Nativist Intuitions

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Iris Berent
Keyword(s):  
Considerable Evidence ◽  
Infant Research ◽  
Scientific Hypothesis ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
Innate Ideas ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Cognitive Traits ◽  
Noncognitive Traits ◽  
Nonhuman Species

Having shown that innate knowledge is a viable scientific hypothesis with considerable evidence in its support, the next three chapters examine laypeople’s intuitions about innate knowledge. We describe a series of experiments that contrasts people’s intuitions about the origins of cognitive traits (those that capture knowledge) and noncognitive traits (either sensory, motor, or emotive capacities). Results show that people believe that cognitive traits are not innate. People maintain these convictions even when they are provided with detailed descriptions of experiments from infant research (those reviewed in previous chapters), complete with an explanation of the rationale and method; while science clearly suggests these principles are present in newborns, people insist that they aren’t. Other results demonstrate that our antinativist intuitions are a bias, as people maintain these intuitions despite explicit evidence to the contrary, and even when they are presented with innate knowledge of nonhuman species. These results show that people are systematically and selectively biased against innate ideas.

scholarly journals People’s Intuitions About Innateness

Open Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Berent ◽  
Melanie Platt ◽  
Gwendolyn M. Sandoboe
Keyword(s):  
Human Cognition ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Traits

Few questions in science are as controversial as the origins of knowledge. Whether knowledge (e.g., “objects are cohesive”) is partly innate has been debated for centuries. Here, we ask whether our difficulties with innate knowledge could be grounded in human cognition itself. In eight experiments, we compared reasoning about the innateness of traits that capture knowledge (cognitive traits) with noncognitive (sensorimotor and emotive) traits. Experiments 1–4 examined adult and infant traits; Experiment 5 presented detailed descriptions of published infant experiments. Results showed that people viewed cognitive traits as less likely to be innate in humans—the stronger the association with “thinking,” the lower the rating for “innateness.” Experiments 6–8 explored human, bird, and alien traits that were presented as innate. Participants, however, still considered cognitive traits as less likely to emerge spontaneously (i.e., be innate). These results show that people are selectively biased in reasoning about the origins of knowledge.

Toward a Comparative Psychology of Music Perception

1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart H. Hulse ◽  
Suzanne C. Page
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Comparative Psychology ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Musical Structure ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
New Information ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Psychology Of Music ◽  
Nonhuman Species

Musicians and ethnomusicologists have long been interested in the idea of musical universals, the proposition that features of musical structure are common to the music of all human cultures. Recently, the development of new techniques and new theory makes it possible to ask whether the perceptual principles underlying music span not just human cultures but also other nonhuman species. A series of experiments addressing this issue from a comparative perspective show that a songbird, the European starling, can perceive pitch relations, a form of musical universal. However, the species transposes pitch relations across large shifts in tone height with difficulty. Instead, songbirds show a preference for learning pitch patterns on the basis of the absolute pitch of component tones. These results suggest further comparative studies of music perception may be especially worthwhile, not just for gathering new information about animals, but also for highlighting the principles that make human music perception unique.

Contemporary Concept Nativism: Some Methodological Remarks

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 96-109
Author(s):  
Ilya Y. Bulov
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Classical Problem ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
Innate Ideas ◽  
History Of

The innate knowledge problem is a classical problem in philosophy, which has been known since the classical antiquity. Plato in his dialogues Meno and Phaedo formulated the doctrine of innate ideas and proposed an early version of the poverty of the stimulus argument, which is the most frequently used argument in innate knowledge debates. In the history of philosophy there was also an opposite view. This approach is often associated with J. Locke’s philosophy. Locke thought that all our knowledge about the world is a product of the universal learning mechanisms whose functioning is based on perception. The question about the presence of innate ideas in the human mind still remains relevant. New findings in cognitive science and neurosciences and also some recent arguments from philosophers contribute to the contemporary discussion between the spokesmen of the rival approaches to this problem. The paper presents the investigation of one of the approaches to solving the problem of innate concepts, which is called a “concept nativism.” It highlights the outstanding characteristics of the concept nativism: (a) domain specificity position, (b) belief that domain-specific mechanisms of learning are innate and (c) belief that at least some concepts are innate. The article also proposes an analysis of notions “innateness” and “idea” which is important for understanding nativists’ approach to innate ideas theory. And finally, it describes the most popular nativists’ arguments: (a) references to empirical studies using the preferential looking technique, (b) the poverty of the stimulus argument and (c) the argument from animals.

