On the Role of the Research Agenda in Epistemic Change

The standard way of representing an epistemic state in formal philosophy is in terms of a set of sentences, corresponding to the agent's beliefs, and an ordering of those sentences, reflecting how well entrenched they are in the agent's epistemic state. We argue that this wide-spread representational view-a view that we identify as a "Quinean dogma" - is incapable of making certain crucial distinctions. We propose, as a remedy, that any adequate representation of epistemic states must also include the agent's research agenda, i.e., the list of question that are open or closed at any given point in time. If the argument of the paper is sound, a person's questions and practical interests, on the one hand, and her beliefs and theoretical values, on the other, are more tightly interwoven than has previously been assumed to be the case in formal epistemology

Conditional sentences: truth conditions and probability

This dissertation supports a partial semantics for conditional statements, which wants to be a middle way between the idea conditionals have not truth conditions and that they always are true or false. Adams showed an important intuitive result, called “Equation”, according to which the probability of a conditional is its conditional probability. In a first moment the Equation was satisfied by Stalnaker’s theory, but Lewis 1975 showed—by the Triviality Result—the incompatibility between the assumption that the probability of a proposition is the probability it is true and the Equation. Consequently, supporting Stalnaker’s semantic means to reject Adams’ logic—and vice versa. In front of Lewis’ result, Adams concluded conditionals do not have truth conditions, suggesting a non-propositional view. Contrary, Stalnaker proposed to consider conditional sentences as standard propositions, giving up the Equation such as a general satisfied principle. With the intent to hold the Equation—and Adams’ logic—without denying conditionals have any kind of truth conditions, the dissertation analyzes Alberto Mura’s proposal—the Theory of Hypervaluated Trievents. It concerns a semantic built on de Finetti’s three-valued logic with the intent to avoid Lewis’ result, incorporating Adams’ logic and extending it to every trievent. Demonstrating that every trievent is simple, Mura tried to provide a theory able to deal with both simple and compound conditionals.</br

Suicide vulnerability and risk: fragmented sense of self and psychache

Suicidality research has largely focused on psycho-social or demographic suicide risk factors, with less emphasis generally being directed towards understanding individual vulnerability factors. Moreover, although previous research has indicated that suicidality is underscored by the inner workings of personhood, suitable phenomenological approaches appear to have been infrequently applied. Accordingly, this thesis aimed to explore suicidal tendencies as predicted by low sense of self-cohesion, low self-esteem, psychological pain, distress, and emotions that underlie those psychological states. The selection of theoretically derived psychological factors was guided by the theories of Edwin S. Shneidman (psychache), and Heinz Kohut (self and self-cohesion). The cross-sectional nonexperimental design involved a survey of university students and staff, and volunteers from the South Australian community (N = 359, 72% females, 28% males, aged 18-67 years [M = 28.72; SD = 12.29]). Participants completed a battery of psychometric instruments, assessing self-cohesion, psychache, self-esteem, and psychological distress: 1) The Psychological Pain Assessment Scale (PPAS); 2) The Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain scale (OMMP); 3) The Psychache Scale (PS); 4) The Adelaide Self-Cohesion Scale (ASCS); 5) The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS 21); 6) The Beck Self-Esteem scale (BSE); and 7) recent suicidality (from The Psychiatric Symptom Frequency Scale), lifetime attempts, and current suicidality indices. The thesis involved five studies, with results from each informing subsequent studies. Study 1 examined the psychometric properties of ASCS. Its three-factorial structure was replicated, confirming its validity for assessing a sense of self-cohesion. Study 2 tested relationships between self-cohesion, self-esteem, psychache, depression, anxiety, and stress. Exploratory factor analysis, followed by a Schmid-Leiman solution, found near-equivalence between the psychache measures OMMP and PS. Self-cohesion, self-esteem, psychache, depression, anxiety, and stress emerged as distinct but inter-related constructs, all strongly loading on a general factor of psychological frailty. Studies 3 and 4 explored relationships between these psychological factors and recent suicidal ideation/action, and history of suicide attempts. The utility of ASCS for assessing suicidality was also examined. The strongest contributor to recent suicidal ideation/action was depression, followed by self-esteem (part of self-cohesion) and psychache. The strongest contributor to lifelong suicide attempts was anxiety, followed by unmet childhood needs (part of self-cohesion). Study 5 clarified the nature of psychache in relation to three suicidality indices (recent suicidal ideation/action, lifetime attempts, and current suicidality). Two negative emotions underscored intense psychache across the three suicidality measures: self-hate and worthlessness. Additionally, “lure of death” was associated with lifetime suicide attempts only. Sadness, betrayal, and anger had negative associations with suicidality indices; hopelessness was associated with recent/current ideation, but not suicidal actions. It was concluded that suicide vulnerability is characterised by anxiety and a diminished sense of self, originating in early developmental frustrations resultant from unmet psychological needs. Further, tendencies for suicidal ideation/behaviours may partially be attributed to heightened levels of depression and psychache, and lowered self-esteem. As a clinical implication of the findings, it was proposed that a personal capacity for self-empathy may counter limitations of the self, help mollify deleterious effects of psychache and depression, reducing potential for suicide.Thesis (Combined MPsych (Clin) & Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 201

The cognitive antecedents of psychosis-like (anomalous) experiences: variance within a stratified quota sample of the general population

