Chisholm on freedom

Abstract: This critical examination of Roderick Chisholm's agent causal brand of libertarianism develops a problem about luck that undermines his earlier and later libertarian views on free will and moral responsibility and defends the thesis that a modest libertarian alternative considerably softens the problem. The alternative calls for an indeterministic connection in the action‐producing process that is further removed from action than Chisholm demands. The article also explores the implications of a relatively new variant of a Frankfurt‐style case for Chisholm's views of free will and moral responsibility and for libertarianism in general. It is suggested that Chisholm's efforts will and should continue to offer important assistance to libertarians who are determined to succeed where he apparently fell short.     

The persons‐in‐relation perspective: Towards a philosophy for counselling in society

This paper is the first in a planned series, which aims to articulate and synthesise the persons‐in‐relation perspective in counselling and psychotherapy, drawing together the contributions of the philosopher John Macmurray, the psychotherapist Ian Suttie and the psychoanalyst Ronald Fairbairn. The paper introduces the persons‐in‐relation perspective, derived from Macmurray's work. It outlines the historical and cultural context leading to the emergence of modernism, and the response of personalism. It summarises John Macmurray's life and philosophy, focusing on his account of knowledge, its relation to the senses and the emotions, and his view of persons, society and religion. The paper goes on to develop a hypothesis about the rise of counselling in Britain, linking it to the decline of religion, the conflict between individualism and collectivism, and the re‐emergence of the persons‐in‐relation perspective. It concludes by posing challenges for the person‐centred and psychodynamic orientations, and for counselling as a whole.     

Brain and mind operational architectonics and man-made “machine” consciousness

To build a true conscious robot requires that a robot’s “brain” be capable of supporting the phenomenal consciousness as human’s brain enjoys. Operational Architectonics framework through exploration of the temporal structure of information flow and inter-area interactions within the network of functional neuronal populations [by examining topographic sharp transition processes in the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) on the millisecond scale] reveals and describes the EEG architecture which is analogous to the architecture of the phenomenal world. This suggests that the task of creating the “machine” consciousness would require a machine implementation that can support the kind of hierarchical architecture found in EEG.

Soft Libertarianism and Hard Compatibilism

In this paper I discuss two kinds of attempts to qualify incompatibilist and compatibilist conceptions of freedom to avoid what have been thought to be incredible commitments of these rival accounts. One attempt -- which I call soft libertarianism -- is represented by Robert Kane's work. It hopes to defend an incompatibilist conception of freedom without the apparently difficult metaphysical costs traditionally incurred by these views. On the other hand, in response to what I call the robot objection (that if compatibilism is true, human beings could be the products of design), some compatibilists are tempted to soften their position by placing restrictions on the origins of agency. I argue that both of these attempts are misguided. Hard libertarianism and hard compatibilism are the only theoretical options.     

情感代理能否提高多媒体学习的效果?

近年来,情感代理如何影响学习受到了研究者们的高度重视。情感代理是可以通过面部表情、声音、肢体动作和言语信息等影响学习者情感体验的教学代理。以往研究主要关注两种类型的情感代理：表达型情感代理和移情型情感代理。表达型情感代理是仅通过自身的情绪表达(如：使用微笑的面部表情和热情的声音)以影响学习者情绪体验的代理。移情型情感代理则是能根据学习者的学习表现或情绪状态给予情感反馈(如;点头、鼓励和共情)的代理,其目的是为了调节学习者的情绪、激励其继续努力。虽然不同的研究者对情感代理的具体操作有所不同,但无论哪种类型的情感代理均是为了增加学习者的积极情绪,提高内部动机,最终促进学习。关于情感代理的潜在作用,研究者基于不同的理论观点给出了不同的解释。情绪感染理论认为一个人的情绪状态容易受到另一个人情绪表达的影响,因此界面代理的情绪会直接影响学习者的情绪和动机。情绪反应理论认为如果教师的言语和非言语线索诱发了积极的情绪,学习者就会产生趋近学习的行为(例如,制定相应的学习计划)。多媒体学习认知情感理论强调了学习过程中情感和动机的重要性。基于多媒体学习认知情感理论,情感代理能唤起学习者的积极情绪,增加学习动机,进而提高学习成绩。而认知负荷理论和干扰理论却认为情感代理丰富的面部表情和手势动作可能会增加学习者的外部认知负荷,吸引学习者的注意力,减少对关键信息的注意,因此干扰学习效果。在上述理论的指导下,研究者们对情感代理的效果进行了探究,结果发现,情感代理可以有效地唤起学习者的积极情绪(d_积极情绪= 0.45),提高学习动机(d_内部动机= 0.52)。但不一定能影响认知负荷（d_{内部认知负荷} = -0.01;d_{外部认知负荷} = 0.09;d_{相关认知负荷} = 0.08）,并且在学习效果上的作用也比较微弱(d_保持 = 0.18;d_理解 = 0.32;d_迁移 = 0.14;d_联合 = 0.32)。情感代理在学习效果上的作用不稳健的原因可能是受到了潜在调节因素的影响。例如,学习者的个体特征（如,工作记忆能力和年级水平）、情感代理的类型、任务特征和测验时间等。总之,尽管目前关于情感代理的研究结果存在不一致,但整体而言,在积极情感代理条件下,学习者更加快乐,更有动力。因此,在教育实践中,教学设计者可以考虑为学习者呈现一个积极的教学代理以帮助他们更加快乐地学习。未来关于情感代理的研究需要继续关注情感代理的操纵和评定方法;探究影响情感代理效果的边界条件;考察情感代理影响学习背后的神经机制;提高情感代理研究的生态效度等。     

