Brain processes and social processes are not as separated as many of our Social Psychology and Neuroscience departments. This paper discusses the potential contribution of social neuroscience to the development of a multi-level, dynamic, and context-sensitive approach to prejudice. Specifically, the authors review research on event related potentials during social bias, stereotypes, and social attitudes measurements, showing that electrophysiological methods are powerful tools for analyzing the temporal fine-dynamics of psychological processes involved in implicit and explicit prejudice. Meta-theoretical implications are drawn (...) regarding the social psychological modeling of social attitudes, and for the integration of social neuroscience into a multi-level account of cultural behavior. (shrink)

Background: Several authors have focused on the aesthetics of nursing care from diverse perspectives; however, there are few studies about the sublime and the beautiful in nursing. Aim: To identify beautiful and sublime moments in the context of the aesthetics of nursing care. Methods: A theoretical reflection has been contemplated about sublime and beautiful values in the context of the aesthetics of nursing care from the cultural history perspective. For that purpose, a revision of this issue has been completed. The (...) terms ‘beautiful’ and ‘sublime’ have been analysed to identify the characteristics of both in the context of nursing care. Ethical consideration: We have followed all ethical requirements regarding the sources, conducting research and authorship. There is no conflict of interest in this paper. Results: With aesthetic knowledge, the nurse expresses the artistic nature of nursing care by appreciating the act of caring for individuals. The sublime is a complex phenomenon, since apparently contrary feelings are interwoven. Nursing care is an art with an anthropological object-subject on which the ‘artist’ applies their prior knowledge and skills. Feelings and emotions that develop during the clinical nursing practice – especially at times sublime and beautiful, aesthetic – constitute experiences which are professionally significant. (shrink)

Aim: The presence of noise in urban environments is rarely considered a factor that causes damage to the environment. The primary generating source is transportation means, with vehicles being the ones that affect cities the most. Traffic noise has a particular influence on the quality of life of those who are exposed to it and can cause health alterations ranging from annoyance to cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to describe the relationship between the traffic noise level and the perceived annoyance (...) in the inhabitants of a city on the Northern Border of Mexico. The work carried out in a city represents the vulnerability characteristics: economic, social, and migratory of its sizable portion of the inhabitants. Due to that, it is impossible to identify precisely the number of residents as the number of vehicles in circulation.Methods: The streets and avenues with an annual average daily traffic of more than 1,000 vehicles were considered for the measurement of traffic noise. The equipment used was a vehicle gauge with non-invasive speed radar; type I integrating sound level meters, with their respective gauges and tripods. A questionnaire was applied to people living within 250 m of the streets and avenues in which the noise was measured.Results: The noise measurement found a parameter of LAeq estimated for 12 h during the day, exceeding 70 dBA. The data received from the questionnaire were statistically tested by using Pearson's correlation tests. A total number of 2,350 people were participated, of whom 1,378 were women and 972 were men. The age of participants is ranged from 18 to 75 years. The overall perception of traffic noise annoyance identified that 1,131 participants responded “Yes” as they considered the noise annoying. Participants who responded “No” as well as those who responded “Do not know” resulted in a total of 1,219 people.Conclusion: The results show that the population is desensitized to traffic noise and does not perceive it as an annoyance. The flow of vehicles and the type of vehicles are the significant factors for the propagation and increase in the traffic noise levels. Women present a considerable appreciation of traffic noise perception instead of younger people who demonstrate a higher tolerance to high-level exposure. This reflects the lack of information of the population around the noise problem and its effects. (shrink)

This book joins the contemporary recovery of Kant’s empirical works to highlight the relevance of his concept of culture for understanding the sources of various characteristic modern dilemmas, such as the tension between culture and happiness, the morally ambivalent nature of cultural progress, or the existing conflicts between a factual plurality of cultures and the historical forces pressing toward a universal civilization. The book will be of special interest for Kantian scholars, moral and political philosophers, as well as philosophers of (...) culture. (shrink)

This volume is a serious attempt to open up the subject of European philosophy of science to real thought, and provide the structural basis for the ...

This book analyzes the role of language in scientific research and develops the semantics of science from different angles. The philosophical investigation of the volume is divided into four parts, which covers both basic science and applied science: I) The Problem of Reference and Potentialities of the Language in Science; II) Language and Change in Scientific Research: Evolution and Historicity; III) Scientific Language in the Context of Truth and Fiction; and IV) Language in Mathematics and in Empirical Sciences. Language plays (...) a key role in science: our access to the theoretical, practical or evaluative dimensions of scientific activity begins with the mastery of language, continues with a deepening in the use of language and reaches the level of contribution when it creates new terms or changes them in sense and reference. This reveals the compatibility between objectivity in semantic contents and historicity in the progress of science. This volume is a valuable enrichment to students, academics and other professionals interested in science in all its forms, who seek to deepen the role that language plays in its structure and dynamics. (shrink)

New Methodological Perspectives on Observation and Experimentation in Science deals with a classic topic that is seen from new angles.

