An attempt to show that the judgments of aesthetics are both objective and relative. The sense in which they are objective is established by reference to sartre's account of husserl's theory of intentionality. The key concept here is the non-Ecological nature of consciousness. On this view value predicates refer to the properties of objects. Such properties have certain presuppositions. Drawing on discussions by john laird and j.N. Findlay it is argued that a property is justified when its presuppositions are confirmed. (...) It is also argued that a property is appropriate at one level when its presuppositions are of a certain type and appropriate at a higher level when the type of presupposition can itself be characterized in certain specific ways. These ways are those built into the terms used to express or refer to the property in question. Since such terms are sociocultural objects they are tied to particular times and places. For this reason all aesthetic judgments are relative. This, However, Does not destroy their objectivity. (shrink)

Five studies examined the extent to which autobiographical memory retrieval is hierarchical, whether a hierarchical search depends on central executive resources, and whether retrieving memories that are “higher” in the hierarchy impairs problem‐solving ability. The first study found that random generation (assessed using a button‐pressing task) was sensitive to changes in memory load (digit span). The second study showed that when participants fail to retrieve a target event, they respond with a memory that is higher up the hierarchy. The third (...) study showed that memory is more generic only when participants use low imageable cues under cognitive load. The final two experiments showed that experimental manipulation of memory specificity affects problem solving (MEPS performance). The data are consistent with Conway and Pleydell‐Pearce's hierarchical retrieval model of autobiographical memory, and suggest that overgeneral memory in nonclinical participants is associated with reduced executive capacity only when retrieval is “top‐down” (generative). (shrink)