Philosophy posts
- April 13, 2011
- 06:30 AM
- 1,113 views
Are there Robots in your Backyard? Experts Give Urgent Warning about Spy Robots!
by Stuart Farrimond in Dr Stu's Science Blog
I can imagine what you’re thinking: In a fight between humans and robots, we would win hands-down – we can just pull their plug out! But robots have come a long way in recent years. Bill Gates recently said that we are standing at the dawn of a new era in robotics, likening this present … Continue reading »... Read more »
Lin, P., Abney, K., & Bekey, G. (2011) Robot ethics: Mapping the issues for a mechanized world. Artificial Intelligence, 175(5-6), 942-949. DOI: 10.1016/j.artint.2010.11.026
Calo, M. (2011) Peeping Hals. Artificial Intelligence, 175(5-6), 940-941. DOI: 10.1016/j.artint.2010.11.025
- April 12, 2011
- 10:26 AM
- 1,122 views
House MD 1.01: Dignity in Death
by Pranab Chatterjee in Scepticemia
This is the first post in the new series on the blog where I analyze House MD episodes based on the content and scientific interpretation of the same. It is going to be a difficult ride trying to analyze a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Smith, K., Goy, E., Harvath, T., & Ganzini, L. (2011) Quality of Death and Dying in Patients who Request Physician-Assisted Death. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 14(4), 445-450. DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2010.0425
- April 9, 2011
- 12:41 PM
- 1,019 views
The politics of the DSM 5 personality disorders
by Psychbytes in Psychbytes
Most science blog posts post a link to an academic article or two and discuss their merits or lack thereof. I am going to do something slightly different - I am linking to an entire special issue of a journal, with pdfs freely available online - and recommend that you do NOT waste any time reading any of it. All it really shows is a bunch of academics bickering over stuff that doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I imagine the DSM 5 PD workgroup meetings look something like this:........ Read more »
Skodol AE, Bender DS, Morey LC, Clark LA, Oldham JM, Alarcon RD, Krueger RF, Verheul R, Bell CC, & Siever LJ. (2011) Personality Disorder Types Proposed for DSM-5. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 136-69. PMID: 21466247
Krueger RF, Eaton NR, Clark LA, Watson D, Markon KE, Derringer J, Skodol A, & Livesley WJ. (2011) Deriving an Empirical Structure of Personality Pathology for DSM-5. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 170-91. PMID: 21466248
Clarkin JF, & Huprich SK. (2011) Do DSM-5 Personality Disorder Proposals Meet Criteria for Clinical Utility?. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 192-205. PMID: 21466249
Zimmerman M. (2011) A Critique of the Proposed Prototype Rating System for Personality Disorders in DSM-5. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 206-21. PMID: 21466250
Widiger TA. (2011) The DSM-5 Dimensional Model of Personality Disorder: Rationale and Empirical Support. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 222-34. PMID: 21466251
Bornstein RF. (2011) Reconceptualizing Personality Pathology in DSM-5: Limitations in Evidence for Eliminating Dependent Personality Disorder and Other DSM-IV Syndromes. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 235-47. PMID: 21466252
Ronningstam E. (2011) Narcissistic Personality Disorder in DSM-V-In Support of Retaining a Significant Diagnosis. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 248-59. PMID: 21466253
Paris J. (2011) Endophenotypes and the diagnosis of personality disorders. Journal of personality disorders, 25(2), 260-8. PMID: 21466254
- April 7, 2011
- 10:01 AM
- 983 views
Re-Defining Science Communication: Emerging Best Practices that Empower the Public
by Matthew C. Nisbet in Age of Engagement
Over the past few years, scholars and scientists have been re-examining both the goals and the nature of science communication initiatives. In a guest post today, Melanie Gade reviews much of this recent discussion and innovation. Gade is a graduate student in this semesters course on "Science ...Read More... Read more »
Nisbet, M., Hixon, M., Moore, K., & Nelson, M. (2010) Four cultures: new synergies for engaging society on climate change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8(6), 329-331. DOI: 10.1890/1540-9295-8.6.329
Groffman, P., Stylinski, C., Nisbet, M., Duarte, C., Jordan, R., Burgin, A., Previtali, M., & Coloso, J. (2010) Restarting the conversation: challenges at the interface between ecology and society. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8(6), 284-291. DOI: 10.1890/090160
- March 24, 2011
- 01:52 PM
- 1,291 views
Darwin Eats Cake: Red Queen
by Jon Wilkins in Lost in Transcription
So, have you spend all day looking for a comic that integrates Red Queen evolutionary dynamics, commentary on the application of parsimony arguments in biology, and Newt Gingrich's recent flip-flopping on Libya? No? Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this anyway. For a more viewable image, see the original at Darwin Eats Cake.
URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/11.jpg
For more on the flip-flop check out Think Progress or Weigel.
Van Valen, L (1973). A New Evolut........ Read more »
Van Valen, L. (1973) A New Evolutionary Law. Evolutionary Theory, 1-30. info:/
- March 22, 2011
- 11:18 AM
- 1,158 views
One Nanostep for Technology, One Quantum Leap for Psychiatry
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
do_sud_thumb("http://neurobonkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/computer-doctor.jpg","One Nanostep for Technology, One... Read more »
Khodayari-Rostamabad A, Reilly JP, Hasey G, Debruin H, & Maccrimmon D. (2010) Diagnosis of psychiatric disorders using EEG data and employing a statistical decision model. Conference proceedings : .. Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference, 4006-9. PMID: 21097280
Khodayari-Rostamabad, A., Hasey, G., MacCrimmon, D., Reilly, J., & Bruin, H. (2010) A pilot study to determine whether machine learning methodologies using pre-treatment electroencephalography can predict the symptomatic response to clozapine therapy. Clinical Neurophysiology, 121(12), 1998-2006. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2010.05.009
Charles DeBattista, Gustavo Kinrys, Daniel Hoffman, Corey Goldstein, John Zajecka, James Kocsis, Martin Teicher, Steven Potkin, Adrian Preda, Gurmeet Multani, Len Brandt, Mark Schiller, Dan Iosifescu, Maurizio Fava. (2011) The use of referenced-EEG (rEEG) in assisting medication selection for the treatment of depression . Psychiatric Research, 15(12), 64-75. DOI: The use of referenced-EEG (rEEG) in assisting medication selection for the treatment of depression
- March 18, 2011
- 06:23 PM
- 1,441 views
Pair Bonding & Ritual Marriage
by Cris Campbell in Genealogy of Religion
Over the past few years, something like a perfect storm has been brewing over human pair bonding and the profound impacts it has wrought on human social structure. This is a welcome development in a field that has long been dominated by those who wish to root the relatively modern idea of marriage in ancient [...]... Read more »
Chapais, B. (2011) The Deep Social Structure of Humankind. Science, 331(6022), 1276-1277. DOI: 10.1126/science.1203281
Hill, K., Walker, R., Bozicevic, M., Eder, J., Headland, T., Hewlett, B., Hurtado, A., Marlowe, F., Wiessner, P., & Wood, B. (2011) Co-Residence Patterns in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Show Unique Human Social Structure. Science, 331(6022), 1286-1289. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199071
Lovejoy, C. (1981) The Origin of Man. Science, 211(4480), 341-350. DOI: 10.1126/science.211.4480.341
Lovejoy, C. (2009) Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326(5949), 74-74. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175834
Langdon, J. (1997) Umbrella hypotheses and parsimony in human evolution: a critique of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. Journal of Human Evolution, 33(4), 479-494. DOI: 10.1006/jhev.1997.0146
- March 15, 2011
- 08:15 AM
- 932 views
Chemero (2009), Chapter 5: Guides to Discovery
by Andrew Wilson in Notes from Two Scientific Psychologists
The dynamical stance laid out by Chemero in the previous chapter has a potential flaw (besides being a bit weak-ass) - it's not clear how it can serve as a guide to discovery. How do you do productive science taking this approach? Chemero is going to make two suggestions, only one of which I think works: first, he's going to suggest dynamical models such as the Haken-Kelso-Bunz (HKB) model can serve to stimulate empirical work even when they are entirely phenomenological. This approach is, I thi........ Read more »
Chemero, A. (2000) Anti-Representationalism and the Dynamical Stance. Philosophy of Science, 67(4), 625. DOI: 10.1086/392858
- March 14, 2011
- 08:40 PM
- 1,343 views
Bad Science: Idiots and Ecstasy
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
do_sud_thumb("http://neurobonkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/thestupiditburnsmini.jpg","Bad Science: Idiots and Ecstasy")... Read more »
Ricaurte, G. (2002) Severe Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity in Primates After a Common Recreational Dose Regimen of MDMA ("Ecstasy"). Science, 297(5590), 2260-2263. DOI: 10.1126/science.1074501
