What is Science? Methodological Pitfalls Underlying the Empirical Exploration of Scientific Knowledge

Summary  The validity of three premises, set as foundational pillars of modern sociological approach to science, is contested, namely: (i) the postulate, stating that science is devoid of whatever generis specifical; (ii) it is liable to the usual empirical study; (iii) the practicing scientist’s self-reflexive judgements must be disbelieved and rejected. Contrariwise, the ignored so far quaint nature of knowledge, escaping even from the elementary empirical treating - discernment and observation – is revealed and demonstrated. This peculiar nature requires, accordingly, a specific meta-cognitive dealing for positing it as ‘empirical object’, unfortunately missed still by the Strong Programme. The inadequate approach adopted led to a substitution of ‘scientific’ for common knowledge. The tacit thus far alternative, setting the foundations of meta-science, is suggested.     

先前知识对初中学生学习家族相似性类别的影响研究

采用特征—主题的类别学习范式,考察了先前知识对初中学生学习具有家族相似性结构人工类别的影响。结果表明:基于先前知识的主题关系对初中学生的类别学习有显著促进;初中学生在基于已有知识的类别学习中更多地获得了知识关联特征的信息,同时也能对机械特征保持敏感。     

Phoneme isolation ability is not simply a consequence of letter-sound knowledge

Two studies investigated whether knowledge of specific letter-sound correspondences is a necessary precursor of children's ability to isolate phonemes in speech. In both studies, Czech and English children reliably isolated phonemes for which they did not know the corresponding letter. These data refute the idea that phoneme manipulation ability can only develop as a consequence of orthographic (letter-sound correspondence) knowledge.     

Knowing Versus Caring: The Role of Affect and Cognition in Political Perceptions

This paper examines the importance of political knowledge in shaping accurate perceptions of the political world—specifically, how levels of general political knowledge influence the accuracy of specific political judgments, how those judgments might also be shaped by "wishful thinking," and how political knowledge attenuates the impact of wishful thinking on political judgments. Predictions of who would win the U.S. presidential election in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, as surveyed in the National Election Studies conducted in those years, were used as a measure of the accuracy of political perceptions. Analysis of these data reveals that both political knowledge and wishful thinking are important determinants of the accuracy of people's perceptions; in addition, the impact of wishful thinking on perceptions is attenuated by political knowledge.     

The repressed and implicit knowledge

The distinction between implicit (non-conscious) and explicit (conscious) knowledge made by cognitive scientists is applied to the psychoanalytic idea of repressed contents. The consequences of repression are suggested to have been caused by implicit representations. Repressed memories can also be treated in terms of explicit representations, which are prevented from becoming activated. Implicit knowledge cannot, however, be made conscious, and thus the idea of becoming conscious of the repressed desires and fears that have never been conscious is contradictory. This tension may be relieved by reconceptualising the idea of becoming conscious of the repressed. It is suggested that this could be seen as creating explicit knowledge about the effects of implicit representations. By applying the implicit/explicit knowledge distinction, psychoanalytic ideas concerning the repressed could be connected to current views in the domain of cognitive orientation.     

Early predictors of letter knowledge

This study examined the influence of phonological memory and rapid naming on the development of letter knowledge. Participants were 77 Dutch children, who were followed from the start of their first kindergarten year (mean age 4 years 6.8 months) to the end of their second kindergarten year. Phonological memory was assessed by a nonword repetition test and a sentence repetition test. Rapid naming involved object naming. The study revealed found a substantial effect of phonological memory on the acquisition of letter knowledge that was particularly related to the ability to repeat nonwords. Vocabulary knowledge did not have an independent effect on letter learning after phonological memory was controlled. The study also showed a small effect of rapid naming on the acquisition of letter knowledge that was independent of the effect of phonological memory. Finally, the study also provided further evidence for a specific relation between phonological memory and vocabulary acquisition.     

跨职能知识共享对团队创新绩效的影响机制探索

以扎根理论的研究方法,从知识有效共享的角度分析了跨职能整合对团队创新绩效的影响。结果证明：（1）成员之间的知识共享是实现跨职能整合和提高产品创新绩效的关键机制;（2）知识共享行为受到创新氛围、共同目标和组织支持的共同影响;（3）认知障碍是观点冲突产生的主要原因,而知识共享有助于冲突的解决。在此基础上,本研究对比了不同管理措施对团队创新绩效的作用,为组织管理实践提供了借鉴。     

Evidence against an occasion setting account of avoidance learning

Earlier studies on human avoidance learning showed that an avoidance response reduces the expectancy that a warning stimulus (WS) will be followed by an unconditioned stimulus (US). This modulation can transfer to WSs with which the avoidance response did not occur in the past. Recent studies suggest that transfer of modulation is selective in that it is stronger for WSs that previously went together with other avoidance responses than for WSs that never went together with an avoidance response. This finding has been interpreted as providing unique support for an occasion setting account of avoidance learning. We put forward alternative explanations of selective transfer of modulation in terms of the rate with which a WS was reinforced in the absence an avoidance response. In support of the alternative explanations, we found that transfer of modulation depended not on whether a WS previously went together with another avoidance response but on the rate with which the WS was reinforced in the past. We conclude that selective transfer of modulation in avoidance learning does not provide (unique) support for the occasion setting account. Our findings are in line with a revised expectancy model of avoidance learning.     

发展地看待知识内隐性的判别方法：内隐与外显学习区分的新途径

知识内隐性的判别一直是内隐学习研究领域的研究重点之一,恰当的区分内隐被试和外显被试对于该类研究有着至关重要的意义。本文介绍知识内隐性判别问题的研究历史,由最初的主观标准和客观标准到后来改进的研究方法,指出了随着对待内隐和外显学习两者关系的理论的发展,研究方法有必要与时俱进,并提出了新的区分内隐被试和外显被试的新方法。相对于传统研究方法,新方法从内隐知识和外显知识互为补充、＂任何一种学习即存在内隐学习,也存在外显学习＂的理论指导下,通过被试的猜测水平来判断其内隐水平,并确定＂纯的＂内隐被试的标准。该方法发展地看待内隐学习及其与外显学习的关系,有助于研究者更加深入、精确地研究内隐学习的相关问题。     

Knowledge of drug-related health problems among injecting drug users: Implications for the transmission of HIV infection

Abstract

In a project that investigated the HIV-related risk behaviour of injecting drug users, respondents were categorized along dimensions of expertness in HIV/AIDS knowledge and knowledge about drug-related health problems. Knowledge about drug-related health problems was found to be significantly associated with sharing. Better informed respondents were less likely to share injecting equipment and to predict they would share in future. They were more likely to adopt consistent injecting hygiene, seek information about AIDS, and perceive themselves as in control of their lives. No significant relationships were observed between sharing and HIV/AIDS knowledge. The data have relevance for AIDS educational strategies, since knowledge about AIDS and HIV transmission appears to be insufficient to induce behavioural change. Greater emphasis on the health problems that afflict most injectors may be a way of encouraging general harm minimization.