Learn locally, act globally: Learning language from variation set cues

Variation set structure - partial overlap of successive utterances in child-directed speech - has been shown to correlate with progress in children’s acquisition of syntax. We demonstrate the benefits of variation set structure directly: in miniature artificial languages, arranging a certain proportion of utterances in a training corpus in variation sets facilitated word and phrase constituent learning in adults. Our findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms of L1 acquisition by children, and for the development of more efficient algorithms for automatic language acquisition, as well as better methods for L2 instruction.     

Metaphysics as interpretation of conscious life: some remarks on D. Henrich’s and D. Kolak’s thinking

In this article, I discuss the manner in which Dieter Henrich’s theory of subjectivity has emerged from the fundamental questions of German Idealism, and in what manner and to what extent this theory effects a reinstatement of metaphysics. In so doing, I shall argue that Henrich’s position represents a viable refutation of the attempt of the physicalist explanation of the world to prove the concept of the subject to be superfluous. Henrich’s metaphysics of subjectivity is primarily focused on the ‘ultimate questions’ which also compose “the deep levels of our subjectivity” and concern the factors that should promote stability in our emotional, moral and intellectual life. I argue with Henrich that the indisputable facticity of our conscious life is worthy of our special consideration and interpretation, explanation and clarification, just as the deeper meaning (the individual and collective subconscious structure) hidden beneath the layers of apparent comprehensibility calls for urgent investigation. Such interpretation and elucidation of life’s meaning has a tripartite character: first, it consists of clarification of the totality of human experience together with the realities playing a part in it; second, it builds on the process by which the contents of experience are cognized, and the knowledge thereof which results; thirdly, it embraces the transcendental precondition enabling each and every one of us to consciously lead our lives—for life, in a human sense, does not merely happen to one. Henrich’s metaphysical foundation of subjectivity is compared with Kolak‘s position, according to which individual consciousness is not insular, but integrated into the totality of overall unity that some have called “the Universal Self”, “the Noumenal Self”.     

Universal Biology Does Not Prescribe Planetary Isolationism

Stephen Hawking’s caution against messaging extraterrestrial intelligence is a claim of universal biology and is probably false.     

THE SCIENTIST AS STATESMAN: BIOLOGISTS AND THIRD WORLD HEALTH

One of the most threatening problems the world faces is the growing poverty crisis and the related human rights inequalities and the spread of diseases in underprivileged areas. Human rights and relief organizations try hard to contain the devastation of these interconnected difficulties. What is the role of the biomedical scientist in this endeavor? The challenges that biomedical scientists face in their research lead us to question whether scientists can go beyond the time‐consuming realm of experimental investigation and engage the issues of society in a more public way. I suggest how the scientist's role can be expanded in our complex and precarious world, introducing the idea of the modern biomedical researcher as scientist, scholar‐philosopher, and statesman for the scientific community and the larger human rights community. I provide examples of where the scientist can interface with human rights organizations, medical doctors, political and civic leaders, and the science‐religion dialogue. My argument reveals the emerging role of the biomedical scientist as one of public service in addition to and beyond the realm of the experimental investigator. This role, however, is formidable, and I list some of the obstacles it entails.     

From mental strain to burnout

This study examines the relationships between burnout and short-term consequences of mental strain within and outside human services professions, at the same time contributing to the understanding of the development of burnout as a long-term effect of impairing work and job design. A total of 294 German employees working in human services (N = 149) and industrial production (N = 145) completed the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and four scales measuring short-term consequences of mental strain. Results of factor analyses confirmed that the elements of the OLBI's two-factor structure—exhaustion and disengagement—are distinct from a range of impairing short-term consequences of mental strain. In addition, structural equation modelling showed that each burnout dimension is differentially related to specific short-term consequences of strain: Exhaustion is primarily related to mental fatigue, whereas disengagement is primarily related to satiation and the experience of monotony. The findings did not differ substantially for the two occupational groups. Burnout, as a long-term consequence of impairing mental strain, is distinct from and presumably temporally-causally related to specific impairing short-term consequences of mental strain, which, in turn, can be attributed to inadequate job design.     