Mithoefer MC, Wagner MT, Mithoefer AT, Jerome I, & Doblin R. (2010) The safety and efficacy of { /-}3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). PMID: 20643699
Halpern JH, Sherwood AR, Hudson JI, Gruber S, Kozin D, & Pope HG Jr. (2011) Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 106(4), 777-86. PMID: 21205042
Insel TR, Battaglia G, Johannessen JN, Marra S, & De Souza EB. (1989) 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("ecstasy") selectively destroys brain serotonin terminals in rhesus monkeys. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 249(3), 713-20. PMID: 2471824
- March 9, 2011
- 08:49 PM
- 1,163 views
Drugs Misinformation Campaigns, The Untold Story
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
Why the drinks industry has spent millions spreading misinformation about drugs and how it continues to put lives in danger.... Read more »
Halpern JH, Sherwood AR, Hudson JI, Gruber S, Kozin D, & Pope HG Jr. (2011) Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 106(4), 777-86. PMID: 21205042
- March 8, 2011
- 10:09 PM
- 1,772 views
Public Service Announcement: Drugs Misinformation Kills
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
Today I took a tough... Read more »
Halpern JH, Sherwood AR, Hudson JI, Gruber S, Kozin D, & Pope HG Jr. (2011) Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 106(4), 777-86. PMID: 21205042
- February 25, 2011
- 05:42 AM
- 981 views
The Decline And Fall of Effects In Science
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Nature has a piece called Unpublished results hide the decline effect.This refers to the fact that many scientific findings which seem to indicate something big is happening, end up getting smaller and smaller as more people try to replicate them until they, eventually, may vanish entirely.The Last Psychiatrist's take is that "The Decline Effect" just represents sloppy thinking, treating different things as if they were all instances of The One True Phenomenon. Someone does a study about somethi........ Read more »
Schooler, J. (2011) Unpublished results hide the decline effect. Nature, 470(7335), 437-437. DOI: 10.1038/470437a
- February 22, 2011
- 03:30 PM
- 919 views
The Brain's Sarcasm Centre? Wow, That's Really Useful
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
A team of Japanese scientists have found the most sarcastic part of the brain known to date. They also found the metaphor centre of the brain and, well, it's kind of like a pair of glasses.The paper is Distinction between the literal and intended meanings of sentences and it's brought to you by Uchiyama et al. They took 20 people and used fMRI to record neural activity while the volunteers read 4 kinds of statements:Literally trueNonsensicalSarcasticMetaphoricalThe neat thing was that the statem........ Read more »
Uchiyama HT, Saito DN, Tanabe HC, Harada T, Seki A, Ohno K, Koeda T, & Sadato N. (2011) Distinction between the literal and intended meanings of sentences: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of metaphor and sarcasm. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior. PMID: 21333979
- February 20, 2011
- 05:53 AM
- 960 views
I saw a new Earth
by Jörg Friedrich in Reading Nature
Typically it takes quite a few months before a submitted article in nature has passed the peer review process and has been accepted – and then until it is actually printed, it usually takes even more then a quarter of … Continue reading →... Read more »
Lissauer JJ, Fabrycky DC, Ford EB, Borucki WJ, Fressin F, Marcy GW, Orosz JA, Rowe JF, Torres G, Welsh WF.... (2011) A closely packed system of low-mass, low-density planets transiting Kepler-11. Nature, 470(7332), 53-8. PMID: 21293371
Editorial. (2011) Earth 2.0. Nature, 470(7332), 5. PMID: 21293328
Reich ES. (2011) Astronomy: Beyond the stars. Nature, 470(7332), 24-6. PMID: 21293349
Billings L. (2011) Astronomy: Exoplanets on the cheap. Nature, 470(7332), 27-9. PMID: 21293350
- February 14, 2011
- 10:44 AM
- 1,748 views
Is a Kiss Ever Just a Kiss? Decoding the Art of Flirtation
by Krystal D'Costa in Anthropology in Practice
A lingering look. A coy smile. Standing just a bit too close. An accidental brush.
