Old Foundations for the Logic of Agency and Action

The paper presents an infinite hierarchy of sound and complete axiomatic systems for Two-Dimensional Modal Tense Logic with Historical Necessity, Agents and Acts. A main novelty of these logics is their capacity to represent formally (i) basic action-sentences asserting that such and such an act is performed/omitted by an agent, as well as (ii) causative action-sentences asserting that by performing/omitting a certain act, an agent causes that such and such a state-of-affairs is realized (e.g. comes about/ceases/remains/remains absent). We illustrate how the formal machinery of our systems can be used to reconstruct a number of interesting ideas in the Logic of Agency and Action that have been proposed by authors like von Wright, von Kutschera, Belnap and Segerberg.     

Opening the mind to reality

The author shows, through the use of clinical material, how an early failure in love can give rise to a severely crippling superego. The experience of a hateful relation with the mother is not simply internalized as a persecuting internal object, but is grafted onto the very roots of superego formation. As a result, the development of other parts of the psyche are affected – specifically the relation between the ego and self and the development of sexuality. The alienation between ego and self impairs thinking and the perception of external reality, which is modified and denied in the service of maintaining a pathological superego. By allowing the patient's hateful feelings to come out in the transference, without making him feel guilty, he is then able to risk expressing his loving feelings without the fear of rejection or abandonment. Through this process, the pathological superego can be dismantled and a more benign superego constructed.     

青少年学业成绩、攻击行为与受欢迎程度的关系:一项交叉滞后研究

我国高度重视教育问题,学业被家庭和社会投入了大量的关注,构成了青少年学生时代的主要旋律。学业成绩不仅可以影响青少年的社会性发展,也会被社会性发展所影响。本研究采用交叉滞后设计,通过同伴提名和标准化考试对1283名初中生（M_age=13.43岁,SD=0.65岁,47.7%为女生）进行了为期一年的追踪研究,考察学业成绩和社会性发展（受欢迎程度、攻击行为）之间的相互预测关系。结果表明：（1）T1~T2时间段,学业成绩显著正向预测受欢迎程度;（2）T1~T3时间段,男生学业成绩均显著负向预测随后的攻击行为,但这一关系对于女生而言仅在T1~T2时间段显著,并且在该时间段男生的预测作用强于女生;（3）T1~T2时间段,受欢迎程度显著正向预测学业成绩,但预测强度弱于同时期学业成绩对于受欢迎程度的预测。本研究结果表明,青少年学业成绩、攻击行为与受欢迎程度之间存在着复杂的相互作用,并且这一作用随着性别以及时间的变化有所不同。研究结果对于促进青少年个体发展具有重要的意义。     

Propositions as Structured Cognitive Event-Types

According to act theories, propositions are structured cognitive act-types. Act theories appear to make propositions inherently representational and truth-evaluable, and to provide solutions to familiar problems with alternative theories, including Frege’s and Russell’s problems, and the third-realm and unity problems. Act theories have critical problems of their own, though: acts as opposed to their objects are not truth evaluable, not structured in the right way, not expressed by sentences, and not the objects of propositional attitudes. I show how identifying propositions with other cognitive event-types, namely thoughts, has the perceived virtues of act theories without the defects.     

重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响及调控机制

关于急性应激对攻击行为的影响, 现有研究多集中于单次急性应激情境下。然而, 相比单次急性应激, 对重复暴露于同一应激源的研究更能反映人们在现实生活中经历的应激事件。与单次应激不同, 重复性急性应激与应激适应有关, 能够节省资源, 具有很强的进化和适应意义, 但目前关于重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响却知之甚少。鉴于此, 研究运用事件电位相关技术、鼻喷催产素和催产素受体基因型分析方法, 探讨重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响及内部机制, 并进一步探讨通过内部和外部调控重复性急性应激反应后攻击行为的变化。     

