What are self-generated actions?

The concept of self-generated action is controversial, despite extensive study of its neural basis. Why is this concept so troublesome? We analyse the concept of self-generated action as employed by [Passingham et al., 2010a] and [Passingham et al., 2010b] . There are two definitions of self-generated action; as operant action and as underdetermined action. The latter draws on subjective experience. Experiments on action awareness suggest that experience may not be a good guide for defining self-generated action. Nevertheless, we agree with Passingham and colleagues that self-generated actions exist distinct from operant actions. But defining ‘self-generated’ by the degree of involvement of an endogenous process risks regress. We sketch an alternative account of self-generated action that tries to avoid these problems to make self-generated actions accessible to experimental science.     

Yang's iris illusion: External contour causes length‐assimilation illusions1

The Delboeuf illusion and the Ebbinghaus illusion (also known as the Titchener illusion) demonstrate that an external contour can lead to size‐assimilation and size‐contrast perception. This paper explores a novel illusion, revealing that neighboring external contours can also lead to a distortion in length perception. The illusion was originally discovered from a face stimulus (Experiment 1) in which a face was depicted alongside its mirror image so as to make the four irises absolutely equidistant. The distance between the middle two irises was underestimated in Asian faces, but overestimated in Caucasian faces. The illusion was also maintained when the facial stimuli were replaced by line drawings of eyes (Experiment 2). However, the illusion vanished when the irises were presented alone. Further scrutiny of the differences in facial characteristics between Asian and Caucasian faces reveals that the illusion might be elicited by the relative position of the eye shapes. This hypothesis was confirmed in Experiment 3, in which the distances between the eye shapes and the irises were manipulated.     

What the face and body reveal: in-group emotion effects and stereotyping of emotion in African American and European American children

This study examined whether 3- to 7-year-old African American and European American children’s assessment of emotion in face-only, face + body, and body-only photographic stimuli was affected by in-group emotion recognition effects and racial or gender stereotyping of emotion. Evidence for racial in-group effects was found, with European American children being more accurate when assessing emotion in European American photographs than African American photographs for some emotions. African American children were either equally proficient in recognizing emotion in African American and European American photographs or were more accurate with European American photographs for some emotions. Stereotyping of emotion was also found, with boys being more often labeled with “masculine” emotions (e.g., mad) and at least some girls being more often labeled with “feminine” emotions (e.g., happy). However, stereotyping effects were found only when the face was present in the stimuli and were not found with body-only stimuli. In-group effects, however, were not affected by type of photograph (face-only, body-only, or face + body), with children being unable to recognize at least some emotions from just the body postures alone (mad). These results have important implications for how future studies assess emotion recognition in children, particularly in terms of how emotion stimuli are constructed, the diversity of the stimuli, and who judges the stimuli.     

Territories of schooling and schooling territories in contexts of extreme urban poverty in Argentina: Between management and abjection

We are living in a time when large masses of workers have become large masses of the unemployed and, to borrow Butler’s term, their bodies constitute an army of bodies that don’t matter. This is probably one of the greatest dilemmas in our society, in the globalized world and in regions like Latin America in particular. In the framework of governmentality studies, this paper presents advances in research geared towards characterizing schooling practices in contexts of extreme urban poverty, specifically in an area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires (Argentina) with one of the highest concentrations of shantytowns. Starting in the late 1960s with the crisis in Fordism and the closing of factories, a dense population has come to inhabit these urban spaces in the midst of a process of extreme decay. I will focus, in this work, on the characteristics that I understand to distinguish the pedagogical devices and processes of subjectivation bound to the configuration of these abject territories.     

论医学模式转变对助产土在产程守护中角色转变的影响

伴随着医学模式的转变,助产士在产程守护中的角色由单一守护者的角色向全面、多重角色转变,助产士的工作内容与职责也相应发生变化。现代医学模式下助产士的角色转变对医疗效果有良好的改进,体现了“以人为本”的医疗文化理念,同时也对助产士的要求更为全面。     

The psychological underpinnings of relative thinking in price comparisons

This article investigates the psychological underpinnings of relative thinking—the tendency of consumers to consider relative savings, and not just absolute savings, in their decisions to search for a deal or purchase an item. We examine how (i) cognitive load, (ii) the affective-richness of the product, and (iii) the consumer's propensity for intuitive decision-making influence relative thinking. As hypothesized, high cognitive load and affect-rich (vs. affect-poor) products, and individual level preference for intuitive decision-making aggravate this behavior. Our results present clear managerial implications along with developing a better understanding of the behavioral foundations of relative thinking.     

Transcendence,transmission and transformation: the transcendent function in infant observation

Abstract: This article discusses the activation of the transcendent function as it operates through a series of complex parallel processes occurring within a Tavistock Model Infant Observation Group whose location is Palo Alto, California. We follow the observer, a seasoned female analyst, through her final two observations as she is caught initially in the central family complex that does not allow for a conscious ending to this three‐year observational period. Subsequently through the work of the transcendent function within the group, a discussion of the observer's ensuing paradoxical enactment takes place as we watch how this observer becomes able to help the family reach a termination not previously possible. Moving within a dynamic field that includes the infant observation group, the observed baby and his family, we experience the numinosity of the transformation that is activated. We will explore the ongoing encounter between the group mind, the observer and the observed as mutations within this dynamic field enable a genuine experience of mourning that has a profound effect on the observed baby and family.     

Conceptualizing the role of early experience: Lessons from the Minnesota longitudinal study

We draw upon data from a prospective, longitudinal study to evaluate the role of typically occurring variations in early experience on development from birth to adulthood. Such an evaluation is complex for both methodological and conceptual reasons. Methodological issues include the need to control for both later experience and potentially confounding third variables, such as IQ or temperament. Conceptual complexity derives from the fact that the effects of early experience can be both direct and indirect, can interact with other factors, and because whether an effect is found depends on what early experience and what outcomes are assessed. Even direct effects are probabilistic and are more in evidence with cumulative than with single measures. Often early experience has its effect indirectly by initiating a chain of events, by altering the organism in some way, and/or by promoting the impact of later experience. We provide examples where early experience is moderated and mediated by other factors and where it shows latent effects following developmental change. We illustrate developmental processes through which early experience has its effect and conclude that despite the complexity of development variations in early experience retain a vital place in the study of development.     

FROM PESSIMISM TO HOPE: A NATURAL PROGRESSION

Mutual critique by scientists and religious believers mostly entails the pruning of untenable religious beliefs by scientists and warnings against scientific minimalism on the part of believers. John F. Haught has been prominent in formulating religious apologetics in response to the challenges posed by evolutionary theory. Haught's work also resonates with a parallel criticism of the conventional scientific metaphysics undergirding neo‐Darwinian theory. Contemporary systems ecology seems to indicate that nothing short of a complete reversal of the Enlightenment assumptions about nature is capable of repositioning science to deal adequately with the origin and dynamics of living systems. A process‐based alternative metaphysics substantially mitigates several ostensible conflicts between science and religion.     

图形相似比较中的加工模型:特征与结构的作用

本研究采用单一目标映射技术(one-shot mapping)设计实验考察了相似比较中的加工模型。实验结果表明:相似等级的判定对映射任务中结构映射没有显著性影响。相似加工不一定表现为基于结构的加工,基于特征的加工和基于结构的加工是相似加工中两种并行的加工模式。在反应时方面,基于结构的加工的反应时比基于特征的加工的反应时更长。