Planning of Reach-and-Grasp Movements: Effects of Validity and Type of Object Information

Individuals are assumed to plan reach-and-grasp movements by using two separate processes. In 1 of the processes, extrinsic (direction, distance) object information is used in planning the movement of the arm that transports the hand to the target location (transport planning); whereas in the other, intrinsic (shape) object information is used in planning the preshaping of the hand and the grasping of the target object (manipulation planning) In 2 experiments, the authors used primes to provide information to participants (N = 5, Experiment 1; N = 6, Experiment 2) about extrinsic and intrinsic object properties. The validity of the prime information was systematically varied. The primes were succeeded by a cue, which always correctly identified the location and shape of the target object. Reaction times were recorded. Four models of transport and manipulation planning were tested. The only model that was consistent with the data was 1 in which arm transport and object manipulation planning were postulated to be independent processes that operate partially in parallel. The authors suggest that the processes involved in motor planning before execution are primarily concerned with the geometric aspects of the upcoming movement but not with the temporal details of its execution.     

The Autonomous Life: A Pure Social View

In this paper I propose and develop a social account of global autonomy. On this view, a person is autonomous simply to the extent to which it is difficult for others to subject her to their wills. I argue that many properties commonly thought necessary for autonomy are in fact properties that tend to increase an agent's immunity to such interpersonal subjection, and that the proposed account is therefore capable of providing theoretical unity to many of the otherwise heterogeneous requirements of autonomy familiar from recent discussions. Specifically, I discuss three such requirements: (i) possession of legally protected status, (ii) a sense of one's own self-worth, and (iii) a capacity for critical reflection. I argue that the proposed account is not only theoretically satisfying but also yields a rich and attractive conception of autonomy.     

Assessing the role of aggression,empathy, and self‐serving cognitive distortions in trait emotional manipulation

This study extended the examination of the predictors of emotional manipulation. Participants (N = 243) completed measures of trait emotional manipulation, emotional intelligence, social skills, psychopathy, aggression, empathy, and self‐serving cognitive distortions in a cross‐sectional correlational design. For males, higher levels of emotional intelligence, social information processing, indirect aggression, and self‐serving cognitive distortions significantly predicted emotional manipulation. For females, being younger, higher levels of emotional intelligence, indirect aggression, primary psychopathic traits, and lower levels of social awareness significantly predicted emotional manipulation. However for females, emotional intelligence acted as a suppressor. These findings support previous indications that the mechanisms behind emotional manipulation differ as a function of gender. Future research could include ability, rather than trait measures of emotional manipulation, as well as the role of context (such as intimate relationships or workplace environments), thereby allowing additional examination of the nomological network of emotional manipulation.     

Merit,fit, and basic desert

Basic desert is central to the dispute between compatibilists and incompatibilists over the four-case manipulation argument. I argue that there are two distinct ways of understanding the desert salient to moral responsibility; moral desert can be understood as a claim about fitting responses to an agent or as a claim about the merit of the agent. Failing to recognize this distinction has contributed to a stalemate between both sides. I suggest that recognizing these distinct approaches to moral desert will help clarify a central source of disagreement between compatibilists and incompatibilists and assist both sides in resolving the current stalemate.     

The ideological manipulation of Hebrew literature in English translation in the 1970s and 1980s

In the past two decades, the field of translation studies has increasingly focused on the role of ideology in literary translation and cross-cultural transfer. This paper presents findings from the close textual comparison of original works of Hebrew literature and their English translations published in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. I specify translation strategies that have had ideological effects on the source texts, and demonstrate how historically or ethically charged subject matter was manipulated so as to subdue “problematic” aspects of the text for the (largely Jewish) target audience. The two major categories of manipulations had to do with the moral dimension of the portrayal of Israel and Israeli society, particularly in subject matter related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; and with the relationship between Israel and other nations, and between Israel and Diaspora Jews. As stressed by recent sociological studies of translation, the translations can be seen both as reflective of contemporary socio-political trends of thought, and as practices playing an unseen role in strengthening these trends.     

Tool use in left brain damage and Alzheimer's disease: What about function and manipulation knowledge?

Tool use disorders are usually associated with difficulties in retrieving function and manipulation knowledge. Here, we investigate tool use (Real Tool Use, RTU), function (Functional Association, FA) and manipulation knowledge (Gesture Recognition, GR) in 17 left‐brain‐damaged (LBD) patients and 14 AD patients (Alzheimer disease). LBD group exhibited predicted deficit on RTU but not on FA and GR while AD patients showed deficits on GR and FA with preserved tool use skills. These findings question the role played by function and manipulation knowledge in actual tool use.     

权力操作范式的分析与比较

从认知的视角研究权力已是目前权力研究的主流,但权力的认知研究结果和外部效度均受制于其实验操作范式.对国外现有权力操作范式进行分析,可在促进其完善的同时,更对建构适合中国背景下的权力操作方式有一定的借鉴意义.从对现有主流权力操作范式,即奖惩法、回忆法、信息控制法、具体数值法、BATNA法、语义唤起等方法介绍,以及对其实证应用与检验结果中,可以明显对比出各种范式的优势与不足.现有学者较少意识到该点,使用各范式时不加区分,这引起了各范式在适用研究、多等级操作、相关概念操作等方面的混乱.未来研究仍需从角色分配、区分自我权力与他人权力操作、操作检验等角度,改进现有权力操作范式.     

Object manipulation facilitates kind-based object individuation of shape-similar objects

Five experiments investigated the importance of shape and object manipulation when 12-month-olds were given the task of individuating objects representing exemplars of kinds in an event-mapping design. In Experiments 1 and 2, results of the study from Xu, Carey, and Quint (2004, Experiment 4) were partially replicated, showing that infants were able to individuate two natural-looking exemplars from different categories, but not two exemplars from the same category. In Experiment 3, infants failed to individuate two shape-similar exemplars (from Pauen, 2002a) from different categories. However, Experiment 4 revealed that allowing infants to manipulate objects shortly before the individuation task enabled them to individuate shape-similar objects from different categories. In Experiment 5, allowing object manipulation did not induce infants to individuate natural-looking objects from the same category. These findings suggest that object manipulation facilitates kind-based individuation of shape-similar objects by 12-month-olds.     

A flipped spoon and chin prompt to increase mouth clean

We treated the liquid refusal of a 15-month-old girl using 2 antecedent manipulations: flipped spoon and chin prompt. Use of the chin prompt in the absence of the flipped spoon failed to produce increases in mouth clean (a product measure of swallowing). By contrast, modest increases in mouth clean resulted from the implementation of the flipped spoon alone. The greatest increases in mouth clean resulted from the combination of the 2 manipulations.     

老年刻板印象威胁及其研究操纵

随着人口老龄化的不断加剧, 老年刻板印象威胁受到越来越多的关注。不同于种族或民族、性别等刻板印象威胁, 老年刻板印象威胁表现出累积性、共通性与连续性等特征。目前关于老年刻板印象威胁的研究多集中于认知老化尤其是记忆老化上, 关注老年刻板印象威胁对老年司机和老年员工的消极影响。消除与降低老年刻板印象威胁的消极效应可以从认知改变、群体认同、代际接触、老龄自我实现和个性化以及媒体宣传等五个方面来进行。在实验室研究中, 老年刻板印象威胁有外显与内隐两种不同的操纵形式。未来可以从扩展研究领域、细化“年龄”差异、比较整体效应大小和性别差异、侧重积极效应以及加强本土化检验和跨文化比较研究等方面来深化。