Seeing Seeing

I argue that we can visually perceive others as seeing agents. I start by characterizing perceptual processes as those that are causally controlled by proximal stimuli. I then distinguish between various forms of visual perspective-taking, before presenting evidence that most of them come in perceptual varieties. In doing so, I clarify and defend the view that some forms of visual perspective-taking are “automatic”—a view that has been marshalled in support of dual-process accounts of mindreading

Modes and models in disorders of consciousness science

The clinical assessment of non-communicative brain damaged patients is extremely difficult and there is a need for paraclinical diagnostic markers of the level of consciousness. In the last few years, progress within neuroimaging has led to a growing body of studies investigating vegetative state and minimally conscious state patients, which can be classified in two main approaches. Active neuroimaging paradigms search for a response to command without requiring a motor response. Passive neuroimaging paradigms investigate spontaneous brain activity and brain responses to external stimuli and aim at identifying neural correlates of consciousness. Other passive paradigms eschew neuroimaging in favour of behavioural markers which reliably distinguish conscious and unconscious conditions in healthy controls. In order to furnish accurate diagnostic criteria, a mechanistic explanation of how the brain gives rise to consciousness seems desirable. Mechanistic and theoretical approaches could also ultimately lead to a unification of passive and active paradigms in a coherent diagnostic approach. In this paper, we survey current passive and active paradigms available for diagnosis of residual consciousness in vegetative state and minimally conscious patients. We then review the current main theories of consciousness and see how they can apply in this context. Finally, we discuss some avenues for future research in this domai

Longitudinal effects of task performance and self-concept on preadolescent EFL learners’ causal attributions of grammar success and failure

Learners’ academic self-concepts and attributions have been widely evidenced to substantially regulate their educational development. Develop­men­tally, they will not only oper­ate in a mu­tually reinforcing manner. Rather, self-concepts will di­­­­rectly affect learners’ out­come attri­bu­­tions in a particular academic set­ting. Current research in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context has increasingly anal­­yzed learners’ attributions and self-concepts on a task-spe­­cific construct level. Never­the­less, there still exist certain research gaps in the field, partic­ularly con­cerning learners’ gram­mar self-con­cept and attributions. There­fore, the present study aimed at anal­yzing lon­gi­tu­dinal re­­lat­ions of prior performance and self-concept with subsequent attri­bu­tions of gram­mar suc­cess and failure in a samp­le of preadolescent EFL learners. Findings demonstrated that attri­bu­tional pat­terns most­­­­ly but not en­tire­ly depended on learn­ers’ grammar self-concept. Poor per­­form­ing learn­ers hold­ing a low self-concept dis­­played a maladaptive attri­bu­tion pattern for ex­­plain­ing both gram­­­mar suc­cess and failure. Though not with respect to all causal factors, these findings largely con­firm the crucial role of task-spe­cific self-concept in longitudinally explaining re­­lated control beliefs in the EFL con­text

Use of nonintrusive sensor-based information and communication technology for real-world evidence for clinical trials in dementia

Cognitive function is an important end point of treatments in dementia clinical trials. Measuring cognitive function by standardized tests, however, is biased toward highly constrained environments (such as hospitals) in selected samples. Patient-powered real-world evidence using information and communication technology devices, including environmental and wearable sensors, may help to overcome these limitations. This position paper describes current and novel information and communication technology devices and algorithms to monitor behavior and function in people with prodromal and manifest stages of dementia continuously, and discusses clinical, technological, ethical, regulatory, and user-centered requirements for collecting real-world evidence in future randomized controlled trials. Challenges of data safety, quality, and privacy and regulatory requirements need to be addressed by future smart sensor technologies. When these requirements are satisfied, these technologies will provide access to truly user relevant outcomes and broader cohorts of participants than currently sampled in clinical trials

Dealing with abstraction: Case study generalisation as a method for eliciting design patterns

Developing a pattern language is a non-trivial problem. A critical requirement is a method to support pattern writers with abstraction, so as they can produce generalised patterns. In this paper, we address this issue by developing a structured process of generalisation. It is important that this process is initiated through engaging participants in identifying initial patterns, i.e. directly dealing with the 'cold-start' problem. We have found that short case study descriptions provide a productive 'way into' the process for participants. We reflect on a 1-year interdisciplinary pan-European research project involving the development of almost 30 cases and over 150 patterns. We provide example cases, detailing the process by which their associated patterns emerged. This was based on a foundation for generalisation from cases with common attributes. We discuss the merits of this approach and its implications for pattern development