The McGurk illusion occurs when listeners hear an illusory percept, resulting from mismatched pairings of audiovisual speech stimuli. Hearing a third percept—distinct from both the auditory and visual input—has been used as evidence of AV fusion. We examined whether the McGurk illusion is instead driven by visual dominance, whereby the third percept, e.g., “da,” represents a default percept for visemes with an ambiguous place of articulation, like/ga/. Participants watched videos of a talker uttering various consonant vowels with and without audios (...) of/ba/. Individuals transcribed the CV they saw or heard. In the V-only condition, individuals predominantly saw “da”/“ta” when viewing CVs with indiscernible POAs. Likewise, in the AV condition, upon perceiving an illusion, they predominantly heard “da”/“ta” for CVs with indiscernible POAs. The illusion was stronger in individuals who exhibited weak/ba/auditory encoding. In Experiment2, we attempted to replicate these findings using stimuli recorded from a different talker. The V-only results were not replicated, but again individuals predominately heard “da”/“ta”/“tha” as an illusory percept for various AV combinations, and the illusion was stronger in individuals who exhibited weak/ba/auditory encoding. These results demonstrate that when visual CVs with indiscernible POAs are paired with a weakly encoded auditory/ba/, listeners default to hearing “da”/“ta”/“tha”—thus, tempering the AV fusion account, and favoring a default mechanism triggered when both AV stimuli are ambiguous. (shrink)

Morality – the subjective sense that humans discern between right and wrong – plays a ubiquitous role in everyday life. Deontological reasoning conceptualizes moral decision-making as rigid, such that many moral choices are forbidden or required. Not surprisingly, the language used in measures of deontological reasoning tends to be rigid, including phrases such as “always” and “never.” Two studies drawn from two different populations used commonly used measures of moral reasoning and measures of morality to examine the link between individual (...) differences in deontological reasoning and language on the endorsement of moral foundations. Participants low on deontological reasoning generally showed less endorsement for moral principles when extreme language was used in the measures. (shrink)

The present research examines whether the perceived uniqueness of one’s thoughts and salience of uniqueness motivations can influence attitude strength and resistance. Participants who rated their thoughts as relatively unique formed attitudes that showed greater correspondence with behavioral intentions to act on the attitude (Study 1). In Study 2, participants who recalled a previous purchase motivated by the desire to be unique (versus to fit in) after generating message counterarguments were less persuaded (more resistant) and reported greater willingness to act (...) on their (negative) attitude. Moreover, attitudes mediated the effect of the purchase manipulation on intentions to act on the attitude. (shrink)

What does it mean to consider the world of AI through a Christian lens? Rapid developments in AI continue to reshape society, raising new ethical questions and challenging our understanding of the human person. Encountering Artificial Intelligence draws on Pope Francis’ discussion of a culture of encounter and broader themes in Catholic social thought in order to examine how current AI applications affect human relationships in various social spheres and offers concrete recommendations for better implementation. The document also explores questions (...) regarding personhood, consciousness, and the kinds of relationships humans might have with even the most advanced AI. Through these discussions, this book investigates the theoretical and practical challenges to interpersonal encounter raised by the age of AI. (AI Research Group for the Centre for Digital Culture of the Dicastery of Culture and Education of the Holy See). (shrink)

Prenatal ultrasound use is skyrocketing despite limited evidence of improved outcomes. One factor driving this trend is the widely recognized psychological appeal of real-time fetal imaging. Meanwhile, considering imperfect safety evidence, U.S. professional guidelines dictate that prenatal ultrasound—a screening test—should be governed by expected clinical benefits—an opportunity for intervention. However, when women’s healthcare professionals themselves are pregnant, their access to ultrasound technology permits informal, personal use that may deviate from standard-of-care, e.g., for reassurance. Highlighting a poignant case wherein a pregnant (...) obstetrician’s personal ultrasound use had unforeseen negative consequences, we explore this issue within context of professional ethics and informal medical care. We discuss how women’s health professionals’ self-care may influence and inform prenatal care at large. We advocate curtailing informal prenatal ultrasound use, but also potentially broadening accepted indications for or relaxing proscriptions against ultrasounds for patients. Further research and updated, evidence-based, ethically-sound guidelines are needed. (shrink)