Moral Instincts and the Problem with Reductionism: A Critical Look at the Work of Marc Hauser

In his most recent book Moral Minds, Marc Hauser argues that many foundational moral instincts have clear biological explanations. To make this argument, Hauser focuses on the similarities between the acquisition of morality and the acquisition of language. Similar to language, one learns a particular moral framework from one's environment, but the biological components necessary for moral development are universal. While I agree with Hauser's overall conclusion regarding moral instincts, I reject the notion that a purely biological analysis of morality can provide an adequate framework for justification. The problem, as I see it, is Hauser acknowledges the bottom-up influences taking place between biology and moral formation, but he refuses to account for the top-down influences that occur between metaphysical assumptions, moral beliefs, and biological conclusions. Thus, the current critique will focus on the connection between Hauser's failure to account for top-down influence and the subsequent shortcoming related to moral justification.     

The nature of the memory buffer in implicit learning: Learning Chinese tonal symmetries

Previous research has established that people can implicitly learn chunks, which (in terms of formal language theory) do not require a memory buffer to process. The present study explores the implicit learning of nonlocal dependencies generated by higher than finite-state grammars, specifically, Chinese tonal retrogrades (i.e. centre embeddings generated from a context-free grammar) and inversions (i.e. cross-serial dependencies generated from a mildly context-sensitive grammar), which do require buffers (for example, last in-first out and first in-first out, respectively). People were asked to listen to and memorize artificial poetry instantiating one of the two grammars; after this training phase, people were informed of the existence of rules and asked to classify new poems, while providing attributions of the basis of their judgments. People acquired unconscious structural knowledge of both tonal retrogrades and inversions. Moreover, inversions were implicitly learnt more easily than retrogrades constraining the nature of the memory buffer in computational models of implicit learning.     

Saying what you mean, meaning what you say: language, interaction and interpretation

As analysts, we strive to say what we mean, which involves understanding the other person's communication, finding the appropriate form of words to articulate what we have understood, and expressing them in the tone of voice which can be heard. Meaning what we say refers to the authenticity of our response, that what we say is sincere. My theme touches on different ways of saying what we mean and how this can affect the meaning of what we say. Some of the issues are aesthetic, some grammatical. How some sentence structures lead to closing off communication while others open it.     

The impact of adjacent-dependencies and staged-input on the learnability of center-embedded hierarchical structures

A theoretical debate in artificial grammar learning (AGL) regards the learnability of hierarchical structures. Recent studies using an AⁿBⁿ grammar draw conflicting conclusions (Bahlmann and Friederici, 2006 and [De Vries et al., 2008] ). We argue that 2 conditions crucially affect learning AⁿBⁿ structures: sufficient exposure to zero-level-of-embedding (0-LoE) exemplars and a staged-input. In 2 AGL experiments, learning was observed only when the training set was staged and contained 0-LoE exemplars. Our results might help understanding how natural complex structures are learned from exemplars.     

Diagnostic efficiency of several methods of identifying socially rejected children and effect of participation rate on classification accuracy

Social rejection is associated with a wide variety of negative outcomes. Early identification of social rejection and intervention to minimize its negative impact is thus important. However, sociometric methods, which are considered high in validity for identifying socially rejected children, are frequently not used because of (a) procedural challenges, (b) community apprehension, and (c) sensitivity to missing data. In a sample of 316 students in grades K through 8, we used receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses to compare the diagnostic efficiency of several methods for identifying socially rejected children. When not using least-liked nominations, (a) most-liked nominations yielded the greatest diagnostic efficiency (AUC = .96), (b) peer ratings were more efficient (AUC = .84 to .99) than teacher ratings (AUC = .74 to .81), and (c) teacher report of social status was more efficient (AUC = .81) than scores from teacher behavior rating scales (AUC = .74 to .75). We also examined the effects of nominator non-participation on diagnostic efficiency. At participation as low as 50%, classification of sociometric rejection (i.e., being rejected or not rejected) was quite accurate (κ = .63 to .77). In contrast, at participation as high as 70%, classification of sociometric status (i.e., popular, average, unclassified, neglected, controversial, or rejected) was significantly less accurate (κ = .50 to .59).