Research on the cognitive consequences of bilingualism typically proceeds by labeling participants as “monolingual” or “bilingual” and comparing performance on some measures across these groups. It is well-known that this approach has led to inconsistent results. However, the approach assumes that there are clear criteria to designate individuals as monolingual or bilingual, and more fundamentally, to determine whether a communication system counts as a unique language. Both of these assumptions may not be correct. The problem is particularly acute when participants (...) are asked to classify themselves or simply report how many languages they speak. Participants' responses to these questions are shaped by their personal perceptions of the criteria for making these judgments. This study investigated the perceptions underlying judgments of bilingualism by asking 528 participants to judge the extent to which a description of a fictional linguistic system constitutes a unique language and the extent to which a description of a fictional individual's linguistic competence qualifies that person as bilingual. The results show a range of responses for both concepts, indicating substantial ambiguity for these terms. Moreover, participants were asked to self-classify as monolingual or bilingual, and these decisions were not related to more objective information regarding the degree of bilingual experience obtained from a detailed questionnaire. These results are consistent with the notion that bilingualism is not categorical and that specific language experiences are important in determining the criteria for being bilingual. The results impact interpretations of research investigating group differences on the cognitive effects of bilingualism. (shrink)

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization plunged the United States into a devastating public health crisis. While we have some evidence of the deep harms that ab...

Udruga Mala filozofija kreirala je i provela projekt »Tko se boji korupcije još?!« u dvanaest škola i dvije knjižnice, s ukupno 122 učenika u školskoj godini 2010./2011. Projekt se sastojao od pet radionica u kojima se s učenicima raspravljalo o korupciji. Cilj je bio prvenstveno razjašnjenje pojma korupcije, ali i ukazivanje na razne načine na koje korupcija uništava neke temeljne vrijednosti poput dostojanstva, ljubavi, prijateljstva, obitelji i društva. Članak donosi evaluacijske rezultate u kojima se pokazuje koliko su učenici 3. i (...) 4. razreda osnovne škole razumjeli pojam korupcije te koliko su promijenili svoje stavove tijekom provođenja projekta.Society Petit Philosophy has created and implemented a project “Who’s Afraid of Corruption?!” in twelve elementary schools and two libraries, with a total of 122 students in the school year 2010/2011. The project consists of five workshops in which students primarily clarified the concept of corruption, but also the ways in which corruption is destroying the society, dignity, love, friendship, and family. Article presents the results of the evaluation, which show how 3rd and 4th graders understood the concept of corruption, and how they changed their views about corruption in the course of the project. (shrink)

This paper attempts to bring the work of Gilbert Simondon into conversation with contemporary discourse on climate change and the Anthropocene. Though his work pre-dates the coining of the term, Simondon, with his non-anthropomorphic view of technology, is in many ways a philosopher of the Anthropocene. In this paper I contrast Simondon’s philosophy to the popular idea that technology is something we can use to adapt to the practical problems of the Anthropocene. I will begin by looking briefly at the (...) narrative of adaptation in the Anthropocene. I will then discuss Simondon’s philosophy of individuation in order to understand why he rejects these narratives of adaptation. Next, I will look at his own ideas on the role that can be played by technology. Ultimately, I hope to describe why, for Simondon, a view of technology that centres on relation rather than on a particular view of the human subject is crucial to human life. The significance of a non-anthropomorphic approach to technology extends beyond the current ecological crisis to all manner of injustice, violence, and misunderstanding between human groups as well as the environment. (shrink)

