心理表征哲学及其联结主义诠释

对心理表征问题进行自然的解释是至关重要的,但这方面的研究都是建立在有关概念和命题表征的预设的基础之上的,所以有必要弄清概念表征和命题表征的哲学解释;联结主义也对心理表征问题作了解释,根据被表征的是什么以及通过什么来表征的原则,联结主义网络主要通过四种方式对概念和命题进行表征。总的来说,联结主义对概念和命题的表征与它们的哲学解释并不是一一对应的,其方法论基础是费耶阿本德的多元方法论,即"怎么都行"。     

古籍中自立涵义的概念分析

在收集到的200部常见古籍中对“自立”一词进行检索,并对“自立”进行了概念分析。结果如下：①共检索到有“自立”一词的古籍98部;“自立”自春秋时起就广泛出现在各类典籍中。②古籍中对自立的使用主要是从个体自立、事物自立、针对它物与他人的自立以及国家自立四个方面进行的,每个方面又包括多种具体含义。③古籍中的自立人格特征可以分为主动性、道德性、独立性和其他四类。最后,对古籍中个体自立的实质、自立人格的结构以及本研究的优劣等问题进行了讨论,提出：①古籍中的个体自立是一个含义复杂、涉及范围宽的概念。自修与立身是个体自立的两个基本内容。自立既是一种人格特征也是一种人格塑造方法。②个体自立所包含的内容在长期历史发展过程中不断发展。③强调道德因素与人际联结是自立与西方类似概念的重要区别     

Self‐construal and students’ math self‐concept,anxiety and achievement: An examination of achievement goals as mediators

This study examines the role of self‐construal in student learning by testing a mediation model: through math achievement goals, self‐construal predicts math self‐concept and anxiety, which further predict math achievement. A sample of 1196 students from 104 secondary classes in Singapore took a survey and a math achievement test. The results from multi‐group structural equation modelling support measurement invariance and equal path coefficients in the mediation model between boys and girls. Interdependent self‐construal positively predicted mastery approach and avoidance goals, through which interdependent self‐construal had a positive total indirect effect on math anxiety. Independent self‐construal positively predicted mastery approach, performance approach and performance avoidance goals, and through the two approach goals, high independent self‐construal was associated with high math self‐concept. Overall, self‐construal was not associated with math achievement. The findings enhance our understanding of achievement motivation from a sociocultural perspective and help explain East Asian students’ relatively higher anxiety and lower self‐concept in comparison with their Western counterparts as reported in international studies.     

The mathematics of sharing / Las matemáticas que realizan los niños al compartir

Abstract

The purpose of sharing is to construct equivalent sets, making it an ideal context for analysing important quantitative concepts such as counting, equivalence and cardinality. Two studies analysed how four- and five-year-olds shared blocks in equal sharing and reciprocity conditions and their number inferences about one set after counting the other. The researcher asked children to share double and single blocks between two characters. They succeeded more in building equivalent shares in an equal sharing than reciprocity condition. Most children who shared correctly also made appropriate number inferences. To examine whether perceptual cues helped children share the blocks, a second study used Canadian $1 and $2 coins. A double block is twice the size of a single, whereas there is no visual cue about the value relation between coins because they are the same size. Unexpectedly, children shared equally well with blocks and coins, and most children made number inferences.     

Conditional same/different concept learning in the short‐beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

Echidnas have evolved separately from other mammalian groups for around 200 million years and incorporate a mixture of reptilian and mammalian features. Because of these attributes, they have historically been considered “primitive” animals. However, they have successfully adapted to a wide variety of ecological niches and their neurophysiology demonstrates a number of unusual and apparently sophisticated characteristics, including a relatively large brain and cerebral cortex and a comparatively massive frontal cortex. Studies of learning in the echidna have thus far been limited to only a handful of experiments which demonstrated relatively basic abilities such as forming a position habit in a T‐maze, successive habit‐reversal learning, and simple visual and instrumental discrimination. This study aimed to expand on these results and test the “primitive” echidna on what are generally considered more advanced cognitive tasks—same/different and conditional same/different concept learning. The results demonstrated that echidnas are able to discriminate on the basis of a relational same/different concept, using simultaneously presented multi‐element stimuli, and transfer that discrimination to novel stimuli. After further training, they were then able to repeat the performance when the correct choice was conditional on the background color of the stimulus panels.     

