Older adults with age-related hearing loss exhibit substantial individual differences in speech perception in adverse listening conditions. We propose that the ability to rapidly adapt to changes in the auditory environment is among the processes contributing to these individual differences, in addition to the cognitive and sensory processes that were explored in the past. Seventy older adults with age-related hearing loss participated in this study. We assessed the relative contribution of hearing acuity, cognitive factors, rapid perceptual learning of time-compressed speech, (...) and hearing aid use to the perception of speech presented at a natural fast rate, speech embedded in babble noise, and competing speech. Speech perception was modeled as a function of the other variables. For fast speech, age [odds ratio = 0.79], hearing acuity, pre-learning perception of time-compressed speech, and rapid perceptual learning were all significant predictors. For speech in noise, only hearing and pre-learning perception of time-compressed speech were significant predictors. Consistent with previous findings, the severity of hearing loss and auditory processing was strong contributors to individual differences in fast speech and speech in noise perception. Furthermore, older adults with good rapid perceptual learning can use this capacity to partially offset the effects of age and hearing loss on the perception of speech presented at fast conversational rates. Our results highlight the potential contribution of dynamic processes to speech perception. (shrink)

In this Paper I examine Wittgenstein’s appeals to madness in On Certainty in light of Foucault’s Histoire de la folie. A close look at these works, usually conceived as disparate, belonging to entirely different schools of thought, reveals they actually have much in common. Both can be read as investigations into the grounds of reason, and while they offer quite different and distinct perspectives on the matter, share some central insights. In both we find that the boundaries of reason are (...) not only vague but are also largely founded upon the relations - social in Foucault, socio-linguistic in Wittgenstein - between the reasonable man and the unreasonable man. Both perspectives reveal a curious state of affairs, whereby the reasonable man is the one who dominates discourse, and yet, in his claim for reason, remains forever dependent upon the unreasonable man and his rejection. The pressing question triggered by Foucault's account is whether the boundary between reason and unreason is at all necessary. This undermines Wittgenstein’s thesis that this boundary is a matter of logical necessity, upon which discourse depends. I flesh this point out in the paper also by examining the differences in Wittgenstein’s and Foucalt’s treatments of Descartes’ Meditations. I conclude that Wittgenstein’s criticism of Cartesian skepticism presented in On Certainty loses much of its fortitude once examined in light of Foucault's Histoire de la folie. (shrink)

In this paper I examine Wittgenstein’s appeals to madness in On Certainty in light of Foucault’s Histoire de la folie. A close look at these works, usually conceived as disparate, belonging to entirely different schools of thought, reveals they actually have much in common. Both can be read as investigations into the grounds of reason, and while they offer quite different and distinct perspectives on the matter, they share some central insights. In both we find that the boundaries of reason (...) are not only vague but also largely founded upon the relations - social in Foucault, socio-linguistic in Wittgenstein - between the reasonable person and the unreasonable person. Both perspectives reveal a curious state of affairs whereby the reasonable person is the one who dominates discourse, and yet, in his claim for reason, remains forever dependent upon the unreasonable person and his rejection. The pressing question triggered by Foucault's account is whether the boundary between reason and unreason is at all necessary. This undermines Wittgenstein’s thesis that this boundary is a matter of logical necessity upon which discourse depends. I flesh this point out in the paper also by examining the differences in Wittgenstein’s and Foucault’s treatments of Descartes’ Meditations. I conclude that Wittgenstein’s criticism of Cartesian skepticism presented in On Certainty loses much of its fortitude once examined in light of Foucault's Histoire de la folie. (shrink)

The Boltzmann and Gibbs approaches to statistical mechanics have very different definitions of equilibrium and entropy. The problems associated with this are discussed and it is suggested that they can be resolved, to produce a version of statistical mechanics incorporating both approaches, by redefining equilibrium not as a binary property but as a continuous property measured by the Boltzmann entropy and by introducing the idea of thermodynamic-like behaviour for the Boltzmann entropy. The Kac ring model is used as an example (...) to test the proposals. (shrink)

The article examines the relationship between a wrongdoer and his victim. Based on this examination, a justification for criminal punishment is proposed. It is argued that crime violates thea prioriequality of constituent boundaries and of infinite human value between the wrongdoer and the victim. Criminal punishment re-equalizes respective boundaries and infinite human value. To develop this argument, the article observes how subject-subject boundaries are essential for the formation of separateness between subjects - separateness which is recognized and acknowledged by them (...) in a cooperative process. The article further discusses the value of boundaries and the significance of theira prioriequality in every human relationship. It then shows how crime, which is intrusion of the victim’s boundaries, works to demolish the victim’s self-recognizing separateness and hence to create inequality in the parties’ value. Last, the article demonstrates that only punishment can reset the relationship between the parties and re-equate their (still infinite) human value in the relationship. (shrink)

Jackendoff's position with respect to categories is unclear. Positing categories is implausible in several respects; it makes the binding problem in language seem more massive than it actually is; and it makes it difficult to explain language acquisition. Waiting for connectionism to fulfill its promise, a different track is sketched which is residually symbolic, exemplarist, and analogy-based.

