Reasoning about update logic

Logical frameworks for analysing the dynamics of information processing abound [4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 20, 22]. Some of these frameworks focus on the dynamics of the interpretation process, some on the dynamics of the process of drawing inferences, and some do both of these. Formalisms galore, so it is felt that some conceptual streamlining would pay off.This paper is part of a larger scale enterprise to pursue the obvious parallel between information processing and imperative programming. We demonstrate that logical tools from theoretical computer science are relevant for the logic of information flow. More specifically, we show that the perspective of Hoare logic [13, 18] can fruitfully be applied to the conceptual simplification of information flow logics.     

Ethical issues in research on preventing HIV infection among injecting drug users

The ethical issues in conducting research on preventing HIV infection are among the most complex of any area of human subjects research. This article is an update of a 1987 article that addressed potential conflicts between research design and ethics with respect to AIDS prevention among injecting drug users. The present article reviews current ethical issues that arise in the design and conduct of HIV/AIDS prevention research focused on injecting drug users. Disclaimer: The content of this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the Beth Israel Medical Center or Johns Hopkins University.     

The cognitive profile of Sotos syndrome

Sotos syndrome is a congenital overgrowth disorder, associated with intellectual disability. Previous research suggests that Sotos syndrome may be associated with relative strength in verbal ability and relative weakness in non-verbal reasoning ability but this has not been explicitly assessed. To date, the cognitive profile of Sotos syndrome is unknown. Cognitive abilities of a large and representative sample of individuals with Sotos syndrome (N = 52) were assessed using the British Ability Scales (BAS3). The majority of participants had intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning. The cluster score profile analysis revealed a consistent verbal ability > non-verbal reasoning ability profile. Four specific criteria were proposed as the Sotos syndrome cognitive profile (SSCP): verbal ability > non-verbal reasoning ability; quantitative reasoning T-score or matrices T-score <20th percentile; quantitative reasoning T-score < mean T-score; recognition of designs T-score or recognition of pictures T-score > mean T-score. Of the 35 participants included in the profile analysis, 28 met all four SSCP criteria, yielding a sensitivity of 0.8. The sensitivity of each of the SSCP criteria was >0.9. Individuals with Sotos syndrome display a clear and consistent cognitive profile, characterized by relative strength in verbal ability and visuospatial memory but relative weakness in non-verbal reasoning ability and quantitative reasoning. This has important implications for the education of individuals with Sotos syndrome.     

Complainer Profile Identification (CPI): properties of a new questionnaire on subjective cognitive complaints

Subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) and their role as a possible indicator for subsequent dementia became of growing interest in recent research. In contrast to studies that focused primarily on memory complaints, we aimed to (a) evaluate a questionnaire to register SCC in multiple cognitive domains (Complainer Profile Identification, CPI), (b) assess the association between SCC and psychosocial variables, and (c) assess whether complainer types can be differentiated. Confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate construct validity was computed based on a sample of 734 healthy participants (mean [M] = 43.15 years). On a subsample of 644 participants, the relationship between the total level of SCC with age, depression, social integration, and aging stereotypes was assessed utilizing multiple regression analysis. Differences in complainer types were assessed by multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicate sound psychometric properties of the CPI. The overall level of SCC is largely influenced by depressiveness, whereas executive complainers show the highest level of depressive affect, being overall younger and less socially integrated.     

Subjectivity and unconsciousness

Concepts of the unconscious were crucial to both Jung's and Freud's thinking. Psychoanalytic and analytical psychological views of the unconscious are compared and contrasted, and both are critically reviewed. It is suggested that we need to revise our conceptualization so as to take better account of the role of the analyst's expectations and inferences, and therefore of his or her subjectivity, whenever he or she makes a clinical judgement that unconscious mental processes are in operation. Some technical implications of a revised definition of unconsciousness are considered, especially indications for self-disclosure by an analyst of his or her own experience of events within the treatment.     

Evolutionary preference/utility functions: A dynamic perspective

The collection of repeated measures in psychological research is one of the most common data collection formats employed in survey and experimental research. The behavioral decision theory literature documents the existence of the dynamic evolution of preferences that occur over time and experience due to learning, exposure to additional information, fatigue, cognitive storage limitations, etc. We introduce a Bayesian dynamic linear methodology employing an empirical Bayes estimation framework that permits the detection and modeling of such potential changes to the underlying preference utility structure of the respondent. An illustration of revealed stated preference analysis (i.e., conjoint analysis) is given involving students’ preferences for apartments and their underlying attributes and features. We also present the results of several simulations demonstrating the ability of the proposed procedure to recover a variety of different sources of dynamics that may surface with preference elicitation over repeated sequential measurement. Finally, directions for future research are discussed.The authors wish to acknowledge and thank the Editor, the Associate Editor, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments. Duncan K.H. Fong’s work was sponsored in part by a research grant from the Smeal College.This revised article was published online in August 2005 with the PDF paginated correctly.     

An Introduction to the Special Issue on Advances in Process and Dynamic System Analysis of Social Interaction and the Development of Antisocial Behavior

A thorough understanding of how social relationships contribute to child and adolescent trajectories for antisocial behavior may be facilitated by: (a) ascertaining multiple relationship processes (e.g., warmth and reciprocity, coercion and deviancy training); (b) focusing on multiple relationships (e.g., with parents, peers, siblings, and teachers): and (c) assessing relationship processes using increasingly sophisticated measurement and theoretical models (e.g., global ratings and sequential and dynamical systems analyses) of observed microsocial interaction. The reports comprising this special issue, and how they build on and advance previous research efforts, are described from this frame of reference.     

几种时间表征的研究概况

概述时间表征外显与内隐的分类,对动力心理表征及表征动量的研究进行了讨论