scholarly journals How we reason about innateness: the role of Dualism and Essentialism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Berent ◽  
Melanie Platt ◽  
Gwendolyn M. Sandoboe
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Core Knowledge ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
Innate Ideas ◽  
Cognitive Traits ◽  
First Time

Few questions are as controversial as the origins of knowledge. Here, we examine whether reasoning about innate ideas is shaped by systematic cognitive biases. Previous research suggests that humans possess core knowledge systems that distinguish minds and matter (Dualism), and they assign living things an immutable material essence (Essentialism). These two systems collide in reasoning about cognitive nativism. If, in naïve psychology (a) cognitive traits are immaterial (per Dualism), whereas (b) innate traits must be material (per Essentialism), then (c) cognitive traits cannot be innate. Experiments 1-8 support each of these three hypotheses. These results show for the first time that reasoning about innateness is causally linked to the perceived immateriality of cognitive traits and the materiality of innate traits. While our findings (from adults) cannot ascertain the origin of these biases, they do open up the possibility that our difficulties to reason about innate ideas might be grounded deep within human cognition itself.

Human Impedance Perception through Sensory-Motor Integration

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Tsuji ◽  
◽  
Yoshiyuki Tanaka ◽  
Tatsuya Abe ◽  
Hideki Miyaguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Cerebellar Ataxia ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Somatosensory Information ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Series Of Experiments

We studied human impedance perception during manipulation of an impedance-controlled robot. Through a series of experiments with healthy subjects and a patient with cerebellar ataxia to compare their perception ability, focusing on visual and somatosensory information and motor control. Our results showed that motor control and somatosensory information play an important role in impedance perception.

X-ray microanalysis of thin specimens in the transmission electron microscope at voltages up to 1000 Kv.

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 540-541
Author(s):  
G. Cliff ◽  
M.J. Nasir ◽  
G.W. Lorimer ◽  
N. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Weight Fraction ◽  
Present Series ◽  
Constant Independent ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Image Position ◽  
X Ray Absorption

In a specimen which is transmission thin to 100 kV electrons - a sample in which X-ray absorption is so insignificant that it can be neglected and where fluorescence effects can generally be ignored (1,2) - a ratio of characteristic X-ray intensities, I1/I2 can be converted into a weight fraction ratio, C1/C2, using the equationwhere k12 is, at a given voltage, a constant independent of composition or thickness, k12 values can be determined experimentally from thin standards (3) or calculated (4,6). Both experimental and calculated k12 values have been obtained for K(11<Z>19),kα(Z>19) and some Lα radiation (3,6) at 100 kV. The object of the present series of experiments was to experimentally determine k12 values at voltages between 200 and 1000 kV and to compare these with calculated values.The experiments were carried out on an AEI-EM7 HVEM fitted with an energy dispersive X-ray detector.

Immunogold localization of calmodulin in root caps of the maize Cultivar Merit

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 674-675
Author(s):  
P.T. Nguyen ◽  
C. Uphoff ◽  
C.L. Stinemetz
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Binding ◽  
Calcium Transport ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Immunogold Localization ◽  
Root Tips ◽  
Electrical Currents ◽  
Considerable Evidence ◽  
Maize Cultivar ◽  
Gravity Response ◽  
Induced Changes

Considerable evidence suggest that the calcium-binding protein calmodulin (CaM) may mediate calcium action and/or transport important in the gravity response of plants. Calmodulin is present in both shoots and roots and is capable of regulating calcium transport in plant vesicles. In roots calmodulin is concentrated in the tip, the gravisensing region of the root; and is reported to be closely associated with amyloplasts, organelles suggested to play a primary role in gravi-perception. Inhibitors of CaM such as chlorpromazine, calmidazolium, and compound 48/80 interfere with the gravitropic response of both snoots and roots. The magnitude of the inhibition corresponded well with the extent to which the drug binds to endogenous CaM. Compound 48/80 and calmidazolium block gravi-induced changes in electrical currents across root tips, a phenomenon thought to be associated with the sensing of the gravity stimulus.In this study, we have investigated the subcellular distribution of CaM in graviresponsive and non-graviresponsive root caps of the maize cultivar Merit.

