The structure of thoughts

In this paper I examine one well-known attempt to justify the claim that thoughts are intrinsically structured, Evans’s justification of the Generality Constraint. I compare this with a rival account, proposed by Peaocke. I end by suggesting that a naïve, Aristotelian realist has no difficulty at all in providing a justification of the Generality Constraint, which is therefore a view that deserves serious consideration

Semantic distance predicts metaphoricity and creativity judgments in synesthetic metaphors

This paper discusses a way of operationalizing metaphoricity quantitatively using a numerical measure of the semantic distance between two domains. We demonstrate the construct validity of this measure with respect to metaphoricity and creativity judgments in the domain of English synesthetic metaphors – expressions such as sweet melody and loud color that involve combinations of terms from conceptually distinct sensory modalities. In a pre-registered study, we find that a continuous measure of sensory modality difference predicts metaphoricity and creativity judgments. While our results use synesthetic metaphors as a test case, it is possible to extend the application of our measure of semantic distance to other metaphorical expressions. In addition to demonstrating the utility of this measure, this work also demonstrates the utility of rating data in the domain of metaphor research

From Spanish <estar + gerund> to Italian <stare + gerund>. When teaching to unlearn is needed

The Spanish periphrasis is formally similar to Italian but has a wider range of aspectual values (it can express durativity, in addition to progressivity) and is compatible with more tenses (perfectives, in addition to imperfectives). As an effect of transfer, L1Spanish learners of Italian often use to express durativity and combine it with perfective tenses, thus producing incorrect utterances like *Sono stato studiando. In this paper we report an acquisitional study which reveals that input exposure, intensity of L2 use, and non-focused instruction may not be sufficient to pre-empt the transfer and unlearn the erroneous uses of the periphrasis. Based on this result, we propose that a focused teaching intervention is needed. A small-scale pedagogical study based on a Cognitive Linguistics inspired teaching approach gives encouraging results. Die spanische Periphrase ist strukturell ähnlich wie die italienische Periphrase , bietet aber eine größere Bandbreite an Aspektfunktionen (sie kann neben Progressivität auch Dauer ausdrücken) und ist mit mehreren Zeitformen (zusätzlich zu imperfek-tiven auch perfektiven Zeitformen) kombinierbar. In diesem Artikel berichten wir über eine Fremd-spracherwerbstudie, die zeigt, dass die Input-Exposition, die Anwendungsintensität der L2 ohne die Anwendung von noticing Strategien möglicherweise nicht ausreichen, um der negative Transfer zu verhindern und die fehlerhafte Anwendung der Periphrase zu verlernen. Auf Basis dieses Ergebnisses wird eine Intervention vorgeschlagen, die auf den Einsatz von noticing Strategien setzt. Eine aus einem kleinem Sampling basierten didaktische Studie, die auf einen von der kognitiven Linguistik inspirierten Lehransatz gründet, liefert bereits vielversprechende Ergebnisse

Anti-Conceptualism and the Objects of Knowledge and Belief

Michael Ayers’s Knowing and Seeing: Groundwork for a New Empiricism is a rich and detailed development of two ideas. The first is that perception presents reality to us directly in a perspicuous way. We thus acquire primary knowledge of the world: “knowledge gained by being evidently, self-consciously, in direct cognitive contact with the object of the knowledge.” (Ayers 2019, 63) The second idea is that concepts are not needed in perception. In this article, the author examines Ayers’s view. The author proceeds as follows: In the first section, he identifies the target of Ayers’s attacks, conceptualism. He then describes why many philosophers have felt this conceptualist view to be attractive. In the next section, he discusses Ayers’s criticisms of conceptualism in an attempt to disentangle these criticisms from the statement of his positive view, which the author discusses in the following section. He ends by describing some problems for Ayers’s positive position that are, so he argues, the result of his vehement opposition to conceptualism

Sex pheromone signal and stability covary with fitness

If sexual signals are costly, covariance between signal expression and fitness is expected. Signal–fitness covariance is important, because it can contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation in signals that are under natural or sexual selection. Chemical signals, such as female sex pheromones in moths, have traditionally been assumed to be species-recognition signals, but their relationship with fitness is unclear. Here, we test whether chemical, conspecific mate finding signals covary with fitness in the moth Heliothis subflexa. Additionally, as moth signals are synthesized de novo every night, the maintenance of the signal can be costly. Therefore, we also hypothesized that fitness covaries with signal stability (i.e. lack of temporal intra-individual variation). We measured among- and within-individual variation in pheromone characteristics as well as fecundity, fertility and lifespan in two independent groups that differed in the time in between two pheromone samples. In both groups, we found fitness to be correlated with pheromone amount, composition and stability, supporting both our hypotheses. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to report a correlation between fitness and sex pheromone composition in moths, supporting evidence of condition-dependence and highlighting how signal–fitness covariance may contribute to heritable variation in chemical signals both among and within individuals

Predictive factors of length of inpatient treatment in anorexia nervosa

International audienc

Predictive factors of length of inpatient treatment in anorexia nervosa

Objective: To identify clinical variables influencing the length of stay (LOS) of inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: We analyzed structured clinical charts of 300 consecutive hospitalizations for AN in a specialized eating disorder unit. The sample included patients from 12 to 22 years old. Factors related to the patient and events occurring during the stay were investigated as possible predictors of LOS. Results: Mean LOS was 135 days. The best model of linear regression revealed that the following factors were significantly related to LOS: duration of AN at admission, use of tube feeding during the stay, accomplishment of the therapeutic weight contract and presence of a comorbid disorder. Conclusions: The identification of factors influencing duration of stay, both at the outset and during the hospitalization, could help clinicians to optimize and individualize treatments, as well as increase patient and family compliance