Cosmic inflation and the past hypothesis

The past hypothesis is that the entropy of the universe was very low in the distant past. It is put forward to explain the entropic arrow of time but it has been suggested (e.g. [Penrose, R. (1989a). The emperor’s new mind. London:Vintage Books; Penrose, R. (1989b). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 571, 249–264; Price, H. (1995). In S. F. Savitt (Ed.), Times’s arrows today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Price, H. (1996). Time’s arrow and Archimedes’ point. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Price, H. (2004). In C. Hitchcock (Ed.), Contemporary debates in philosophy of science. Oxford: Blackwell]) that it is itself in need of explanation. It has also been suggested that cosmic inflation could provide the explanation, but Price (2004) raises a serious objection to this suggestion, which has otherwise received very little attention in the philosophical literature. Price points out that the standard inflationary explanation involves a double standard: although the evolution of the universe described by the inflationary model seems natural from the standard temporal perspective it looks highly unnatural from the reversed temporal perspective. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a novel form of the inflationary explanation that avoids this objection. It is argued that the inflationary model would not involve a double standard (but would still explain the past hypothesis) if we construct the model with a global “boundary” condition instead of a conventional boundary condition: if we assume that the universe is as generic as possible overall, rather than as generic as possible at some given point (e.g. the Big Bang) as is assumed in the standard inflationary model. This novel form of the inflationary explanation is then compared with Price’s 1996 preferred explanation, a version of the so-called “Weyl hypothesis”.     

Motor programming in apraxia of speech

Apraxia of Speech (AOS) is an impairment of motor programming. However, the exact nature of this deficit remains unclear. The present study examined motor programming in AOS in the context of a recent two-stage model [Klapp, S. T. (1995). Motor response programming during simple and choice reaction time: The role of practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 21, 1015–1027; Klapp, S. T. (2003). Reaction time analysis of two types of motor preparation for speech articulation: Action as a sequence of chunks. Journal of Motor Behavior, 35, 135–150] that proposes a preprogramming stage (INT) and a process that assigns serial order to multiple programs in a sequence (SEQ). The main hypothesis was that AOS involves a process-specific deficit in the INT (preprogramming) stage of processing, rather than in the on-line serial ordering (SEQ) and initiation of movement. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that AOS involves a central (i.e., modality-general) motor programming deficit. We used a reaction time paradigm that provides two dependent measures: study time (the amount of time for participants to ready a motor response; INT), and reaction time (time to initiate movement; SEQ). Two experiments were conducted to examine INT and SEQ in AOS: Experiment 1 involved finger movements, Experiment 2 involved speech movements analogous to the finger movements. Results showed longer preprogramming time for patients with AOS but normal sequencing and initiation times, relative to controls. Together, the findings are consistent with the hypothesis of a process-specific, but central (modality-independent) deficit in AOS; alternative explanations are also discussed.     

人格分化的智力假设

人格与智力是个体差异中相互关联的两个重要方面,人格随智力水平的提高而不断分化,智力影响了特定人格维度之间的相关。尽管人格分化的智力假设尚未获得一致性的证据,但它却暗示了智力对人格结构的潜在影响。由于人格测量工具的信度和效度可能因受测者的能力水平而异,因此未来的研究应在使用统一测量工具的基础上,尽量扩大被试的能力范围,采用多重评估或集合评定的方法,使人格测量真正独立于受测者的认知能力。     

面孔识别异族效应的研究

异族效应是面孔识别过程中一种非常稳定的现象,表现为对本族面孔的识别与再认成绩显著高于异族面孔.脑成像研究也证实了这两类面孔在神经表征上的差异.关于该效应主要有知觉经验说与社会分类说两种理论解释,但围绕着其心理机制仍然存在着很多争议然,未来的研究需要考虑族群认同等社会-人格因素对于异族效应的影响,并注意考察本族面孔与异族面孔有提取阶段可能存在的神经活动的差异.     