Slip traces caused by plastic deformation during recrystallization of thin metal sheets

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 620-621
Author(s):  
H. Lin ◽  
D. P. Pope
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
Sample Thickness ◽  
List Type ◽  
Metal Sheets ◽  
Second Phases ◽  
Slip Traces ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Cold Rolled ◽  
Individual Grains

During a study of mechanical properties of recrystallized B-free Ni3Al single crystals, regularly spaced parallel traces within individual grains were discovered on the surfaces of thin recrystallized sheets, see Fig. 1. They appeared to be slip traces, but since we could not find similar observations in the literature, a series of experiments was performed to identify them. We will refer to them “traces”, because they contain some, if not all, of the properties of slip traces. A variety of techniques, including the Electron Backscattering Pattern (EBSP) method, was used to ascertain the composition, geometry, and crystallography of these traces. The effect of sample thickness on their formation was also investigated.In summary, these traces on the surface of recrystallized Ni3Al have the following properties:1.The chemistry and crystallographic orientation of the traces are the same as the bulk. No oxides or other second phases were observed.2.The traces are not grooves caused by thermal etching at previous locations of grain boundaries.3.The traces form after recrystallization (because the starting Ni3Al is a single crystal).4.For thicknesses between 50 μm and 720 μm, the density of the traces increases as the sample thickness decreases. Only one set of “protrusion-like” traces is visible in a given grain on the thicker samples, but multiple sets of “cliff-like” traces are visible on the thinner ones (See Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).5.They are linear and parallel to the traces of {111} planes on the surface, see Fig. 3.6.Some of the traces terminate within the interior of the grains, and the rest of them either terminate at or are continuous across grain boundaries. The portion of latter increases with decreasing thickness.7.The grain size decreases with decreasing thickness, the decrease is more pronounced when the grain size is comparable with the thickness, Fig. 4.8.Traces also formed during the recrystallization of cold-rolled polycrystalline Cu thin sheets, Fig. 5.

Dissection of the molecular mechanisms of protein targeting to the peroxisome using immunofluorescence and immunocryoelectron microscopies

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-45
Author(s):  
G-A. Keller ◽  
S. J. Gould ◽  
S. Subramani ◽  
S. Krisans
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Protein Targeting ◽  
Firefly Luciferase ◽  
Peroxisomal Enzyme ◽  
Transfected Cells ◽  
Peroxisomal Targeting ◽  
Targeting Signal ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Peroxisomal Targeting Signal

Subcellular compartments within eukaryotic cells must each be supplied with unique sets of proteins that must be directed to, and translocated across one or more membranes of the target organelles. This transport is mediated by cis- acting targeting signals present within the imported proteins. The following is a chronological account of a series of experiments designed and carried out in an effort to understand how proteins are targeted to the peroxisomal compartment.-We demonstrated by immunocryoelectron microscopy that the enzyme luciferase is a peroxisomal enzyme in the firefly lantern. -We expressed the cDNA encoding firefly luciferase in mammalian cells and demonstrated by immunofluorescence that the enzyme was transported into the peroxisomes of the transfected cells. -Using deletions, linker insertions, and gene fusion to identify regions of luciferase involved in its transport to the peroxisomes, we demonstrated that luciferase contains a peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS) within its COOH-terminal twelve amino acid.

Effect of furnace atmosphere and silica content on the consolidation behaviour of magnesia partially stabilised zirconia

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1056-1057
Author(s):  
J. Drennan ◽  
R.H.J. Hannink ◽  
D.R. Clarke ◽  
T.M. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Silica Content ◽  
Liquid Phase Sintering ◽  
Furnace Atmosphere ◽  
Boundary Phase ◽  
Analytical Electron ◽  
Analytical Electron Microscope ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Compositional Gradients ◽  
Mobile Liquid

Magnesia partially stabilised zirconia (Mg-PSZ) ceramics are renowned for their excellent nechanical properties. These are effected by processing conditions and purity of starting materials. It has been previously shown that small additions of strontia (SrO) have the effect of removing the major contaminant, silica (SiO2).The mechanism by which this occurs is not fully understood but the strontia appears to form a very mobile liquid phase at the grain boundaries. As the sintering reaches the final stages the liquid phase is expelled to the surface of the ceramic. A series of experiments, to examine the behaviour of the liquid grain boundary phase, were designed to produce compositional gradients across the ceramic bodies. To achieve this, changes in both silica content and furnace atmosphere were implemented. Analytical electron microscope techniques were used to monitor the form and composition of the phases developed. This paper describes the results of our investigation and the presentation will discuss the work with reference to liquid phase sintering of ceramics in general.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document