In the general population, psychosis-like experiences have been extensively studied under the psychometric rubric of schizotypy (psychosis-proneness). As such, Phase 1 of this thesis aimed to assess the distribution of schizotypal traits and associated personality correlates displayed within a quota sample of the general population stratified by Gender and Ageband, the emphasis being upon anomalous experiences (positive schizotypy). Respondents (N = 130) completed a battery of established self-report measures assessing thirteen areas of personal experience. Correlational analysis revealed that eleven of the measures of ostensibly anomalous experiences possessed significant intercorrelations. Subsequent principal components analysis identified three factors accounting for 64.91% of the total variance; the factor accounting for the greatest proportion of variance (42.97%) was interpreted as representing a psychological disposition towards reporting ‘Anomalous Cognitions’. The other two factors are named ‘Lifeview System’ (12.60% of total variance) and ‘Social Adaptation Skills’ (9.34% of total variance). From the principal factor inclusion criteria for Phase 2 of the research are explicated. No significant mean Gender differences were revealed for the six self-report measures that provided unique contributions toward anomalous cognitions, the two self-report measures that uniquely contributed toward a lifeview system, or for the single self-report measure that uniquely contributed toward social adaptation skills. Additionally, four of the nine self-report measures which provided unique factorial contributions generated significant mean differences between Agebands, with a further three providing trends toward significant mean differences. Implications for the role of anomalous cognitions, a framework for a lifeview system, and social adaptation skills with regard to psychosis-proneness are discussed. From the primary factor (anomalous cognitions), three experimental groups were identified for cognitive testing: respondents scoring 1) ≤ 20th percentile; 2) 10% ± the mean; and 3) ≥ 80th percentile. This procedure provided a total of 78 participants (three x 26) for Phase 2 testing. Phase 2 of this thesis sought to identify some of the cognitive mechanisms underpinning subclinical anomalous cognitions with a view to deciphering which measures best predicted experimental group membership. A comprehensive literature review highlighted six domains of cognition, five accompanying self-report measures, and two measures of intelligence functioning (verbal and fluid/visuoconstructive), which, following previous research, were utilised as covariate measures. Based on prescribed delineation points, participants were allocated, according to scores on the primary factor from Phase 1, to one of three experimental groups (low-, mid, and high-anomalous cognitions). Of the six cognitive domains—1) sustained visual attention; 2) false (illusory) memory; 3) probability reasoning (decision making); 4) object recognition; 5) reality monitoring; and 6) self-monitoring—four succeeded in eliciting significant mean differences between experimental groups with the noted exceptions of sustained visual attention and self-monitoring. Subsequent canonical discriminant analyses identified that the best predictors of XPG membership were the number of critical lures recognised on the false memory test, the number of correct responses and confidence when uncertain on the object recognition test, plus two self-report measures pertaining to comorbid psychopathology and the vividness of visual imagery. In light of previous research, the inclusion of fasle (illusory) memory biases, the comorbidity of mental pathology (especially, depressive and anxiety-related symptoms), and the vividness of visual imagery are unsurprising; however, the two object recognition variables (the ‘number of correct responses’ and ‘confidence when uncertain’) offer exciting avenues for future research into the continuum of psychosis. Moreover, the ‘confidence when uncertain’ data from the object recognition test (perceptual) and the probability reasoning (decision making) data from the Beads test suggest that cognitive underconfidence may well be an enduring personality disposition in those reporting elevated levels of anomalous cognitions, including positive and disorganised schizotypal personality traits. The results of Phase 2 add confirmatory evidence to previous research suggestive of memory and perceptual biases plus comorbid psychopathology and the vividness of visual imagery as being integral to the psychogenesis of psychosis-like (anomalous) symptomatology

Prolegomena to a Theory and Model of Spoken Persuasion: A Subjective-Probabilistic Interactive Model of Persuasion (SPIMP)

Various disciplines such as rhetoric, marketing, and psychology have explored persuasion as a social and argumentative phenomenon. The present thesis is predominantly based in cognitive psychology and investigates the psychological processes the persuadee undergoes when faced with a persuasive attempt. The exploration concludes with the development of a concrete model for describing persuasion processing, namely The Subjective-Probabilistic Interactive Model of Persuasion (SPIMP). In addition to cognitive psychology, the thesis relies on conceptual developments and empirical data from disciplines such as rhetoric, economics, and philosophy. The core model of the SPIMP relies on two central persuasive elements: content strength and source credibility. These elements are approached from a subjective perspective in which the persuadee estimates the probabilistic likelihood of how strong the content and how credible the source is. The elements, however, are embedded in a larger psychological framework such that the subjective estimations are contextual and social rather than solipsistic. The psychological framework relies on internal and external influences, the scope of cognition, and the framework for cognition. The SPIMP departs significantly from previous models of persuasion in a number of ways. For instance, the latter are dual-processing models whereas the SPIMP is an integrated single-process approach. Further, the normative stances differ since the previous models seemingly rely on a logicist framework whereas SPIMP relies on a probabilistic. The development of a new core model of persuasion processing constitutes a novel contribution. Further, the theoretical and psychological framework surrounding the elements of the model provides a novel framework for conceptualising persuasion processing from the perspective of the persuadee. Finally, given the multitude of disciplines connected to persuasion, the thesis provides a definition for use in future studies, which differentiates persuasion from argumentation, communicated information updating, and influence

World and Logic

What is the relationship between the world and logic, between intuition and language, between objects and their quantitative determinations? Rationalists, on the one hand, hold that the world is structured in a rational way. Representationalists, on the other hand, assume that language, logic, and mathematics are only the means to order and describe the intuitively given world. In World and Logic, Jens Lemanski takes up three surprising arguments from Arthur Schopenhauer’s hitherto undiscovered Berlin Lectures, which concern the philosophy of language, logic, and mathematics. Based on these arguments, Lemanski develops a new position entitled ‘rational representationalism’: the world is always structured by human beings according to linguistic, logical, and mathematical principles, but the basic vocabulary of these structural descriptions already contains metaphors taken from the world around us