Body parts and early-learned verbs

This article reports the structure of associations among 101 common verbs and body parts. The verbs are those typically learned by children learning English prior to 3 years of age. In a free association task, 50 adults were asked to provide the single body part that came to mind when they thought of each verb. Analyses reveal highly systematic and structured patterns of associations that are also related to the normative age of acquisition of the verbs showing a progression from verbs associated with actions by the mouth, to verbs strongly associated with actions by hand and arm, to verbs not so strongly associated with any one body part. The results have implications for proposals about embodied verb meaning and also for processes of early verb learning.     

Existential fulfillment and burnout among principals and teachers

The aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence of burnout in primary education teachers and primary school principals and to explore the relationship of existential fulfillment to self‐reported burnout scores. Random samples of 215 teachers and 514 principals participated in a cross‐sectional study using an anonymous, mailed survey. Two questionnaires were used in both studies. The Dutch version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for teachers was used to assess the teachers’ and principals’ burnout level. Second, existential fulfillment was measured by the Längle, Orgler and Kundi Existence Scale. The results of the present study indicated that teachers’ and principals’ existential fulfillment is related to their burnout level. Lack of existential fulfillment was an important burnout determinant. Unfortunately, this concept has been neglected to date. Existential fulfillment may be a significant and usable point of departure for devising psychological interventions aimed at teachers and principals.     

Structure and conventions

Wayne Davis’s Meaning, Expression and Thought argues that linguistic meaning is conventional use to express ideas. An obvious problem with this proposal is that complex expressions that have never been used are nonetheless meaningful. In response to this concern, Davis associates conventions of use not only with linguistic expressions but also with the modes in which such expressions can combine into larger expressions. I argue that such constructive conventions are in conflict with the principle of compositionality (as it is usually understood) and that (at least in the cases Davis considers) they are unnecessary for semantic explanations.

Within my breast, alas, two souls ...

The obsession is pursued of a word, a sign, a thought that is identical with the thing it signifies, where there is no space between the two. And the nightmare is entertained that, if such an identity is not attained, then intellectual work in general is worth nothing and should be destroyed.     

循证医学证据的哲学蕴义

循证医学的核心理念是开发利用最佳证据用以指导临床医疗实践。从认识论的角度看,其证据的本质仍然是通过以病人为研究对象的临床医学研究所获得的知识信息,但却是经过分层滤过、系统综合和翻译转化的知识信息,是可以用于提高临床诊断、治疗水平和服务质量的,即可以直接转化为“现实生产力”的可运用的知识信息。     

A semantics-based approach to the "no negative evidence" problem

Previous studies have shown that children retreat from argument-structure overgeneralization errors (e.g., * Don't giggle me ) by inferring that frequently encountered verbs are unlikely to be grammatical in unattested constructions, and by making use of syntax-semantics correspondences (e.g., verbs denoting internally caused actions such as giggling cannot normally be used causatively). The present study tested a new account based on a unitary learning mechanism that combines both of these processes. Seventy-two participants (ages 5–6, 9–10, and adults) rated overgeneralization errors with higher (* The funny man's joke giggled Bart ) and lower (* The funny man giggled Bart ) degrees of direct external causation. The errors with more-direct causation were rated as less unacceptable than those with less-direct causation. This finding is consistent with the new account, under which children acquire—in an incremental and probabilistic fashion—the meaning of particular constructions (e.g., transitive causative = direct external causation) and particular verbs, rejecting generalizations where the incompatibility between the two is too great.     

自我超越生命意义对压力和健康关系的调节作用

研究目的是检验一个新的应激应对资源—自我超越生命意义的健康调节作用。自我超越生命意义的理论基础是东方的佛教哲学和道家哲学。研究的测量工具有：大学校园压力量表,一般健康问卷（GHQ-20）,自尊量表和自我超越生命意义量表。被试为来自北京市三所高校的788名大学生。研究结果为：自我超越生命意义可以调节应激条件下的忧郁情绪、一般健康问题和自尊,但是对于焦虑情绪和自我肯定的调节作用不明显。研究结论是：自我超越生命意义对心理健康的某些方面具有调节作用     

解开自卑的情结——阿德勒与奥修自卑情结比较及启示

针对自卑情结的存在,采用西方心理哲学家阿德勒与东方心理哲学家奥修对于自卑情结的理解进行比较,如在自卑情结的来源;自卑情结的作用;如何解开自卑情结,从以上的异同比较上总结出东西方两种不同的思维模式,从而在现实的意义上给予我们启发和思考,指出两者在现实应用中适当整合的必要性。     

Embodiment、认知科学以及传统意义理论的发展

智能是一个有"意义"的活动;认知科学与意义理论之间存在有效的互动。概念/命题的传统意义理论是传统认知科学研究的重要理论基础。Embodiment支配的涉身认知科学研究是对基于规则演算的传统认知科学的现实修正。涉身认知科学与相应的哲学思想产生了一种更为全面的涉身意义理论。涉身意义理论提供了全面揭示和了解智能的一条可能路径。