THE CONSEQUENCES OF METAPHYSICS: OR,CAN CHARLES PEIRCE'S CONTINUITY THEORY MODEL STUART KAUFFMAN'S BIOLOGY?

At the heart of the most radical proposals in Stuart Kauffman's Investigations is his attempt to show that we find in evolutionary biology some configuration spaces—the sets of possible developments for any given system—that (unlike those in traditional physics of Newtonian, relativistic, and quantum stripes) cannot be completely described in advance. We bring Charles Peirce's work on the philosophy of continuity to bear on the problem and discover, first, that Kauffman's arguments do not succeed; second, that Peirce's metaphysics provide new and sounder arguments for the same propositions; third, that Peirce's rigorous but nonstandard treatment of mathematical continuity shows great promise for modeling the unpredictability and growth we find in evolutionary biology; fourth, that it also strengthens a development only hinted at by biologists thus far—the inevitable involvement of the observer's mind in constituting the objects of science. We close with a logical argument for the surprising relevance of metaphysical hypotheses in the natural sciences and with suggestions for future work that will connect these questions to what Kauffman terms the “narrative stance” in biology.     

The effect of conditioned reinforcement rate on choice: a review

We review the nature of conditioned reinforcement, including evidence that conditioned reinforcers maintain choice behavior in concurrent schedules and that they elevate responding in the terminal links of concurrent‐chains schedules. A question has resurfaced recently: Do theories of choice in concurrent‐chains schedules need to include a term reflecting greater preference for higher rates of conditioned reinforcement? The review of several studies addressing this point suggests that such a term is inappropriate. Elevated rates of conditioned reinforcement (and responding) in the terminal links of concurrent‐chains schedules do not lead to greater preference in the initial link leading to the higher rate of conditioned reinforcement. If anything, the opposite preference is likely to occur. This result is not surprising, since the additional putative conditioned reinforcers in the terminal link are not correlated with a reduction in time to primary reinforcement nor with an increase in value.     

Application of local linear embedding to nonlinear exploratory latent structure analysis

In this paper we discuss the use of a recent dimension reduction technique called Locally Linear Embedding, introduced by Roweis and Saul, for performing an exploratory latent structure analysis. The coordinate variables from the locally linear embedding describing the manifold on which the data reside serve as the latent variable scores. We propose the use of semiparametric penalized spline methods for reconstruction of the manifold equations that approximate the data space. We also discuss a crossvalidation strategy that can guide in selecting an appropriate number of latent variables. Synthetic as well as real data sets are used to illustrate the proposed approach. A nonlinear latent structure representation of a data set also serves as a data visualization tool.     

The Path of Least Resistance: Using Easy-to-Access Information

Abstract— Recent work on judgment and decision making has focused on how people preferentially use cues, or pieces of relevant information, that are easy to access when making decisions. In this article, we discuss a framework for understanding the ways that cues become accessible. We begin by identifying two components of cues and show how these components can become accessible during different parts a decision process. We highlight evidence for the use of accessible information and discuss implications for future research on heuristics.     

Increases in Tolerance Within Naturalistic, Intentional Communities: A Randomized, Longitudinal Examination

The authors examine differential changes in values of tolerance among 150 participants discharged from inpatient treatment centers, and randomly assigned to either a self-help-based, communal living setting (i.e., Oxford House), or usual aftercare. Participants were interviewed every 6 months for a 24-month period. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to examine the effect of condition (therapeutic communal living versus usual aftercare) on wave trajectories of tolerance (i.e., universality/diversity scores). Over time, residents of the communal living model demonstrated significantly greater values of tolerance than usual aftercare participants. Communal living participants who resided in the house for over 6 months showed the most substantial increases in tolerance. Results support the notion that communal living residents may develop more tolerant attitudes by striving toward superordinate community goals (objectives held by (a) the whole group and (b) which individual members could not achieve alone).     