Cognitive science is experiencing a pragmatic turn away from the traditional representation-centered framework toward a view that focuses on understanding cognition as "enactive." This enactive view holds that cognition does not produce models of the world but rather subserves action as it is grounded in sensorimotor skills. In this volume, experts from cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, robotics, and philosophy of mind assess the foundations and implications of a novel action-oriented view of cognition. Their contributions and supporting experimental evidence show that (...) an enactive approach to cognitive science enables strong conceptual advances, and the chapters explore key concepts for this new model of cognition. The contributors discuss the implications of an enactive approach for cognitive development; action-oriented models of cognitive processing; action-oriented understandings of consciousness and experience; and the accompanying paradigm shifts in the fields of philosophy, brain science, robotics, and psychology. ContributorsMoshe Bar, Lawrence W. Barsalov, Olaf Blanke, Jeannette Bohg, Martin V. Butz, Peter F. Dominey, Andreas K. Engel, Judith M. Ford, Karl J. Friston, Chris D. Frith, Shaun Gallagher, Antonia Hamilton, Tobias Heed, Cecilia Heyes, Elisabeth Hill, Matej Hoffmann, Jakob Hohwy, Bernhard Hommel, Atsushi Iriki, Pierre Jacob, Henrik Jörntell, Jürgen Jost, James Kilner, Günther Knoblich, Peter König, Danica Kragic, Miriam Kyselo, Alexander Maye, Marek McGann, Richard Menary, Thomas Metzinger, Ezequiel Morsella, Saskia Nagel, Kevin J. O'Regan, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Giovanni Pezzulo, Tony J. Prescott, Wolfgang Prinz, Friedemann Pulvermüller, Robert Rupert, Marti Sanchez-Fibla, Andrew Schwartz, Anil K. Seth, Vicky Southgate, Antonella Tramacere, John K. Tsotsos, Paul F. M. J. Verschure, Gabriella Vigliocco, Gottfried Vosgerau. (shrink)

Johan Huizinga u svojoj knjizi Homo ludens tvrdi kako civilizacija proizlazi i razvija se u igri i kao igra. Ona jest jedna od ljudskih karakteristika, ljudski obred, a služi za rekreaciju, zabavu, ali i učenje. Može li se onda dobro usmjerenom igrom razvijati ljudsko mišljenje? Cilj programa filozofije za djecu jest uvježbavanje multidimenzioniranog mišljenja. Po Mathew Lipmanu multidimenzionirano mišljenje jest cjelina koja se sastoji od kritičkog, kreativnog i skrbnog mišljenja. Program filozofije za djecu usmjeren je i prema predškolskoj i osnovnoškolskoj (...) populaciji. Radi toga je u programu neizbježna igra kao put k razvitku multidimenzioniranog mišljenja. U radu ćemo prikazati i nekoliko igara usmjerenih k uvježbavanju umnih sposobnosti koje se koriste u programu filozofije za djecu.Johan Huizinga, in his book Homo ludens, claims that civilization arises and develops through play and as a play. Playing is a characteristic of humans, a human ritual and yet it is for recreation, fun, but also for learning. Can it be then that well-directed play leads to a development of human thinking? The aim of philosophy for children programme is practising multidimensional thinking. According to Mathew Lipman, multidimensional thinking is the entirety consisted of critical, creative and caring thinking. Philosophy for children programme is directed towards pre-school as well as towards elementary-school population. For that reason this programme considers play as an inevitable way into the development of multidimensional thinking. In this paper we will also present a few games which are being used in philosophy for children programme, and which are also directed towards practising intellectual abilities. (shrink)

Petit philosophy is an experimental project, conducted in the private elementary school Nova in Zadar, Croatia, aimed at introducing philosophy to children in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. In this program we make use of children’s stories and games, but the program itself does not differ essentially from other philosophy programs for children in so far as it makes use of discussions, questions, arguments and counterarguments. This article offers the complete syllabus of our program for one school year, together (...) with an example of a preparation for one specific school hour. (shrink)

Delays in early language development are characteristic of young autistic children, and one of the most recognizable first concerns that motivate parents to seek a diagnostic evaluation for their child. Although early language abilities are one of the strongest predictors of long-term outcomes, there is still much to be understood about the role of language impairment in the heterogeneous phenotypic presentation of autism. Using a person-centered, Latent Profile Analysis, we first aimed to identify distinct patterns of language and social communication (...) ability in a clinic-based sample of 498 autistic children, ranging in age from 18 to 60 months. Next, a multinomial logistic regression analysis was implemented to examine sociodemographic and child-based developmental differences among the identified language and social communication profiles. Three clinically meaningful profiles were identified from parent-rated and clinician-administered measures: Profile 1 “Relatively Low Language and Social Communication Abilities,” Profile 2 “Relatively Elevated Language and Social Communication Abilities,” and Profile 3 “Informant Discrepant Language and Relatively Elevated Social Communication Abilities.” Overall, young autistic children from the lowest-resource households exhibited the lowest language and social communication abilities, and the lowest non-verbal problem-solving and fine-motor skills, along with more features of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and atypical auditory processing. These findings highlight the need for effective community-based implementation strategies for young autistic children from low-resource households and underrepresented communities to improve access to individualized quality care. (shrink)