Penelhum on skeptics and fideists

Professor Penelhum has argued that there is a common error about the history of skepticism and that the exposure of this error would significantly improve our understanding of a current confusion in the philosophy of religion with regard to the issue of the rationality of religious beliefs. Penelhum considers certain contemporary philosophers of religion such as Plantinga skeptics because he reads Plantinga (for example) as arguing that religious beliefs are properly groundless in virtue of the fact that none of our beliefs have any ultimate grounds, and Penelhum argues that this sort of defense of religious belief is both limited and dangerous for religion. I argue that on the interpretation of ancient skepticism which Penelhum gives ancient skepticism is just what it has often been claimed to be: either practically untenable or incoherent or both. I show that in any case the confusion in philosophy of religion which Penelhum wants to sort out with the help of ancient skepticism is not one of which its alleged proponents are guilty. The views of Plantinga and others who take his line are more complex and powerful than Penelhum's presentation makes them seem; these views do not constitute an acceptance of skepticism but a denial of a certain sort of foundationalism. Contrary to Penelhum, then, I argue that ancient skepticism does not serve as a significant corrective for certain trends in contemporary philosophy of religion.     

Regional cerebral blood flow response to recognition memory versus semantic classification tasks

Two randomly assigned groups, N = 7 each, of neurologically normal patients were composed. One group, RM, had regional cerebral blood flow measurements during a recognition memory probe test; the other group, SC, had rCBF measurements during a semantic classification task, using the same stimulus and response features as the RM task. Thus, the groups differed only in the cognitive instruction they were executing. The RM group showed a significantly lower change from resting baseline to activation, in mean left hemisphere initial slope index, than did the SC group. The RM group, but not the SC group, showed a significant inverse correlation between occipital flow and accuracy of memory performance as indicated by d′. Correlations between age and hemispheric initial slope index, and between homologous left and right hemisphere sites, were also described. The results are considered to support an anatomical basis for the distinction between episodic and semantic memory and to suggest that occipital flow may diminish with accurate memory performance because of an upstream demand of blood in the medial temporal lobes.     

Translating the ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement Into Practice

ICAP is a theory of active learning that differentiates students’ engagement based on their behaviors. ICAP postulates that I nteractive engagement, demonstrated by co‐generative collaborative behaviors, is superior for learning to C onstructive engagement, indicated by generative behaviors. Both kinds of engagement exceed the benefits of A ctive or P assive engagement, marked by manipulative and attentive behaviors, respectively. This paper discusses a 5‐year project that attempted to translate ICAP into a theory of instruction using five successive measures: (a) teachers’ understanding of ICAP after completing an online module, (b) their success at designing lesson plans using different ICAP modes, (c) fidelity of teachers’ classroom implementation, (d) modes of students’ enacted behaviors, and (e) students’ learning outcomes. Although teachers had minimal success in designing Constructive and Interactive activities, students nevertheless learned significantly more in the context of Constructive than Active activities. We discuss reasons for teachers’ overall difficulty in designing and eliciting Interactive engagement.     

Sense of Humor and Its Relationship to Personality,Scholastic Aptitude,Emotional Maturity,Height, and Weight

Two experiments were performed having in common the use of sucrose concentration and volume as amount of reinforcement variables, and in situations permitting contrast between concentrations. The following conclusions are reached:

1. It is important to distinguish between the case in which separate subjects are exposed to different concentrations or volumes, and the case in which the same subjects receive different concentrations and volumes.

2. A distinction must be drawn between reinforcement contingencies in which force of response is or is not systematically related to concentration received. In nonforce contingent situations, emitted force is inversely related to concentration, when the same subjects are exposed to the different concentrations. In contingent situations, the relationship tends to be direct.

3. Rate and force of response vary inversely with nonforce contingent volume of sucrose reinforcement, when the same subjects are exposed to the different volumes.

4. Regardless of concentration and volume used, and presumably because of within-session satiation effects, there is a general tendency for rate to decline during nonforce contingent sessions.     

Processing of non-canonical word-order: A case-series on lesion-induced reorganized language and age-effects in typical development

Complex grammatical structures are mastered late in language acquisition. We studied age-effects on performance in object topicalization in 48 typically developing German-speaking participants (aged 8–30 years) and in five patients (children and adolescents) with lesion-induced atypical language representation. Production was tested by a sentence repetition task, comprehension by an acting out task. Three topicalized conditions with differing disambiguation (agreement, case, and case plus agreement) were contrasted with canonical control sentences.     

Walter burley and the obligationes attributed to william of sherwood

The history of the mediaeval obligationes-literature has only recently begun to be studied. Two important treatises in this literature, one by Walter Burley and the other attributed to William of Sherwood, have been edited by Romuald Green in a forthcoming book. But there is considerable doubt concerning the authenticity of the text attributed to Sherwood. The correct attribution and dating of this treatise is crucial for our understanding of the history of this literature. In this paper, we argue that the treatise is not as early as William of Sherwood, that on the contrary it dates no earlier than the very end of the thirteenth century, and that, although there is some contrary evidence, the treatise may be an early work by Walter Burley himself.     

Aus der Wohnungslosigkeit zum Pantheon

Mit diesem Fallbericht soll einerseits das Modell der Liaisonpsychiatrie in der Wohnungslosenbetreuung dargestellt werden sowie andererseits die besondere Bedeutung langfristiger Beziehungsarbeit und auf Freiwilligkeit beruhender Behandlungsangebote hervorgehoben werden. Viele schwer kranke Patientinnen und Patienten haben – oft schon vor Jahrzehnten – unangenehme bis traumatisierende Erlebnisse bei station?ren Aufnahmen mitgemacht und lehnen psychiatrische Behandlung ab, weil sie sie mit Zwang und massiven Nebenwirkungen assoziieren. In der Folge soll berichtet werden, wie eine Patientin wieder Vertrauen zu medizinischen Angeboten und somit eine wesentlich bessere Lebensqualit?t finden konnte.