The main feature of Whitebook's reply is that he does not give an inch and, more convinced than ever, keeps charging the windmills of redemption and revolution with the same lame theoretical weapons he had previously deployed. Only this time, he seeks reinforcements by appealing to the “heavies”: Habermas, Castoriadis and Heller. Since multiplying zero by any figure still yields zero, no substantive progress has been made. It would be futile to reiterate the same objections once again. Rather, to move (...) the debate beyond dead center it may be helpful to pose new questions, e.g., in terms of the status of the concepts employed and the political consequences they entail. (shrink)

Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs) are a framework for compactly representing uncertainties (actually probabilities). They result from the combination of Bayesian Networks (BNs), Object-Oriented languages, and relational models. They are specifically designed for their efficient construction, maintenance and exploitation for very large scale problems, where BNs are known to perform poorly. Actually, in large-scale problems, it is often the case that BNs result from the combination of patterns (small BN fragments) repeated many times. PRMs exploit this feature by defining these patterns (...) only once (the so-called PRM’s classes) and using them through multiple instances, as prescribed by the Object-Oriented paradigm. This design induces low construction and maintenance costs. In addition, by exploiting the classes’ structures, PRM’s state-of-the-art inference algorithm “Structured Variable Elimination” (SVE) significantly outperforms BN’s classical inference algorithms (e.g., Variable Elimination, VE; Local Conditioning, LC). SVE is actually an extension of VE that simply exploits classes to avoid redundant computations. In this article, we show that SVE can be enhanced using LC. Although LC is often thought as being outperformed by VE-like algorithms in BNs, we do think that it should play an important role for PRMs because its features are very well suited for best exploiting PRM classes. In this article, relying on Faÿ and Jaffray’s works, we show how LC can be used in conjunction with VE and deduce an extension of SVE that outperforms it for large-scale problems. Numerical experiments highlight the practical efficiency of our algorithm. (shrink)

Conventional wisdom has it that there is — or at least there ought to be — a correspondence between theoretical and political positions. But the very labelling of it as conventional wisdom already betrays its falsity. Sure enough, any careful examination of the record readily reveals that this correspondence hardly ever obtains. No such parallel can be drawn for the Hegelians who split into Right and Left wings with qualitatively different positions, e.g., the German Young Hegelians and the British neo-Hegelians (...) at the end of the last century. Nor is that true for Marxists who bifurcated into Social Democrats and Bolsheviks, or for the existentialists who produced Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, as well as Kierkegaard and Marcel. (shrink)

Background: COVID-19 has taken many lives worldwide and due to this, millions of persons are in grief. When the grief process lasts longer than 6 months, the person is in risk of developing Complicated Grief Disorder. The CGD is related to serious health consequences. To reduce the probability of developing CGD a preventive intervention could be applied. In developing countries like Mexico, the psychological services are scarce, self-applied interventions could provide support to solve this problem and reduce the health impact (...) even after the pandemic has already finished.Aims: To design and implement a self-applied intervention composed of 12 modules focused on the decrease of the risk of developing CGD, and increasing the life quality, and as a secondary objective to reduce the symptomatology of anxiety, depression, and increase of sleep quality. The Intervention Duelo COVID follows the principles of User Experience and is designed according to the needs and desires of a sample of the objective participants, to increase the adherence to the self-applied intervention, considered one of the main weaknesses of online interventions.Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial will be conducted from the 22nd of December of 2020 to the first of June 2021. The participants will be assigned to an intervention with elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness and Positive Psychology. The control group will be a wait-list condition, that will receive the intervention 1.5–2 months after the pre-measurement were taken. The Power Size Calculation conducted through G*Power indicated the need for a total of 42 participants, which will be divided by 21 participants in each group. The platform will be delivered through responsive design assuring with this that the intervention will adapt to the screen size of cellphones, tablets, and computers.Ethics and Dissemination: The study counts with the approval of the Research Ethics Committee of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, México, and it is registered in Clinical Trials. The article is sent and registered in clinical trials before the recruitment started. The results will be reported in future conferences, scientific publications, and media. (shrink)

