What Makes Delusions Pathological?

Bortolotti argues that we cannot distinguish delusions from other irrational beliefs in virtue of their epistemic features alone. Although her arguments are convincing, her analysis leaves an important question unanswered: What makes delusions pathological? In this paper I set out to answer this question by arguing that the pathological character of delusions arises from an executive dysfunction in a subject’s ability to detect relevance in the environment. I further suggest that this dysfunction derives from an underlying emotional imbalance—one that leads delusional subjects to regard some contextual elements as deeply puzzling or highly significant

Least-squares fit to a straight line when each variable contains all equal errors

The least squares fit to a straight line, when both variables are affected by all equal uncorrelated errors, leads to very simple results for both the estimated parameters and their standard errors, of widespread applicability. In this paper several formulas are derived, presenting a full set of results about the estimated parameters and their standard errors. All the results have been validated with extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The emphasis of the paper is on the calculation and properties of the best-fit parameters and their standard errors.Comment: Section IV-D was corrected; reference to the published paper added; 31 pages and 53 figure

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Particles studies from space: super-EUSO, a possible next-generation experiment

After the Pierre Auger Observatory, it is likely that space-based experiments might be required for next-generation studies of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Particles. An overview of this challenging task is presented, emphasizing the main design issues, the criticalities and the intermediate steps required to make this challenging task a reality

Design of a Base-Board for arrays of closely-packed Multi-Anode Photo-Multipliers

We describe the design of a Base-Board to house Multi-Anode Photo-Multipliers for use in large-area arrays of light sensors. The goals, the design, the results of tests on the prototypes and future developments are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instrum. and Meth.

The observation of Extensive Air Showers from an Earth-Orbiting Satellite

In this paper we review the main issues that are relevant for the detection of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) from space. EAS are produced by the interaction of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Particles (UHECP) with the atmosphere and can be observed from an orbiting telescope by detecting air fluorescence UV light. We define the requirements and provide the main formulas and plots needed to design and optimize a suitable telescope. We finally estimate its expected performances in ideal conditions.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Astroparticle Physics 27 pages, 14 figures; major revision; added new figures and sections; typos fixed. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:0810.571

The Future of RICH Detectors through the Light of the LHCb RICH

The limitations in performance of the present RICH system in the LHCb experiment are given by the natural chromatic dispersion of the gaseous Cherenkov radiator, the aberrations of the optical system and the pixel size of the photon detectors. Moreover, the overall PID performance can be affected by high detector occupancy as the pattern recognition becomes more difficult with high particle multiplicities. This paper shows a way to improve performance by systematically addressing each of the previously mentioned limitations. These ideas are applied in the present and future upgrade phases of the LHCb experiment. Although applied to specific circumstances, they are used as a paradigm on what is achievable in the development and realisation of high precision RICH detectors

Previše ili premalo? Poremećaji djelovanja na spektru

Disorders of agency could be described as cases where people encounter difficulties in assessing their own degree of responsibility or involvement with respect to a relevant action or event. These disturbances in one’s sense of agency appear to be meaningfully connected with some mental disorders and with some symptoms in particular—i.e. auditory verbal hallucinations, thought insertion, pathological guilt. A deeper understanding of these experiences may thus contribute to better identification and possibly treatment of people affected by such disorders. In this paper I explore disorders of agency to flesh out their phenomenology in more detail as well as to introduce some theoretical distinctions between them. Specifically, I argue that we may better understand disorders of agency by characterizing them as dimensional. In §1 I explore the cases of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVH) and pathological guilt and I show that they lie at opposite ends of the agency spectrum (i.e. hypoagency versus hyperagency). In §2 I focus on two intermediate cases of hypo- and hyper- agency. These are situations that, despite being very similar to pathological ones, may be successfully distinguished from them in virtue of quantitative factors (e.g. duration, frequency, intensity). I first explore the phenomenon of mind wandering as an example of hypoagency, and I then discuss the phenomenon of false confessions as an example of hyperagency. While cases of hypoagency exemplify situations where people experience their own thoughts, bodies, or actions as something beyond their control, experiences of hyperagency provide an illusory sense of control over actions or events.Poremećaji djelovanja mogu se opisati kao slučajevi u kojima ljudi nailaze na teškoće u procjeni svojeg stupnja odgovornosti ili sudjelovanja u nekom djelovanju ili događaju. Ove se smetnje u nečijem osjećaju djelovanja čine na značajan način povezane s mentalnim poremećajima, a posebno s nekim simptomima – auditornim halucinacijama verbalnog tipa, umetanjem misli i patološkom krivnjom. Bolje shvaćanje ovih iskustava moglo bi poboljšati prepoznavanje, a možda i tretman ljudi koji pate od takvih poremećaja. U ovom članku proučavam poremećaje djelovanja kako bih detaljnije pojasnila njihovu fenomenologiju te između njih uvela neka teorijska razlikovanja. Konkretnije, tvrdit ću da ćemo poremećaje djelovanja možda moći bolje razumjeti ako ih okarakteriziramo kao dimenzionalne. U prvom dijelu proučavam slučajeve auditornih halucinacija verbalnog tipa (AVH) i patološke krivnje te pokazujem da leže na suprotnim krajevima spektra djelovanja (hipoagencija naspram hiperagencije). U drugom dijelu bavim se dvama međuslučajevima hipo i hiperagencije. Iako su vrlo slične patološkima, ove se situacije mogu uspješno razlučiti od njih na temelju kvantitativnih faktora (poput trajanja, frekvencije i intenziteta). Prvo istražujem fenomen lutanja misli kao primjer hipoagencije, a zatim razmatram fenomen lažnih ispovijesti kao primjer hiperagencije. Dok se slučajevi hipoagencije odnose na situacije u kojima ljudi osjećaju da su njihove misli, tijela i djelovanja izvan njihove kontrole, iskustva hiperagencije pružaju varljiv osjećaj kontrole nad djelovanjem i događajima

Posebno izdanje "Granice racionalnosti"

Introduction to the special issue of EuJAP "The Bounds of Rationality"Uvod u posebno izdanje EuJAP-a "Granice racionalnosti

Posebno izdanje "Granice racionalnosti"

Introduction to the special issue of EuJAP "The Bounds of Rationality"Uvod u posebno izdanje EuJAP-a "Granice racionalnosti