Red catechisms: socialist educational literature and the demarcation of religion and politics in the early 19th century

The catechetical genre not only has a long history in religious but also in political discourse. During the 18th century, catechisms were produced on a vast number of diverse subjects, ranging from secular ethics to sheep breeding. The catechism persisted throughout the 19th century and almost gave shape to the Manifesto of the Communist Party. By this time, however, some socialists were also sceptical of the genre; it was perceived as ambiguous. Catechisms are thus a focal point for changing understandings of politics and religion in 19th-century discourse. This article discusses the production and reception of early 19th-century ‘red’ or socialist catechisms to reveal how the ambiguity of the concept religion was negotiated in the context of the catechetical genre. By locating the debate on catechisms in the discourse on ideology, I show that this genre was a focal point for structural change in the semantic field of religion in modernity.     

共产主义信念对道德认知的影响及认知机制

基于五个实验研究联合使用单类内隐联想范式与概念启动范式,探讨了共产主义信念与道德认知的关系及其认知机制。结果显示:(1)共产主义信念与道德在概念层面具有相容性;(2)在阈上、阈下水平启动共产主义信念均能够显著促进道德概念判断;(3)共产主义信念促进道德判断的启动效应呈现累积趋势,符合证据累积模型,而在词汇决定任务下未出现概念的扩散激活效应,不符合扩散激活模型。系列研究表明,新时代中国特色社会主义背景下,共产主义信念与道德认知产生了显著地关联,共产主义信念启动能够促进道德判断,且共产主义信念促进道德判断的启动效应并不是发生在语义层面,而是知觉层面。     

‘Women are Bad at Math,but I'm Not,am I?’ Fragile Mathematical Self‐concept Predicts Vulnerability to a Stereotype Threat Effect on Mathematical Performance

The present research reports the results of three studies showing that individuals with a fragile self‐concept in the domain of performance are particularly vulnerable to stereotype threat effects. Specifically, women who explicitly described themselves as rather mathematical but whose implicit self‐concepts contradicted these claims were vulnerable to stereotype threat effects on mathematical performance. This effect was robust across three studies, independent of the subtleness or content of the stereotype threat manipulation. Additionally, it was shown that the effect was mediated by anxious worrying (Study 3). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some reflections on writing the history of the IFPS

Abstract

A knowledge of the history of psychoanalysis strengthens our understanding of its concepts. A specific characteristic of psychoanalysis is that its creative development unfolds in confidential processes. One way to remedy this ‘basic fault’ is extensive and intensive interviews with analysts. In earlier times, collections of correspondence between analysts provided such information. There is very little material on the International Federation of Psychoanalytic Societies (IFPS) and its importance in the development of psychoanalysis. The first forums of the IFPS were published in Fortschritter der Psychoanalyse, whereas from 1992 onwards, significant papers have been published in the International Forum of Psychoanalysis. Although not bound to any specific school of psychoanalysis, the journal has been especially open to developments with roots in the so-called Budapest school.     

Books received: volume 11, issue 2

According to Bolzano, an object has necessary being if, and only if, there is a conceptual truth that ascribes being to it. I (Textor, 1996, chapter 5) proposed that the notion of conceptual truth bears the explanatory weight in Bolzano's theory of necessity because, ultimately, the truth of such a proposition depends only on the nature of the concepts it contains. Rusnock (2012) argues against this interpretation and proposes, in turn, that for Bolzano necessity and contingency are tied to free choice. In this article I will provide conceptual and historical background for Bolzano's view of necessity and use it to motivate my interpretation as well as to rebut Rusnock's criticism.