WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE DIALOGUE PROPOSED BY WILLIAM KLINK?

Abstract. Klink rejects the use of ecological models in environmental decision making because their predictions cannot be tested by rigorous scientific methods. I argue that models that cannot be tested according to the rigorous standards of the physical sciences can still be considered “scientific”; they are useful (and, in practice, used) for assessing the impacts of human actions on the environment and choosing between alternative courses of action. It is, however, important to be aware of the uncertainties and to make corrections as new data and insights become available. The interplay between (1) model-based decisions and action and (2) their consequences and subsequent corrections can be regarded as a dialogue between humans and nature (or God) in the sense proposed by Klink. Klink also claims that future actions should be informed by the larger vision of theology and should not be based on science. I suggest that science has an indispensible role. The larger vision is needed to respond to the fundamental religious question: How should I live—and why? But this question cannot be answered without first addressing the fundamental scientific question: How does the world work? I suggest that responses to the first question can be formulated as visions of a future state of existence that we feel compelled to strive to realize, and that science is necessary to provide “maps of reality” needed to realize visions. I also suggest that Christian traditions can probably provide adequate visions; the crucial need is for improving our “maps of reality.”     

Concurrent activities and instructed human fixed-interval performance.

Two experiments explored the effects of two types of concurrent activity on human fixed-interval performance. Eight adult subjects were given access to either reading material or a working television set across three fixed-interval values (60 s, 300 s, and 600 s). During Experiment 1, 2 subjects produced "scalloped" patterns and reported no verbal regulation (e.g., counting) in the presence of the reading material, but shifted to low-rate patterns and reported verbal regulation when the reading material was withdrawn. The 2 other subjects in Experiment 1 produced consistent low-rate performances and reported verbal regulation during access to reading material. However, when these subjects were given access to a working television set, they produced scalloped patterns and reported no verbal regulation. During Experiment 2, 4 experimentally naive subjects showed consistent scalloped patterning and no verbal regulation across fixed-interval values when they were allowed to watch television. When access to the television was denied, subjects reliably reported verbal regulation, and low-rate patterns emerged. These behavioral effects focus our attention on the contingencies that control human performance on fixed-interval schedules.     

关于我国学生汉语阅读困难的研究

旨在探讨在我国学生的汉语学习中是否存在阅读困难问题。研究分别采用了目前国外较常使用的两种阅读困难操作定义和新近提出的截点法,对我国学生汉语学习中的阅读困难问题进行了考查。结果揭示出阅读困难在汉语学习者中同样存在,检出率分别为４．５５％和７．９６％．中国学生的阅读困难既表现在词汇上也表现在理解上;研究还发现同为阅读困难者男生和女生呈现出不同的特点。     

THREE COMPARATIVE MAPS OF THE HUMAN

Abstract. This article is a response to the 1994 Star Island conference on the "Decade of the Brain" from a Jewish perspective. After a brief introduction about the logical function of models and maps, I compare and contrast three models of the human: Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in the Hebrew Scriptures, Franz Rosenzweig's geometry of the human face in Der Stern der Erlosung (the Star of Redemption), and a standard anatomical picture of the human brain. Whereas Rosenzweigs face is seen to be compatible with Ezekiel's chariot, both are seen to be radically distinct from the implicit conception of what a human being is in modern medical science. I conclude with a suggestion that the differences are to be understood in terms of their different intended functions and express my hope for some new kind of model that will incorporate the functional advantages of both.     

Species differences in temporal control of behavior II: human performance

Human subjects responded on two panels. A differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate schedule with a limited-hold contingency operated on Panel A. In Condition 1, responses on Panel B produced a stimulus on the panel that signalled whether reinforcement was available on Panel A. In Condition 2, responses on Panel B briefly illuminated a digital clock. In both conditions, performance on Panel A was very efficient; with few exceptions, Panel A was pressed only when reinforcement was available. Thus, in effect, a fixed-interval schedule operated on Panel B. In Condition 1, a “break-and-run” response pattern occurred on Panel B; with increasing temporal parameters, the duration of the postreinforcement pause on Panel B increased linearly while overall response rate and running rate (calculated by excluding the postreinforcement pauses) remained approximately constant. In Condition 2, the response pattern on Panel B was scalloped; the postreinforcement pause was a negatively accelerated increasing function of schedule value, while overall response rate and running rate were negatively accelerated decreasing functions of schedule value. The performance of subjects in Condition 2, but not in Condition 1, was highly sensitive to the contingencies in operation, and resembled that of other species on the fixed-interval schedule.     

