46 research outputs found
The distinction between conscious and unconscious cognition in David R. Shanks’s work: A critical assessment
Abstract The notion of unconscious finds support in many experimental studies that use the dissociation method. This method allows us to distinguish between conscious and unconscious mental states when participants cannot explain why they performed as they did in an experiment. The paper will discuss the notion of unconscious by considering David R. Shanks’ criticisms of the application of the dissociation method: it will assess three studies Shanks proposes as reexaminations of three other relevant studies in the literature and show how Shanks’ work provides an examination of the methodological pitfalls of such studies. The paper will argue that, although Shanks’s results are relevant regarding theories about the structure of cognition, his theoretical positions are at best confused and at worst diminish the importance of his research outcomes. It will conclude by showing why Shanks’s results that legitimize the role of consciousness in cognition can be problematic for the physicalistic or materialistic framework endorsed by cognitive psychologists.Keywords: Dissociation Method; Dual-process Theories; Cognitive Psychology; Consciousness; UnconsciousLa distinzione tra cognizione conscia e inconscia nell’opera di D.R. Schanks: una valutazione criticaRiassunto: La nozione di inconscio trova supporto in vari studi sperimentali che utilizzano il metodo della dissociazione. Secondo la letteratura cognitivista questo metodo permette di distinguere tra stati mentali consci e inconsci quando i partecipanti non sono in grado di riportare verbalmente il perché si sono comportati in un certo modo durante l’esecuzione di un compito sperimentale. Il presente articolo discute la nozione di inconscio in relazione alle critiche di David R. Shanks all’applicazione del metodo della dissociazione. Più precisamente, esso valuta tre studi che Shanks propone come repliche e rivalutazioni di altrettante ricerche a favore della cognizione inconscia e mostra l’autore riesca con successo a metterne in luce le carenze metodologiche. Inoltre, sostiene anche che, sebbene i risultati sperimentali di Shanks siano importanti per le teorie sulla struttura della cognizione, le sue posizioni teoriche sono quantomeno confuse e rischiano di ridimensionare la portata delle sue conclusioni empiriche e metodologiche. L’articolo conclude mostrando le ragioni per cui i risultati di Shanks, che legittimano il ruolo della coscienza nella cognizione, siano controversi in quanto adottano una posizione filosofica fisicalistica o materialistica comune alla maggioranza degli psicologi cognitivi.Parole chiave: Metodo della dissociazione; Teorie del doppio processo; Psicologia cognitiva; Coscienza; InconscioAbstract The notion of unconscious finds support in many experimental studies that use the dissociation method. This method allows us to distinguish between conscious and unconscious mental states when participants cannot explain why they performed as they did in an experiment. The paper will discuss the notion of unconscious by considering David R. Shanks’ criticisms of the application of the dissociation method: it will assess three studies Shanks proposes as reexaminations of three other relevant studies in the literature and show how Shanks’ work provides an examination of the methodological pitfalls of such studies. The paper will argue that, although Shanks’s results are relevant regarding theories about the structure of cognition, his theoretical positions are at best confused and at worst diminish the importance of his research outcomes. It will conclude by showing why Shanks’s results that legitimize the role of consciousness in cognition can be problematic for the physicalistic or materialistic framework endorsed by cognitive psychologists.Keywords: Dissociation Method; Dual-process Theories; Cognitive Psychology; Consciousness; Unconscious La distinzione tra cognizione conscia e inconscia nell’opera di D.R. Schanks: una valutazione criticaRiassunto: La nozione di inconscio trova supporto in vari studi sperimentali che utilizzano il metodo della dissociazione. Secondo la letteratura cognitivista questo metodo permette di distinguere tra stati mentali consci e inconsci quando i partecipanti non sono in grado di riportare verbalmente il perché si sono comportati in un certo modo durante l’esecuzione di un compito sperimentale. Il presente articolo discute la nozione di inconscio in relazione alle critiche di David R. Shanks all’applicazione del metodo della dissociazione. Più precisamente, esso valuta tre studi che Shanks propone come repliche e rivalutazioni di altrettante ricerche a favore della cognizione inconscia e mostra l’autore riesca con successo a metterne in luce le carenze metodologiche. Inoltre, sostiene anche che, sebbene i risultati sperimentali di Shanks siano importanti per le teorie sulla struttura della cognizione, le sue posizioni teoriche sono quantomeno confuse e rischiano di ridimensionare la portata delle sue conclusioni empiriche e metodologiche. L’articolo conclude mostrando le ragioni per cui i risultati di Shanks, che legittimano il ruolo della coscienza nella cognizione, siano controversi in quanto adottano una posizione filosofica fisicalistica o materialistica comune alla maggioranza degli psicologi cognitivi.Parole chiave: Metodo della dissociazione; Teorie del doppio processo; Psicologia cognitiva; Coscienza; Inconsci
