Explanatory Goals Research Articles

On Forms of Justification in Set Theory

In the contemporary philosophy of set theory, discussion of new axiomsthat purport to resolve independence necessitates an explanation of howthey come to bejustified. Ordinarily, justification is divided into two broadkinds:intrinsicjustification relates to how ‘intuitively plausible’ an axiomis, whereasextrinsicjustification supports an axiom by identifying certain‘desirable’ consequences. This paper puts pressure on how this distinctionis formulated and construed. In particular, we argue that the distinction asoften presented is neitherwell-demarcatednor sufficientlyprecise. Instead, wesuggest that the process of justification in set theory should not be thoughtof as neatly divisible in this way, but should rather be understood as a con-ceptually indivisible notion linked to the goal ofexplanation.

Explanatory goals and explanatory means in multilevel selection theory.

It has become customary in multilevel selection theory to use the same terms (namely "multilevel selection 1" and "multilevel selection 2") to denote both two explanatory goals (explaining why certain individual- and, respectively, group-level traits spread) and two explanatory means (namely, two kinds of group selection we may appeal to in such explanations). This paper spells out some of the benefits that derive from avoiding this terminological conflation. I argue that keeping explanatory means and goals well apart allows us to see that, contrary to a popular recent idea, Price's equation and contextual analysis-the statistical methods most extensively used for measuring the effects of certain evolutionary factors (like individual selection, group selection etc.) on the change in the focal individual trait in multilevel selection scenarios-do not come with built-in notions of group selection and, therefore, the efficacy of these methods at analyzing various kinds of cases does not constitute a basis for deciding how group selection should best be defined. Moreover, contrary to another widely accepted idea, I argue that more than one type of group selection may serve as explanatory means when one's goal is that of explaining the evolution of individual traits in multilevel selection scenarios and I spell out how this explanatory role should be understood.

Methods of teaching the basics of programming in Python

The article discusses the main trends in the study of programming languages in the school course of informatics. The programming languages (Basic, Pascal, C, Python, algorithmic language) that are acceptable for use at the Unified State Exam in informatics and ICT and their main features are listed. The analysis of the use of the proposed programming languages in educational and methodological kits on informatics is carried out. The program of the elective course for teaching the basics of programming in Python is proposed. It contains an explanatory note, goals and objectives of the course, thematic planning, course content, expected learning outcomes. The methodical material on the theme "Programming of branching algorithms" in Python is considered.

Explanation or Modeling: a Reply to Kellen and Klauer

In Wason’s “selection” task, individuals often overlook potential counterexamples in selecting evidence to test hypotheses. Our recent meta-analysis of 228 experiments corroborated the main predictions of the task’s original theory, which aimed to explain the testing of hypotheses. Our meta-analysis also eliminated all but 1 of the 15 later theories. The one survivor was the inference-guessing theory of Klauer et al., but it uses more free parameters to model the data. Kellen and Klauer (this issue) dissent. They defend the goal of a model of the frequencies of all 16 possible selections in Wason’s task, including “guesses” that occur less often than chance, such as not selecting any evidence. But an explanation of hypothesis testing is not much advanced by modeling such guesses with independent free parameters. The task’s original theory implies that individuals tend to choose items of evidence that are dependent on one another, and the inference-guessing theory concurs for those selections that are inferred. Kellen and Klauer argue against correlations as a way to assess dependencies. But our meta-analysis did not use them; it used Shannon’s measure of information to establish dependencies. Their modeling goal has led them to defend a “purposely vague” theory. Our explanatory goal has led us to defend a “purposely clear” algorithm and to retrieve long-standing evidence that refutes the inference-guessing theory. Individuals can be rational in testing a hypothesis: in repeated tests, they search for some examples of it, and then exhaustively for counterexamples.

An internet-based mind/body intervention to mitigate distress in women experiencing infertility: A randomized pilot trial.