Flirtation is an art. It is also a deftly employed social tool. It marks an exploratory, transformative stage—in a first meeting or an existing relationship—when interested parties look toward a tantalizingly unknown future. We flirt to establish a connection, and to gauge the interest of others in reciprocating that connection. While not all flirting is done with the aim of establishing a romantic or sexual ........ Read more »
Hall, Jeffrey A., Carter, S., Cody, M., and Albright, J. (2010) The Communication of Romantic Interest: Development of the Flirting Styles Inventory. Communication Quarterly, 58(4), 365-393. info:/10.1080/01463373.2010.524.874
La France, B., Henningsen, D., Oates, A., & Shaw, C. (2009) Social-Sexual Interactions? Meta-Analyses of Sex Differences in Perceptions of Flirtatiousness, Seductiveness, and Promiscuousness. Communication Monographs, 76(3), 263-285. DOI: 10.1080/03637750903074701
Perper, T. (2009) Will She or Won’t She: The Dynamics of Flirtation in Western Philosophy. Sexuality , 14(1), 33-43. DOI: 10.1007/s12119-009-9060-3
- February 13, 2011
- 09:42 PM
- 714 views
Existential Neuroscience
by Psychothalamus in Psychothalamus
Is it reasonable to fear death? If you agree with Lucretius, you will say no. In what is known as the Symmetry Argument, Lucretius contends that that the time before our existence is similar to the time of our future non-existence. And since we do not fear the time before we existed, it is not reasonable to fear our future non-existence i.e. death. ... Read more »
Quirin M, Loktyushin A, Arndt J, Küstermann E, Lo YY, Kuhl J, & Eggert L. (2011) Existential neuroscience: a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of neural responses to reminders of one's mortality. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. PMID: 21266462
Rosenbaum, S. (1989) The Symmetry Argument: Lucretius Against the Fear of Death. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 50(2), 353. DOI: 10.2307/2107964
- February 9, 2011
- 02:58 PM
- 871 views
Is Social Science Flying Around in Circles, Using Only Its Left Wing?
by David Berreby in Mind Matters
What's the matter with social psychology? Everybody in social science (including social psychology itself) has a diagnosis, because everybody thinks something is amiss ("it's a terrible field," an anthropologist once told me). As John Tierney reported on Monday, Jonathan Haidt of the University of ...Read More
... Read more »
Krueger JI, & Funder DC. (2004) Towards a balanced social psychology: causes, consequences, and cures for the problem-seeking approach to social behavior and cognition. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 27(3), 313. PMID: 15736870
- February 9, 2011
- 10:21 AM
- 1,289 views
Ezekiel's Merkabah | Knowing, Part 3
by Michael Lombardi in a New Life in the Sea
For this last installment of our review of the film 'Knowing', we will discuss the reference to Ezekiel's Chariot, and the prophecy that it conveys.
Some background - Ezekial is the author and central protagonist of the Book of Ezekial in the Hebrew Bible which goes on to discuss his prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem. In 592 BCE, Ezekiel describes an encounter where is is visited by God appearing in "the likeness of man" who is riding a Chariot (or Merkabah in Hebrew) accompanied ........ Read more »
Stone, E. (2008) Chariots of the Gods in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia ( c. 2000–1600 BC). Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 3(01), 83. DOI: 10.1017/S0959774300000731
Kelly, B. (2008) Deviant ancient histories: Dan Brown, Erich von Daniken and the sociology of historical polemic. Rethinking History, 12(3), 361-382. DOI: 10.1080/13642520802193247
Chernus, I. (1982) Visions of God in Merkabah Mysticism. Journal for the Study of Judaism, 13(1), 123-146. DOI: 10.1163/157006382X00071
- February 6, 2011
- 08:50 AM
- 1,438 views
random chance vs determinism | Knowing, Part 1
by Michael Lombardi in a New Life in the Sea
This post is a continuation of the analysis of my marathon movie weekend. As I escaped the creepiness, yet remained perplexed by The Fourth Kind, I found myself more deeply enveloped by 'Knowing'. The film followed my alien themed movie marathon, but more subtly, and emphasized a focus on our perceptions of reality.
In the early part of the film, we meet Nicholas Cage's character, a professor from MIT, who poses a challenge to his students to consider whether life is the product........ Read more »
unknown. (1932) Determinism Defined. Nature, 129(3250), 228-228. DOI: 10.1038/129228d0
Colwell, G. (1994) Freedom, determinism and circular reasoning. Argumentation, 8(3), 251-263. DOI: 10.1007/BF00711192
Kampen, N. (1991) Determinism and predictability. Synthese, 89(2), 273-281. DOI: 10.1007/BF00413908
- February 4, 2011
- 04:03 PM
- 595 views
Touching Death
by Eric Michael Johnson in The Primate Diaries
The latest stop in the #PDEx tour is being hosted by The Prancing Papio:There is something intensely animal about our relationship with the dead. As an atheist I don’t feel particular reverence or awe at the site of a cadaver. It mostly just creeps me out. But even religious believers, those who should be comfortable with the idea that a dead body retains no trace of the person they once knew, also seem to have trouble letting go of what St. Paul called “confidence in the flesh.” In funera........ Read more »
Cronin, K., van Leeuwen, E., Mulenga, I., & Bodamer, M. (2011) Behavioral response of a chimpanzee mother toward her dead infant. American Journal of Primatology. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20927
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