The Relationship between Introspection and Folk Psychology: An Overview
The epistemic status of introspection remains a controversial topic. due to its subjective char- acter, introspection is not an easy fit with natural sciences or a physicalistic picture of the mind. In literature, introspection is conceived as dealing only with macro-cognition and not with micro-cognition, the supposed object of study of scientific psychology. This essay dis- cusses the epistemic status of introspection in light of its relationship with folk psychology and spells it out through an analysis of the positions of Wilkes, Alston, Schwitzgebel, and Churchland. Specifically, the essay makes a distinction between folk and scientific psychol- ogy and addresses the issue of the incorrigibility/infallibility of introspective judgments. The essay endorses a view according to which introspection should be conceived as a cognitive process the contents of which are provided by folk knowledge. It shows how this view can be appreciated as scientific, provided that a physicalistic image of the mind is rejected
Science, Scientism, and the Disunity of Science: Popular Science during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Unsurprisingly, science has been conferred growing expectations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the issue of dissemination and popularization of scientific outcomes has come to the fore. The article describes the main features of the so-called dominant view in popular science, which is claimed to be implicitly connected to scientism, a stance identifying science as the most (if not the only) reliable source of legitimate knowledge. Scientism’s implicit philosophical roots are argued to lie in naturalism and a trivialized neopositivist concept of science, which underscores the supposed unity of the scientific enterprise. However, in the context of the pandemic, science’s disunity is more than ever visible. It is herein asserted that the untimely glimpse into science’s inner workings, clashing
with the dominant view in popular science, promotes a distorted image of science and hinders people’s trust in science. Finally, this article provides wide-ranging recommendations in order to tackle scientism and promote a balanced outlook on science in the fodder consumed by the masses
Functional biohybrid materials based on halloysite, sepiolite and cellulose nanofibers for health applications
Multicomponent nanopaper from the assembly of nanotubular halloysite, microfibrous sepiolite and cellulose nanofibers was developed for diverse functional applications such as slow release of antibacterial model drugs loaded into halloysite lumen
Early onset Mirror Syndrome associated with foetal sacrococcigeal teratoma: a rare entity
In the mirror syndrome, maternal symptoms
mime foetal and placental oedema. The pathogenesis
is unknown. The most common etiologic associations
are rhesus isoimmunization, twin-twin
transfusion syndrome and viral infections. Few reports
are associated to foetal tumors and particularly
to sacroccoccigeal teratoma (SCT). Based on several
published series, foetal SCT with placentomegaly
and hydrops is almost universally fatal;
foetal surgery is not typically offered for hydropic
foetuses beyond 26 weeks of gestational age. Delivery
of the foetus is the choise treatment when mirror
syndrome is present with supporting the pregnancy
until delivery is necessary for maternal indications
or the foetus is 30 weeks old. The management
of a patient with large foetal sacrococcygeal
teratoma, hydrops foetalis and early onset mirror
syndrome is presented
Mercury Detection in Benthic and Pelagic Fish Collected from Western Sicily (Southern Italy)
In highly polluted water, fish can accumulate mercury up to a concentration of 10 mgKg-1. This has occurred on the eastern coasts of Sicily (Southern Italy), probably due to the intense industrial activity of this area. However, little is known about Hg accumulation in fish of the western Sicilian coasts. In this work, we examined the Hg accumulation of 108 fish samples belonging to 14 species collected from western Sicilian coasts using a direct mercury analyzer. The samples showed a mean mercury concentration of 0.165 ± 0.22 mg kg-1 with a maximum in Lepidopus caudatus (1.72 mgKg-1), exceeding the limits provided by EC Reg. 1881/2006. The lowest Hg levels were found in Sparus aurata samples (0.001 mgKg-1). A significant difference was found between the fish species examined (p < 0.05). The comparison between benthic and pelagic species did not show statistical differences (p < 0.05). Fish food constitutes the main route of Hg uptake for humans. Only four of the 130 samples examined reached a mercury concentration over the European limits. The comparative analysis of Hg pollution for benthic and pelagic species did not confirm a different trend in metal contamination
Immunotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer: a further piece of the puzzle or a striking strategy?
