Effects of Deception on Children's Understanding of Second‐order False Belief

This research examined two questions: effects of deception on children's understanding of second‐order false belief, and possible effects of number of siblings on second‐order performance. Kindergarten children responded to 3 second‐order problems that varied in the presence and the nature of deception. Performance was better on the problems with deception, but significantly so only when the target for the belief attribution produced the deception. This finding helps to clarify differences between the two main paradigms for assessing second‐order false belief. There was no relation between number of siblings and performance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bioethics' Gender

I argue that the field of bioethics is gendered feminine, but that the methods it uses to resist this gender identity pose real harm to actual women. Starting with an explanation of what I take ‘gender’ to be, I enumerate four drawbacks to being gendered feminine. I then argue that bioethics suffers from three of the same four drawbacks. I show how the field escapes the fourth disadvantage by adopting a masculine persona that inflicts damage on women, and conclude by urging bioethicists to reflect on their complicity in abusive power systems such as gender, race and class.     

Social Skills Training in Two Subtypes of Psychiatric Inpatients with Generalized Social Phobia

The aim of this study was to investigate the differential effectiveness of broad-spectrum group social skills training (SST) in two subtypes of psychiatric inpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of generalized social phobia (GSP). SST participants were assigned to two GSP subtypes on the basis of their level of performance in social situations, i.e., a “reticent” subtype ( n = 28) and a “non-reticent” subtype (n = 28). As hypothesized, it was revealed that the benefit of SST did not differ in the two subtypes. These findings support the effectiveness and feasibility of comprehensive SST for patients with two subtypes of generalized social phobia.     

噪音背景对二语语音感知的影响

日常言语交流常常会遇到各种噪音的干扰。研究表明, 噪音所产生的能量掩蔽和信息掩蔽会给语音感知带来较大影响。在感知地道的二语语音时, 二语者在各种噪音条件下所受干扰通常比母语者更大, 其表现随噪音类型、水平和目标音位特征的不同而变化; 同时, 二语者的感知也存在较大个体差异, 这是多种因素影响的结果。在噪音下感知带有各种外国腔的二语口音时, 母语者的表现差于其对地道母语语音的感知; 二语经历贫乏的二语者则对与自己口音类似的外国腔感知较好, 但二语经历较长的二语者在感知中却表现出较大灵活性。     

工作记忆、语境限制强度和句子长度对二语词汇学习的影响

本研究选取初二、高二、大三三个年龄段的被试,考察在句子阅读过程中,工作记忆容量、语境限制强度和句子长度对第二语言词汇学习的影响。研究结果发现,在句子阅读条件下,工作记忆容量是影响第二语言词汇学习的重要因素,高工作记忆容量促进了第二语言词汇的学习;在中等和长句子的条件下,语境的限制性越强,词汇学习的成绩越好;相比初二年龄组被试,高二和大三年龄组被试,在低语境限制性的情况下,阅读的句子越长,第二语言词汇学习效果越差。研究结果说明,个体工作记忆的容量,以及阅读材料等变量,都是影响自然阅读条件下二语词汇学习的重要因素。     

Two Second‐Personal Conceptions of the Dignity of Persons

In spite of the burgeoning philosophical literature on human dignity, Stephen Darwall's second‐personal account of the dignity of persons has not received the attention it deserves. This article investigates Darwall's account and argues that it faces a dilemma, for it succumbs either to a problem of antecedence or to the wrong kind of reasons problem. But this need not mean one should reject a second‐personal account. Instead, I argue that an alternative second‐personal conception, one I will call relational, promises to solve the dilemma by avoiding both the problem of antecedence and the wrong kind of reasons problem. More generally, distinguishing these two second‐personal conceptions of the dignity of persons is important to enrich the available philosophical accounts of human dignity.     

Inhibitory control and the speech patterns of second language users

Inhibitory control (IC), an ability to suppress irrelevant and/or conflicting information, has been found to underlie performance on a variety of cognitive tasks, including bilingual language processing. This study examines the relationship between IC and the speech patterns of second language (L2) users from the perspective of individual differences. While the majority of studies have supported the role of IC in bilingual language processing using single‐word production paradigms, this work looks at inhibitory processes in the context of extended speech, with a particular emphasis on disfluencies. We hypothesized that the speech of individuals with poorer IC would be characterized by reduced fluency. A series of regression analyses, in which we controlled for age and L2 proficiency, revealed that IC (in terms of accuracy on the Stroop task) could reliably predict the occurrence of reformulations and the frequency and duration of silent pauses in L2 speech. No statistically significant relationship was found between IC and other L2 spoken output measures, such as repetitions, filled pauses, and performance errors. Conclusions focus on IC as one out of a number of cognitive functions in the service of spoken language production. A more qualitative approach towards the question of whether L2 speakers rely on IC is advocated.     

抗生素滥用现象剖析与建议

抗生素是广泛用于治疗感染性疾病最常用的药品之一,但在应用过程中滥用现象愈演愈烈,这不仅造成药品的严重浪费,还增加细菌耐药性的产生,对社会造成巨大的危害。通过对其现象、后果及原因的分析,提出了控制抗生素滥用的建议。     

Taking Law Seriously: Starting Points of the Hart/Devlin Debate*

The famous mid-20th century debate between Patrick Devlin and Herbert Hart about the relationship between law and morality addressed the limits of the criminal law in the context of a proposal by the Wolfenden Committee to decriminalize male homosexual activity in private. The original exchanges and subsequent contributions to the debate have been significantly constrained by the terms in which the debate was framed: a focus on criminal law in general and sexual offences in particular; a preoccupation with the so-called “harm principle,” a sharp delineation of the realms of law and morality, and a static conception of the relationship between them. This article explores the limitations imposed by these various starting-points and argues for a holistic and symbiotic understanding of the relationship between law and morality. * Thanks to Tony Connolly, Leighton McDonald and Niki Lacey for penetrating and suggestive comments on previous versions.     

The Philosophy of Joel Feinberg*

This paper is offered as a tribute to Joel Feinberg. The first section of the paper applies Feinberg’s analysis of freedom of expression to a contemporary case of academic freedom. The second section engages Feinberg’s work on rights and punishment. The paper ends with numerous quotations from Feinberg’s vast array of writings, words that express his ideas on a number of important problems that occupied his mind throughout his fruitful and influential career.