ObjectiveTo determine if an internet-based mind/body program would lead to participants experiencing infertility (1) being willing to be recruited and randomized and (2) accepting and being ready to engage in a fertility-specific intervention. Secondary exploratory goals were to examine reduced distress over the course of the intervention and increased likelihood to conceive.MethodsThis was a pilot randomized controlled feasibility trial with a between-groups, repeated measure design. Seventy-one women self-identified as nulliparous and meeting criteria for infertility. Participants were randomized to the internet-based version of the Mind/Body Program for Fertility or wait-list control group and asked to complete pre-, mid- and post-assessments. Primary outcomes include retention rates, number of modules completed, and satisfaction with intervention. Secondary exploratory outcomes sought to provide preliminary data on the impact of the program on distress (anxiety and depression) and self-reported pregnancy rates relative to a quasi-control group.ResultsThe retention, adherence, and satisfaction rates were comparable to those reported in other internet-based RCTs. Although time between pre- and post-assessment differed between groups, using intent-to-treat analyses, women in the intervention group (relative to the wait-list group) had significant reduction in distress (anxiety, p = .003; depression, p = .007; stress, p = .041 fertility-social, p = .018; fertility-sexual, p = .006), estimated as medium-to-large effect sizes (ds = 0.45 to 0.86). The odds of becoming pregnant was 4.47 times higher for the intervention group participants as compared to the wait-list group, OR 95% CI [1.56, 12.85], p = .005 and occurred earlier. The findings suggest that the research design and program specific to this population are feasible and acceptable. Replication efforts with an active control group are needed to verify distress reduction and conception promotion findings.

Learning the Relevance of Relevance and the Trouble with Truth: Evaluating Explanatory Relevance across Childhood

ABSTRACTIn four experiments, we investigate how the ability to detect irrelevant explanations develops. In Experiments 1 and 2, 4- to 8-year-olds and adults rated different types of explanations about “what makes cars go” individually, in the absence of a direct contrast. Each explanation was true and relevant (e.g., “Cars have engines that turn gasoline into power”), true and irrelevant (e.g., “Cars have radios that play music”), or a false statement that would be relevant if it were true (e.g., “Cars have rockets that speed them up”). Participants of all ages spontaneously indicated that false explanations were less helpful than relevant explanations. However, there was a developmental shift for irrelevant explanations: 4-year-olds only detected irrelevant explanations that did not involve internal features of cars (e.g., “Cars have parking lots that they park in”). Crucially, this shift between age 4 and 5 cannot be explained by 4-year-olds’ lack of knowledge since 4-year-olds correctly indicated that relevant explanations were more helpful than irrelevant feature explanations when given a direct contrast in Experiment 3. These results are further clarified in Experiment 4, in which we provided a different explanatory goal (“where to find cars”) and found that even young children have a nuanced understanding of explanatory relevance that is sensitive to differing explanatory goals. Together, these four experiments suggest an early-emerging ability to understand relevance, but a shift between age 4 and 5 in the ability to spontaneously use this understanding when evaluating individual explanations in isolation.

The Three Fundamental Principles of Politics: Theoretical Unification of Behavioral Sciences Consistent With Evolutionary Process

Each behavioral science discipline focuses on distinct aspects of behaviour resulting in partial, conflicting, and incompatible models across the behavioural sciences. Interdisciplinary approaches seem to confuse rather than simplify the problem. Thus, we need to explore the integrating principles, which incorporate the primary area of interest from several behavioural science disciplines to resolve the crisis, achieve the explanatory goal and increase theoretical predictability. Power is pivotal in society and is key to understanding the inner dynamics of history and evolutionary behavior. The concept of power is perhaps the most fundamental in the field of political science. I define; politics is the natural act of giving response to an external stimulus. The response is in the form of power; it is the stimulus to other individuals making a behavioral chain reaction. I generalized three interrelated principles of politics. Those principles describe how politics works, while simultaneously unifying the vertically and horizontally fragmented behavioral sciences from the power perspective, which is compatible with the evolutionary process.

Three Conceptions of a Theory of Institutions

We compare Guala’s unified theory of institutions with that of Searle and Greif. We show that unification can be many things and it may be associated with diverse explanatory goals. We also highlight some of the important shortcomings of Guala’s account: it does not capture all social institutions, its ability to bridge social ontology and game theory is based on a problematic interpretation of the type-token distinction, and its ability to make social ontology useful for social sciences is hindered by Guala’s interpretation of social institution types as social kinds akin to natural kinds.

Legal Unity as Political Unity?

