The Structure of Sensorimotor Explanation

The sensorimotor theory of vision and visual consciousness is often described as a radical alternative to the computational and connectionist orthodoxy in the study of visual perception. However, it is far from clear whether the theory represents a significant departure from orthodox approaches or whether it is an enrichment of it. In this study, I tackle this issue by focusing on the explanatory structure of the sensorimotor theory. I argue that the standard formulation of the theory subscribes to the same theses of the dynamical hypothesis and that it affords covering-law explanations. This however exposes the theory to the mere description worry and generates a puzzle about the role of representations. I then argue that the sensorimotor theory is compatible with a mechanistic framework, and show how this can overcome the mere description worry and solve the problem of the explanatory role of representations. By doing so, it will be shown that the theory should be understood as an enrichment of the orthodoxy, rather than an alternative

Fresh or frozen? Classifying ‘spare' embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research

This article is available open access, funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is distributed under a Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier Ltd.United Kingdom (UK) funding to build human embryonic stem cell (hESC) derivation labs within assisted conception units (ACU) was intended to facilitate the ‘In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-stem cell interface’, including the flow of fresh ‘spare’ embryos to stem cell labs. However, in the three sites reported on here, which received this funding, most of the embryos used for hESC research came from long term cryopreservation storage and/or outside clinics. In this paper we explore some of the clinical, technical, social and ethical factors that might help to explain this situation. We report from our qualitative study of the ethical frameworks for approaching women/couples for donation of embryos to stem cell research. Members of staff took part in 44 interviews and six ethics discussion groups held at our study sites between February 2008 and October 2009. We focus here on their articulations of social and ethical, as well as scientific, dimensions in the contingent classification of ‘spare’ embryos, entailing uncertainty, fluidity and naturalisation in classifying work. Social and ethical factors include acknowledging and responding to uncertainty in classifying embryos; retaining ‘fluidity’ in the grading system to give embryos ‘every chance’; tensions between standardisation and variation in enacting a ‘fair’ grading system; enhancement of patient choice and control, and prevention of regret; and incorporation of patients’ values in construction of ethically acceptable embryo ‘spareness’ (‘frozen’ embryos, and embryos determined through preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to be genetically ‘affected’). We argue that the success of the ‘built moral environment’ of ACU with adjoining stem cell laboratories building projects intended to facilitate the ‘IVF-stem cell interface’ may depend not only on architecture, but also on the part such social and ethical factors play in configuration of embryos as particular kinds of moral work objects.The Wellcome Trus

Study to evaluate the effect of EVA on payload systems. Volume 1: Executive summary

Programmatic benefits to payloads are examined which can result from the routine use of extravehicular activity (EVA) during space missions. Design and operations costs were compared for 13 representative baseline payloads to the costs of those payloads adapted for EVA operations. The EVA-oriented concepts developed in the study were derived from these baseline concepts and maintained mission and program objectives as well as basic configurations. This permitted isolation of cost saving factors associated specifically with incorporation of EVA in a variety of payload designs and operations. The study results were extrapolated to a total of 74 payload programs. Using appropriate complexity and learning factors, net EVA savings were extrapolated to over $551M for NASA and U.S. civil payloads for routine operations. Adding DOD and ESRO payloads increases the net estimated savings of$776M. Planned maintenance by EVA indicated an estimated $168M savings due to elimination of automated service equipment. Contingency problems of payloads were also analyzed to establish expected failure rates for shuttle payloads. The failure information resulted in an estimated potential for EVA savings of$1.9 B

Full Disclosure: Financial Statement Disclosures Under CERCLA

This paper presents a comprehensive mathematical framework for depletion rate analysis and ties it to the physics of depletion. Theory was compared with empirical data from 1036 fields and a number of regions. Strong agreement between theory and practice was found, indicating that the framework is plausible. Both single fields and entire regions exhibit similar depletion rate patterns, showing the generality of the approach. The maximum depletion rates for fields were found to be well described by a Weibull distribution. Depletion rates were also found to strongly correlate with decline rates. In particular, the depletion rate at peak was shown to be useful for predicting the future decline rate. Studies of regions indicate that a depletion rate of remaining recoverable resources in the range of 2–3% is consistent with historical experience. This agrees well with earlier “peak oil” forecasts and indicates that they rest on a solid scientific ground.

Pragmatism and the pragmatic turn in cognitive science

This chapter examines the pragmatist approach to cognition and experience and provides some of the conceptual background to the “pragmatic turn” currently underway in cognitive science. Classical pragmatists wrote extensively on cognition from a naturalistic perspective, and many of their views are compatible with contemporary pragmatist approaches such as enactivist, extended, and embodied-Bayesian approaches to cognition. Three principles of a pragmatic approach to cognition frame the discussion: First, thinking is structured by the interaction of an organism with its environment. Second, cognition develops via exploratory inference, which remains a core cognitive ability throughout the life cycle. Finally, inquiry/problem solving begins with genuinely irritating doubts that arise in a situation and is carried out by exploratory inference

Breaking New Ground in Spain: A General Description of the Spanish Employment System

[Excerpt] This introductory summary of employment law in Spain focuses primarily on labor law, but also addresses basic aspects of social security law and immigration law, all of which are closely related. This summary is not intended to be comprehensive of the myriad of rules and regulations applicable to employment relationships in Spain, but it is intended to provide a general overview of the basic obligations employers have to employees and the fundamental legal issues that can arise in employment relationships in Spain

Causal Induction from Continuous Event Streams: Evidence for Delay-Induced Attribution Shifts

Contemporary theories of Human Causal Induction assume that causal knowledge is inferred from observable contingencies. While this assumption is well supported by empirical results, it fails to consider an important problem-solving aspect of causal induction in real time: In the absence of well structured learning trials, it is not clear whether the effect of interest occurred because of the cause under investigation, or on its own accord. Attributing the effect to either the cause of interest or alternative background causes is an important precursor to induction. We present a new paradigm based on the presentation of continuous event streams, and use it to test the Attribution-Shift Hypothesis (Shanks & Dickinson, 1987), according to which temporal delays sever the attributional link between cause and effect. Delays generally impaired attribution to the candidate, and increased attribution to the constant background of alternative causes. In line with earlier research (Buehner & May, 2002, 2003, 2004) prior knowledge and experience mediated this effect. Pre-exposure to a causally ineffective background context was found to facilitate the discovery of delayed causal relationships by reducing the tendency for attributional shifts to occur. However, longer exposure to a delayed causal relationship did not improve discovery. This complex pattern of results is problematic for associative learning theories, but supports the Attribution-Shift Hypothesi