How the Causal Theorist Follows a Rule1

Wittgenstein's rule-following problem presents a powerful and quite general argument against most forms of traditional semantics. At stake is the relationship between what we learn when we learn an expression and our subsequent use of that expression. There have been various accounts of this relation. For example, a Fregean might say that when we learn a word, we grasp its sense, that the sense determines the reference, and that we then use the word to refer to its referent. In contrast, a modern day antirealist might say that we learn the word's assertability conditions and that we then use the word when those conditions obtain. Around the period of the Blue Book, Wittgenstein himself seemed inclined toward the view that language learning involved the acquisition of semantic rules that guide future usage. If correct, the rule-following argument would undermine all three of these accounts.     

Uncertainty and preference for ‘ambiguous’ figures, ‘impossible’ figures and the drawings of M. C. Escher1

With regard to two kinds of dependent response measures, number of one s exposures and verbal ratings of interestingness and pleasingness, preference was greater for unaltered ‘ambiguous’ figures, drawings of M. C. Escher and ‘impossible’ figures, characterized by greater complexity and uncertainty, than for altered versions of these stimuli. Furthermore, preference increased over the three types of unaltered slides while remaining fairly constant across altered ones. Lastly, number of exposures and ratings of interestingness diminished for unaltered pictures when preceded by their altered versions. The findings were interpreted using Berlyne's notions regarding aesthetic preference, uncertainty, and response conflict.     

Career counseling: beyond “test and tell”

Behavior-oriented inventories need not be used in a static manner. This article presents a way of using John Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) as an illustration of how such an inventory can be employed dynamically within a developmental career counseling framework. Use of the SDS is discussed in terms of environmental exploration, self-exploration, and integration of information. The breadth of individual behavior styles and the flexibility of work environments are the key concepts in the approach to career counseling described here.