hatched chicks as revealed by an imprinting procedure

The ability to recognize three-dimensional objects from two-dimensional (2-D) displays was investigated in domestic chicks, focusing on the role of the object’s motion. In Experiment 1 newly hatched chicks, imprinted on a three-dimensional (3-D) object, were allowed to choose between the shadows of the familiar object and of an object never seen before. In Experiments 2 and 3 random-dot displays were used to produce the perception of a solid shape only when set in motion. Overall, the results showed that domestic chicks were able to recognize familiar shapes from 2-D motion stimuli. It is likely that similar general mechanisms underlying the perception of structure-from-motion and the extraction of 3-D information are shared by humans and animals. The present data shows that they occur similarly in birds as known for mammals, two separate vertebrate classes; this possibly indicates a common phylogenetic origin of these processes.     

“认知科学”与“第二代认知科学”刍议

以计算隐喻为核心假设的传统认知心理学以及联结主义心理学均不能克服离身心智（disembodied mind）的根本缺陷,当代认知心理学正面临着新的范型转换。以具身性和情境性为重要特征的第二代认知科学将日受重视,并促使认知神经科学进入新的发展阶段。作者认为在身心关系上应该坚持生理只是心理的必要条件,而非充分条件的立场,克服生理还原论的危险;应该重新审视基于二元论的生理机制这种说法;心理学传统中的科学主义和人文主义有可能在第二代认知科学强调认知情境性的基础上达成某种融合;第一代认知科学对意识的研究是不成功的,因为对知觉、注意、记忆、思维等心理过程的研究不能代替意识的研究,同时还应避免以意识内容的研究取代心理学研究的倾向。第二代认知科学中的动力系统理论关于变量（因素）之间的偶合（coupling）关系完全不同于变差分析中的变量之间的交互作用关系”,其动力系统模式可能更有助于破解意识的产生（涌现）之谜,并引发心理学研究的方法论的变革新潮。第二代认知科学的兴起将启发人们对身心关系、生理还原论、意识研究在心理学中的地位、人工智能对心智完全模拟的可能性等重大问题重新思考