Mental Entities Research Articles

Reincarnation and anti-essentialism: An argument against the essentiality of material origins

Abstract We argue that Indian speakers’ discourse about reincarnation represents a counterexample to the ordinary-language evidence for the Kripkean thesis of material-origin essentialism. Advocates of the essentiality of origins contend not only that persons have the property of coming from the two particular gametes they actually came from essentially, but also that competent ordinary-language speakers find this view intuitively compelling. We adduce evidence from Indian speakers’ discourse, both ordinary-language remarks and published literature about reincarnation, to disconfirm that contention. We argue that the view that persons are mental entities is clearly coherent, intuitive, and not obviously necessarily false. We consider mental essentialism as an alternative, according to which persons are only accidentally embodied or biological. But we argue against it in favour of a modally relative anti-essentialism: what properties count as essential to an object and what properties count as accidental is not fixed but varies according to pragmatic utility.

SEMANTIC SPACE OF THE UNIVERSAL MORAL AND ETHICAL CONCEPT ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY

The paper deals with the study of the concept ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY in Ukrainian and English languages which can be considered rather relevant for the present-day political, economic, social and educational situation in Ukraine because it is the universal, moral and ethical emotion concept which is utilised as the element of war professional propaganda via specific formats and technologies to deliver social and political impact and manipulation on the existing system of social and political views and outlooks. The concept was selected as the basic unit for the analysis because it is defined as the operational memory unit, the mental entity, the result of knowledge objectivisation. Moreover, as the concept functioning relates to specific national context and particular conditions of society existence, it can express its semantic potential and adapt it in accordance with the existing value priorities at a particular stage of society development and cause purposeful influence or even manipulation on its members. The comparison of the semantic spaces of the universal moral and ethical concept ЖАЛІСТЬ/SYMPATHY in Ukrainian and English languages has revealed the fact that this mental unit is determined as important in moral and ethical paradigms in the both languages because it it is stipulated for the basic human antithesis "good/evil". In Ukrainian it relates, to more extent, to emotional feature of moral, ethical value of both humans and any living creatures implying the desire to introduce not only love, pity, weal for others and even an element of empathy. In English it also expresses spontaneous irrational emotional response to any misfortune or disaster, but, at the same time, implies the pragmatic decision-making to render some practical assistance. The results of the study can be used for teaching semiotics, cognitive linguistics or PR technologies.

Reifying actions into artifacts: process–object duality from an embodied perspective on mathematics learning

Grasping mathematical objects as related to processes is often considered critical for mathematics understanding. Yet, the ontology of mathematical objects remains under debate. In this paper, we theoretically oppose internalist approaches that claim mental entities as the endpoints of process–object transitions and externalist approaches that stress mathematical artifacts—such as physical manipulatives and formulas—as constituting mathematical objects. We search for a view on process–object duality that overcomes the dualism of mind and body. One such approach is commognition that describes mathematical objects as discursive entities. This paper expands the nature of mathematical objects beyond discourse and highlights the role of learners’ interaction with the environment by adopting ecological onto-epistemology. We develop a functional dynamic systems perspective on process–object duality in mathematics learning emphasizing embodied actions and the re-invention of artifacts’ affordances. As a main result, we reconsider process–object duality as a reification of repetitive actions into a cultural artifact that consists of two steps: (1) forming a new sensory-motor coordination that brings new perception to the fore and (2) crystallizing a new artifact in a mathematical environment that captures this new perception. An empirical example from research on embodied action-based design for trigonometry illustrates our theoretical ideas.Graphical abstract

