How is God-talk logically possible? A sketch for an argument on the logic of ‘God’

In this paper I want to argue for the optimal way to characterise the logical and semantical behaviour of the singular term ‘God’ used in religious language. The relevance of this enterprise to logical theory is the main focus as well. Doing this presupposes to outline the two rivaling approaches of well-definition of singular terms: Kripke’s (“rigid designators”) and Hintikka’s (“world-lines”). ‘God’ as a “rigid designator” is purified from all real-life-language-games of identification and only spells out a metaphysical tag, which favours the view of “anything goes”. Instead, ‘God’ as a “world-line,” plus two ways of quantification, is much more flexible to theological traditions, teachings of the church, religious practices and personal feelings. Thus, it provides a sufficiently well-defined singular term for the purposes of logical theory. The whole sketch is based on Jaakko Hintikka’s logical ideas, mainly on his responses to different authors in PJH. I have systematically omitted direct references to his texts because I have modified considerably his ideas for my own purposes.     

Human Allocentric Heading Orientation and Ability

ABSTRACT— Since the discovery of head-direction cells in nonhuman mammals, we have learned a great deal about how an internal compass-like system functions in the mammalian brain. In contrast, we know very little about how this system operates in humans—or, for that matter, whether humans even have an internal compass for computing body heading. This article reviews a recent line of inquiry that uses animal models of head-direction-system functioning to motivate behavioral research on human sense of direction.     

阻断内侧前额叶皮质TrkB受体对大鼠认知和海马BDNF表达的影响

脑源性神经营养因子(brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF)广泛参与了个体学习和记忆等认知功能, 通过与其酪氨酸激酶受体(tyrosine kinase, TrkB)特异性结合, 实现其多种神经生化功能。本研究观察了TrkB受体阻断剂ANA-12的慢性内侧前额叶皮质(medial prefrontal cortex, mPFC)注射对大鼠旷场行为、Morris水迷宫空间学习和逆反学习的影响。研究结果表明, mPFC的慢性BDNF阻断显著降低了大鼠在逆反学习测试中的逃离潜伏期和运动距离即增强了大鼠的逆反学习能力, 但不影响其旷场行为和水迷宫空间学习能力。同时, 慢性阻断mPFC-TrkB受体也并未导致大鼠海马BDNF蛋白含量的显著改变。这些结果提示, 对于大鼠的Morris水迷宫空间学习和逆反学习, mPFC-BDNF主要在逆反学习调节中发挥重要作用。这对于进一步探索海马和mPFC在调节个体认知功能中各自的作用及其潜在的相互关系提供了有力的证据和支持。     

小学儿童在不同刺激材料中的左右空间方位传递性推理能力及策略分析

采用定性和定量相结合的研究方法,从图形刺激材料和文字刺激材料入手,探查了7岁、9岁、11岁儿童的一维空间方位传递性推理能力的发展水平及其认知策略。主要研究结果表明:(1)小学儿童的一维空间方位传递性推理能力从7岁到9岁,从9岁到11岁都有显著性提高。7岁儿童处于能力的初步形成期,9岁儿童是能力的提高和发展期,11岁儿童已基本具有了一维空间方位单模型条件下的传递性推理能力;(2)小学儿童在图形刺激材料条件下的推理成绩显著优于文字刺激材料条件下的推理成绩;(3)前提数量的增加没有对小学儿童的推理造成显著性影响;(4)随着儿童年龄的增长,模型建构策略的使用者越来越多,但在图形刺激材料和文字刺激材料下,儿童解决问题的策略有所不同。在图形刺激材料下,大部分7岁和9岁的儿童采用知觉策略,11岁儿童中只有少部分人使用这一策略。在文字刺激材料下,模型建构策略是儿童推理的主要策略。少部分7岁儿童使用模型建构策略,大部分9岁儿童和绝大部分11岁儿童使用模型建构策略来解决问题。     

数学学习不良儿童视觉-空间表征与数学问题解决

采用临床访谈的方法,考察了30名数学学习不良(MD)儿童和31名一般儿童的数学问题解决、视觉-空间表征策略和空间视觉化能力。结果发现：图式表征能促进数学问题的解决,图像表征则起妨碍作用;空间视觉化能力与解题正确率及图式表征策略有显著正相关,与图像表征策略有显著负相关。MD儿童的解题正确率以及使用图式表征策略的程度显著低于一般儿童,使用图像表征策略的程度则显著高于一般儿童。在解题正确率和图式表征策略这两个变量上,MD儿童和一般儿童的年级发展趋势相同,都随年级的升高而提高。但在图像表征策略的使用上,一般儿童有随年级的升高而下降的趋势,MD儿童却没有下降的趋势。两类儿童的空间视觉化能力都随年级的升高而提高。     

