Libertarianism and Conjoined Twins

Philosophia - This paper presents a new challenge for libertarianism. (Or rather: for any version of libertarianism committed to absolute, indefeasible self-ownership rights). The problem, in a...     

Computerized practice tests and effects on in-class exams

Twenty-eight introductory psychology college students volunteered to learn a technique that might help improve their in-class, multiple-choice exam performance. Two 12-question multiple-choice tests with detailed feedback were presented on a personal computer. There were two types of feedback.Separate feedback consisted of a brief statement indicating why a specific answer was either right or wrong.Combined feedback consisted of the four separate feedbacks combined into a single paragraph. Eighteen students from another introductory class, who did not get to participate in these practice tests, served as a control. A within-group comparison of the two feedback formats showed differences in degree of improvement dependent on the level of achievement by students on the first in-class exam. When compared with data from the control group, the results show significant improvement by the low-level participants on the second in-class exam (p<.01).     

Computer programs to facilitate detailed analysis of how people study text passages

Three computer programs are described for an IBM Personal Computer; these programs enable the gathering of detai3led data on reading and study processes. The programs (A) present any text of the experimenter’s choosing and permit subjects to study the lines and pages of that text in any order; (B) allow for the subject’s use of a light pen to record study time per line, to answer questions, and to indicate lines that are, for instance, important or difficult by “highlighting” them (i.e, changing them to reverse video); (C) allow for multiple study sessions and a review session; (D) present and score multiple-choice questions; (E) permit the use of fill-in test items; (F) calculate 176 values, including detailed data on highlighting, quality of study, testing, and times and frequencies on 18 different categories of lines in study and in review; and (G) make a printout of the raw data and the 176 summary statistics. Also described is one example of a 28-page text and a test that have been used in conjunction with the programs. Data are provided to illustrate the usefulness of the programs.     

Frequency of occurrence and concreteness ratings of homograph meanings

The purpose of this research was to establish norms for the relative frequency of use of the different meaning of common homographs (words that have one spelling but two or more distinctly different meanings) and to present ratings of the concreteness-abstractness of those meanings. A total of 108 subjects wrote a phrase or sentence using each of 120 homographs that were presented at a 15.5-sec rate. For each homograph, norms are provided indicating the relative frequency with which each meaning was used by men and by women. In addition, four judges rated the concreteness-abstractness of each meaning. These ratings are also provided, as are the means of the overall concreteness for each homograph.     

Pascal’s Wager: a Reason to Hesitate

Philosophia - One version of Pascal’s Wager says we should commit to, or cultivate belief in, whatever religion we think is most likely to bring us eternal joy. I pose a reductio for this...