Generalization of tacting actions in children with autism

This intervention compared the effects of two procedures on the generalization of a tacting repertoire (labeling) in 6 children with autism spectrum disorder. In one procedure the verbal antecedent stimulus “What is she doing?” appeared together with a person performing an action; in the other procedure, the antecedent stimulus was just the presence of the action. In initial tests, children emitted tacts only when the action was presented with the verbal antecedent. Thereafter, they learned to tact an action without the verbal antecedent and received tests to evaluate generalization to another action. Results indicated that in order to obtain generalization of tacting actions, it was necessary to learn to tact other actions without the verbal antecedent as well as learning to tact the action with the verbal antecedent. These findings have relevance for generalization of tacting actions from control by verbal antecedents to natural conditions and the production of spontaneous language.     

Early child grammars: qualitative and quantitative analysis of morphosyntactic production

This article reports on a series of 5 analyses of spontaneous production of verbal inflection (tense and person–number agreement) by 2-year-olds acquiring French as a native language. A formal analysis of the qualitative and quantitative results is developed using the unique resources of Optimality Theory (OT; Prince & Smolensky, 2004). It is argued that acquisition of morphosyntax proceeds via overlapping grammars (rather than through abrupt changes), which OT formalizes in terms of partial rather than total constraint rankings. Initially, economy of structure constraints take priority over faithfulness constraints that demand faithful expression of a speaker's intent, resulting in child production of tense that is comparable in level to that of child-directed speech. Using the independent Predominant Length of Utterance measure of syntactic development proposed in Vainikka, Legendre, and Todorova (1999), production of agreement is shown first to lag behind tense then to compete with tense at an intermediate stage of development. As the child's development progresses, faithfulness constraints become more dominant, and the overall production of tense and agreement becomes adult-like.     

Dis-inviting the Unruly Public

Abstract

Recently, Welsh and Wynne have argued that policy efforts to include ‘the public’ in dialogue about technoscience have been accompanied by a simultaneous rise in control over uninvited publics, particularly protestors. Research with a group of knowledge-based activists in the UK suggests a further category between invited and uninvited. The concept of an ‘unruly public’ functions within the sociotechnical imaginary to disinvite those whose response is unwanted or unpredictable, while still appearing to be engaging with ‘the public’ as a whole. Listening to the unexpected questions of the unruly public may in fact support, rather than hinder, efforts to incorporate social concerns into frameworks for responsible innovation at both national and European levels.     

New York Prophecies: The Imaginary Future of Artificial Intelligence

The conflicts which have erupted over hacking, cracking and filesharing offer a stepping-stone for rethinking the involvement of users in innovation processes. As technical design processes invariably proceed in the shadow of established relations of social power, we can expect them to encompass conflicts over what constitutes the creative use of technology versus its misuse. The figure of the misuser calls attention to the importance of antagonistic relations in the mutual shaping of technology and society. Constructivist STS research has been criticised for neglecting the importance of antagonistic relations in favour of an emphasis on the limitless mutability of human/machine hybrids. The transformative effects of innovation processes on interests and subjectivities cannot be denied. But the induction of such transformations might be interpreted as a method through which struggles are conducted. This dynamic is particularly forthcoming in the case of filesharing, where users innovate precisely in order to overthrow the material practices upon which intellectual property law is founded. It is the intervention of law enforcement agencies in the process of drawing the line between users and misusers that makes the presence of an antagonistic relation manifest.     

Fostering innovation in functionally diverse teams: The two faces of transformational leadership

Empirical research on the effects of functional diversity on team innovation has yielded largely inconsistent results, showing positive, negative, as well as nonsignificant effects. For capitalizing on the positive potential inherent in functionally diverse teams, opening the black box between cross-functionality and team innovation by analysing mediating and moderating processes thus seems to be highly relevant. In this article, task and relationship conflicts are introduced as mediators of functional diversity and team innovation. Within this framework, transformational leadership is discussed as a moderator. It will become apparent that the role of transformational leadership in fostering the innovativeness of cross-functional teams is rather ambiguous. The discussed mediators and the moderator transformational leadership are integrated into a comprehensive framework and propositions for future research are derived.     

