A high-resolution color graphic display four-channel software tachistoscope

A software tachistoscope for IBM-PC-compatible personal computers equipped with Tseng-ET4000-based VGA boards is described. It is shown how up to four bit-mapped color images with a resolution of up to 800 X600 pixels may be stored in video display memory and alternatingly be selected for screen display in synchrony with the vertical retrace signal of the video controller.     

Bogus Mystery about Linguistic Competence

The paper considers a version of the problem of linguistic creativity obtained by interpreting attributions of ordinary semantic knowledge as attributions of practical competencies with expressions. The paper explains how to cope with this version of the problem without invoking either compositional theories of meaning or the notion of `tacit knowledge' (of such theories) that has led to unnecessary puzzlement. The central idea is to show that the core assumption used to raise the problem is false. To render precise argument possible, the paper first identifies and removes some relevant semantic indeterminacy in philosophical talk of `semantic knowledge' and `information'. This yields rules for attributing the two to human speakers and information-processors, respectively. The paper then shows, first, that ordinary speakers qualify as possessing all along an other than finite and definite stock of semantic knowledge and, second, that a very simple information-processor running a procedural semantics qualifies as possessing an analogous stock of semantic information. The second result is used to bring out that the first is neither unduly impressive nor particularly puzzling.     

Measuring the perceptual magnet effect in the perception of /i/ by German listeners

In a study of the internal category structure of the vowel /i/, Kuhl found a “perceptual magnet effect”: Discrimination sensitivity was poorer for category instances that were acoustically similar to the category prototype than it was for category instances that were not. The typicality of category exemplars was determined by goodness judgments and was found to correlate with the acoustics of average production. Analysis and interpretation of discrimination performance relied on two important assumptions: that listeners perceived all stimuli presented as exemplars of the same vowel category and that, apart from the influence of phonetic coding, discrimination sensitivity was the same across the investigated part of the vowel space. In the present study, it is shown that production and perception estimates of the category prototype may diverge, possibly because listeners seem to prefer hyperarticulated variants of vowel categories. An approach towards measurement of intra-category discrimination minima is put forward and tested that protects against intercategory confounds and avoids the isosensitivity assumption. Received: 26 November 1997 / Accepted: 25 May 1998     

The authorship list in science: Junior physicists’ perceptions of who appears and why

A questionnaire probing the distribution of authorship credit was given to postdoctoral associates (“postdocs”) in order to determine their awareness of the professional society’s ethical statement on authorship, the extent of communication with their supervisors about authorship criteria, and the appropriateness of authorship assignments on submitted papers. Results indicate a low awareness of the professional society’s ethical statement and that little communication takes place between postdocs and supervisors about authorship criteria. A substantial amount of authorship credit given to supervisors and other workers is perceived by the postdocs to violate the professional society’s ethical statement.     

Coauthorship in physics

In a large and detailed survey on the ethics of scientific coauthorship, members of the American Physical Society (APS) were asked to judge the number of appropriate coauthors on his or her last published paper. Results show that the first or second coauthor are more appropriate than later coauthors about whom there is equal and considerable doubt. The probability of any third and subsequent coathors being judged as inappropriate is 23% for the APS guideline, 67% for the tighter guideline of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, 59% if the guideline requires “direct contributions to scientific discovery or invention”. Only 3% of respondents report having personally rejected an undeserving scientist who expected to be an author on the last published paper. Respondents seem to be divided into two non-overlapping populations—those who report no inappropriate coauthorship and those who have a more graduated view.     