A general theoretical framework for the design of artificial emotion systems in Autonomous Agents

Autonomous Agents (AAs) capable of exhibiting emotional behaviors have contributed to the development of natural human-machine interactions in several application domains. In order to provide AAs with emotional mechanisms, their underlying architecture must implement an Artificial Emotion System (AES), a computational model that imitates specific facets of human emotions. Although several AES have been reported in related literature, their design is generally supported on several emotion theories, leading researchers to model and integrate isolated emotion components and mechanisms into the architectures of AES. This theoretical foundation of AES contributes to ambiguities in the analysis and comparison of their underlying architectures, which demands the definition of standards, design guidelines, and integrative frameworks. In this paper, we present a psychologically inspired theoretical framework designed to serve as a platform for the unification of AES' components, the comparison of AES, and the design and implementation of AES in AAs. We analyze common emotion-related requirements of AES, emotion components involved in the design of this type of computational model, and emotion theories that drive the design of most AES. The validation of this framework demonstrates its compatibility with current AES and its feasibility as a model for unifying multiple emotional theories.     

虚拟销售代理的拟人效应

网络购物中的虚拟销售代理(Virtual Sales Agent)是指通过口头或非口头形式与消费者互动和交流的具有拟人化特征的动态人物形象, 它可以为消费者提供商品和服务的信息以及必要的帮助。近年来, 大量研究证实了虚拟销售代理的拟人效应, 即当在网络购物环境中加入拟人化的销售代理时, 就会对购物者的在线购物过程感知体验和购物意向产生积极影响。相关理论从不同视角解释了虚拟销售代理拟人效应发生的原因。综述以往的实证研究发现, 虚拟销售代理拟人效应的发生受到虚拟销售代理特征、消费者因素以及商品因素等方面的影响; 社会临场感、个性化服务知觉、社会支持感、信任和风险感知是拟人效应发生的内在心理机制。未来研究应关注虚拟销售代理拟人效应的神经生理基础, 丰富拟人效应发生的影响因素, 加强对个性化定制虚拟销售代理的研究, 探讨虚拟销售代理的消极影响, 以及不利于虚拟销售代理使用的障碍性因素。     

O’Connor’s argument for indeterminism

Timothy O’Connor has recently defended a version of libertarianism that has significant advantages over similar accounts. One of these is an argument that secures indeterminism on the basis of an argument that shows how causal determinism threatens agency in virtue of the nature of the causal relation involved in free acts. In this paper, I argue that while it does turn out that free acts are not causally determined on O’Connor’s view, this fact is merely stipulative and the argument that he presents for this conclusion begs the question.     

Inner Harmony and the Human Ideal in Republic IV and IX

This paper presents an interpretation of Plato's moral psychology in two books of the Republic that construes Plato as adopting a strong unity for the moral agent. Within this conception reason influences both emotion and action directly. This view is contrasted with the current prevailing interpretation according to which all three parts of the soul have their own reason, feeling, and desire. The latter construal is shown to be both philosophically weak, and less plausible as a historical reconstruction.