COSMOLOGY FROM ALPHA TO OMEGA: RESPONSE TO REVIEWS

I gratefully acknowledge and respond here to four reviews of my recent book, Cosmology from Alpha to Omega. Nancey Murphy stresses the importance of showing consistency between Christian theology and natural science through a detailed examination of my recent model of their creative interaction. She suggests how this model can be enhanced by adopting Alasdair MacIntyre's understanding of tradition in order to adjudicate between competing ways of incorporating science into a wider worldview. She urges the inclusion of ethics in my model and predicts that this would successfully challenge the competing naturalist tradition in contemporary society. John F. Haught weighs the alternatives of viewing divine action as objective versus subjective and of divine action at one level in nature or at all levels. He asks whether physics is fundamental to nature, arguing instead that metaphysics should be considered as fundamental. Michael Ruse assesses occasional versus universal divine action, the problems raised to divine action when it is related to quantum mechanics, and the way these relations exacerbate the challenge of natural theodicy. As an alternative he suggests viewing God as outside time and acting through unbroken natural law. Willem B. Drees discusses my use of the bridge metaphor for the relation between theology and science, the implications when science is inspired by theology, the role of contingency and necessity in the anthropic principle/many-worlds debate, and the challenge of cosmology to eschatology with the ensuing problem of theodicy.     

On the asymptotic distribution of Pearson’s X 2 in cross-validation samples

In categorical data analysis, two-sample cross-validation is used not only for model selection but also to obtain a realistic impression of the overall predictive effectiveness of the model. The latter is of particular importance in the case of highly parametrized models capable of capturing every idiosyncracy of the calibrating sample. We show that for maximum likelihood estimators or other asymptotically efficient estimators Pearson's X ² is not asymptotically chi-square in the two-sample cross-validation framework due to extra variability induced by using different samples for estimation and goodness-of-fit testing. We propose an alternative test statistic, X _xval ², obtained as a modification of X ² which is asymptotically chi-square with C−1 degrees of freedom in cross-validation samples. Stochastically, X _xval ² ≤ X ². Furthermore, the use of X ² instead of X _xval ² with a χ _C −1² reference distribution may provide an unduly poor impression of fit of the model in the cross-validation sample. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Michael V. Levine. Requests for reprints should be sent to Albert Maydeu-Olivares, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, P. Valle de Hebrón, 171, 0835 Barcelona, Spain.     

"Articulation"与后马克思主义的偶然性逻辑--从拉克劳和墨菲的"articulation"谈起

该文认为,“articulation”是拉克劳、墨菲的后马克思主义的一个核心概念,它的基本意思是“链结”。该文从词源上考察了“articulation”一词的意义及其历史演变,并对其基本含义和特征做了深入的分析。该文认为,链接是理解后马克思主义的偶然性逻辑的核心概念。链接是发生在主体身份之间的,话语性的,偶然性的建构实践活动。但拉克劳、墨菲的链接虽然力图避免近代哲学的本质主义和还原主义,但却仍然避免不了其精致的“唯心”倾向和向上的还原论的嫌疑。我们对此要有清晰的认识。     

Drug Addiction During Pregnancy

ABSTRACT— Drug use during pregnancy is a significant risk factor for compromised child development. National statistics reveal that many pregnant women smoke tobacco (18%), drink alcohol (9.8%), and use illicit drugs (4%). Animal and clinical data show that prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure have direct deleterious consequences on child development. Recent large multicenter studies have failed to show that prenatal cocaine or heroin exposure causes devastating child consequences when environmental variables are controlled. However, prenatal exposure to both licit and illicit drug use mostly occurs in the presence of environmental and contextual risk factors that together can impede healthy outcomes. Thus, treating these addiction disorders while addressing other lifestyle factors in a comprehensive way is critical.     

Abstraction and Finitude: Education, Chance and Democracy

Education in the west has become a very knowing business in which students are encouraged to cultivate self-awareness and meta-cognitive skills in pursuit of a kind of perfection. The result is the evasion of contingency and of the consciousness of human finitude. The neo-liberalism that makes education a market good exacerbates this. These tendencies can be interpreted as a dimension of scepticism. This is to be dissolved partly by acknowledging that we are obscure to ourselves. Such an acknowledgement is fostered by the mythic dimension of experience, which also recommends a degree of humility to the citizens of democratic states.     

