Effects of alternative reinforcement on human behavior: the source does matter

Competing theories regarding the effects of delivering periodic response-independent reinforcement (more accurately, response-independent points exchanged for money) on a baseline rate of behavior were evaluated in human subjects. Contiguity theory holds that these events decrease target responding because incompatible behavior is adventitiously strengthened when the point deliveries follow target behavior closely in time. Matching theory holds that response-independent points, like any other alternative reinforcer, should reduce target responding. On this view, temporal contiguity between target responding and response-independent point delivery is unimportant. In our experiment, four different responses (moving a joystick in four different directions) were reinforced with points exchangeable for money according to four independent variable-interval schedules. Different schedules of point delivery were then superimposed on these baselines. When all superimposed point deliveries occurred immediately after one of the four responses (the target response), time allocated to target responding increased. When the superimposed point deliveries could be delivered at any time, time allocated to target responding declined and other behavior increased. When superimposed points could never immediately follow target responses, time allocated to target responding decreased further and other behavior or pausing predominated. The findings underscore the contribution of temporal contiguity in the effects of response-independent deliveries of food, money, points, etc.     

评中国思想家对道德与法律之关系的探索

儒家礼法合一论的真义是对“善法”的追求 ,对“恶法”的否定。因为善法体现了儒家的道德精神 ,反映了一种人道主义的价值取向 ,而恶法则是反人道的。墨家强调“法不仁不可以为法” ,其真实的意思是不道德的法律不是真正的法律 ,与儒家的礼法合一论有相似之处。法家主张“法虽不善犹善于无法” ,从而否定了法律的道德基础和价值根据。今天 ,我们在立法中贯彻道德的法律化取向需要谨慎从事 :一是注意把那些体现时代精神、合乎社会潮流的道德予以法律化 ,不能把落伍于时代的道德法律化 ;二是切忌把过高的道德义务转化为法律义务。必须认识到 ,应该法律化的道德只是“底线道德” ,而高层次的道德是不宜法律化的 ,否则就是强人所难。     

Thermodynamics: What One Needs to Know

Thermodynamics is the foundation of many of the topics of interest in the religion-science dialogue. Here a nonmathematical outline of the principles of thermodynamics is presented, providing a historical and conceptually understandable development that can serve teachers from disciplines other than physics. The contributions of Gibbs to both classical and rational thermodynamics, emphasizing the importance of the ensemble in statistical mechanics, are discussed. The seminal ideas of Boltzmann on statistical mechanics are contrasted to those of Gibbs in a discussion of the microscopic interpretation of the second law. The role of information theory is discussed, and the modern ideas of Prigogine and nonequilibrium are outlined in some detail with further reference to the second law. Implications for our interaction with God are considered.     

Drug discrimination under a concurrent fixed-ratio fixed-ratio schedule.

Pigeons were trained to discriminate 5.0 mg/kg pentobarbital from saline under a two-key concurrent fixed-ratio 10 fixed-ratio 40 schedule of food presentation, in which the fixed-ratio component with the lower response requirement was programmed to reinforce responding on one key after drug administration (pentobarbital-biased key) and on the other key after saline administration (saline-biased key). After responding stabilized, pigeons averaged 98% of their responses on the pentobarbital-biased key during training sessions preceded by pentobarbital, and they averaged 90% of their responses on the saline-biased key during training sessions preceded by saline. In test sessions preceded by doses of pentobarbital, chlordiazepoxide, or ethanol, pigeons switched from responding on the saline-biased key at low doses to responding on the pentobarbital-biased key at higher doses (the dose-response curve was quantal). High doses of phencyclidine produced responding on both keys, whereas pigeons responded almost exclusively on the saline-biased key after all doses of methamphetamine. These and previous experiments using concurrent reinforcement schedules to study drug discrimination illustrate that the schedule of reinforcement is an important determinant of the shape of dose-effect curves in drug-discrimination experiments.     

‘Ought implies Can’ and the law

In this paper, we investigate the ‘ought implies can’ (OIC) thesis, focusing on explanations and interpretations of OIC, with a view to clarifying its uses and relevance to legal philosophy. We first review various issues concerning the semantics and pragmatics of OIC; then we consider how OIC may be incorporated in Hartian and Kelsenian theories of the law. Along the way we also propose a taxonomy of OIC-related claims.     

