British and American children's preferences for teleo-functional explanations of the natural world

Teleological-functional explanations account for objects by reference to their purpose. They are a fundamental aspect of adults' explanatory repertoire. They also play a significant role in children's reasoning although prior findings indicate that, in contrast to adults, young children broadly extend teleological explanation beyond artifacts (e.g. chairs) and biological properties (e.g. eyes) to the properties of non-living natural phenomena (e.g. clouds, rocks). The present study extends earlier work with American children to explore British children's application of teleological explanation. The motivation is that while Britain and America are, culturally, as close to a minimal pair as the global context affords, there are differences in the religiosity of the two nations such that British children might be less inclined to endorse purpose-based explanation. Results reveal that young British children also possess a promiscuous teleology although they differ in the kinds of purposes that they attribute. Additional findings include a replication of earlier effects using a modified task with young American children.     

Ultimate Questions of Science and the Theory of System Relations

Summary  Whenever an adequate theory is found in science, we will still be left with two questions: why this theory rather than some other theory, and how should this theory be interpreted? I argue that these questions can be answered by a theory of system relations. The basic idea is that fundamental characteristics of systems, viz. those arising from the general systemic nature of those systems, cannot be comprehended with the aid of discipline-specific methods. The systems theory required should commence with an analysis of the qualitatively different relations possible between systems, because it is precisely the nature of those relations that determines the basic structures of systems. That the theory of the fundamental system relations and their ontological and epistemological implications is indeed able to provide the answers sought is demonstrated in theoretical physics and Plessner’s analysis of the basic structures of plant, animal and human being.     

Indirect scaling methods for testing quantitative emotion theories

Two studies investigated the utility of indirect scaling methods, based on graded pair comparisons, for the testing of quantitative emotion theories. In Study 1, we measured the intensity of relief and disappointment caused by lottery outcomes, and in Study 2, the intensity of disgust evoked by pictures, using both direct intensity ratings and graded pair comparisons. The stimuli were systematically constructed to reflect variables expected to influence the intensity of the emotions according to theoretical models of relief/disappointment and disgust, respectively. Two probabilistic scaling methods were used to estimate scale values from the pair comparison judgements: Additive functional measurement (AFM) and maximum likelihood difference scaling (MLDS). The emotion models were fitted to the direct and indirect intensity measurements using nonlinear regression (Study 1) and analysis of variance (Study 2). Both studies found substantially improved fits of the emotion models for the indirectly determined emotion intensities, with their advantage being evident particularly at the level of individual participants. The results suggest that indirect scaling methods yield more precise measurements of emotion intensity than rating scales and thereby provide stronger tests of emotion theories in general and quantitative emotion theories in particular.     

The influence of implicit theories and message frame on the persuasiveness of disease prevention and detection advocacies

This research investigates the effectiveness of health message framing (gain/loss) depending on the nature of advocacy (prevention/detection) and respondents’ implicit theories (entity/incremental). Three experiments demonstrate that for detection advocacies, incremental theorists are more persuaded by loss frames. For prevention advocacies, incremental theorists are more persuaded by gain frames. For both advocacies (detection and prevention), entity theorists are not differentially influenced by frame. However, entity theorists are message advocacy sensitive such that they are more persuaded by prevention than detection advocacies, regardless of the message frame. These results are robust for measured as well as manipulated implicit theories and for different health contexts.     

What is the European Union? Religion between Neofunctionalism and Intergovernmentalism

This paper examines the ways in which religion has played a part in the process of European integration. By exploring the position of religious communities towards the European Community since the 1950s until today, it argues that the place of religion has been influenced by the theoretical debates on European integration, namely neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism. It suggests that, since 1992, the European Union has adopted a neofunctionalist approach towards religious communities, in contrast with the dominant intergovernmentalist integration process between EU member-states. The analysis of religion in relation to this theoretical dispute raises questions about the nature of the European Union and the adaptation of religious communities to supranational institutions.     

(Non)Issues of Infinite Regress in Modeling Motor Behavior

In the past, infinite regress criticisms that have been raised about models of motor behavior have been reserved for executive-type models (e.g., Beek & Meijer, 1988). On the basis of Gödel's (1930/1986) proof that an algorithm cannot prove its own validity, the authors reason that executive- as well as self-organized-type explanatory models of motor behavior have infinite regress difficulties. The conclusion offered in the present article is that judgments on a model's theoretical importance should be based not on issues of infinite regress but on other relevant characteristics, such as its propensity for falsification (Popper, 1959).     

“Knows what is good and bad”, “Can teach you things”, “Does lots of crosswords”: Children's knowledge about wisdom

Whereas a number of studies have investigated adult laypersons' understanding of the concept of wisdom, children's knowledge about wisdom has not yet been studied. A total of 461 Austrian elementary-school children filled out a questionnaire about wisdom. Results showed an increase in self-reported familiarity with the term “wisdom” from 43.0% in grade 1 to 92.1% in grade 4. Children's open definitions of wisdom as well as their wisdom-typicality judgements of a list of adjectives focused on cognitive aspects, especially fluid intelligence, and social aspects of wisdom, especially friendliness. Aspects involving reflection, such as learning from experience or perspective taking, were seldom mentioned. The frequency with which old age was judged as typical for wisdom increased across grades 1 to 4. Gender differences were mostly found in nominations of wise figures, where boys nominated male figures more often than girls.     

Reclaiming Bowlby's contribution to psychoanalysis

The paper reviews central concepts and research findings of attachment theory emphasizing its clinical relevance to psychoanalytically informed clinicians. We then turn to a historical analysis in order to understand why Bowlby's work was dismissed within psychoanalytic circles and the reasons why Bowlby's contributions and attachment theory have begun to have a significant impact among clinicians within the last ten years.