Conscience – a catholic anthropological vision In the catholic tradition conscience always played an important role as visible in the ‘clausula Petri’ (Ac 5,30-33) or in Paul’s belief in its wisdom (Rm 2,14-16). Conscience can break rules (‘epikeia’), but should not stand up against the church as such. Luther’s historical deed left behind a distrust in conscience in the Catholic Church; it took 400 years to restore Paul’s vision of the conscience as the highest authority – if it is formed (...) and reaches the state of maturity. By his conscience, man is called to be as God created him; he is called by others to develop and to respect their dignity. He is also called by the world to form it according to its higher possibilities which cannot be realized but by man. Conscience is God’s voice in the person where his promises can be heard. Though conscience is free, it is the place where responsibility is formed according to what someone can and should do. This is why the conscience will keep its unavoidable and undeniable role – even in a postmodern context. (shrink)

Psychologists, as well as other mental health professionals, face unique demands in the workplace that create increased risk for burnout. This article discusses burnout prevalence and detection, including issues of complexity regarding diagnosis and assessment. An ethical lens is utilized to explore problems that may arise due to burnout, and the ethical responsibility of practicing self-care. Recommendations for graduate clinical training programs as well as practicing professionals are suggested, including strategies for monitoring self and others for warning signs of burnout (...) and implementing self-care. (shrink)

Tirant son titre du prochain manifeste à paraître des deux auteurs, ce bref article met en relief la complicité intellectuelle entre Stefano Harney et Fred Moten au sein de nos sensibilités contemporaines. Il suggère quelques façons de les entendre dialoguer ensemble – entre eux, avec nous, parmi nous.

Decentralized biobanking “de-bi” applies blockchain technology and web3 values to embed the procedural principles of transparency, accountability, and inclusion into the biomedical research ecosyst...

El presente trabajo propone analizar la manera en que Agustín de Hipona recepciona el pensamiento de Tertuliano, autor cristiano latino, también africano, del que lo separan unos 200 años. Las principales menciones al cartaginés tienen lugar en la crítica agustiniana a la concepción de la corporeidad del alma defendida por Tertuliano. A fin de poder analizar los argumentos y los conceptos filosóficos utilizados por el hiponense en el desarrollo de su crítica presentamos, en primer lugar, una breve introducción a Tertuliano (...) (c. 160- c. 220), deteniéndonos en algunos pasajes cruciales de su obra titulada _De anima_ (208/210). En segundo lugar, nos dedicamos a presentar y analizar la discusión que lleva adelante Agustín respecto de la tesis de la corporeidad del alma humana en _De Genesi ad litteram _(finalizado hacia el 415)_,_ y en _De anima et eius origine, _escrita posteriormente, entre 419 y 420. Evaluamos entonces la posición del hiponense respecto de la hipótesis traducionista sobre el alma humana, ciertamente vinculada al corporalismo defendido por Tertuliano. (shrink)

Should nurses have their own ethics to match specific problems met in their daily routines? How do nurses act in a society that is changing from a 'monocultural' to an 'intercultural' structure? What are the ethical consequences of these changes for their many tasks? How can the ethical aspects be taught to nurses? This article describes the current status of nursing ethics in the curriculum taught in schools of higher education for nurses in The Netherlands. Aspects of the debate on (...) nursing ethics are outlined and ideas about its future as a subject and discipline in nurse education are offered. Est-ce que le personnel infirmier doit avoir son éthique à soi pour faire face aux problèmes spécifiques dans la routine journalière? Et comment les infirmiers/ères se comportent-ils dans une société qui est en train de changer de la 'monoculture' en 'interculture'? Quels sont les conséquences éthiques de leur tâches? Comment peuvent ces aspets éthiques être enseignés aux infirmiers/ères? Cet article parle de l'état courant de l'éthique infirmier dans l'enseignement dans les écoles de l'education supérieure pour infirmiers/ères en Hollande. En plus, il donne une esquisse de la discussion sur l'éthique infirmier et donne quelques idées pour le futur de l'éthique infirmier comme sujet et discipline en soi dans l'éducation des infirmiers/ères. Sollte das Pflegepersonal seine eigene Ethik haben um den spezifischen Problemen seiner täglichen Routine gewachsen zu sein? Wie soll das Pflegepersonal in einer Gesellschaft handeln, die im Wechsel ist von einer 'Monokultur' zu einer 'Interkultur'? Was sind die ethischen Konsequenzen ihres handeln? Wie können diese ethischen Aspekte dem Pflegepersonal gelehrt werden? Dieser Artikel beschreibt den gegenwärtigen Zustand der Krankenpflege-Ethik im Lehrplan der Schulen für Höhere Ausbildung für Pflegepersonal in Holland. Er gibt auch einen Umriss über die Debatte über Krankenpflege-Ethik und formuliert einige Ideen für die Zukunft der Krankenpflege- Ethik als ein Thema und eine Disziplin in der Ausbildung des Pflegepersonals. (shrink)

