How does a word become a message? An illustration on a developmental time-scale

Recent changes in views on cognition underscore its embodied, situated and distributed character. These changes are compatible with the conceptual framework of ecological psychology. However for ecological psychology to propose explanations for a broad range of cognitive phenomena, including language, it needs an account of how to link the dynamics of coupling between the organism and the environment with the apparent symbolicity of informational structures. In this paper it is proposed that a theory of information in biological systems, advocated by Howard Pattee, may help forge this link. By treating informational structures as constraints on dynamics this approach helps to identify which processes, in which systems and on what time-scales are needed for structures to ‘become messages’. I will illustrate how these processes might work on developmental time-scale in the domain of language, building on the work by Edward Reed (1995, 1996) and extending it using the view of linguistic structures as constraints.     

Something in the way she moves: biological motion,body shape,and attractiveness in women

Most previous research into the attractiveness of women’s bodies has relied on static stimuli such as line-drawings or photographs, particularly focusing on the role of body-mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). However, real attractiveness judgments are invariably made on moving bodies, and movement may contain important information about attractiveness. We measured the importance of movement in attractiveness judgments by using motion-capture to isolate dynamic cues from 37 female walkers, and compare ratings of 75 participants made on these, static photographs, and the original videos. Multiple regression analysis revealed that both dynamic and static cues were important in the attractiveness of women’s bodies. Furthermore, BMI and WHR predicted attractiveness, but BMI was more important in dynamic rather than static cues, while WHR was important for both static and dynamic cues. These findings suggest that movement plays a crucial part in the attractiveness of female bodies and cannot be ignored in studies of human mate choice. Furthermore, dynamic and static cues may contain differential information related to female body shape, which further research should attempt to elucidate.     

Future Directions for the Zygon Center

Abstract. A brief comparison of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences is given. The work and emphases of the two Centers overlap but also differ in significant ways. Without neglecting the physical sciences or the Christian tradition, ZCRS would do well to continue to give high priority to the biological sciences and the dialogue with the major world religions.     

Children's and adults' understanding of the impact of nutrition on biological and psychological processes

Four studies examined children's and adults' beliefs about the impact of nutrition on growth and mood states. In Studies 1 and 2, 271 participants (preschoolers through adults) judged the impact of healthy and unhealthy nutrition on height and weight. In Studies 3 and 4, 267 participants judged the impact of healthy and unhealthy nutrition on positive and negative mood states. The results suggest that young children demonstrate a co‐existence of an ontologically distinct theory of biology as well as a theory of cross‐domain interaction when reasoning about the impact of food on biological and psychological processes.     

Caregiving stress and adjustment problems of Kenyan orphans raised by grandmothers

The present study compared levels of caregiving stress among 115 biological mothers and 134 grandmothers raising their orphaned grandchildren. The associations between parenting stress and adjustment difficulties exhibited by children raised by these two groups of caregivers were also assessed. Full‐time caregiving grandmothers reported elevated levels of stress more than did the biological mothers. A significant negative association was found between child maladjustment and caregiving stress. Caregivers' experienced stress was linked to advanced age and extensive, new adoptive roles now occupied by grandmothers. There was no evidence suggesting that these orphaned children were less well adjusted when compared to children still living with their own birth parents. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

生物-心理-社会医学模式与控烟及吸烟相关性疾病的防控

大量流行病学研究证实，吸烟是导致肺癌的首要危险因素。因此，控烟才是解决问题的根本途径。本文简述了吸烟的主要危害及目前我国吸烟的现状，在此基础上提出需要在生物-心理-社会医学模式的理论框架下全面考虑控烟及吸烟相关疾病的预防和管理。     

Hacking the Akashic Records: The Next Domain for Military Intelligence Operations?

Abstract

This paper outlines a hypothetical six-dimension doctrine for military intelligence-gathering in the Akashic domain. The Akashic records are described by esotericists and mystics as a permanent record of all thoughts, feelings, and actions, stored in a kind of cosmic memory bank outside of space and time. Psychics, clairvoyants, and other intuitives purport to read the records, suggesting that development of an operational strategy for accessing such information may be possible. Command oversight, however, would present significant moral challenges, as “hacking” into this information would be a personally intrusive invasion of privacy with serious repercussions for the operators and state sponsors.