A tool for thought! When comparative thinking reduces stereotyping effects

Stereotypes have pervasive, robust, and often unwanted effects on how people see and behave towards others. Undoing these effects has proven to be a daunting task. Two studies demonstrate that procedurally priming participants to engage in comparative thinking with a generalized focus on differences reduces behavioral and judgmental stereotyping effects. In Study 1, participants who were procedurally primed to focus on differences sat closer to a skinhead - a member of a negatively stereotyped group. In Study 2, participants primed on differences ascribed less gender stereotypic characteristics to a male and female target person. This suggests that comparative thinking with a focus on differences may be a simple cognitive tool to reduce the behavioral and judgmental effects of stereotyping.     

Implementation of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program to reduce stress,anxiety, and depression and to improve psychological well-being among retired Iranian football players

ObjectivesTo test whether a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program could reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, and increase psychological well-being among retired Iranian football players compared to an active control group.DesignRandomized controlled trial, with an 8-week MBSR intervention (16 group sessions, 90 min each) and an active control group. Three data assessments were performed at baseline, eight weeks later after completion of the intervention, and again twelve weeks later at follow-up.MethodsForty male retired football players (M_age = 34.05, SD = 1.72) were randomly assigned either to the MBSR intervention or the active control condition. All participants completed questionnaires on perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. Repeated measures analyses of variance were used to assess time by group interactions.ResultsSignificant time by group interaction effects were found for all outcomes. In the MBSR group, psychological well-being improved and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression decreased over time from baseline to intervention completion and to follow-up. In the active control group, the outcomes remained relatively stable across time.ConclusionsThe present findings suggest that among male retired Iranian football players, a MBSR intervention has the potential to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, and to increase their psychological well-being. Potential (underlying) mechanisms were not assessed in the present study. In future investigations, researchers should try to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms which may explain the observed effects.     

The Aesthetic Preference for Nature Sounds Depends on Sound Object Recognition

People across the world seek out beautiful sounds in nature, such as a babbling brook or a nightingale song, for positive human experiences. However, it is unclear whether this positive aesthetic response is driven by a preference for the perceptual features typical of nature sounds versus a higher‐order association of nature with beauty. To test these hypotheses, participants provided aesthetic judgments for nature and urban soundscapes that varied on ease of recognition. Results demonstrated that the aesthetic preference for nature soundscapes was eliminated for the sounds hardest to recognize, and moreover the relationship between aesthetic ratings and several measured acoustic features significantly changed as a function of recognition. In a follow‐up experiment, requiring participants to classify these difficult‐to‐identify sounds into nature or urban categories resulted in a robust preference for nature sounds and a relationship between aesthetic ratings and our measured acoustic features that was more typical of easy‐to‐identify sounds. This pattern of results was replicated with computer‐generated artificial noises, which acoustically shared properties with the nature and urban soundscapes but by definition did not come from these environments. Taken together, these results support the conclusion that the recognition of a sound as either natural or urban dynamically organizes the relationship between aesthetic preference and perceptual features and that these preferences are not inherent to the acoustic features. Implications for nature's role in cognitive and affective restoration are discussed.     

On the nature of sustainable Economic systems

The theme of the 1982 Tokyo Conference of the Club of Rome is ‘Approaching the 21st Century: Global Problems and Human Choices.’ This is a topic of crucial importance that our generations will have to tackle in all its breadth and depth. Within its context are presented some ideas about the alternatives of the human future.     

Secondary Transfer Effect of Intergroup Contact: The Role of Intergroup Attitudes,Intergroup Anxiety and Perspective Taking

We conducted a field study to investigate the secondary transfer effect of intergroup contact, consisting in the generalisation of the positive effects of intergroup contact to outgroups uninvolved in the contact situation. Italian secondary school students (N = 175) filled out a questionnaire; the effects of prior contact were statistically controlled. Results showed that contact with immigrants improved attitudes toward them. In turn, these attitudes generalised to attitudes toward two dissimilar outgroups not directly involved in contact: disabled and homosexuals. Notably, we found evidence for a secondary transfer effect of intergroup anxiety and perspective taking, which generalised from immigrants to the disabled and homosexuals. Evidence was found for the mediating role of intergroup attitudes, intergroup anxiety and perspective taking. The theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.