Introduction: Treatment of ovarian cancer has been long standardized with the inclusion of surgery and chemotherapy based on platinum and taxanes,
this strategy reaching high remission rates. However, when this treatment
fails, further options are available with little benefit. Since ovarian cancer
has specific immunologic features, actually immunotherapy is under evalua- 15
tion to overcome treatment failure in patients experiencing recurrence.
Areas covered: Immunogenicity of ovarian cancer and its relationship with
clinical outcomes is briefly reviewed. The kinds of immunotherapeutic strategies
are summarized. The clinical trials investigating immunotherapy in
recurrent ovarian cancer patients are reported. 20
Expert opinion: The results of these clinical trials about immunotherapy are
interesting, but little clinical benefit has been achieved until now. For this
reason, we could conclude that immunotherapy is quite different from other
treatment options and it could change the global approach for recurrent
ovarian cancer treatment. However, to date only fragmentary findings are 25
available to define the real role of immunotherapy in this setting
Analysis of Germline Gene Copy Number Variants of Patients with Sporadic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Reveals Specific Variations
Objectives: The rapid fatality of pancreatic cancer is, in large
part, the result of diagnosis at an advanced stage in the majority
of patients. Identification of individuals at risk of developing
pancreatic adenocarcinoma would be useful to improve
the prognosis of this disease. There is presently no
biological or genetic indicator allowing the detection of patients
at risk. Our main goal was to identify copy number
variants (CNVs) common to all patients with sporadic pancreatic
cancer. Methods: We analyzed gene CNVs in leukocyte
DNA from 31 patients with sporadic pancreatic adenocarcinoma
and from 93 matched controls. Genotyping was
performed with the use of the GeneChip Human Mapping
500K Array Set (Affymetrix). Results: We identified 431 single
nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) probes with abnormal hy-bridization signal present in the DNA of all 31 patients. Of
these SNP probes, 284 corresponded to 3 or more copies and
147 corresponded to 1 or 0 copies. Several cancer-associated
genes were amplified in all patients. Conversely, several
genes supposed to oppose cancer development were present
as single copy. Conclusions: These data suggest that a
set of 431 CNVs could be associated with the disease. This set
could be useful for early diagnosis
Tetracycline Residues in Bovine Muscle and Liver Samples from Sicily (Southern Italy) by LC-MS/MS Method: A Six-Year Study
We examined a total of 369 bovine liver and muscle samples for the detection of
oxytetracycline (OTC), tetracycline (TC), chlortetracycline (CTC), and doxycycline (DOX) residues by
implementation and validation of a LC-MS/MS method. The method showed good recovery values
between 86% and 92% at three levels of concentrations. The linearity tests revealed r2 > 0.996 for all
the tetracyclines examined. Furthermore, the Youden test revealed that the method was robust. Only
14.4% of the samples showed OTC and TC residues in a concentration range of 10.4–40.2 g kg1. No
CTC and DOX residues were found in all the samples analyzed. Liver samples showed the highest
average values (31.5 20.6 and 21.8 18.9 for OTC and TC, respectively). The results showed a
low incidence of TCs in all the samples examined, in comparison with other studies reported in the
literature. A significant decrease in TC residues frequency was found from 2013 (p < 0.05). This work
reports for the first time epidemiological data on the presence of TC residues in liver and muscle
samples of cattle farmed in Sicily (Southern Italy). The very low incidence of TC residues indicates
a continuous improvement in farming techniques in Southern Italy, which is essential to ensure
consumers’ protection