Measurement and Mind: Unveiling the Self-Delusion of Metrification in Psychology

ABSTRACT This paper critically evaluates the quantification of psychological attributes through metric measurement. Drawing on epistemological considerations by Immanuel Kant, the development of measurement theory in the natural and social sciences is outlined. This includes an examination of Fechner’s psychophysical law and the fundamental criticism initially raised by von Kries. The distinction between theoretical and practical measurability is illuminated, addressing the question of equality within mental entities ( Ψ ) and their measures ( θ ). Psychometric scaling procedures such as Rasch scaling are argued to enable interval-scaled quantification on a real number line θ , but they are insufficient to establish a genuine interval scale level of Ψ . Instead, the values of θ should be regarded as qualitative statements that indicate ordinal relationships within Ψ . Two principles of scaling – the Guttman “model” and the Rasch model – are introduced, with their theoretical foundations explained, referencing the Rasch paradox. In the empirical section, data simulation is conducted to illustrate the Rasch paradox and to substantiate the theoretical considerations of the article. The research underscores the significance of linguistic analysis in understanding quantitative claims, suggesting a shift toward ordinal quantification within psychological measurement, drawing upon the linguistic principle of localism. Spatial metaphors are argued to play a central role in human language, even in natural sciences like physics, suggesting that systematic analysis of human language could offer a valuable method for the quantitative analysis of psychological attributes.

The concept of <i>family</i> as a key concept of the artistic world of K. G. Karnyshev

The concepts that are understood as structural units of human consciousness that store a set of knowledge, primarily about the phenomena of the surrounding world that have accompanied a person since ancient times and are part of the national culture, are of the greatest interest for modern humanitarian research. That is, it is a multicomponent mental entity, which is the result of reflecting the real world in a person's consciousness in the context of ethno- and socio-cultural specifics. The aim of the work is to study the features of the artistic embodiment of the primary concept of family in the prose of K. G. Karnyshev. The aim of the work is to study the features of the artistic embodiment of the primary concept of family in the prose of K. G. Karnyshev. Achieving this goal involves solving the following tasks: 1) consideration of the concept of "concept" in the humanities; 2) study of the implementation of the concept of family in the Russian literature of the 20th century; 3) definition of the components of the basic concept of family; 4) study of the conceptualization of family relations in the prose of K. Karnyshev; 5) analysis of the central secondary concept of the house; 6) identification of the features of the embodiment of the secondary concept of the genus. Procedure and methods. The paper uses problem-thematic (analysis of the themes and issues of the writer's works, taking into account the peculiarities of their worldview), historical and literary (the study of the writer's creativity in the context of the historical process), conceptual and cultural methods. Results. The analysis showed that the "Family" in K. G. Karnyshev's prose is the basis of human life, it is in the family that the system of values and life attitudes is determined. Considering interpersonal relationships in the family, the author speaks bitterly about the loss of a kindred spiritual connection between close people. Frames are being erased, stereotypes are being destroyed – the traditional concept of family is being destroyed. But for K. Karnyshev, it is still the family that is a necessary condition for the formation of a person's personality; moral foundations are laid in the family. Research implications. The work of K. Karnyshev provides rich material for studying the history, culture and life of the region. The themes and problems that the author solves in his works remain relevant and interesting, since literature is a reflection of life.

Assembly required: a microgenetic multiple case study of four students’ assemblages when learning about force

ABSTRACT Some descriptions of learning represent the process as the development of organisations of elements. Various organisations have been proposed, for example, schemata and conceptual structures. Such representations assume that mental entities, such as concepts, are sufficiently stable and differentiated to be treated as units. We discuss these assumptions and propose a new term, assemblages, to refer to a person’s activation of two or more conceptual resources in a context. Methodological challenges have resulted in a lack of research that examines how assemblages are formed. This study presents data from a microgenetic, multiple case study of four 16-17-year-old students. The participants were interviewed weekly, using various probes related to forces and motion over six months. We focus on two aspects of the assembly process in our analysis. First, we report data that indicate that participants perceived the units they assembled differently from expert conceptualisations and reflect on the stability of their assemblages. Second, we discuss how participants’ expectations about the coherence of knowledge impact their assembly. We propose that future research investigates the stability and boundaries of conceptual resources and suggest teachers and researchers are cautious in assuming that data indicate a conceptual resource is stable or unitary.

The (cognitive) future of motor control and learning.

