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Intuitive conceptions of dead agents' minds: The natural foundations of afterlife beliefs
Title
Intuitive conceptions of dead agents' minds: The natural foundations of afterlife beliefs.
Creator
Bering, Jesse Michael, Florida Atlantic University, Bjorklund, David F.
Abstract/Description
Little is known about how the minds of dead agents are represented. In Study 1, adult participants with different types of explicit afterlife beliefs were asked in an implicit interview task whether various psychological state types (psychobiological, perceptual, emotional, desire, and epistemic states), as well as pure biological imperatives (e.g., need to eat), continue after death. The results suggest that, regardless of one's explicit reports about personal consciousness after death,...
Show moreLittle is known about how the minds of dead agents are represented. In Study 1, adult participants with different types of explicit afterlife beliefs were asked in an implicit interview task whether various psychological state types (psychobiological, perceptual, emotional, desire, and epistemic states), as well as pure biological imperatives (e.g., need to eat), continue after death. The results suggest that, regardless of one's explicit reports about personal consciousness after death, those who believe in some form of life after death (and, to a certain extent, even those who do not) implicitly represent dead agents' minds in the same way: psychobiological and perceptual states cease while emotional, desire, and epistemic states continue. The findings are interpreted according to simulation constraints---because it is epistemologically impossible to know what it is like to be dead, individuals will be most likely to attribute to dead agents those types of mental states that they cannot imagine being without. In Study 2, the developmental emergence of such reasoning was investigated. In Experiment 1, 4--6-year-olds and 6--8-year-olds were asked a series of biological questions about a dead agent (e.g., "Does his brain still work?"). Even the youngest children were likely to reason that biological processes cease at death. In Experiment 2, different, similarly aged children and also a group of 10--12-year-olds were asked a series of psychological questions about a dead agent (e.g., "Does he know that he's not alive?"). The youngest children were equally likely to reason that both cognitive (e.g., knowing) and psychobiological states (e.g., hunger) continue after death, while the oldest children were more likely to reason that cognitive states continue. Finally, in Experiment 3, both children and adults were asked about a broad array of psychological states (those used in Study 1). With the exception of the youngest children (M = 5 years), who did not distinguish between any of the psychological state types, older children (M = 11-years) and adults were most likely to attribute to dead agents epistemic, emotional, and desire states, suggesting that developmentally based mechanisms underlie implicit accounts of deceased agents' minds.
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Date Issued
2002
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11989
Subject Headings
Future life, Children--Death--Religious aspects, Cognition and culture, Cognitive psychology
Format
Document (PDF)
Ethnicity, Education, and Linguistic Effects on Verbal Fluency Tasks in American Elders
Title
Ethnicity, Education, and Linguistic Effects on Verbal Fluency Tasks in American Elders.
Creator
Zoller, Yaron Joseph, Rosselli, Monica, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description
Educational level affects various neuropsychological measures including performance on verbal fluency tasks. It is still unclear how this effect may differ across the different types of fluency tasks (i.e. animals,fruits, vegetables and clothing) and across American ethnic groups (Hispanics, Europeans, Africans, and African Carib beans) using different languages (English and Spanish). Using a sample of 140 normal elder Americans (ages 57 to 88; 38M/ 102F) divided into two education groups (7...
Show moreEducational level affects various neuropsychological measures including performance on verbal fluency tasks. It is still unclear how this effect may differ across the different types of fluency tasks (i.e. animals,fruits, vegetables and clothing) and across American ethnic groups (Hispanics, Europeans, Africans, and African Carib beans) using different languages (English and Spanish). Using a sample of 140 normal elder Americans (ages 57 to 88; 38M/ 102F) divided into two education groups (7-11 and> 12 years of education), results showed strong association with performance for education on the categories fruits and clothing and for ethnicity on the total items generated and number of switches for vegetables. Differences between Spanish and English speakers were found for the fruits category. Results suggest that the animal category is the best one to be used to reduce potential effects of education in individuals with more than 7 years of education.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000857
Subject Headings
Educational tests and measurements, Cognition--Social aspects, Cognition--Age factors, Neuropsychology--Cross-cultural studies, Ethnopsychology--Cross-cultural studies
Format
Document (PDF)
Experimental archaeology and hominid evolution: establishing a methodology for determining handedness in lithic materials as a proxy for cognitive evolution
Title
Experimental archaeology and hominid evolution: establishing a methodology for determining handedness in lithic materials as a proxy for cognitive evolution.
Creator
Ruck, Lana, Broadfield, Douglas C., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
Human handedness is likely related to brain lateralization and major cognitive innovations in human evolution. Identifying handedness in the archaeological record is, therefore, an important step in understanding our cognitive evolution. This thesis reports on experiments in identifying knapper handedness in lithic debitage. I conducted a blind study on flakes (n=631) from Acheulean handaxes replicated by right- and left-handed flintknappers. Several flake characteristics significantly...
Show moreHuman handedness is likely related to brain lateralization and major cognitive innovations in human evolution. Identifying handedness in the archaeological record is, therefore, an important step in understanding our cognitive evolution. This thesis reports on experiments in identifying knapper handedness in lithic debitage. I conducted a blind study on flakes (n=631) from Acheulean handaxes replicated by right- and left-handed flintknappers. Several flake characteristics significantly indicated handedness, with a binary logistic regression correctly predicting handedness for 71.7% of the flakes. However, other characteristics were not associated with handedness. This is a result of personal knapping styles, as additional analyses show that individual knappers associate with some attributes better than handedness does. Continued work on these methodologies will enable analysis of Paleolithic assemblages in the future, with the ultimate goal of tracking population-level hominid handedness rates through time and using them as a proxy for cognitive evolution and language acquisition.