This article offers an analysis of how theories on constitutional revision can help understand crises that threaten legal unity. The Catalonian crisis represents the case study, and is discussed from the perspective of constitutional theory. The article starts out from a conceptualisation of ‘legal unity’ as the organisational as well as political claim of constitutions to provide unity within a certain legal order, which in the end comes close to the idea of a unified national state. The article refers to the constitutional theories of Carl Schmitt and, the lesser-known Hugo Krabbe, to help increase the understanding of constitutional change and, to connect these insights to the Catalonian case. Schmitt’s claim is that constitutional law is indeterminate and thus in need of the sovereign’s decision. In this analysis, it is made clear that Schmitt’s argumentative scheme in which a distinction is made between friends and enemies in political conflict is unhelpful in addressing the Spanish crisis. Indeed, Schmitt moves beyond descriptive and explanatory goals to defend a normative rejection of liberal political decision-making. By contrast, Krabbe argues for the determinacy of constitutional law. According to Krabbe, constitutional law is finally embedded in ‘legal consciousness’, inherent to all human beings, and which can be determined by majority rule. Even if this answer may not be entirely convincing, it is maintained that this theoretical perspective could nevertheless benefit cases such as the Catalonian constitutional crisis, if as a consequence claims of both the Catalan as well as the Spanish sides based on the idea of ultimate sovereignty over a demarcated territory were dropped.

Acesso à Educação Superior: O ProUni em foco

O foco deste artigo é o acesso à Educação Superior (ES) no Brasil e o Programa Universidade para Todos (ProUni). A pesquisa teve por objetivos identificar se o ProUni está cumprindo com o propósito de oportunizar o acesso à ES a estudantes de grupos vulneráveis, e se há diferenças nas características iniciais dos egressos ProUni e não ProUni quando do ingresso na ES. Foi usada abordagem quantitativa com objetivo explicativo e estatística descritiva e de inferência na análise. Os participantes foram 57 bolsistas e 140 não bolsistas ProUni já egressos de uma Instituição Comunitária do Sul do Brasil ingressantes nela em 2005. Os resultados mostram que: o ProUni proporcionou o acesso a estudantes de uma faixa etária mais jovem à dos que não foram bolsistas; oportunizou o ingresso de um contingente maior de mulheres e teve uma proporção maior de não brancos em relação aos não bolsistas; entre os bolsistas ProUni, 12,28% tinham renda per capita mensal superior a três salários mínimos; ingressantes ProUni tiveram propensão maior a escolherem cursos de licenciatura; e os egressos não ProUni tenderam a ser mais motivados por fatores intrínsecos e os ProUni por fatores extrínsecos quando da escolha do curso.

Why one model is never enough: a defense of explanatory holism

Traditionally, a scientific model is thought to provide a good scientific explanation to the extent that it satisfies certain scientific goals that are thought to be constitutive of explanation (e.g. generating understanding, identifying mechanisms, making predictions, identifying high-level patterns, allowing us to control and manipulate phenomena). Problems arise when we realize that individual scientific models cannot simultaneously satisfy all the scientific goals typically associated with explanation. A given model’s ability to satisfy some goals must always come at the expense of satisfying others. This has resulted in philosophical disputes regarding which of these goals are in fact necessary for explanation, and as such which types of models can and cannot provide explanations (e.g. dynamical models, optimality models, topological models, etc). Explanatory monists argue that one goal will be explanatory in all contexts, while explanatory pluralists argue that the goal will vary based on pragmatic considerations. In this paper, I argue that such debates are misguided, and that both monists and pluralists are incorrect. Instead of any goal being given explanatory priority over others in a given context, the different goals are all deeply dependent on one another for their explanatory power. Any model that sacrifices some explanatory goals to attain others will always necessarily undermine its own explanatory power in the process. And so when forced to choose between individual scientific models, there can be no explanatory victors. Given that no model can satisfy all the goals typically associated with explanation, no one model in isolation can provide a good scientific explanation. Instead we must appeal to collections of models. Collections of models provide an explanation when they satisfy the web of interconnected goals that justify the explanatory power of one another.

Trajectories in higher education: ProUni in focus

Abstract Trajectories in higher education and the University for All Program (ProUni) are the central theme of this paper. The research question was: To what extent were some factors experienced during university difficulties in the academic trajectory of ProUni and non-ProUni graduates? The approach was quantitative with an explanatory goal. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the data analysis. The research subjects were 197 higher education graduates from a Southern Brazil nonprofit institution who entered in 2005. 57 were ProUni scholarship holders and 140 were non-ProUni. Results indicate that the highest percentage of graduates who worked during college were not scholarship holders. A T-test was performed after creating the scales for external (p = 0.19) and internal (p = 0.66) factors, indicating that in both factors there was no statistically significant difference between being a ProUni scholarship holder or not and the difficulties presented during their academic trajectory. Results indicate the need for studies involving the set of higher education graduates in order to better understand the difficulties faced by both groups of students in their academic trajectories.