自我损耗对攻击行为的影响:复愈性环境的作用

本研究采用实验(stroop任务和竞争反应时任务)和问卷(积极情感消极情感量表)相结合的方法,探讨复愈性环境对自我损耗后攻击性行为的影响。结果发现:高损耗组反应性攻击行为显著大于低损耗组,两组主动性攻击行为差异不显著;观看复愈性环境和非复愈性环境后,复愈性环境组反应性攻击行为显著低于非复愈性环境组,主动性攻击行为两组无差异。结果表明:自我损耗后会产生情绪上的不良表现,反应性攻击行为增多,而主动性攻击行为不受损耗影响;自我损耗后观看复愈性环境,能够缓解情绪上的不良表现,增加认知资源,从而减少攻击行为。     

Sibling Hostility and Externalized Symptoms of Psychological Distress

Sibling verbal and physical abuse has been underrepresented in childhood maltreatment research as a potential contributor to lifetime aggression. This study investigated associations between sibling hostility (physical abuse, threats of violence, heated verbal conflict) and conduct disorder symptoms, trait hostility, and lifetime aggression after control for variance attributable to physical and sexual abuse, exposure to domestic violence, and peer bullying. Over 20% of the respondents from this university sample (N = 1,331) recalled high levels of sibling hostility from the ages of 5 to 16. The frequency of these acts served as a significant predictor in regression models for all of the criterion measures among the women. Relationships between sibling hostility and these externalized symptom indicators were more limited among the men. Acts of sibling hostility as infrequent as once a year were associated in the total sample with higher conduct disorder symptoms, reactive aggression, lifetime acts of physical aggression, and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire subscale scores. These findings suggested that even low frequencies of sibling abuse may have a deleterious impact on temper management. Sibling hostility warrants systematic attention in the childhood maltreatment literature.     

Prophetic performatives: the New Age’s pending efficacy through self-prophecy

This paper broadens the limited area of scholarship on New Age spiritualism by providing and explanation for the suasive force of one of its main themes, the ‘Law of Attraction’. Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, is utilised as emblematic of the doctrine, where the individual is seen to engage in a dynamic similar to that of classical predictive prophecy, with the role of prophet being internalised. Three elements discussed are the positioning of the prophet, prophecy’s temporal ambiguity, and its linguistic tense. This paper suggests that the Law of Attraction re-imagines and employs the predictive prophetic structure and suggests that such a belief can act as a fetish.     

Friendly fire: Longitudinal effects of exposure to violent video games on aggressive behavior in adolescent friendship dyads

Research on gaming effects has focused on adolescence, a developmental period in which peer relationships become increasingly salient. However, the impact of peers on the effects of violent gaming on adolescents has been understudied. This study examined whether adolescents’ exposure to violent video games predicted their own and their friend's aggression one year later. Among 705 gaming adolescents, 141 dyads were identified based on reciprocated best friend nominations (73.8% male, M_age = 13.98). Actor‐Partner Interdependence Models indicated that adolescent males’ (but not females’) exposure to violent games positively predicted the aggression of their best friend 1 year later. This effect appeared regardless of whether the friends played video games together or not. The study illustrates the importance of peers in the association between violent gaming and aggression.     

Differentiating corporal punishment from physical abuse in the prediction of lifetime aggression

Corporal punishment and parental physical abuse often co‐occur during upbringing, making it difficult to differentiate their selective impacts on psychological functioning. Associations between corporal punishment and a number of lifetime aggression indicators were examined in this study after efforts to control the potential influence of various forms of co‐occurring maltreatment (parental physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, sibling abuse, peer bullying, and observed parental violence). College students (N = 1,136) provided retrospective self‐reports regarding their history of aggression and levels of exposure to childhood corporal punishment and maltreatment experiences. Analyses focused on three hypotheses: 1) The odds of experiencing childhood physical abuse would be higher among respondents reporting frequent corporal punishment during upbringing; 2) Corporal punishment scores would predict the criterion aggression indices after control of variance associated with childhood maltreatment; 3) Aggression scores would be higher among respondents classified in the moderate and elevated corporal punishment risk groups. Strong support was found for the first hypothesis since the odds of childhood physical abuse recollections were higher (OR = 65.3) among respondents who experienced frequent (>60 total disciplinary acts) corporal punishment during upbringing. Partial support was found for the second and third hypotheses. Dimensional and categorical corporal punishment scores were associated significantly with half of the criterion measures. These findings support efforts to dissuade reliance on corporal punishment to manage child behavior.