Education and conspiracy beliefs: A replication of van Prooijen (2017)

The main aim of the study was to replicate and extend van Prooijen's findings on how education and its outcomes (cognitive complexity, subjective social standing, self-esteem, a feeling of control and powerlessness, cognitive reflection, epistemic curiosity and scientific reasoning) predict conspiracy beliefs. In two studies (Study 1: N = 497, M_age = 49.06, SD_age = 14.92; Study 2: N = 482, M_age = 47.45, SD_age = 15.87), subjective socioeconomic status and cognitive reflection (Study 1) and a feeling of powerlessness and scientific reasoning (Study 2) contributed to the negative relationship between education level and belief in conspiracy theories. These results showed the connection of education to socioeconomic status, a feeling of control and analytic thinking (cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning) and their power to reduce conspiracy beliefs.     

The effects of physical activity timing and complexity on episodic memory: A randomized controlled trial

The role of two types of acute physical activity (PA) bouts were assessed on young adults’ free-recall and recognition memory in two experiments, which differed in the temporal relation of PA and word encoding. Before or following training on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task, participants performed a simple two-step dance, a complex four-step dance, or remained seated. Hypotheses proposed that PA prior to encoding and complex PA would enhance PA’s mnemonic benefits. Memory assessed post-PA, 24 h, and 7 days after training indicated that timing and complexity of PA did not impact free-recall or recognition memory. Findings differ from a previous study showing complex PA benefited motor learning more than simple PA (Tomporowski & Pendleton, 2018). The inconsistency may be due to different working memory processes underlying consolidation and retrieval of procedural or episodic information. Theory-based explanations regarding memory storage and retrieval are proposed to elucidate this selective process.     

Complexity science: A framework for psychotherapy integration

The paradigm of complexity science provides a new way to address the problem of psychotherapy integration and allows us to bypass the various shortcomings of the linear-interventionist perspective. Nine criteria are outlined, which should be satisfied by any integrative approach to psychotherapy: (a) the use of complexity science to provide a meta-theoretical and generic understanding of change processes (from neuronal to social system levels); (b) a comprehensive and formalised modelling of change processes and personality development; (c) an integrative method of case formulation; (d) the ability to understand a variety of techniques in terms of basic change principles; (e) criteria to guide microdecisions; (f) the application of data-driven feedback and real-time monitoring of change dynamics; (g) standardised assessment of outcomes in naturalistic settings; (h) guidelines for training; and (i) strategies that are well-suited to science–practice integration. Using these criteria as a framework for evaluation, one may grasp the potential of complexity science to drive innovation in the pursuit of psychotherapy integration.     

Theoretische Lücken der Cognitive Science

Theoretical gaps of the cognitive science. First of all the gap-thesis is based on a criticism 1. of the computer-orientated cognitive science (it confuses information with the information carrier), 2. of connectivism (its linguistic borrowing from the neurobiology is not appropriate), 3. of Varelas production model (the elimination of the function of representation results in the loss of the cognitive ability). From the context of meaning and time, then the author sketches a cognitive theoretical approach, in which thinking as a (symbolic and/or subsymbolic) representation of meaning is introduced, which develops in a three-digit relation between world, language and substrate on the basis of isomorphy of time. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reaction times of younger and older men: effects of compound samples and a prechoice signal on delayed matching-to-sample performances.

Five younger (18 to 23 yrs) and five older (65 to 73 yrs) men were exposed to a series of immediate and delayed (0 to 15 seconds) matching-to-sample problems. Presentation of the pairs of delayed comparison stimuli was either signaled or unsignaled, and the sample contained either 1, 2, or 3 elements, one of which appeared as the positive stimulus. During initial sessions, unlimited time was available to respond. Subsequently, correct responses were reinforced only if they occurred within a specified time limit. A general finding was slower responding with increased delay and with increased number of sample elements. These effects were reduced when the comparison stimuli were signaled and when time limits were in effect. Errors increased as a function of the manipulations of sample complexity and time limits, but did not change systematically when the delay between sample and comparison stimuli was varied. Although the younger men generally responded more quickly than the older ones, men of both ages showed increased speeds when limits were placed on response time, and these changes were maintained when the temporal contingencies were removed.     

A Religious Interpretation of Emergence: Creativity as God

Thinking of God today as creativity (instead of as The Creator) enables us to bring theological values and meanings into significant connection with modern cosmological and evolutionary thinking. This conception connects our understanding of God with today's ideas of the Big Bang; cosmic and biological evolution; the evolutionary emergence of novel complex realities from simpler realities, and the irreducibility of these complex realities to their simpler origins; and so on. It eliminates anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism from the conception of God, thus overcoming one of the major reasons for the implausibility of God-talk in today's world—here viewed as a highly dynamic reality (not an essentially stable structure), with God regarded as the ongoing creativity in this world. This mystery of creativity—God—manifest throughout the universe is quite awe-inspiring, calling forth emotions of gratitude, love, peace, fear, and hope, and a sense of the profound meaningfulness of human existence in the world—issues with which faith in God usually has been associated. It is appropriate, therefore, to think of God today as precisely this magnificent panorama of creativity with which our universe and our lives confront us.     

Patients who come back: Clinical characteristics and service outcome for patients re‐referred to an IAPT service

Aims: Patients who are referred more than once to a Primary Care Mental Health Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Service raise questions about those patients' clinical characteristics, the appropriateness of the interventions offered and their capacity to make use of them. IAPT treatments are based on National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for the treatment of common mental health problems. NICE recommendations are based on evidence gained from clinical trials, in particular Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), which tend to exclude the sort of patient with complex and co‐morbid conditions who often present in practice. Method: Using data routinely collected from the IAPTus clinical database, re‐referral patterns and level of complexity of 50 patients who were referred on more than one occasion to a Primary Care Mental Health (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) Team from 2009–2010, were analysed. Results: The evidence presented in this study indicates patients who re‐refer exhibit complex environmental, historical and psychological problems. Implications for practice: Although further research is required to compare the characteristics of this patient group with those who are referred only once, this study provides limited evidence that such patients may be more likely to engage and complete treatments that offer regular, structured and one‐to‐one interventions.     

Towards classifying propositional probabilistic logics

This paper examines two aspects of propositional probabilistic logics: the nesting of probabilistic operators, and the expressivity of probabilistic assessments. We show that nesting can be eliminated when the semantics is based on a single probability measure over valuations; we then introduce a classification for probabilistic assessments, and present novel results on their expressivity. Logics in the literature are categorized using our results on nesting and on probabilistic expressivity.     

The effect of visual complexity and word frequency on eye movements during Chinese reading

Eye movements of native Chinese readers were monitored when they read sentences containing single-character target words orthogonally manipulated for frequency and visual complexity (number of strokes). Both factors yielded strong main effects on skipping probability but no interaction, with readers skipping visually simple and high frequency words more often. However, an interaction between frequency and complexity was observed on the fixation times on the target words with longer fixations for the low frequency, visually complex words. The results demonstrate that visual complexity and frequency have independent influences on saccadic targeting behaviour during Chinese reading but jointly influence fixation durations and that these two factors differently impact fixation durations and saccade targeting during reading.