Change detection evokes a Simon-like effect

The present experiment studied choice response context effects on the programming of response sequences using behavioural and electrophysiological methods. Participants were asked to produce responses differing in sequence length (1-key vs. 3-key responses) with either their left or right hand in a choice reaction time (RT) task. The choice response context was manipulated by a blocked or mixed execution of 1-key and 3-key responses. A sequence length effect on RT was observed in the blocked but not in the mixed condition. The time course of the lateralized readiness potential indicates a motoric locus of the sequence length effect, suggesting that the response hand is activated before the entire motor program is established.     

Re-evaluating evidence for linguistic relativity: reply to Boroditsky (2001)

Six unsuccessful attempts at replicating a key finding in the linguistic relativity literature [Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought?: Mandarin and English speakers' conceptions of time. Cognitive Psychology, 43, 1-22] are reported. In addition to these empirical issues in replicating the original finding, theoretical issues present in the original report are discussed. In sum, we conclude that Boroditsky (2001) provides no support for the Whorfian hypothesis.     

胎儿产前超声诊断中的人文关怀

随着医学的进步,医学模式的转变,越来越提倡医学对人们心理和社会因素的关怀。同时随着产前诊断技术和超声诊断技术的迅速发展和日臻完善,以及社会、经济的发展和变革,也越来越重视对孕妇及家属的人文关怀。胎儿产前超声诊断中的人文关怀不仅是对人的关怀,也是对技术、对心理健康、对生命的关怀。     

行为遗传学：解决面孔特异性问题争论的新思

面孔刺激的加工存在特异性,但“特异性”的具体内涵仍存在争议。面孔特异性假说认为面孔刺激具有特异性;而专家假说则认为存在特异性的是整体加工的模式。通过对相关领域近年来主要的研究结果的总结,发现争论中混淆了两个概念——加工类型和刺激类型,二者正交分解可将争论归纳为三个假设：1）面孔整体加工特异性的假设;2）面孔刺激特异性的假设;3）专家加工特异性的假设。在未来的研究中,行为遗传学可为解决该争论提供合适的方法     

创伤性分离个体注意加工的警戒-回避模式研究

采用点探测研究范式,对高分离个体和低分离个体在两种呈现时间500ms和1500ms条件下,随机呈现创伤性图片和中性图片,进行点探测反应,考察创伤性分离个体的注意加工特点.结果表明,高分离个体在500ms呈现时间条件下对创伤性图片的反应时间显著快于低分离个体对创伤图片刺激的反应时间,而在1500ms呈现时间条件下则显著慢于低分离个体.表明创伤性高分离个体的注意加工符合警戒-回避的时程性模式:开始时对创伤性刺激是一种保护性的警戒反应;在随后刺激的呈现时间增加时,回避对创伤相关信息的进一步编码和精细加工,出现有意遗忘,体现在提取和回忆上的减弱,我们称之为回避加工.     

MINDS, INTRINSIC PROPERTIES, AND MADHYAMAKA BUDDHISM

Certain philosophers and scientists have noticed that there are data that do not seem to fit with the traditional view known as the Mind/Brain Identity theory (MBI). This has inspired a new theory about the mind known as the Hypothesis of Extended Cognition (HEC). Now there is a growing controversy over whether these data actually require extending the mind out beyond the brain. Such arguments, despite their empirical diversity, have an underlying form. They all are disputes over where to draw the line between intrinsic and relational causal powers. The second-century Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna deals with similar issues when he argues for a middle way between the two positions that were known in his time by the terms eternalism and nihilism. Eternalism, like MBI, asserts that the mind is a permanent enduring substance (although the two theories disagree as to how long mind endures). Nihilism argued that the mind had no intrinsic existence, and today some argue that HEC could lead us to a similar conclusion. Nagarjuna's argument for a middle way between these two extremes is similar to an argument that can be made for HEC. We can accept that neither the brain nor any other single physical item is identical to the mind without falling down the slippery slope that leads to "The mind does not really exist, and therefore we are one with everything." Nagarjuna was correct to say that the mind has conventional reality—that the mind exists even though there is no sharp border between the mind and the world.