Physicality for Physicalists

How should the “physical” in “physicalism” be understood? I here set out systematic criteria of adequacy, propose an account, and show how the account meets those criteria. The criteria of adequacy focus on the idea of rational management: to vindicate philosophical practice, the account must make it plausible that we can assess various questions about physicalism. The account on offer is dubbed the “Ideal Naturalist Physics” account, according to which the physical is that which appears in an ideal theory that both meets the explanatory goals of physics (understood in terms of explaining all ordinary physical events and all of its own domain) and is naturalist in a sense to be explained. The combination of these two provides a satisfying account of the physical that meets the criteria of adequacy and can be used to predict puzzle cases as well.

Physical activity in older adults in a combined functional circuit and walking program

Our study examined the impact of a 16-week functional circuit/walking program on physical activity (PA) in older adults in independent-living facilities. Exploratory goals included examination of associations among self-efficacy, neighborhood and mobility. Participants (N = 13) were female (M = 77.8, SD = 7.44, range = 65–85 years). One third were African-American; the remainder Caucasian; 1/3 used assistive devices. PA increased from 70 min/week (SD = 35.51) at baseline to 81.31 min/week (SD = 34.21) at 16 weeks. PA was associated with self-efficacy for overcoming neighborhood and facility barriers to walking at all measurement points (baseline r = .73, p < .05 and r = .68, p < .05, respectively). At eight weeks, PA was associated with self-efficacy for walking duration (r = .58, p < .05), self-efficacy for individual (r = .66, p < .05), facility (r = .58, p < .05) and neighborhood (r = .70, p < .05) barriers. At sixteen weeks, physical activity was associated with balance confidence (r = .72, p < .05), and self-efficacy for individual (r = .76, p < .05), facility (r = .71, p < .05), and neighborhood (r = .80, p < .01) barriers. Functional circuit/walking interventions can increase PA in older adults. Further examination of self-efficacy, mobility, neighborhoods and PA is needed.

Maturity Assessment Model of Intellectual Capital for Manufacturing Organization

This article proposes a model to evaluate the degree of intellectual capital maturity for manufacturing organizations. This research is of an applied nature, approach the predominantly qualitative problem from the point of view of the exploratory and descriptive goals and their technical procedures as literature and case study. The theoretical model was developed through literature review structured with Proknow-C method, in the databases Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct. In order to describe the dimensions, categories and attributes of intellectual capital. After this construction of the theoretical model was constructed the legitimacy of the 21 attributes set by judges analysis with academic and business experts, getting 18 responses. Consequently, it was created the maturity scales based on the models of the Capability Maturity Model - SEI and Knowledge Management - APO, the management model and the application protocol. Data were collected in three companies coolers of the State of Santa Catarina, which carry out the process of reverse logistics aftermarket through interview and structured questionnaire, and for the process managers. Realized in these three case studies that companies have not invent in intangible assets, are still very much related to the financial assets. However, in all cases showed Intellectual Capital even at low rates. This may be the lack of knowledge in this new evolution of knowledge management within companies. Because they are still too focused on numbers, costs, and do not realize that if they invest in human value, add value to the company, new product innovation, consequently improving their competitiveness.

Major problems in evolutionary transitions: how a metabolic perspective can enrich our understanding of macroevolution

The model of major transitions in evolution (MTE) devised by Maynard Smith and Szathmary has exerted tremendous influence over evolutionary theorists. Although MTE has been criticized for inconsistently combining different types of event, its ongoing appeal lies in depicting hierarchical increases in complexity by means of evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs). In this paper, we consider the implications of major evolutionary events overlooked by MTE and its ETI-oriented successors, specifically the biological oxygenation of Earth, and the acquisitions of mitochondria and plastids. By reflecting on these missed events, we reveal a central philosophical disagreement over the explanatory goals of major transitions theory that has yet to be made explicit in the literature. We go on to argue that this philosophical disagreement is only reinforced by Szathmary’s recent revisions of MTE in the form of MTE 2.0. This finding motivates us to propose an alternative explanatory strategy: specifically, an interactionist metabolic perspective on major transitions. A metabolic framework not only avoids many of the criticisms that beset classic and revised MTE models, but also accommodates missing events and provides crucial explanatory components for standard major transitions. Although we do not provide a full-blown alternative theory and do not claim to achieve unity, we explain why foregrounding metabolism is crucial for any attempt to capture the major turning points in evolution, and why it does not lead to unmanageable pluralism.