An ongoing debate exists regarding the compatibility of dynamic systems theory (DST) and symbol processing accounts (SPA), where SPA assume abstract representations and processing. Another aspect under discussion is if either one appropriately describes and explains motor control and the modification of motor skills. Both frameworks have their strengths and weaknesses. DST provides mechanistic explanations and takes system complexity and the environment into account without reference to mental entities. System behaviour is described mathematically and considered deterministic. In contrast, SPA propose that abstract content, that is, mental representations of the (own) body, and task requirements are critically important for movement control. It is argued that neither approach nor an (unaccomplished) unification of these frameworks can achieve a comprehensive understanding of motor control and learning. In this perspective article, it is argued that further effective sources of motor learning, such as emotional support and motivational guidance, have the potential to improve and preserve motor skills indirectly and should, thus, be recognised. Qualitative approaches focussing on understanding the athlete and the situation might be appropriate for applied work.

An assembled message: Matthen on the content of perceptual experience

Mohan Matthen holds that visual perceptual content is divided into descriptive and referential elements. Descriptive content is our awareness of sensory features belonging to objects located in the visual field. Matthen conceives of this in terms of an image. The referential element is a demonstrative form of content, by which we pick out those objects as particulars and assert their physical presence. Matthen terms this ‘the feeling of presence’. Together, they make up the ‘assembled message’ that visual states present to the perceiver in perceptual experience. I argue that the two elements cannot play together as Matthen envisages. Beginning with the referential element, I show that the feeling of presence is unable to both provide demonstrative reference and assert that the visual state reflects how things are. Turning to the descriptive element, I argue that Matthen is committed to a view on which descriptive (or image) content is a mental entity, a reified image. This is a common element across perceptual experience, episodic memory and visual imagination. The mental entity proves a defective ingredient in assembling perceptual content that purports to present reality. There are problems integrating the depicted viewpoint with the subject’s actual viewpoint, and problems maintaining a coherent notion of assertion. I argue that the project of assembling perceptual experience from descriptive and referential elements is unworkable.

Husserls Irreversibilitätsargument gegen den Materialismus

Abstract In this paper I offer a reconstruction of one of Husserl’s various anti-materialist arguments. Husserl hints at this argument in Ideas II & III where he exposes essential differences between mental and material reality (Realität). At its core, Husserl claims that mental entities by their very essence can never be in the same qualitative condition at different times. By sharp contrast, for purely material or physical entities such a cyclical development is not essentially excluded. Accordingly, I will speak of Husserl’s argument from irreversibility. I argue that this argument is modal in nature, and that it can be used to make a case against materialism based on the necessary supervenience of the mental on the physical. My primary goal is to elucidate this argument, and to offer a logical reconstruction using basic modal logic and contemporary notions of supervenience. I conclude that Husserl’s argument is formally valid, and that it can even held to be sound, although the premise regarding the necessary irreversibility of the mental requires further clarification.

КОНЦЕПТ «СВОБОДА» В КОГНІТИВНО-СЕМАНТИЧНОМУ ПОЛІ ВІРША ІВАНА ФРАНКА «ЩЕ НЕ ПРОПАЛО!»

У статті виявлено суть концепту «свобода» в когнітивно-семантичному полі вірша І.Франка «Ще не пропало!», з’ясовано особливості його вербальної репрезентації в поетичному дискурсі; обґрунтовано його відповідність лінгво- культурному профілю української мови. Встановлено, що мовне оформлення тексту є прикладом дискурсивної конфігурації концепту, у якому відображено індивідуально-авторське світорозуміння.

Functioning of Comparative Tropes in E. Vodolazkin’s Novel “Chagin”

The article discusses the use of metaphors and similes in the text of E. Vodolazkin’s latest novel “Chagin”. The study has shown that the functioning of comparative tropes in the novel is closely related to the nature of its narrative: metaphors and similes are involved in the differentiation of the subject-speech plans of the narrators and perform a characterological function. The study shows that the tropes including precedent names and quotation inclusions are often used in the novel. The text of the novel is characterized by a punning clash of direct and figurative meanings of lexical units with wordplay involving a number of phraseological units, catchphrases, and clichés. The distinctive features of the style of the novel “Chagin” are the literalization of the metaphors in the text, which can be both contact and distant in nature and actualize the derivational connections of lexical units. The article shows that the tropes used in the text of the novel are often based on the depicted reality. What is more, we pay particular attention to the role of comparative tropes in identifying and deploying the key themes of the work: the theme of memory and the theme of fiction (fantasy). It is concluded that these topics are accentuated in the text with the help of tropes, the subject of comparison in which are the names of mental entities (memory, oblivion, recollection, memorization and fantasy).