This book brings together a number of contributions dealing with certain fundamental structures of practical rationality, as they are presented in the areas of the philosophy of action and normative ethics, namely: intentionality, normativity, and reflexivity. With the term “intentionality,” is meant a set of problems that are linked not only with the teleological structure of praxis-oriented rationality, but also with its temporal structure. “Normativity”, in turn, refers to a distinct set of problems, which cannot simply be reduced to those (...) entailed in the intentional nature of human action, even if this notion incorporates a reference to the good or value in its very structure. Finally, with the term “reflexivity” we point at the linkage between the normative dimension of reason with both the contingent circumstances of action and the moral receptivity of the agent, as it is experienced in moral judgment. (shrink)

En contra de la tradición universalista kantiana, mostraré que no toda mentira es inmoral. Con ello intento demostrar que la evaluación moral de la mentira no puede hacerse exclusivamente con criterios necesarios y universales, sino que se debe apelar a criterios contingentes que dependen de la situación particular en la que se encuentra el agente.

Este artículo analiza ciertas interpretaciones del célebre comentario de Wittgenstein a Drury, sin duda relevantes para comprender el sentido de la filosofía del pensador vienés en su último periodo, según el cual él mismo, sin ser una persona religiosa, no podía evitar contemplar todas las cuestiones desde una perspectiva religiosa. Los pasos para identificar la razón por la que se puede afirmar que la inmunización de la forma de vida religiosa constituye el sentido último de la filosofía concebida como análisis (...) de los juegos de lenguaje serán, en primer lugar, poner en relación el valor supremo de la claridad con la crítica de la actitud explicativa característica de la filosofía convencional y, en segundo término, considerar el análisis del discurso religioso y la peculiar religiosidad del propio Wittgenstein. This paper explores some of the issues related to Wittgenstein's famous comment to Drury -that he himself, while not a religious person, could not avoid contemplating all questions from a religious perspective- that might contribute to an understanding of the final meaning of the philosophical practice distinctive of Wittgenstein's last period. This paper aims at showing that final meaning is the immunization of the religious form of the life. In order to reach this conclusion we will first recall the importance of clarity as an absolute goal of Wittgenstein's philosophy, and see how it is connected to a specific attitude toward the explanatory claims of conventional philosophy. Then we will summarize the essence of Wittgenstein's philosophical analysis of religious discourse and review some crucial texts that highlight the peculiar religiosity unique to Wittgenstein. (shrink)

La doctrina de Polo sobre la muerte afirma que se debe al límite mental. El objetivo de este trabajo es aclarar esa afirmación exponiendo la noción de cuerpo propio como un hecho enigmático, que late bajo el límite mental; y que por ello mismo puede faltar: su falta es la muerte. La libertad personal no informa suficientemente el cuerpo, sino que lo da por hecho; y como el propio cuerpo escapa así de su completo dominio, le puede ser expropiado a (...) la persona. La falta del propio cuerpo es la muerte; y sin su propio cuerpo, la persona humana sale del mundo y deja la historia. (shrink)

En este artículo se examinan las referencias a Escoto de la obra poliana, y se discute en especial el voluntarismo escotísta que reduce el horizonte humano a su actividad esencial.

Through the contributions of specialists in the field, this volume addresses the still open question of the role and status of myth in Plato’s dialogues and thereby speaks to the broader problem of the relation between philosophy and ...

The Air Quality Index (AQI) shows the state of air pollution in a unique and more understandable way. This work aims to forecast the AQI in Algeciras (Spain) 8 hours in advance. The AQI is calculated indirectly through the predicted concentrations of five pollutants (O3, NO2, CO, SO2 and PM10) to achieve this goal. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), sequence-to-sequence long short-term memory networks (LSTMs) and a newly proposed method combing a rolling window with the latter (LSTMNA) are employed as the (...) forecasting techniques. Besides, two input approaches are evaluated: using only the data from the own time series of the pollutant in the first case or adding exogenous variables in the second one. Several window sizes are employed (24, 28 and 72 hours) with ANNs and LSTMNAs. Additionally, several feature ranking methods are applied in the exogenous approach to select the most relevant lagged variables to feed the models. Results show how the proposed exogenous approach increases the performance of the prediction models. Besides, the newly proposed method LSTMNA provides the best performances in most of the cases evaluated. Hence, it constitutes an exciting alternative to standard LSTMs and ANNs to predict pollutants concentrations and, consequently, the AQI. (shrink)

