7,602 research outputs found
Are There Philosophical Answers to Psychiatric Questions?
Contemporary psychiatry has only one generally
accepted model, that of biological – materialist explanation
and treatment. But clinicians recognize that this model
omits much that is important and they therefore confront a
dilemma: either limit their practice to an incomplete model,
or use other models which seem unfounded and
speculative. Philosophical considerations may help
clinicians find a way out 1) by showing the inherent
limitations of biological – materialist explanations, and 2)
by grounding other (psychotherapeutic) approaches on
general considerations of how the mind, and in particular
language, works. These general considerations include:
the dependence of meaning upon environmental context,
the attribution of meaning as involving sets of skills,
capacities and reactions, the multiplicity of language
games and therefore their individual limitations, the
dependence of meaning upon our shared interests, the
largely unconscious nature of mind and our necessary
limitations to public criteria for mental events and
processes
Refined Inference on Long Memory in Realized Volatility
There is an emerging consensus in empirical finance that realized volatility series typically display long range dependence with a memory parameter (d) around 0.4 (Andersen et. al. (2001), Martens et al. (2004)). The present paper provides some analytical explanations for this evidence and shows how recent results in Lieberman and Phillips (2004a, 2004b) can be used to refine statistical inference about d with little computational effort. In contrast to standard asymptotic normal theory now used in the literature which has an O(n-1/2) error rate on error rejection probabilities, the asymptotic approximation used here has an error rate of o(n-1/2). The new formula is independent of unknown parameters, is simple to calculate and highly user-friendly. The method is applied to test whether the reported long memory parameter estimates of Andersen et. al. (2001) and Martens et. al. (2004) differ significantly from the lower boundary (d = 0.5) of nonstationary long memory.ARFIMA; Edgeworth expansion; Fourier integral expansion; Fractional differencing; Improved inference; Long memory; Pivotal statistic; Realized volatility; Singularity
First occurrence of the problematic vetulicolian Skeemella clavula in the Cambrian Marjum Formation of Utah, USA
The Cambrian Marjum Formation of western Utah (USA) preserves a diverse soft-bodied fauna from the upper Drumian that is slightly younger than the well-known Burgess Shale. While the Marjum is dominated by arthropods, animals belonging to a variety of phyla have been found. Here, we document the second occurrence of the rare, enigmatic taxon Skeemella clavula, which was previously thought to be restricted to the Pierson Cove Formation of the Drum Mountains. The occurrence in the Marjum represents a new preservational setting, as well as a slightly younger deposit. The new specimens also expand the number of known specimens to three. In addition, they improve understanding of the morphology of this representative of the problematic phylum Vetulicolia
Inventory Reduction and Productivity Growth: Evidence from the Japanese Automotive Sector
The literature on JIT production suggests a causal link between work-in-process
inventory and manufacturing productivity. Such a connection has been described in
numerous case studies but never tested statistically. This paper uses historical data for
52 Japanese automotive companies to evaluate the inventory-productivity relationship.
We find that inventory reductions stimulated gains in productivity, rather than vice versa.
On average, each 10% reduction in inventory led to about a 1% gain in labor productivity,
with a lag of about one year. Significant differences are found among company groups:
Toyota affiliates had a shorter lag; while Nissan affiliates demonstrated no productivity
effect. Firms that made inventory reductions typically saw an increase in their
productivity rank
Inventory Reduction and Productivity Growth: Linkages in the Japanese Automotive Industry
The literature on JIT production suggests a causal link between work-in-process
inventory and manufacturing productivity. Such a connection has been described in
numerous case studies but never tested statistically. This paper uses historical data for 52
Japanese automotive companies to evaluate the inventory-productivity relationship. We
find that firms increased their productivity rank during periods of substantial inventory
reduction. More detailed tests suggest that inventory reductions stimulated gains in
productivity: on average, each 10% reduction in inventory led to about a 10% gain in
labor productivity, with a lag of about one year. Such effects were more immediate for
Toyota affiliates but undetectable for close suppliers of Nissan. These findings imply
that inventory reduction served as an important driver of process improvement for many
Japanese automotive companies, although some firms emphasized other methods
Inventory Reduction and Productivity Growth: A Comparison of Japanese and US Automotive Sectors
This study asseses the inventory and productivity performance of the Japanese and US
automotive industries in recent decades. Within each country we distinguish between
vehicle assemblers and parts suppliers. In Japan, assemblers and suppliers made dramatic
inventory reductions and productivity gains, particularly during the 1970s. By
comparison, we find an unbalanced pattern for the United States: American assembly
plants have been streamlined but parts suppliers have stagnated. In both countries our
findings suggest a strong association between inventory reduction and productivity growth
Measuring the Distribution of Returns Among Stakeholders: Method and Application to US and Japanese Auto Companies
No Abstract Provide
Person-specific theory of mind in medial pFC
Although research on theory of mind has strongly implicated the dorsomedial pFC (incuding medial BA 8 and BA 9), the unique contributions of medial pFC (MPFC; corresponding to medial BA 10) to mentalizing remain uncertain. The extant literature has considered the possibility that these regions may be specialized for self-related cognition or for reasoning about close others, but evidence for both accounts has been inconclusive. We propose a novel theoretical framework: MPFC selectively implements "person-specific theories of mind" (ToMp) representing the unique, idiosyncratic traits or attributes of well-known individuals. To test this hypothesis, we used fMRI to assess MPFC responses in Democratic and Republican participants as they evaluated more or less subjectively well-known political figures. Consistent with the ToMp account, MPFC showed greater activity to subjectively well-known targets, irrespective of participants' reported feelings of closeness or similarity. MPFC also demonstrated greater activity on trials in which targets (whether politicians or oneself) were judged to be relatively idiosyncratic, making a generic theory of mind inapplicable. These results suggest that MPFC may supplement the generic theory of mind process, with which dorsomedial pFC has been associated, by contributing mentalizing capacities tuned to individuated representations of specific well-known others
Disconfirmation modulates the neural correlates of the false consensus effect: A parametric modulation approach
The false consensus effect (FCE) - the tendency to (erroneously) project our attitudes and opinions onto others - is an enduring bias in social reasoning with important societal implications. In this fMRI investigation, we examine the neural correlates of within-subject variation in consensus bias on a variety of social and political issues. Bias demonstrated a strong association with activity in brain regions implicated in self-related cognition, mentalizing, and valuation. Importantly, however, recruitment of these regions predicted consensus bias only in the presence of social disconfirmation, in the form of feedback discrepant with participants' own attitudes. These results suggest that the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying the tendency to project attitudes onto others are crucially moderated by motivational factors, including the desire to affirm the normativity of one's own position. This research complements social psychological theorizing about the factors contributing to the FCE, and further emphasizes the role of motivated cognition in social reasoning
- …