The Equations for Consciousness: A Reply to “Tracking the Travels,” a Review of Journey of the Mind

The Equations for Consciousness: A Reply to “Tracking the Travels,” a Review of <i>Journey of the Mind</i>

Reply to a Reply

Ogas and Gaddam's reply to my review of their book Journey of the Mind covers a lot of ground. Little of it, alas, deals with the issues I raised. It is largely an expansion of Steven Grossberg's resonance theory which, of course, played a prominent role in the book. I have no problems with Grossberg's model. It is an interesting, influential, quantitative approach to human cognitive functioning that uses neural nets to capture the operations of “modules.” But it's not going to result in an understanding of the origins of minds. Also, as noted in my review, it's seriously lacking in key features such as embodiment, movement, affect, development, aging, and socialization.It is not the complete theory of the human mind that Ogas and Gaddam appear to believe it is. For one, it does not enable theorists “to discard conjectured mental entities . . . such as . . . conscious cells.” The sentient cell is a central feature of my cellular basis of consciousness theory. It is also a fundamental element in a variety of approaches to cell biology and, as argued in a variety of recent publications, a necessary feature of the first unicellular species. Without sentience the original prokaryotes would have been Darwinian dead ends. Without valenced perceptions and directed, volitional movement they could not have survived the tumultuous environment they emerged into.But the book has “Journey” in the title, and my problem was with the nature of the trip they took us on. The early sections are, as noted, “muddled” when it comes to the functions of species that lack nervous systems. The material on cell biology is wrong in many places. The “emergentist's dilemma” is not even acknowledged. They claim that species without nervous systems cannot have an existential consciousness but provide no reason why this should be true. Did things change when neurons evolved? Of course. But things changed many times over geological time: eukaryotic species, multicellularity, photosynthesis, oxygen production, warm-blooded metabolism, legs, and so on.I appreciate that Ogas and Gaddam “wrote Journey of the Mind to present accessible versions of URT's key ideas to a popular audience.” But they didn't do that until the second half. And when they made this move to Grossberg's theory, the sole focus was on human cognitive functions, not the earlier evolutionary mechanisms that preceded the emergence of Homo sapient minds.

Pragmatics in Kannada Speaking Normal Children and Intellectual Disability

Abstract: Human language is a unique mental entity. It is a system of symbols that greatly enhances the ability of humans to represent aspects of the world, to think and to communicate with each other. Studies from many diverse disciplines show that language has a complex structure and that its use involves many diverse interacting psychological operations (Caplan, 1992). Functional communication involving the language code helps us to accomplish specific goals, such as to inform others, relate to events not in our immediate physical environments, to reason, to update our knowledge of the world, to think privately and so on. Language is made up of socially shared rules that include what words mean. Components of the language are grouped under the ‘form’ (phonology, morphology, syntax) ‘content’ (semantics) and ‘use’ (pragmatics). The study highlights the need to carry out more research in this area for better understanding of language acquisition among these children in order to develop both assessment and intervention programmes. Presently, the lack of acquisition data has hinged the development of any standardized test in Kannada. Hence, the present study aims to explore Pragmatics in Kannada speaking children with the objective of analysing the data among these children across 4 to 6 years of age. The results suggest that all TD group have well developed pragmatic skills by 4 to 6 years and they are still acquiring some skills.

INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FIXED AND SITUATIONAL MENTAL ENTITIES

According to our assumption, D. Uznadze’s situational set is a mental entity, similarly to attitude, person- ality trait and fixed set. Situational set is the basis of the formation of fixed set and vice versa (i.e. it can be a further differentiation stage of fixed set, its product). Fixed dispositions are realized in behavior through situational set. For this purpose, situational set orga- nizes the structural components of the fixed disposition and unites them with the actual givenness of a specific moment. In addition, successful behavioral realization ensured by situational set improves the characteristics of dispositional set (ნადირაშვილი, 1985) and increases the effectiveness of adaptation achieved through its participation.At the high levels of mental activity, behavior is regulated with the involvement of conscious resources.&nbsp; The article focuses on conscious regulation, which, for the purpose of analysis, is distinguished from the unconscious regulation ensured by underlying set. The above resources take part in the internalization of&nbsp; social values and their use for the formation of individual/personal sets.The proposed approach confirms a) an organic relationship between different forms and types of set; b)&nbsp; the possibility of their synergic relationship and mutual transformation; c) the existence of different, but&nbsp; mutually supplementary sources (including the sources of socio-cultural origin, e.g. common values) en- dowing activity with the needed energy; d) the possibility and necessity of the inclusion of D. Uznadze’s&nbsp; situational set in the international theoretical and methodological context related to ‘dispositional’ con- structs.Our approach is also productive for the further elaboration of the relationship between the constituents of&nbsp; legal culture (e.g. legal awareness) and normative behavior when their unity is based on two, interrelated&nbsp; forms of set – fixed and non-fixed disposition, i.e. ‘dispositional’ and situational sets.&nbsp

Sensible individuation

AbstractThere is a straightforward view of perception that has not received adequate consideration because it requires us to rethink basic assumptions about the objects of perception. In this paper, I develop a novel account of these objects—the sensible qualities—which makes room for the straightforward view. I defend two primary claims. First, I argue that qualities like color and shape are “ontologically flexible” kinds. That is, their real definitions allow for both physical objects and mental entities to be colored or shaped. Second, a single instance of these qualities can be attributed to more than one entity. Just as we attribute the same instance of a material property to a statue and to the clay that constitutes it, single instances of sensible qualities should be attributed both to the physical objects perceived and to the perceptual states that have those instances as their objects.

Capturing minds: Towards a methods critique of questionnaire-based mental health surveys

Mental health surveys of general populations use psychometric instruments derived from psychiatric symptom checklists and assessment scales. Mental health surveys of this type have become so ubiquitous and influential that the psychometric methods that are at the heart of them seem to be beyond reproach. Are these the right tools to do the job of capturing the minds of general populations? This article pursues a critical assessment of psychometric instruments embedded in mental health surveys through a historical reconstruction of the major epistemic shifts in the investigative practices through which these psychometric instruments developed. The reconstruction traces a strong influence of physics and physicists’ notion of fundamental measurement of quantities on psychologists’ attempts to measure mental phenomena. Surveys employing these instruments inherit unresolved methodological issues from their psychophysical predecessors: problems of causal inference from mathematical abstractions (correlations) and reification of mental entities from theoretical concepts.

Individuation of agents based on psychological properties in 10month-old infants.

What makes agents fundamentally different from each other from the viewpoint of a 10-month-old infant? While infants at this age can already individuate human-like objects from non-humanlike ones and self-propelled agents from inert objects, little is known of when and how they start individuating within the domain of agents. What is clear from previous studies is that differences in surface and dynamic features are not sufficient. We hypothesized that mental properties-in this case the agents' preferences-can serve as an individuating property. In our study, we familiarized infants with two animated agents who had different preferences. The agents sequentially and repeatedly emerged from behind an occluder, and then each agent approached one of two target objects before returning behind the occluder. After familiarization, the occluder was lifted, revealing either one agent or two agents. While infants successfully individuated the agents in the preference-demonstration condition, they failed to do so in the exposure-only condition in which perceptually similar surface and dynamic features of the agents were presented but without indicating preferences. Our study thus provides evidence that mental properties can help individuate agents, grounding the claim that infants understand agents as mental entities at their core.