People often face preferential decisions under risk. To further our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying these preferential choices, two prominent cognitive models, decision field theory (DFT; Busemeyer & Townsend, 1993) and the proportional difference model (PD; González‐Vallejo, 2002), were rigorously tested against each other. In two consecutive experiments, the participants repeatedly had to choose between monetary gambles. The first experiment provided the reference to estimate the models’ free parameters. From these estimations, new gamble pairs were generated for the second (...) experiment such that the two models made maximally divergent predictions. In the first experiment, both models explained the data equally well. However, in the second generalization experiment, the participants’ choices were much closer to the predictions of DFT. The results indicate that the stochastic process assumed by DFT, in which evidence in favor of or against each option accumulates over time, described people’s choice behavior better than the trade‐offs between proportional differences assumed by PD. (shrink)

We expose some representations and practices related to the natural environment among Nahua peasants in a village located at the western boundary of Puebla and Guerrero states, in Mexico. Information was obtained by individual interviews and focal groups' work, following an open guide with ecological items considered as rooted in Mesoamerican cultures. The use of some local, vegetal resources, and the local perception of changes, mainly in the water availability, is documented. Survival strategies involve ancestral representations and material products, and (...) entail a high grade of pragmatism. “Natural environment” is framed in a local culture that involves relational and sacred dimensions, usually omitted in other approaches. Hence, for the Temalac peasants, there is no dissection, at an operative level, between “natural facts” and personal or social ones, being these often considered as determinant for the quality and accessibility of resources and weather conditions. We discuss the challenge for these elements posed by a growing migration rate and an increasing external influence. (shrink)

In the last decades, the evidence-based approach has become dominant in the biomedical sciences. Its influence has extended from clinical practice to other areas such as drug regulation and public health. Nonetheless, given the limitations of the evidence-based framework, a more pluralist approach towards evidence has been demanded. In this sense, evidential pluralism holds that evidence of mechanisms should complement statistical evidence. This paper aims to explore and discuss the prospects of evidential pluralism in public health. First, we will analyse (...) the evidential standards of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Those standards are argued to be in line with the pluralist approach. Second, we will consider the main challenges for gathering evidence of mechanisms in public health. For that purpose, diverse types of evidence of mechanisms will be identified. And third, we will assess the role of agent-based models as mechanistic studies. Based on a case study, we will discuss whether agent-based models can provide evidence of mechanisms and mitigate the abovementioned challenges. (shrink)

Esta investigación se enmarca en los estudios de adquisición de segundas lenguas y explora cuál es la disponibilidad léxica escrita de los hablantes extranjeros que estudian español como segunda lengua al inicio de su aprendizaje en inmersión en Santiago de Chile. Consideramos cuantitativamente el factor sociolingüístico, y descriptivamente, un factor lingüístico y un factor cognitivo. Para cumplir este objetivo se identificó el léxico disponible en un corpus escrito, se cuantificó y se relacionó su disponibilidad con la variable externa sexo; se (...) examinó la incidencia de la lengua materna de los aprendientes y se determinó la influencia del nivel de lengua en el manejo del léxico disponible. Para relacionar el léxico con el nivel de lengua nos remitimos a dos nociones del inventario léxico del Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes. Los resultados muestran la necesidad de que los aprendientes de niveles avanzados reestudien los campos semánticos de los niveles intermedios inmediatamente anteriores, pues en su intake cuentan predominantemente con ítems léxicos de los niveles más básicos. (shrink)

Gender discrimination continues to be a problem in organizations. It is therefore important that organizations use performance evaluation methods that ensure equal opportunities for men and women. This article reports the results of an experiment to investigate whether and, if so, how the gender of the rater and that of the ratee moderate the relationship between the level of subjectivity in performance appraisals and organizational attractiveness. Participants in the experiment were 313 undergraduate students. We predicted, and indeed established, that as (...) the probability increases that employee performance is evaluated by a female manager, women expect more positive outcomes of subjective, but not objective evaluation processes. Our data did not support our expectation that as the probability of being evaluated by a female manager increases, men expect less positive outcomes of subjective evaluation processes. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of why women are over-represented in jobs with objective formula-based reward systems, such as piece-rate systems. They are also of interest to organizations that are looking for more ethical human resource management practices. (shrink)

. In this paper we present a proposal that (i) could validate more relations in the square than those allowed by classical logic (ii) without a modification of canonical notation neither of current symbolization of categorical statements though (iii) with a different but reliable semantics.