A Cognitive-Behavioral Standpoint on the Perceived Consequences of a Major Seismic Event in Relation to Optimism and Pre-hazard Emotional Distress

The study examined a circumscribed class of cognitions (i.e., dispositional optimism and perceived consequences) in connection to the emotional distress experienced in anticipation of a major seismic event (i.e., pre-hazard emotional distress). Grounded on cognitive-behavioral theory, it was argued that dispositional optimism exerts distal influence on distress, while the perceived consequences of a major seismic event are proximal to distress and, therefore, interpose the optimism-distress relationship. The hypothesis was tested via a cross-sectional study on a sample of 189 volunteers located in areas of high seismic hazard. Participants reported their level of pre-hazard emotional distress, their dispositional optimism, and their perceived consequences of a major seismic hazard. The results showed that there was a partial indirect effect from dispositional optimism to emotional distress via perceived consequences, indirect effect = ?0.190, SE = 0.114, 95 % CI [?0.487; ?0.021], k² = 0.051. These findings could inform future prevention programs targeting emotional distress in anticipation of a natural hazard with impact on post-disaster recovery.     

Karma accounts: supplementary thoughts on Theravāda,Madhyamaka, theosophy,and Protestant Buddhism

This article supplements Jens Schlieter's discussion of the cognitive metaphor of a karmic bank-account, adding selected points on karma monetary/fiscal metaphors as preserved chiefly in Pāli and Sanskrit sources. It explores various strands of the history of South Asian religions where distinct economic metaphors for karma come closer to the late ‘bank-account of karma’: i.e., the Vedic ‘three debts,’ a Hindu concept of God as accountant, the varieties of weighing the (mis)deeds, the Buddhist monastic status of debt and fiscal transactions, the equivalence of karma and debt as discussed by Madhyamaka thinkers, and others. While endorsing Schlieter's point, it also takes into account such modern Western sources as early theosophical discourse and ‘Protestant Buddhism.’     

Reception and willingness to share pseudo‐profound bullshit and their relation to other epistemically suspect beliefs and cognitive ability in Slovakia and Romania

Propensity to judge randomly generated, syntactically correct (i.e., bullshit) statements as profound is associated with a variety of conceptually relevant variables (e.g., intuitive cognitive style and supernatural beliefs). Besides generalizing these findings to a different cultural setting, we examined the relationships to sharing the bullshit on social media. Rating nonsense as profound was associated with a lower cognitive ability; a stronger belief in the paranormal, alternative medicine, and conspiracies; and ontological confusion. The more profound a statement was rated to be, the more likely it was to be shared, and propensity for sharing bullshit was predicted by ontological confusion and religious beliefs. Bullshit receptivity and sharing may be closely related to several dimensions of epistemically suspect beliefs; people with these propensities are relatively open to vague statements resembling New Age spirituality.     

Philosophical pictures and secondary qualities

The paper presents a novel account of nature and genesis of some philosophical problems, which vindicates a new approach to an arguably central and extensive class of such problems: The paper develops the Wittgensteinian notion of ‘philosophical pictures’ with the help of some notions adapted from metaphor research in cognitive linguistics and from work on unintentional analogical reasoning in cognitive psychology. The paper shows that adherence to such pictures systematically leads to the formulation of unwarranted claims, ill-motivated problems, and pointless theories. To do so, the paper proceeds from a case-study on a lastingly influential development in early modern philosophy: the adoption of the doctrine of secondary qualities, and its principal consequences. The findings motivate a new approach to an arguably extensive and important class of philosophical problems: to the problems we raise in the grip of philosophical pictures.     

Fetal Testosterone,Socio‐Emotional Engagement and Language Development

The present study investigated the relations among fetal testosterone, child socio‐emotional engagement and language development in a sample of 467 children (235 boys) from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. Bioavailable testosterone concentration measured in umbilical cord blood taken at birth was found to be significantly negatively correlated with socio‐emotional engagement and vocabulary development for boys but not for girls. Socio‐emotional engagement mediated the effect of boys' fetal testosterone levels on their vocabulary development. However, the size of the effects was small, and fetal testosterone and socio‐emotional engagement were no longer significant predictors of boys' vocabulary scores after accounting for the effects of other predictors including maternal age and education, parity, and parent–child book reading. It is concluded that further research into these associations is warranted in both typical and atypical development and that this research would profit from including a broader focus on the role that proximal processes such as socio‐emotional engagement, joint attention and imitation have in mediating the developmental effects of prenatal factors such as fetal testosterone exposure. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.