Bidirectional semantic associations between social power and weight

Two experiments were conducted to examine bidirectional semantic associations between power and weight using a priming paradigm. Bidirectionality in the relationship between power and weight was demonstrated, utilising tasks that were identical except that the orders in which the stimuli were presented were reversed. In Experiment 1, an empty scale leaning either leftward or rightward was used as a priming stimulus, and a scale that appeared in equilibrium with a pair of power words was used as a target stimulus. In Experiment 2, a scale with a pair of words that appeared in equilibrium was used as a priming stimulus, and an empty scale leaning either leftward or rightward was used as a target stimulus. We identified interaction effects between power and weight in both experiments. Associations between power and weight provide evidence for both conceptual metaphor views and evolutionary theory. The bidirectionality of metaphorical effects is in line with the strong version of metaphoric structuring. Both language and experiential correlations play important roles in the development of the mapping between power and weight.     

从中国的外交政策看中国对阿拉伯国家的软实力优势

中国与阿拉伯国家之间有着传统的友好合作关系,究其原因,中国的外交政策发挥了不可或缺的重要作用。自20世纪50年代中阿开启外交关系以来,中国始终将自身利益与阿拉伯国家的利益结合起来,政治上大力支持其正义事业,经济上给予其无私援助,文化上主张文明对话、反对文明对抗。中国的外交政策已经成为中国一项重要的软实力优势,不仅得到了阿拉伯国家的广泛认可,更成为推动中阿关系不断发展的动力。     

Sex,Sexual Orientation,and Sexism: What Influence Do These Factors Have on Verdicts in a Crime-of-Passion Case?

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of defendant sex, sexual orientation, and participant sex on perceptions of a crime-of-passion. An online sample of 458 individuals read a scenario describing a homicide and provided judgments of verdict, sentence length, legal elements, and sexism. We hypothesized heterosexual female defendants would most likely receive a verdict of manslaughter, be found less guilty, and receive shorter sentences. We were also interested in whether benevolent sexism would contribute to defendant culpability decisions. Lastly, perceptions of legal elements for manslaughter (e.g., great provocation) and murder (e.g., intentionality of actions) were explored. Results demonstrated heterosexual female defendants were less guilty and received the shortest sentences. Also, heterosexual defendants were most likely to meet the manslaughter legal elements. Benevolent sexism contributed significantly to guilt perceptions.     

Do State Laws Concerning Homosexuals Reflect the Preeminence of Conservative-Liberal Individual Differences?

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to determine whether individual-level correlates of sexual prejudice (i.e., conservatism-liberalism, religious fundamentalism, educational levels, urbanism, income, and living in the South) are predictive at the state level of laws restricting homosexual behaviors and desires. Criterion 1 was a multifaceted index of state laws concerning gay men and lesbians; Criterion 2 was an index of state laws regarding same-sex partnerships. Multiple regression strategies showed that state conservatism-liberalism, as determined from the responses of 141,798 individuals aggregated at the state level (Erikson, Wright, & McIver, 1993 Erikson, R. S., Wright, G. C. and McIver, J. P. 1993. Statehouse democracy: Public opinion and policy in the American states, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.  [Google Scholar]), was the prime state-level predictor of both criteria. For Criterion 1, only Southern state status accounted for additional variance (4.2%) above the 54.8% already accounted for by conservatism-liberalism. For Criterion 2, no other variables accounted for variance beyond the 44.6% accounted for by state conservatism-liberalism.     

Effects of Offenders' Age and Health on Sentencing Decisions

ABSTRACT

Two experiments investigated the effects of age and health on mock judges' sentencing decisions. The effects of these variables on length of prison sentence were examined in the context of offense severity and prior convictions. Experiment 1 involved a violent crime. Main effects were observed for age, health, offense severity and prior convictions. There was also an age by offense severity interaction. Experiment 2 involved a child sexual abuse case. Main effects were observed for health, offense severity, and prior convictions. In addition, an age by offense severity by prior convictions interaction effect was found. Thus, across both experiments, the age leniency effect was moderated by legal factors, suggesting that extra-legal factors affect sentencing in the context of legal factors. Further, for both offenses, offenders in poor health received shorter sentences than offenders in good health, suggesting that health deserves further research attention as an extra-legal variable.