儿童认知发展水平诊断工具IPDT的动态化编制及其在低社会经济地位儿童中的应用

“皮亚杰认知发展量表” (IPDT)中的守恒与关系领域经动态化改编后已被证实适用于小学低年级儿童的潜能评估。在此基础上, 本研究旨在构建适用于小学高年级儿童的IPDT表征、分类、规律领域的动态测验; 并运用所构建的IPDT动态测验对低社会经济地位(SES)儿童进行认知潜能评估; 而后经过对低SES儿童的推理认知干预, 进一步考查认知干预在低SES不同潜能儿童的认知能力和数学成就中的促进作用。结果发现：(1)改编的IPDT表征、分类、规律领域的动态测验包含“前测—干预—迁移—后测”4个阶段, 所构建的逐级提示干预方案合理适切, 可以有效区分不同认知潜能水平的小学高年级儿童, 特别是弱势儿童; (2)推理认知干预对由IPDT动态测验细致区分出的不同潜能水平的低SES儿童作用不同, 尽管他们在认知能力与数学成就上均有进步, 但低SES高潜能儿童比低SES低潜能儿童从干预中获益更多。     

Reduced visual acuity is mirrored in low vision imagery

Research has examined the nature of visual imagery in normally sighted and blind subjects, but not in those with low vision. Findings with normally sighted subjects suggest that imagery involves primary visual areas of the brain. Since the plasticity of visual cortex appears to be limited in adulthood, we might expect imagery of those with adult-onset low vision to be relatively unaffected by these losses. But if visual imagery is based on recent and current experience, we would expect images of those with low vision to share some properties of impaired visual perception. We examined key parameters of mental images reported by normally sighted subjects, compared to those with early- and late-onset low vision, and with a group of subjects with restricted visual fields using an imagery questionnaire. We found evidence that those with reduced visual acuity report the imagery distances of objects to be closer than those with normal acuity and also depict objects in imagery with lower resolution than those with normal visual acuity. We also found that all low vision groups, like the normally sighted, image objects at a substantially greater distance than when asked to place them at a distance that ‘just fits’ their imagery field (overflow distance). All low vision groups, like the normally sighted, showed evidence of a limited visual field for imagery, but our group with restricted visual fields did not differ from the other groups in this respect. We conclude that imagery of those with low vision is similar to that of those with normal vision in being dependent on the size of objects or features being imaged, but that it also reflects their reduced visual acuity. We found no evidence for a dependence on imagery of age of onset or number of years of vision impairment.     

Embodying the psychological attitude: types of consciousness in the transformation of culture

It is time to reclaim C.G. Jung’s vision of psychology as the foundational science upon which all sciences and institutions would be based, and as the discipline, theory, and practice necessary for fostering humanity’s overall psychocultural development. Jung identified eight distinct ‘types’ of consciousness through which humankind engages its emerging psychological attitude. Jung’s view of psychological development as hingeing on the differentiation of function-attitudes provides the means for understanding not only ourselves and each other, but our society as well. This paper offers an example of such an analysis by focusing on the current conflict within American political culture. The goal is as lofty as it is necessary: the operationalization of Jung’s vision of psychology as the powerful influencer of human cultural evolution that it has the potential to be. The immediate goal is to instigate the first step toward this vision of Jung’s ‘complex psychology’ by stimulating conversations among Jungians about how they can foster that vision, leading them towards taking up roles as ‘citizen therapists’, actively involved in their communities in cultivating greater empathy and the withdrawal of projections in the interest of furthering ‘collective consciousness’.     

What cognitive and numerical skills best define learning disabilities in mathematics? / ¿Qué habilidades cognitivas y numéricas definen mejor las dificultades de aprendizaje en matemáticas?

Differentiating students with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) from those with low achievement (LA) is still an unresolved issue. This study explored whether the specific combination of certain cognitive and numerical skills can classify students with MLD, with LA, and without MLD. In order to do this, an analysis was carried out of the performance of 756 Spanish students in grades two to six, on different numerical and cognitive tasks. Two factors were extracted using a principal component analysis of the tasks: a semantic-cognitive factor and a verbal-automation factor. The results obtained from comparing the groups showed that students with MLD and LA demonstrated significant differences in the semantic-cognitive factor, and that these differences were consistent across grade levels. In contrast, there were no differences between groups in the automatic-verbal factor. These results confirm that the groups are not only quantitatively different but also qualitatively different.     

视觉的知觉-动作双系统理论中的论争

视觉的知觉-动作双系统理论认为,视觉的腹侧和背侧通路是两个独立系统,功能分别为表征世界和指导动作,相对应的视觉加工是彼此分离的。有关两条通路之间关系的其他观点可归结为两类：一类否认这种分工,另一类强调两个系统能相互影响。首先评述各种理论的核心问题、实验证据和贡献,进而分析视觉加工发生在一个特定系统的条件,得出的结论是：两个系统之间的功能划分是相对的,并因此导致了视觉加工的多变性。