Character strengths are widely studied positive traits considered to be “values in action,” reflecting morally valued virtues. They are hypothesized to serve as pathways to the manifestation of values in life for the benefit of individuals and societies. However, there is surprisingly limited theoretical writing and empirical research on the expected links of character strengths with specific values [e.g., as defined by Schwartz ] or on character strengths as the pathway for behavioral and social manifestations of these values. In this (...) paper, we delineate theoretical links between the two theories and outline their implications. We then provide an initial empirical examination of a specific character strength – gratitude, as a pathway from Schwartz’s self-transcendence values to prosocial behavior and peer acceptance, in two samples of adolescents. The findings indicated that most pathways were significant, providing initial support for the theoretical model. However, in one of the samples, the indirect path from self-transcendence values to prosocial behavior was only marginally significant. Taken together, the findings point to the need for further research on the role of character strengths in creating a pathway from values to various social outcomes. (shrink)

It is well-known that the invocation of `equilibrium processes' in thermodynamics is oxymoronic. However, their prevalence and utility, particularly in elementary accounts, presents a problem. We consider a way in which their role can be played by sets of sequences of processes demarcated by curves carrying the property of accessibility. We also examine the vexed question of whether equilibrium processes are necessarily reversible and the revision of this property in relation to sets of sequences of such processes.

Au cours de sa tentative de refondation d’une philosophie de l’histoire, Jan Patočka mentionne à plusieurs reprises l’Orient et en particulier la Chine et le bouddhisme. Selon les Essais hérétiques sur la philosophie de l’histoire, ce pôle asiatique de la civilisation humaine représenterait ce qu’il nomme l’état « pré-historique » de l’humanité. Bien qu’il faille se garder de donner à ce qualificatif de « pré-historique » la charge péjorative qu’il a dans le vocabulaire courant, il n’en demeure pas moins que (...) Patočka assigne, dans une visée encore hégélienne, l’Asie à un stade non encore historique. Nous nous proposons donc d’interroger la pertinence d’une telle assignation, à partir de la perspective propre à Patočka et des différentes sources et exemples tirés du bouddhisme, du confucianisme et du taoïsme qu’indique le philosophe tchèque, sans toutefois en développer les significations. (shrink)

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the anatomy of both thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, together with the relationships between their constituent parts. Based on this analysis, using the renormalization group and finite-size scaling, we give a definition of a large but finite system and argue that phase transitions are represented correctly, as incipient singularities in such systems. We describe the role of the thermodynamic limit. And we explore the implications of this picture of critical phenomena for the questions of (...) reduction and emergence. (shrink)

A key question in understanding visual awareness is whether any single cortical area is indispensable. In a transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment, we show that observers' awareness of activity in extrastriate area VS depends on the amount of activity in striate cortex (Vl). From the timing and pattern of effects, we infer that back-projections from extrastriate cortex influence information content in Vl, but it is Vl that determines whether that information reaches awareness.

In recent years, the field of art therapy has sought to adapt traditional treatment approaches to today’s innovative technological environments when working with adolescent “digital natives.” In their clinic, art therapists often struggle with lack of cooperation when treating adolescents during sessions. This article presents two case studies that explore how Virtual Reality technology can be combined with traditional art therapy to treat adolescents suffering from anxiety and social difficulties. It is suggested that this type of technology may lead to (...) a better understanding of the needs of adolescents by adopting their vantage point and hence better outcomes. (shrink)

Simple models have played an important role in the discussion of foundational issues in statistical mechanics. Among them the spin-echo system is of particular interest since it can be realized experimentally. This has led to inferences being drawn about approaches to the foundations of statistical mechanics, particularly with respect to the use of coarse-graining. We examine these claims with the help of computer simulations.

