The Orthogenetic Principle in the Perception of “Forests” and “Trees”?

This study explores possible links between ontogenetic and microgenetic change (Werner, 1948, 1957) in the perception of stimuli with multiple levels of structure. Visual search for targets defined by local versus global structure was examined in observers aged 6, 8, 10, and 22 years. Perceptual access to each level of structure was varied by using pattern elements of same (easy) or opposite contrast polarity (hard); attentional processes were isolated from sensory processes by varying the number of display items. The results showed large improvements with age in search rates for global targets, with search rates for local targets being more constant over age. This pattern held regardless of whether perceptual access to a target was easy or hard. These results support the view that the perception of local and global structure involves different underlying processes.     

Measurement and Indeterminacy in the Quantum Mechanics of Dirac

The quantum-measurement problem and the Heisenberg indeterminacy principle are presented in the language of the Dirac formulation of the quantum theory. Particularly the relationship between quantum state prior to measurement and the result of the measurement are discussed. The relation between the indeterminacy principle and the analog between quantum and classical systems is presented, showing that this principle may be discussed independently of the wave-particle duality. The importance of statistics in the treatment of many body systems is outlined and the approach to investigating God's interaction with human beings is discussed in this context. The treatment is nonmathematical.     

God's Action in the World: The Relevance of Quantum Mechanics

It has been suggested that God can act on the world by operating within the limits set by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (HUP) without violating the laws of nature. This requires nature to be intrinsically indeterministic. However, according to the statistical interpretation the quantum mechanical wavefunction represents the average behavior of an ensemble of similar systems and not that of a single system. The HUP thus refers to a relation between the spreads of possible values of position and momentum and so is consistent with a fully deterministic world. This statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics is supported by reference to actual measurements, resolves the quantum paradoxes, and stimulates further research. If this interpretation is accepted, quantum mechanics is irrelevant to the question of God's action in the world.     

Quantum mechanics and violations of the sure-thing principle: The use of probability interference and other concepts

The use of quantum mechanical concepts in social science is a fairly new phenomenon. This paper uses one of quantum mechanics’ most basic concepts, probability interference, to explain the violation of an important decision theory principle (the ‘sure-thing principle’). We also attempt to introduce other quantum mechanical concepts in relation to the sure-thing principle violation.     

INTRODUCTION: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY AND EXCLUSION

Abstract: Does democracy or popular sovereignty imply exclusion and drawing borders? And if so, what type of exclusion and borders, and what kind of justification can we give for them? Moreover, if democracy really requires some kind of exclusion, is global democracy then a paradoxical union of two contradictory ideals? Can we create a demos on the global level? The focus of this collection of essays is on this potential conflict and its underlying values.     

FEDERATIVE GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

Abstract: In this essay a set of principles is defended that yields a determinate allocation of sovereign competences across a global system of territorially nested jurisdictions. All local sovereign competences are constrained by a universal, justiciable human rights regime that also incorporates a conception of cross-border distributive justice and regulates the competence to control immigration for a given territory. Subject to human rights constraints, sovereign competences are allocated according to a conception of global democracy. The proposed allocation scheme can accommodate substantial local autonomy while at the same time ensuring that everyone has a voice in the political decisions that affect his or her interests. The relevant class of affected interests is fully specified. Relevant affects are of two kinds: those that impose norms of governance on individuals, and those that impose external costs on them. The favored sense of "an external cost" is developed and defended.     

Absence of evidence and evidence of absence: evidential transitivity in connection with fossils,fishing, fine-tuning,and firing squads

“Absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence” is a slogan that is popular among scientists and nonscientists alike. This article assesses its truth by using a probabilistic tool, the Law of Likelihood. Qualitative questions (“Is E evidence about H?”) and quantitative questions (“How much evidence does E provide about H?”) are both considered. The article discusses the example of fossil intermediates. If finding a fossil that is phenotypically intermediate between two extant species provides evidence that those species have a common ancestor, does failing to find such a fossil constitute evidence that there was no common ancestor? Or should the failure merely be chalked up to the imperfection of the fossil record? The transitivity of the evidence relation in simple causal chains provides a broader context, which leads to discussion of the fine-tuning argument, the anthropic principle, and observation selection effects.     

How and how not to make predictions with temporal Copernicanism

Gott (Nature 363:315–319, 1993) considers the problem of obtaining a probabilistic prediction for the duration of a process, given the observation that the process is currently underway and began a time t ago. He uses a temporal Copernican principle according to which the observation time can be treated as a random variable with uniform probability density. A simple rule follows: with a 95% probability,

A Precautionary Tale: Separating the Infant from the Fetus

This article confronts growing conservative opposition to abortion based on the claim that abortion is morally equivalent to infanticide. By examining the relationship between moral skepticism and precautionary ethics the article promotes a completely permissive position on abortion from conception to birth while consistently rejecting the possibility that such a position entails permissive implications for infanticide. The article introduces and traces the implicit relationship between moral skepticism, the precautionary principle and political liberalism.

水平空间与情绪效价联结效应的产生机制

采用词汇效价判断任务,考察水平空间与情绪效价联合效应的产生机制。实验1在被试双手正常放置条件下考察了词汇效价与水平空间联结效应的存在;实验2则要求被试双手交叉放置,以考察当反应手和反应键的空间信息冲突时水平空间与情感效价的关联现象;实验3则进一步考排除反应手的参与,以考察口头报告的反应方式是否对两者的联结效应产生影响。结果表明,不同反应方式下均存在空间情感效价的联结,且此联结更多是反应选择极性编码的结果。