Phonological, semantic, and repetition priming with homophones

The current study investigated semantic, repetition, and phonological priming using heterographic homonyms (homophones) as stimuli in a lexical decision task. As in previous research, reliable semantic priming and repetition effects were found. In addition, the statistical additivity of these two effects was replicated using homophones as stimuli. Using homophones, a reliable phonological priming effect was found when 10-16 intervening trials were used. This effect was also statistically independent of semantic priming indicating the independence of the mechanisms responsible for semantic and phonological priming. The magnitude of the phonological priming effect was also significantly less than the magnitude of the repetition effect. This difference in effect magnitude was taken to indicate that the repetition of phonological information is not a primary contributor to the repetition effect.     

Episodic future thinking

Thinking about the future is an integral component of human cognition – one that has been claimed to distinguish us from other species. Building on the construct of episodic memory, we introduce the concept of ‘episodic future thinking’: a projection of the self into the future to pre-experience an event. We argue that episodic future thinking has explanatory value when considering recent work in many areas of psychology: cognitive, social and personality, developmental, clinical and neuropsychology. Episodic future thinking can serve as a unifying concept, connecting aspects of diverse research findings and identifying key questions requiring further reflection and study.     

THE DEFENCE OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE TRINITY AND THE INCARNATION: AN EXAMPLE OF LEIBNIZ'S 'OTHER' REASON

In this paper I will discuss certain aspects of Leibniz's theory and practice of ‘soft reasoning’ as exemplified by his defence of two central mysteries of the Christian revelation: the Trinity and the Incarnation. By theory and practice of ‘soft’ or ‘broad’ reasoning, I mean the development of rational strategies which can successefully be applied to the many areas of human understanding which escape strict demonstration, that is, the ‘hard’ or ‘narrow’ reasoning typical of mathematical argumentation.¹ These strategies disclose an ‘other’ reason, i.e. a complementary set of arguments and methods developed by Leibniz in order to deal with crucial issues such as the ‘weighting’ of probabilities and truths of fact. I will argue that one of the most compelling examples of the importance and fertility of Leibniz's ‘other’ reason is provided by his solution to the problems posed by the unique epistemological status of theological mysteries.     

Neither Dogma nor Common sense: Moore's confidence in his ‘proof of an external world’

Helmholtz's theory of space had significant impact on Schlick's early ‘critical realist’ point of view. However, it will be argued in this paper that Schlick's appropriation of Helmholtz's ideas eventually lead to a rather radical transformation of the original Helmholtzian position.     

Catachrestic Plural Forms. Gregory of Nyssa and Theodore Abū Qurrah on Naming and Counting Essences

The fourth-century thinker and theologian Gregory of Nyssa was a convinced realist about universals. According to him, there is just one substance man for all the individuals of the species man and this universal substance is completely instantiated by each individual. In two of his treatises – the Ad Ablabium and the Ad Graecos – he draws linguistic consequences from this realist position. This enquiry results in the thesis according to which it is incorrect to use natural kind terms (such as names of species) in the plural form, because that would involve stating a plurality of substances, when in fact there is just one substance for all the individuals of a given kind. In consequence, since the substance of all individual human beings is the same, the word ‘man’ can only be used adequately in the singular form. In this contribution, Gregory's reasoning is reconstructed. In the second part of the paper, the posterity of his theory and its endorsement by Theodore Abū Qurrah at the turn of the eighth and ninth centuries are examined.     

Long cycles and the development of style: Painting in the 19th and 20th centuries

Well‐known epochs of style such as Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Cubism, etc. are combined with historical facts of economic long cycles. It turns out that long depressions/declines correlate with Romantic movements in style whereas long periods of prosperity coincide with realism. Basic innovations in painting do not cluster in difficult economic times. The evidence indicates almost the contrary.     

工作记忆和长时记忆共享信息表征的ERP证据

工作记忆和长时记忆共享记忆系统的信息表征网络, 关系密切。实验采用事件相关电位技术记录长时记忆信息对工作记忆的长时语义启动和工作记忆对相关长时记忆信息的长时语义启动。结果显示：与新项目相比, 学习项(即长时记忆信息)对工作记忆的目标信息产生了明显的行为启动效应, N2潜伏期、波幅和P3潜伏期也表现出明显的神经启动效应, 即, 学习项比新项目的反应时更短、N2和P3的潜伏期更短、N2更正, 但学习对非记忆项的影响不大; 工作记忆对相关的长时记忆信息也产生了神经启动, 表现在类别比较任务中记忆类信息比其他信息(即, 与工作记忆任务中的信息无关的内容)的N400更正。而且, 这种神经启动也会因刺激重复次数的增多而降低：与新项目相比, 学习项会使与之语义类似信息的N400更负。上述两种长时语义启动的存在及其ERPs的神经启动均为长时记忆和工作记忆使用共同信息表征的观点提供了证据支持。证据还表明, 在工作记忆和长时记忆的相互作用中注意是关键的调节因素。     

对充分条件句语义关系的概念理解与逻辑理解的相关与分离

实验用大学生被试考察了充分条件句语义关系表达形式（逻辑形式和概念形式）和条件句类型（五种条件句）对充分条件句语义关系理解的影响。实验结果发现,语义关系表达形式影响被试对条件句中必要性的语义关系理解,而不影响被试对条件句中充分性的语义关系理解,在对条件句前后件之间语义关系的逻辑理解成绩和概念理解成绩之间既有相关又有分离：对是否充分的语义关系的两种理解成绩之间存在相关一致,而对是否必要的语义关系的两种理解成绩之间存在分离;五种条件句在对后件对前件的必要性的知觉难易程度受条件句意义内容的影响而存在明显差异,这种差异导致被试对许可句和定义句的后件必要性理解成绩高于对偶然句、义务句和因果句的后件必要性理解成绩。     

Philosophy of Science in the Twenty‐First Century

Philosophy of science in the past half century can be seen as a reaction against logical empiricism's focus on modern logic as the format in which debates should be expressed and on physics as the canonical science. These reactions have resulted in a fragmentation of the field. Although this provides ways forward for disparate philosophies of various sciences, it threatens the very possibility of general philosophy of science. The debate that most obviously continues to be conducted at the general level—the debate about scientific realism—only does so because of a dangerous naïveté. Nevertheless, this article suggests that there is a place for general work not by starting at the highest level of abstraction but instead by abstracting general lessons from actual science.     

Tracing the size,reach, impact,and breadth of positive psychology

This study quantitatively assessed the size, disciplinary reach, impact, and topic breadth of positive psychology (PP), in order to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the growth and significance of the field. Over 1.7?million documents in 700 PsycINFO ^® journals covering the fields of psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, management, business, public health, and sport science were analyzed using semantic and bibliographic methods. Results indicate that PP covers many different research topics from a diverse range of disciplines, and that PP literature has been growing rapidly in significance. Over 18,000 documents were identified as belonging to PP, with 2300 published in 2011. These documents represent over 4% of PsycINFO ^® documents within the data-set published that year, and make PP close to the median size of all disciplines listed in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports ^®, Social Sciences Edition. The aggregate impact factor for PP in 2011 was 2.64.