THEOLOGY,EVOLUTION, AND THE HUMAN MIND: HOW MUCH CAN BIOLOGY EXPLAIN?

Evolutionary biology contributes much to our present understanding of life, and it promises also to deepen our understanding of human intelligence, ethics, and even religion. For some scientific thinkers, however, Darwin's science seems so impressive that it now supplants theology altogether by providing the ultimate explanation of all manifestations of life, not only biologically but also metaphysically. By focusing on human intelligence as an emergent aspect of nature this essay examines the question of whether theology can still have an explanatory role to play alongside biology in attempts to understand mind.     

On approximate confidence intervals for measures of concordance

The use ofU-statistics based on rank correlation coefficients in estimating the strength of concordance among a group of rankers is examined for cases where the null hypothesis of random rankings is not tenable. The studentizedU-statistics is asymptotically distribution-free, and the Student-t approximation is used for small and moderate sized samples. An approximate confidence interval is constructed for the strength of concordance. Monte Carlo results indicate that the Student-t approximation can be improved by estimating the degrees of freedom.Research partially supported on ONR Contract N00014-82-K-0207.     

Night-rest urinary catecholamine excretion in relation to aspects of free time, work and background data in a teacher group

Free time, work and background data were related to night-rest catecholamine excretion rates in a teacher group (n = 137) during an autumn term. The explained interindividual variance increased slightly towards the end of the term. Adrenaline excretion was predicted better than noradrenaline, notedly by coffee consumption, amount of physical activity, and subjective stress feelings which explained 16% of the variance in adrenaline excretion during night rest. However, the results indicated that the differences in catecholamine excretion during night rest remained mostly unpredictable.     

Psychometric properties of a Danish translation of the Rutter Scale B in a community sample of seven-year-old children

The psychometric properties of a Danish translation of the Rutter Scale B for completion by teachers were examined in a nonreferred sample of 686 7-year-old children. The Danish translation of the Rutter scale had a similar factor structure to the original, producing a three-factor structure corresponding to the subscales. The agreement between the questionnaire and direct observations of the children ten months earlier was fair ( K =0.42). The findings suggest that the translated scale could serve as a rapid and useful screening instrument in clinical and in research settings.     

On the sampling interpretation of confidence intervals and hypothesis tests in the context of conditional maximum likelihood estimation

In the context ofconditional maximum likelihood (CML) estimation, confidence intervals can be interpreted in three different ways, depending on the sampling distribution under which these confidence intervals contain the true parameter value with a certain probability. These sampling distributions are (a) the distribution of the data given theincidental parameters, (b) the marginal distribution of the data (i.e., with the incidental parameters integrated out), and (c) the conditional distribution of the data given the sufficient statistics for the incidental parameters. Results on the asymptotic distribution of CML estimates under sampling scheme (c) can be used to construct asymptotic confidence intervals using only the CML estimates. This is not possible for the results on the asymptotic distribution under sampling schemes (a) and (b). However, it is shown that theconditional asymptotic confidence intervals are also valid under the other two sampling schemes. I am indebted to Theo Eggen, Norman Verhelst and one of Psychometrika's reviewers for their helpful comments.     

Reply to William R. Ferrell's paper "Calibration of sensory and cognitive judgments: A single model for both"

William R. Ferrell's paper is a reply to our article "Calibration of sensory and cognitive judgments: Two different accounts", 1993, 34, 135–148 in this journal. Ferrell's critique centres around three issues: (1) The model of sensory discrimination proposed by Björkman et al. (1993) and discussed in Winman and Juslin (1993) is not new, (2) this model does not predict underconfidence, (3) there is no need for separate models of calibration of sensory and cognitive judgments. Below we respond to each of the three issues raised by Ferrell.     

Moment of Truth: Why Aha! Experiences are Correct

Having a sudden insight is often associated with inherent confidence, enough for Archimedes to run naked through the streets shouting “Eureka!”. Recent evidence demonstrates that public displays of enthusiasm, such as the ancient polymath's, are actually supported by a higher likelihood of being correct.     

特征归纳的关联相似性模型

作者提出特征归纳的关联相似性模型,用以描述以归纳特征的关联特征相似性为基础的归纳推理,把归纳推理中相似性和关联知识统一整合起来。该模型认为归纳强度主要取决于归纳特征与关联特征的关联强度和关联特征的相似性程度的乘积,归纳信心主要取决于关联强度,从而分离归纳信心和归纳强度。以大学生为被试的两个实验的主要结果支持关联相似性模型的主要预测。关联相似性模型能够描述解释以关联特征相似性为基础的归纳推理现象,比以往的归纳理论具有更大的解释能力和解释范围     

国外关于自信的研究综述

近些年来自信研究已受到越来越多的心理学家的关注。文章对国外30多年来自信的理论和实证研究进行了系统综述,从概念和结构上阐述了国外自信研究的历史和现状,并从自信的差异研究、两极与反面研究以及影响因素3方面总结了具体研究领域的最新进展。在此基础上,指出了自信研究领域存在的问题和将来的研究方向。     

Condom Use Among U.S. Students: The Importance of Confidence in Normative and Attitudinal Perceptions

Abstract

The author performed a study among U.S. undergraduates to test an earlier conclusion (D. Trafimow, 1994) that confidence in the correctness of one's perceptions of normative pressure to use a condom influences the correspondence between those perceptions and the intentions actually to perform the behavior. Consistent with previous findings (Trafimow), the participants' perceptions of normative pressure strongly predicted their intentions to use condoms only under conditions of extreme normative confidence. Otherwise, their attitudes were better predictors of their intentions to use condoms. In addition, 2 other variables (attitudinal confidence and perceived behavioral control) were found to be unimportant predictors of intentions. Results of a 2nd study suggest that behaviors performed by sexual partners and knowing the sexual partners affected the participants' normative confidence.