文本表述结构对空间维度非线索更新的影响

采用实时窗口阅读技术,探讨阅读中文本表述结构在情境模型空间维度非线索更新中的作用。实验一结果表明,阅读中,如果文本叙述中采用以人为参照的描述方式,那么可以促进相应空间设置内物体的实时更新。实验二考察了空间设置不同程度的描述对空间信息加工中的影响,结果发现,相对于对空间设置的简单描述,在文本中对空间设置进行精细阐述更有利于情境模型空间维度非线索更新的达成。     

Situation Awareness and Workload in Aviation

A pilot faces special challenges imposed by the need to control a multivariate lagged system in a heterogeneous multitask environment. The time lags between critical variables require prediction in an uncertain world. The interrelated concepts of situation awareness and workload are central to aviation psychology. Three components of situation awareness are spatial awareness, system awareness, and task awareness. Each of these components has real–world implications, spatial awareness for instrument displays, system awareness for keeping the operator informed about actions that have been taken by automated systems, and task awareness for attention and task management. Task management is directly related to mental workload, as the competing demands of tasks for attention exceed the operator's limited resources.     

The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are differentially involved in serial memory retrieval in non-stress and stress conditions

We previously showed that 24 h after learning, mice significantly remembered the first (D1) but not the second (D2) discrimination in a serial spatial task and that an acute stress delivered 5 min before the test phase reversed this memory retrieval pattern.A first experiment evaluated the effects of dorsal hippocampus (HPC) or prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions, these two brain areas being well-known for their involvement in serial and spatial memory processes. For this purpose, six independent groups of mice were used: non-lesioned (controls), PFC or HPC-lesioned animals, submitted or not to an acute stress (electric footshocks; 0.9 mA). Results show that (i) non-stressed controls as well as PFC-lesioned mice (stressed or not) remembered D1 but not D2; (ii) stressed controls and HPC-lesioned mice (stressed or not) remembered D2 but not D1; (iii) stress significantly increased plasma corticosterone in controls and PFC-lesioned mice, but not in HPC-lesioned mice which already showed a significant plasma corticosterone increase in non-stressed condition.Since data from this first experiment showed that stress inhibited the hippocampal-dependent D1 memory retrieval, a second experiment evaluated the behavioral effect of intrahippocampal corticosterone injection in non-stressed mice. Results show that intrahippocampal corticosterone injection induced a reversal of serial memory retrieval pattern similar to that induced by acute stress.Overall, our study shows that (i) in non-stress condition, the emergence of D1 is HPC-dependent; (ii) in stress condition, the emergence of D2 requires the PFC integrity; moreover, intrahippocampal corticosterone injection mimicked the effects of stress in the CSD task.     

网格细胞在空间记忆中的作用

网格细胞存在于内嗅皮层,具有显著的空间放电特征,并呈现出网格图样的放电结构。近年来网格细胞的发现及其功能研究,为深入阐释空间记忆的神经机制开辟了新的视角。本文详细介绍了网格细胞的发现、神经解剖学联系及空间放电特征;通过网格细胞与位置细胞的对比分析,阐释网格细胞利用自身运动信息进行空间编码的机制,以及在空间记忆中所发挥的路径整合器功能。     

What can we learn from toddlers about categorical perception of color? Comments on Goldstein, Davidoff, and Roberson

We comment on Goldstein, Davidoff, and Roberson’s replication and extension (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102, 219-238 [2009]) of our study of the effect of toddlers’ color term knowledge on their categorical perception (CP) of color (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90, 114-141 [2005]). First, we discuss how best to assess color term knowledge when concerned with the effects of language on color CP. A reanalysis of our data indicates that even toddlers who do not know the terms for the relevant focal colors still show CP. Second, we comment on Goldstein and colleagues’ finding of blue-purple CP, as we did, but not of blue-green CP in Himba toddlers. We present contrasting data from Wright (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Surrey, 2006) that demonstrates blue-green CP in Himba toddlers. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the approach taken by all of these investigations and discuss theoretical accounts of the origin and nature of color CP.