Objective: Appropriate reactivity to emotional facial expressions, even if these are seen whilst we are engaged in another activity, is critical for successful social interaction. Children with conduct problems (CP) and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by blunted reactivity to other people's emotions, while children with CP and low levels of CU traits can over-react to perceived emotional threat. No study to date has compared children with CP and high vs. low levels of CU traits to typically (...) developing (TD) children or each other, using a task that assesses attentional capture by irrelevant emotional faces. -/- Method: All participants performed an attentional capture task in which they were asked to judge the orientation of a single male face that was displayed simultaneously with two female faces. Three types of trials were presented, trials with all neutral faces, trials with an emotional distractor face and trials with an emotional target face. Fifteen boys with CP and high levels of CU traits, 17 boys with CP and low levels of CU traits and 17 age and ability matched TD boys were included in the final study sample. -/- Results: Compared to TD children and children with low levels of CU traits, children with CP and high levels of CU traits showed reduced attentional capture by irrelevant emotional faces. -/- Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate a different pattern in emotional attentional capture in children with CP depending on their level of CU traits. (shrink)

An important contribution to the foundations of probability theory, statistics and statistical physics has been made by E. T. Jaynes. The recent publication of his collected works provides an appropriate opportunity to attempt an assessment of this contribution. * Review of E. T. JAYNES (1983): Papers on Probability, Statistics and Statistical Physics. Edited by R. D. Rosenkrantz. D. Reidel Publishing Company. US $49.50. Pp. xxiv + 434. We are grateful to Harvey Brown, Kenneth Denbigh, Udi Makov and Oliver Penrose for (...) their valuable criticisms of this paper. (shrink)

Recent work asked if visual cues facilitate word segmentation in adults and infants. While adults showed better word segmentation when presented with a regular visual cue, infants did not. This difference was attributed to infants' lack of understanding that objects have labels. Alternatively, infants’ performance could reflect their difficulty with tracking and integrating multiple multimodal cues. We contrasted these two accounts by looking at the effect of visual cues on word segmentation in adults and across childhood. We found that older (...) children benefitted from the regular visual cues, but younger children, who already knew that objects have labels, did not. Knowing that objects have labels was not enough to use visual cues as an aid for segmentation. These findings show that the ability to integrate multimodal cues develops during childhood, and it is not yet adult-like in children. (shrink)

Digital phenotyping for mental health is an emerging trend which uses digital data, derived from mobile applications, wearable technologies and digital sensors, to measure, track and predict the mental health of an individual. Digital phenotyping for mental health is a growing, but as yet underexamined, field. As we will show, the rapid growth of digital phenotyping for mental health raises crucial questions about the values that underpin and are reinforced by this technology, as well as regarding to whom it may (...) become valuable. In this commentary, we explore these questions by focusing on the construction of value across two interrelated domains: user experience and epistemologies on the one hand, and issues of data and ownership on the other. In doing so, we demonstrate the need for a deeper ethical and epistemological engagement with the value assumptions that underpin the promise of digital phenotyping for mental health. (shrink)

The selection of nineteenth-century Arabic texts on medical education, medicine and health demonstrates the significant link between the revival of the Arabic language and literary culture of the nineteenth century, known as thenahda, and the introduction of medical education to the Ottoman Empire. These include doctor Ibrahim al-Najjar's autobiographical account of his studies in Cairo (1855), an article by doctor Amin Abi Khatir advising on the health and care of infants (1877), questions and answers in the major popular Arabic journalsal-Hilalandal-Muqtataf(1877–1901) (...) and an article about a new tuberculosis treatment by doctor Anisa Sayba‘a (1903). Taken together they contribute to our understanding of the bottom-up production, reproduction and reception of global scientific knowledge, as well as to a social and intellectual history of science. We argue that the engagement with science during thenahdawas a multi-vocal and dialogical process, in which doctors and patients, journal editors and their readers, negotiated the implications of scientific knowledge for their own lives and their own society. The texts of the original documents and their translations can be found in the supplementary material tab athttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0007087422000413. (shrink)

We show that both positive and negative absolute temperatures and monotonically increasing and decreasing entropy in adiabatic processes are consistent with Carathéodory's version of the second law and we explore the modifications of the Kelvin–Planck and Clausius versions which are needed to accommodate these possibilities. We show, in part by using the equivalence of distributions and the canonical distribution, that the correct microcanonical entropy, is the surface (Boltzmann) form rather than the bulk (Gibbs) form thereby providing for the possibility of (...) negative temperatures and we counter the contention on the part of a number of authors that the surface entropy fails to satisfy fundamental thermodynamic relationships. (shrink)

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to draw a new map confronting the issue of privacy in the new media age in general, and in the State of Israel in particular.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents an in‐depth review based on professional literature covering the topics of privacy, new media, social networks, and Israel. The paper considers all citizens of Israel, the vast majority, however, of which are Jewish.FindingsThe study has found that even though Israeli social network users may be aware of online (...) privacy issues, their adoption of online sharing and exposure, while partly due to third person effect, is to a great extent a reflection of the Israeli collective ethos which emphasises the importance of community and emotional and material sharing.Originality/valueThe study proposes a new classification of privacy exposures and violations by analyzing the nature of privacy violations inherent in the new media. The paper then discusses the unique cultural and normative manifestations of this issue in Israeli society. (shrink)