Performance Measurement Systems for Managing Exploration/Exploitation Tensions within and between Organizational Levels

Recent studies on performance measurement systems (PMS) have addressed how managers deal with two competing demands such as efficiency and flexibility, creativity and control, and exploration and exploitation. This paper adopt March’s (1991) suggestion on the tension between exploration and exploitation. Organizational ambidexterity literature suggests that exploration/exploitation tensions could transpire at multiple levels in the organizations simultaneously. However, little empirical work illustrates how these dual competing demands relate to multiple organizational levels. This study explores three questions: how PMS supports to build internal alignments within exploratory and exploitative subunits (at the strategic planning level); how PMS supports to make integration mechanisms function between exploratory and exploitative subunits (at the operational level); and, how managers use PMS to manage tensions between the strategic planning level and operational level. We draw on a case study of one organization. We can summarize our findings as follows. First, we focus on structural differentiation at the strategic planning level. We identify two separated subunits: sales department and production department. The middle range plan includes exploratory and exploitative strategic goals. However, not only exploratory goals but also exploitative goals are cascaded down to both the subunits. The selection of performance measures and their linkages with initiatives are different between subunits. The targets are set at the stretched level in both the subunits. Second, we investigate targeted integration mechanisms at the operational level. The monthly sales-production meetings are used as a integration mechanism. Operational managers take part in the meeting and are allowed to modify production plans. While fix cost targets must not be changed, the priority specs created at the meeting can incorporate a certain degree of flexibility into production capacity. Although the resource reconfiguration through the formal planning and budgeting process is not responsive, the targeted integration mechanism with daily measurement and monitoring of capacity utilization is useful. Finally, we identify managerial capabilities to balance tensions between the above two levels. Manager’s understanding of production capacity is critical to successfully adjust production schedules without fixed cost overrun. His understanding comes from doing budgeting tasks every year. The budgeting process provides a training field for his subordinate. But another manager has difficulty because cost information is not supplied in a timely manner.

Levels of organization: a deflationary account

The idea of levels of organization plays a central role in the philosophy of the life sciences. In this article, I first examine the explanatory goals that have motivated accounts of levels of organization. I then show that the most state-of-the-art and scientifically plausible account of levels of organization, the account of levels of mechanism proposed by Bechtel and Craver, is fundamentally problematic. Finally, I argue that the explanatory goals can be reached by adopting a deflationary approach, where levels of organization give way to more well-defined and fundamental notions, such as scale and composition.

Why macroeconomics does not supervene on microeconomics

In recent years, the project of providing microeconomic foundations for macroeconomics has taken on new urgency. Some philosophers and economists have challenged the project, both for the way economists actually approach microfoundations and for more general antireductionist reasons. Reductionists and antireductionists alike, however, have taken it to be trivial that the macroeconomic facts are exhaustively determined by microeconomic ones. In this paper, I challenge this supposed triviality. I argue that macroeconomic properties do not even globally supervene on microeconomic ones. This is simply a consequence of the difference in the explanatory goals of the respective fields, which implicitly carve out the microeconomic property set in such a way that it underdetermines macroeconomic properties. It means, however, that microeconomics-based foundations for macroeconomics are inadequate in principle.

Slaughtering the Bison, Controlling Native Americans: A State Crime and Green Criminology Synthesis

We demonstrate the usefulness and importance of achieving descriptive and explanatory synthesis between the fields of state crime and green criminology when analyzing events that embody both state and “green” crime elements. Utilizing the case of the nineteenth century North American bison slaughter (1865–1890), we present an analysis that attends to the state and green crime elements present in this singular event and show that the bison slaughter exemplifies the type of case that benefits from a synthesis of the state and green criminology perspectives. That is, we can best understand the bison slaughter and other similar events when drawing jointly upon the resources offered by the state and green criminology fields. We conclude this paper with an explanation of the bison slaughter that utilizes a political–economic framework and the complementary concepts of structural contradictions and hegemony, showing, among other things, that political economy is one vital approach that meets the explanatory goals of both state crime and green criminology, aiding our understanding of cases like the bison slaughter. As the world moves forward into a future defined by various ecological, political and economic insecurities, scholars from both disciplines will increasingly encounter events that are impossible to fully understand without engaging with each other. This paper is thus an attempt to motivate the sowing of cross-disciplinary seeds of heightened collaboration between state crime scholars and green criminologists.