Most decision-making research in economics focuses on individual decisions. Yet, we know, from psychological research in particular, that individual preferences can be sensitive to social pressures. In this paper, we study the impact of a group environment on individual preferences for risky and ambiguous prospects. In our experiment, each participant was invited to make a series of lottery-choice decisions in two different conditions. In the Alone condition, individuals made private choices, whereas in the Group condition, individuals belonged to a three-person (...) group and group members’ choices were aggregated according to either a majority or unanimity rule. This design allows us to study the impact of a group environment on individuals’ attitude towards both risky and ambiguous prospects, while controlling for the decision rule used in the group. Our experimental results show that when individuals are in the Group condition, they tend to be less risk averse and more ambiguity averse than when they are not part of a group. Our experiment also suggests that the decision rule matters as it shows that these two trends tend to be stronger when the group implements a unanimity rule. Specifically, we found that individuals who belong to a group implementing a unanimity rule are significantly less risk averse than individuals who belong to a group that relies on the majority rule. We obtained a similar—but non-significant—result under ambiguity. (shrink)

Pasteur, théologien, philosophe cartésien et éditeur d’ouvrages spirituels, Pierre Poiret occupe un statut particulier et original dans l’histoire des idées religieuses : il incarne le rôle du « passeur spirituel », celui dont la mission est de transmettre à la postérité l’héritage des auteurs mystiques. Poiret n’est pas un mystique, mais un spécialiste de la « théologie mystique ». Mais qu’est-ce que le mot mystique désigne pour un protestant français du Refuge résidant en Hollande? Par quels moyens, selon Poiret, la (...) théologie mystique peut sortir de sa niche et s’adresser à un public élargi, toute confession confondue? Et encore, en quelle mesure son activité d’éditeur s’inscrit dans le cadre des querelles sur la mystique qui ont marqué la fin du xviie siècle? Telles sont les questions auxquelles cet article tentera de répondre. (shrink)

Realist dialetheism is the view that there are contradictions in reality. One argument against this idea says that it is impossible because it has to make room for the possibility of a trivial reality, which is metaphysically impossible. Another argument against it says that the metaphysical structure of reality is such that it is impossible to have contradictions in it. I argue here that both arguments fail to establish the impossibility of realist dialetheism because they are based on a misconception (...) about the notions of negation and contradiction, which leads them, in the first case, to wrongly hold that dialetheism has to be compatible with trivialism, and, in the second case, to assume that the validity of the Aristotelian principle of non-contradiction prevents the existence of dialetheias. (shrink)

Disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality for Latinx populations are a paradigmatic example of the now widely acknowledged structural racism in U.S. health care that predisposed minorities to...

The article is a continuation of a paper published in “Etyka”, vol. 21, Concepts of Man in the Náhuatlan Culture and contains an overview of the fundamental types of education provided by the Aztecs, with special emphasis on moral ideals. The investigation of Indian education not only furthers historical knowledge but also plays a role in the search of the origins of the specific religious, moral and behavioural expression of contemporary Mexico, due to the fact that some elements of the (...) education preceding the Spanish conquest became an integral part of the culture of that country. The analysis to which this article bears a testimony permits the author to say that before the conquest, the Aztecs had an integral educational system, an ideal to be put into practice, adequate institutions, competent teachers, didactic material elaborated by specialists. Skill formation practised at all levels of education, was complemented by moral instruction and intellectual, religious and aesthetic guidance. The norms inculcated through training had been worked out through the ages in the náhuatl tribes and served to protect the principal values of the family and social life. They had the function of elementary moral rules and emerged from the conditions of the perennial culture of Mexican Indians. Aside from setting models of behaviour and values, the norms that the author finds in all forms of education display some differentiation which is a reflection of the multi-layered, complex structure of that culture. It embraced two different lifestyles and two ideals. Beneath the dominant religious and military habits of the Aztecs survived the old morality of the Toltecs, preserved most conspicuously in the traditional norms of family life. It has also been expressed in the poetry of the 16th and early 17th centuries. (shrink)