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Date Issued
2014
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004325, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004325
Subject Headings
Archaeology, Brain -- Evolution, Cerebral dominance, Cognition and culture, Flintknapping, Fossil hominids, Human evolution, Laterality
Format
Document (PDF)
Retrieval of simple arithmetic problems in digit and verbal formats using Siegler's choice, no-choice method
Title
Retrieval of simple arithmetic problems in digit and verbal formats using Siegler's choice, no-choice method.
Creator
Daskagianni, Evangelie., Florida Atlantic University, Hecht, Steven A.
Abstract/Description
A total of 96 adults (mean age 23.5 years) solved simple arithmetic problems in digit and verbal format, using Siegler's choice, no-choice method. In the choice condition, they produced the answer and gave a self report of how they solved it. In the no-choice condition, they were asked to use only retrieval. Naming latencies of numerals in both formats were assessed. Verbal problems were solved more slowly than digit problems in all conditions but format did not interact with problem size...
Show moreA total of 96 adults (mean age 23.5 years) solved simple arithmetic problems in digit and verbal format, using Siegler's choice, no-choice method. In the choice condition, they produced the answer and gave a self report of how they solved it. In the no-choice condition, they were asked to use only retrieval. Naming latencies of numerals in both formats were assessed. Verbal problems were solved more slowly than digit problems in all conditions but format did not interact with problem size effect for reaction times. This latter result does not support an effect of presentation format on calculation processes. Participants also named faster digits than verbal numerals. Smaller reaction times and three times as many errors were associated with the no-choice compared to the choice condition. Mathematical aptitude also had an effect. High arithmetic skill was related to smaller reaction times, more retrieval use and fewer errors.
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Date Issued
2005
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13207
Subject Headings
Mathematical ability--Cross-cultural studies, Human information processing, Cognitive psychology, Educational tests and measurements
Format
Document (PDF)
Culture as a factor in the motivation of heritage speakers to study Spanish at the college level in South Florida
Title
Culture as a factor in the motivation of heritage speakers to study Spanish at the college level in South Florida.
Creator
Seiden, Carolina M., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
Abstract/Description
The purpose of this study is to understand culture as a factor in the motivation of heritage speakers of Spanish to study Spanish at the college level in South Florida. 59 participants divided into three groups of heritage speakers of Spanish at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton participated in a questionnaire survey, for a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Subjects were grouped according to the degree of involvement in Spanish-related activities at the college...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to understand culture as a factor in the motivation of heritage speakers of Spanish to study Spanish at the college level in South Florida. 59 participants divided into three groups of heritage speakers of Spanish at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton participated in a questionnaire survey, for a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Subjects were grouped according to the degree of involvement in Spanish-related activities at the college-level. The instrument was a combination of Likert-scale questions as well as open-ended questions aimed at clarifying or expanding on topics presented during the Likert-scale part of the questionnaire. The findings of this study indicate that most heritage speakers understood culture as a part of their identity. Students who were enrolled in Spanish classes were not just looking to expand their Spanish knowledge, but to re-connect and re-establish links with their cultural heritage. Finally, those who chose not to study Spanish cite as their most important reason a dislike for the Spanish language. The results revealed the following implications for the heritage speaker curriculum: the need to address the unique demographic make-up of Spanish heritage speakers in South Florida; the necessity for a consistent and reliable methodology for the identification of heritage speakers, and; the importance of instructors' sensitivity to regional and social dialect variation.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77651
Subject Headings
Cognition and culture, Spanish language, Study and teaching (Higher), Spanish speakers, Language and languages, Study and teaching (Higher), Social aspects, Language and culture, Study and teaching (Higher), Social aspects
Format
Document (PDF)
Perceptions of the environment: an ethnographic study of sensory awareness and environmental activism among south Florida yoga practitioners
Title
Perceptions of the environment: an ethnographic study of sensory awareness and environmental activism among south Florida yoga practitioners.
Creator
Weisner, Meagan L., Cameron, Mary, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
The practice of yoga is an increasingly popularized movement within the West that incorporates the desire for physical fitness, spiritual consciousness, and environmentalism. Emanating from the New Age movement, the popularity of yoga has proliferated as a subculture that seeks to encourage mind–body wellbeing while representing an ethos that assumes environmental responsibility. This thesis examines the techniques of modern yoga and the influence that asana (posture) and meditational...
Show moreThe practice of yoga is an increasingly popularized movement within the West that incorporates the desire for physical fitness, spiritual consciousness, and environmentalism. Emanating from the New Age movement, the popularity of yoga has proliferated as a subculture that seeks to encourage mind–body wellbeing while representing an ethos that assumes environmental responsibility. This thesis examines the techniques of modern yoga and the influence that asana (posture) and meditational relaxation have on the senses and subsequently on environmental awareness and activism.
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Date Issued
2015
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004418, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004418
Subject Headings
Cognition and culture, Environmental psychology, Mind and body, Movement therapy, Philosophy of mind, Self consciousness (Awareness), Senses and sensation, Sensorimotor integration, Yoga
Format
Document (PDF)