What is the Philosophy of Information?

Computational and information-theoretic research in philosophy has become increasingly fertile and pervasive, giving rise to a wealth of interesting results. In consequence, a new and vitally important field has emerged, the philosophy of information (PI). This essay is the first attempt to analyse the nature of PI systematically. PI is defined as the philosophical field concerned with the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics, utilisation, and sciences, and the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and computational methodologies to philosophical problems. I argue that PI is a mature discipline for three reasons: it represents an autonomous field of research; it provides an innovative approach to both traditional and new philosophical topics; and it can stand beside other branches of philosophy, offering a systematic treatment of the conceptual foundations of the world of information and the information society.     

科技伦理:在真与善之间

科技与伦理在实践中的内在关联,使科技伦理问题成为现代科技实践的重要方面。其中,科学活动的违规和失范现象,科技运行中的公正与效率问题,科技时代的生命安顿与伦理精神的创新,是当前在真与善之间特别为人们关注的问题。     

Antecedent variables of innovation behaviors in organizations: Differences between men and women

IntroductionRelevance of innovation behaviors for organizational success led to study its main individual, job-related and organizational antecedents. Moreover, research on differences in innovation between men and women showed inconclusive results. Ambidexterity (Bledow, Frese, Anderson, Erez, & Farr, 2009) and Zhou and Hoever (2014) call for combining contextual and personal characteristics in innovation research suggest that pathways and variables leading to innovation between men and women could be different.Objective(s)This study aims to analyze if men and women differ in the main antecedents for innovative behaviors. Thus, a moderating effect of gender on the relationship between innovative behaviors and their main antecedent variables is hypothesized. Results are of interest for promoting innovation and empowering women at work context.MethodIn a sample of 458 employees from 16 Spanish companies, we carried out hierarchical regression analyses on innovation behaviors, including as main antecedents academic level, proactive personality, job demands, organizational commitment, HR practices addressed to participation, and transformational leadership. In addition, interaction terms between gender and such antecedents were entered in regression analysis.ResultsProactive personality, HR participation practices, inspirational motivation, job demands and academic level significantly predicted innovative behaviors at their different phases. Moreover, gender moderated the relationship between generation of new ideas with academic level and organizational commitment, and between promotion of ideas with job demands and idealized influence. Organizational commitment promoted generation of ideas among women but not among men, whereas idealized influence is detrimental for women. Reversely, higher job demands stimulate promotion of ideas among men but were detrimental for innovation among women.ConclusionOur results suggest that innovation among women seems to be more sensitive to the influence of leadership and require more social support, whereas higher job demands are detrimental. These results suggest that innovation is more related to intrinsic variables (as self-confidence, empowerment and social processes) among women, whereas for men, it seems to be more related to work demands. Results could help companies to stimulate innovation, between both men and women.     

认知重评阻断条件化恐惧记忆的习得与表达——对恐惧反应的长程抑制作用

情绪调节是人类特有的、并能有效控制个体情绪反应的行为方式,认知重评是其中最有效的调节策略之一。恐惧记忆是参与情绪障碍形成的重要病理机制,且已习得的恐惧反应难消退、易复发。为了考察认知重评能否起到长久抑制恐惧反应的效应,本研究利用条件化恐惧范式,第一天进行条件化恐惧习得训练,并在习得后间隔24 h及31天进行恐惧记忆的表达及自发恢复测试。实验1中,随机将被试分为两组,要求其在恐惧习得过程中进行认知重评或自然感受;在实验2,同样随机将被试分为两组,但要求其在恐惧记忆表达过程中进行认知重评或自然感受。结果发现,习得阶段进行认知重评显著降低了恐惧记忆的习得、表达及自发恢复过程中的SCR水平。同样,表达阶段进行认知重评也降低了此阶段的恐惧水平,且显著抑制了恐惧记忆的自发恢复。结果提示,在面对应激时,个体如果能够成功地利用想象进行认知重评,就有可能避免应激事件对个体的心理或精神造成伤害。