The present work investigates whether the hemispheric processing of both verbal and emotional stimuli, studied by means of a dichotic listening task, differs between normal high and low dissociators as assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale . Development, reliability and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 727–735). Two groups of subjects , participated in the experiment. The task consisted in identifying both verbal and emotional stimulus-targets, respectively, on successive sessions. Reaction time and response accuracy (...) were registered and analysed using ANOVA . The interaction between stimuli , channel , and dissociation level reached statistical significance in terms of accuracy measures = 4.75; p < .05). Both high and low dissociators exhibited the expected right ear advantage on verbal targets. On the other hand, whereas low dissociators exhibited the expected left ear advantage on emotional targets, high dissociators failed to follow this typical pattern of hemispheric asymmetry: both hemispheres exhibited similar performances. These results confirm the hypothesis that dissociation is related to changes in hemispheric processing, specifically of emotional information. (shrink)

In the article the possibility of using a smartphone with an integrated set of necessary technical means for implementing the technology of video recording of vehicle speed is investigated and established. The main algorithmic and software components of a smartphone are proposed, which allow to identify and to accompany a vehicle, as well as to determine its speed. Installation and initial setup of the device is simple. It is only necessary to measure and enter in the device height of its (...) arrangement. In the article the possibility of using a smartphone with an integrated set of necessary technical means for implementing the technology of video recording of vehicle speed is investigated and established. The smartphone has a low cost and power consumption, the ability to operate in the required temperature range, as well as a set of physically built-in necessary technical means: several video cameras, accelerometers, gyroscope, magnetometer, GPS sensor, GSM and Wi-Fi wireless communication. Due to its low power consumption, it can also run on solar panels during the day when no other power source is available. The cost of a smartphone with very good characteristics does not exceed 10,000 UAH. The paper proposes the main components of the algorithmic support of the device. The use of the Lucas-Kanade method for the implementation of tracking and the calculation in the interpixel space of the coordinates of the points of the vehicle's trajectory will improve the accuracy of measurements of the traveled distance and the vehicle's speed on short sections of the trajectory. The proposed algorithm for calculating the vehicle speed requires entering only one parameter - the height of the device. Therefore, installation and initial setup of the device is simple. It is enough to measure and enter this parameter into the device. Large-scale introduction of a device for measuring vehicle speed, built on the basis of a smartphone, is possible due to relatively small investments in the development of its mechanical part, algorithmic and software. (shrink)

The complex of cultural, political and societal affiliations, both in a historic and a contemporary perspective, is expressed by a special term in the Nordic languages, 'faellesskab', often with the addition of 'folkelig', as 'folkeligt faellesskab', where 'folkelig' means of the people. No corresponding term exists in English. For medical ethics the concept 'faellesskab', or whatever wording is chosen to serve the semantics of this term, is vital. In research ethics and clinical decision-making complex ethical analyses and normative evaluations are (...) necessary. They cannot be based solely on moral relativism, whether being based on results of opinion polls or on a widespread 'every man minds his own business' concept. 'Faellesskab' possesses the necessary base of common values. (shrink)

The role of emotions in ethics is often taken by philosophers and others as antithetical to rationality. On the most basic level (in undergraduate philosophy exams and elsewhere), stating an opinion in the form "I feel that p" can be a way of sidestepping the demand for reasons. But emotions can sometimes also be seen as supplying reasons for moral judgment to the extent that they involve evaluations--and a way of communicating them across different moral perspectives.

Th e con fusion a nd b arren ness o f psycho logy is no t to be e xplain ed b y calling it a “yo ung science”; its state is not comparable with that of physics, for instance, in its beginnings. (Rather with that of certain branches of mathematics. Set theory.) For in psychology there are experimental methods and conceptual confusion. (As in the oth er case, con cep tual co nfusion and m ethod s of pro of.) (...) The existence of the experimental method makes us think we have the means of solving the problems that trouble us; though problem and method pass one another by. (PI p. 232). (shrink)

Mental Symbols is an essay on mind and meaning, on the biological implementation of mental symbols, on the architecture of mind, and on the correct construal of logical properties and relations of symbols, including implication and inference. The book argues against the main contemporary trends in the cognitive sciences, preferring rather the classical early-modern tradition. The author looks at some logical paradoxes in the light of that tradition, and offers a novel answer to the problem of the biological implementation of (...) the mind in the brain. (shrink)

Problem: Ernst von Glasersfeld’s radical constructivism has been highly influential in the fields of mathematics and science education. However, its relevance is typically limited to analyses of classroom interactions and students’ reasoning. Methods: A project that aims to support improvements in the quality of mathematics instruction across four large urban districts is framed as a case with which to illustrate the far-reaching consequences of von Glasersfeld’s constructivism for mathematics and science educators. Results: Von Glasersfeld’s constructivism orients us to question the (...) standard view of policy implementation as a process of travel down through a system and to conceptualize it instead as the situated reorganization of practice at multiple levels of a system. In addition, von Glasersfeld’s constructivism orients us to understand rather than merely evaluate policies by viewing the actions of the targets of policies as reasonable from their point of view. Implications: The potential contributions of von Glasersfeld’s constructivism to mathematics and science education have been significantly underestimated by restricting the focus to classroom actions and interactions. The illustrative case of research on the application of these ideas also indicates the relevance of constructivism to researchers in educational policy and educational leadership. (shrink)

The long-standing problem of the effect of correlations on the ferromagnetism of transition metals is apparently nearing solution. The ferromagnetism of transition metal compounds, for instance doped manganites, poses a new question: is there some kind of orbital order coexisting with itinerant ferromagnetism? The ideas and techniques introduced by Gutzwiller should be of use again.