语义关联的注意捕获——来自线索化范式的证据

采用线索化范式, 操作性地建立线索和靶子的语义关联, 考察语义关联对注意捕获的影响。实验1采用特征线索意义靶子的形式, 建立某一特定语义水平的注意控制定势, 发现线索靶子语义一致时线索捕获注意, 线索靶子语义不一致时同样的线索失去捕获注意的能力。实验2随机呈现线索颜色和靶子汉字, 建立两种语义概念的注意控制定势, 发现所有的线索都出现了捕获效应, 而不论其在某一具体试次中是否与靶子意义一致。实验3交换了线索与靶子的属性及概念, 采用意义线索特征靶子的形式, 结果与实验1一致。这些结果表明, (1)语义关联的注意捕获符合关联性的无意注意定向假说, 刺激的捕获能力受当前的注意控制定势调节; (2)由语义概念激活的知觉表征在调节空间注意分配上与其自身相比形式相同, 但程度有所下降; (3)知觉特征水平的注意控制定势能够激活与其相应的语义概念, 使其吸引注意并调节空间注意分配; (4)知觉表征和语义概念的激活可能是双向的, 激活后在指导注意转移上表现出相同的特性。     

An evaluation of the single‐session interview‐informed synthesized contingency analysis

Functional analysis can often be a lengthy process requiring time and resources not readily available to practitioners working with children who exhibit severe problem behavior. The interview‐informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) was recently developed as an alternative functional analysis format that improved analytic efficiency by requiring only 25 min to conduct. Furthermore, a within‐session analysis of the first test session of the entire IISCA could reduce the process to as little as a single 5‐min session. We extended this previous research by conducting what was termed the single‐session IISCA with three boys who exhibited severe problem behavior. A function‐based treatment package, including reinforcement thinning, informed by the results of the single‐session IISCA nearly eliminated problem behavior for all three participants. We suggest that the single‐session IISCA could be a viable alternative to other functional analysis formats when time is limited.     

Temporal Creation and Cosmological Arguments in Early-Modern Calvinism

This study examines the varieties of cosmological arguments deployed in the natural theologies of early-modern Calvinism. Some of the first Reformed forays into theistic proofs make use of Thomist arguments which allow for the logical possibility of creation from eternity. In the seventeenth century, many Reformed theologians prefer to use arguments against the possibility of an eternal world – arguments which had been defended by medieval theologians such as Bonaventure. But these arguments in turn faced criticism in the seventeenth century, and many of the Reformed supplemented them or replaced them with others. The argument from the mutability of the world to its temporal beginning became increasingly popular among Reformed thinkers. Historical arguments from the recent rise of arts and sciences or biological species supplemented the philosophical arguments for the world's beginning. Their theological commitment to the impossibility of eternal creation may explain why the Reformed did not typically use the Clarke and Leibniz argument from contingency.     

A component analysis of "stereotypy as reinforcement" for alternative behavior

Results from several studies have suggested that the opportunity to engage in stereotypic behavior may function as reinforcement for alternative, more socially desirable behaviors. However, the procedural components of this intervention include several distinct operations whose effects have not been analyzed separately. While measuring the occurrence of stereotypy and an alternative behavior (manipulation of leisure materials), we exposed 3 participants to three or four components of a "stereotypy as reinforcement" contingency: (a) continuous access to materials, (b) prompts to manipulate materials, (c) restricted access to stereotypy (i.e., response blocking), and (d) access to stereotypy contingent on manipulating the materials. Continuous access to materials and prompting (a and b) produced negligible results. Restriction of stereotypy (c) produced a large increase in the alternative behavior of 2 participants, suggesting that response restriction per se may occasion alternative behavior. However, contingent access to stereotypy (d) was necessary to increase the 3rd participant's object manipulation; this finding provided some support for the use of stereotypy as reinforcement for alternative behavior. Finally, when transfer of the effects of intervention was assessed during periods in which active intervention components were withdrawn, the alternative behavior was maintained for 1 participant.