Uso do significado linguístico para suporte à comunicação da informação

Introduction:Ferdinand Saussure, linguist, semiologist, philosopher and one of the main founders of semiotics, affirms that "Meaning"(significance) is a representation of something created in the mind, an association that is useful for a "Signifier" that is a psychic impression of sound. Objective:In this context, the objective of this research is to verify the feasibility of generating communication based on images formed in the mind (Signified) and what it can represent cognitively related to the Signifier using a brain-computer interface Method:A computer brain interface has been developed and a user has been tested so that it uses neuro-muscular commands and pure mental commands that invoke Signified (records in the user's mind) that represent a goal of communicating. Result:The results allow to evaluate a relationship between signified and signifier of information drawing from thebrain. Psychic images of a communication intent were linked to sound images that are also mental entities, when brain activated, are converted in “speech” (physical sound) computationally. Conclusion:The results demonstrate the feasibility of communication in this modality, which could support the basic communication needs of people who do not communicate orally

СОФІСТИЧНІ ТРАКТУВАННЯ МИСЛЕДІЯЛЬНІСНИХ МОЖЛИВОСТЕЙ УЧНІВ ПОЧАТКОВОЇ ШКОЛИ В СУЧАСНОМУ ПЕДАГОГІЧНОМУ ДИСКУРСІ

Introduction. In any field of knowledge, thinking and its stylistic manifestations play an essential role. This enables the participants of an educational pro-cess to apperceive the psychological and pedagogical prerequisites, mental entities of a cognitive activity, and real opportunities of enhancing the subject knowledge and skills that serve as a basis for conscious acquiring concepts and methods of action.Mastering subject knowledge and mental skills re-quires an understanding of the subject matter, which is considered to be a complex and methodologically signifi-cant task not only in secondary school, but also in profes-sional training of teacher-trainees. An equally important aspect related to the understanding of the nature and cognitive capabilities of "critical", and "creative" thinking is an adequate evaluation of the age-determined character-istics of learners as well as their ability to master these "types" of thinking.The purpose of this article is to assess the possibilities of applying the concepts "critical thinking" and "creative thin king" in primary school, interpreting their essential contradictions to learners' thinking abilities, preventing conceptual and semantic redundancy as a prerequisite for advanced intellectual development of primary school pupils.Among the research methods of this study, the prefer-ence is given to semantic and analytical methods of stud-ying uncertain psychological and pedagogical concepts "critical thinking", "creative thinking", and "creativity", which have been broadly employed in pedagogical dis-courses in recent decades.Results. In the article, the conceptual import of think-ing and its derived concepts, which are widely used in modern pedagogical discourse, are subject to analysis. Also, the research studies whether mental capacities of primary school learners are compatible with the defining attributes of “critical” and “creative” thinking. It is sub-stantiated that to expect primary school learners to ac-quire these "types" of thinking is futile and even incompe-tent. Moreover, the idea of “conceptual purification” is emphasized, which implies that it is essential to rid do-mestic pedagogy of “innovative’ modern terminology that actively and unequivocally fills scholarly-pedagogical and other information resources.The originality of this study is meant to rationalize and illustrate the inconsistency of the age-determined traits of primary school learners and qualitative character-istics of such concepts as "critical" and "creative" thinking, which are widely used in modern pedagogical discourses. Conclusion. The circulation of ambiguous interpreta-tions of such concepts as “critical” and “creative” (as well as “logical)” thinking that has been widely spread in the last decade, brings disorder and even terminological chaos into the system of advance psychological and ped-agogical dominants. This requires the proper streamlining of the system of concepts, derived from the concept "think-ing", in order to prevent manipulating the thinking abilities of primary school learners and their logical development in basic school.This study though far from being conclusive yet offers several insights into the issue of enhancing thinking in primary school learners. The suggested rationales are compatible with the necessity to develop critical thinking of primary school teacher-trainees so that they could adequately assess modern trends in the secondary edu-cation system, and consciously and competently respond to the calls and beliefs coming from the organizers of various events concerning the advertised strategies of fostering thinking abilities in primary school learners. This outlines an implication for further research in this domain.