The article discusses a concrete case of historiosophic theodicy, viz. the conception of August Cieszkowski, in order to present the structure of such conceptions and discuss theoretic and practical problems involved in them. The starting point of Cieszkowski’s deliberations on evil is a historical fact. To substantiate for his historiosophic optimism Cleszkowski must find not only the sense of the times in which he was living but must also explain the past, with all its moral evil: social catastrophes, misery, suffering, (...) and toil of the millions of people. Concentration on historical facts does not eliminate from the scope of his deliberations the problem of God’s acceptance of evil. This problem is simply shifted to another plane of reflections. (shrink)

Søren Kierkegaard verweigert dezidiert die Standards akademischen Schreibens und betont die Unumgänglichkeit von "indirekter Mitteilung", wenn es um Glaubenswahrheit geht: Das Bemühen um stringente Argumentation und definitorisch gesicherte Termini führe zu Abstraktheit und Fixierung. Damit sei es indifferent gegenüber der einzigartigen und veränderlichen existentiellen Konstellation des Individuums. Kierkegaard geht es vielmehr darum, wie man die eigenständige, persönliche Sinnfindung des Gesprächspartners anregen kann, ohne dies durch die eigene Rede zu beeinflussen. Das Buch untersucht, welche sprachlichen und textuellen Maßnahmen diesem Programm geschuldet (...) sind. Mit Rekurs auf das Denken des theologisch weitgehend abstinenten Ludwig Wittgenstein wird deutlich, daß dieses Problem nicht nur religiöse Rede affiziert und daß das Ideal direkter Mitteilung fragwürdig ist. Es ergeben sich Konvergenzen zwischen den beiden Autoren, die bis in semiotische und epistemologische Implikationen reichen und den Unterschied zwischen Glauben und Wissen neu diskutieren lassen. (shrink)

La denominada “crisis ambiental” que advierte sobre los límites materiales del planeta ha dado lugar a una extensa producción teórica durante décadas. Producción que, como regla general, ha relegado la relectura de los textos clásicos de las ciencias sociales. El presente artículo rescata algunos debates contemporáneos relacionados con la lectura en clave ecológica de la obra de Marx. Obra que adquiere especial importancia al momento de comprender las formas que toma la explotación de la naturaleza bajo el sistema capitalista, problemática (...) resignificada en el marco de las discusiones actuales sobre sustentabilidad ambiental. (shrink)

The fragility of the subject is a recurring issue in the work of Anne Enright, one of Ireland's most remarkable and innovative writers. It is this specific interest, together with her attempt to make women into subjects, that inevitably links her work to Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger's theory of the matrixial borderspace, a feminine sphere that coexists with the Lacanian symbolic order and that, even before our entrance into this linguistic system, informs our subjectivity. By turning to a point in time before (...) language—the encounter between “self” and “other” during pregnancy—both Enright and Ettinger test the boundaries of and the gaps within the linguistic system. It is the going before language that ultimately enables both to go beyond some of the most persistent dualisms present within the linguistic system and to create room for an alternative—a feminine—understanding of the ethical relationality between self and other. (shrink)

The assumption in current U.S. mainstream medicine is that birthing requires hospitalization. In fact, while the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists supports the right of every birthing person to make a medically informed decision about their delivery, they do not recommend home birth owing to data indicating greater neonatal morbidity and mortality. In this article, we examine the evidence surrounding home birth in the United States and its current limitations, as well as the ethical considerations around birth setting.

Job motivation remains an area of concern among researchers due to the rising issues of poor or lack of motivation among workers. This refers to one’s personal will or drives to perform a task at work. Meanwhile, job satisfaction refers to an employee’s sense of fulfillment with his or her work experience. Therefore, the current study utilized the descriptive- correlational research design to investigate the impact of job motivation on the job satisfaction of accountants. To gather essential data and achieve (...) the objectives of the study, Multidimensional Work Motivational Scale (MWMS) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) were administered to the target respondents. The collected data were then analyzed using a Multiple Regression Analysis; findings revealed that job motivation has a significant impact on the job satisfaction of accountants. Additionally, the results of this study were carefully evaluated and discussed, and recommendations were made to benefit the stakeholders of the study and contribute to the existing body of knowledge. (shrink)