Este artículo pretende realizar un estudio comparado del proceso de profesionalización de la filosofía española y mexicana, con el fin de evaluar la contribución específica del ethos del exilio filosófico español a la profesionalización de la filosofía mexicana. El trabajo se apoya en la sociología de las profesiones para definir las condiciones de posibilidad de una actividad intelectual profesionalizada como tipo ideal. A continuación lleva a cabo un ejercicio de historia social de la filosofía para comparar el tipo ideal con (...) los dos casos empíricos. Finalmente se realiza una comparación entre ambos casos para poder evaluar la contribución específica del exilio filosófico español a la profesionalización de la filosofía en México. (shrink)

It is necessary to reconsider P. M. S. Hacker’s assessment of Kant and Wittgenstein’s philosophical affinities and the question concerning Wittgenstein’s alleged use of “transcendental arguments”. First, Alfred Norman’s reading of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus as a thought experiment receives revision to develop a view of the Critique of Pure Reason as a large-scale thought experiment that shares important logical features with the Tractatus. Then the question is addressed whether the middle Wittgenstein and the pre-critical Kant employed any thought experiments that (...) could be equally characterised as “transcendental arguments”. A rational reconstruction of both thinkers’ arguments is carried out in the light of the contemporary literature on thought experimenting. The novelty and relevance of this approach is the emphasis laid upon a largely neglected affinity between Kant and Wittgenstein, namely the systematic use of thought experiments in their epistemological pursuits. The conclusions are: i) Wittgenstein’s and Kant’s magna opera can be seen as philosophical thought experiments that attempt to try out the limits of language and the limits of possible experience respectively; ii) Both philosophers developed arguments that can be designated as transcendental if only from a methodological standpoint; and iii) some key arguments put forward by the middle Wittgenstein in the determination of the structure of visual space could be characterised better as thought experiments than transcendental arguments. (shrink)

We performed an EEG graph analysis on data from 31 typical readers (22.27 ± 2.53 y/o) and 24 dyslexics (22.99 ± 2.29 y/o), recorded while they were engaged in an audiovisual task and during resting-state. The task simulates reading acquisition as participants learned new letter-sound mappings via feedback. EEG data was filtered for the delta (0.5–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), and beta (13–30 Hz) bands. We computed the Phase Lag Index (PLI) to provide an estimate of the (...) functional connectivity between all pairs of electrodes per band. Then, networks were constructed using a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), a unique sub-graph connecting all nodes (electrodes) without loops, aimed at minimizing bias in between groups and conditions comparisons. Both groups showed a comparable accuracy increase during task blocks, indicating that they correctly learned the new associations. The EEG results revealed lower task-specific theta connectivity, and lower theta degree correlation over both rest and task recordings, indicating less network integration in dyslexics compared to typical readers. This pattern suggests a role of theta oscillations in dyslexia and may reflect differences in task engagement between the groups, although robust correlations between MST metrics and performance indices were lacking. (shrink)

Achieving a comfortable thermal situation within buildings with an efficient use of energy remains still an open challenge for most buildings. In this regard, IoT (Internet of Things) and KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) processes may be combined to address these problems, even though data analysts may feel overwhelmed by heterogeneity and volume of the data to be considered. Data analysts could benefit from an application assistant that supports them throughout the KDD process and aids them to discover which are (...) the relevant variables for the matter at hand, or informing about relationships among relevant data. In this article, the EEPSA (Energy Efficiency Prediction Semantic Assistant) ontology which supports such an assistant is presented. The ontology is developed on the basis that a proper axiomatization shapes the set of admitted models better, and therefore, establishes the ground for a better interoperability. On the contrary, underspecification facilitates the admission of non-isomorphic models to represent the same state which hampers interoperability. This ontology is developed on top of three ODPs (Ontology Design Patterns) which include proper axioms in order to improve precedent proposals to represent features of interest and their respective qualities, as well as observations and actuations, the sensors and actuators that generate them, and the procedures used. Moreover, the ontology introduces six domain ontology modules integrated with the ODPs in such a manner that a methodical customization is facilitated. (shrink)

La tendencia natural de identificar complejidad con algo complicado y confuso, es una forma también natural de simplificar las redes complejas del fenómeno del conocimiento y de los saberes. En este artículo se presentan las orientaciones y puntos de partida del pensamiento complejo en la perspectiv..

El objetivo del trabajo fue fundamentar las bases teóricas que sustentan la importancia del trabajo independiente en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en la Educación Médica Superior, así como aspectos relativos a su concepción, requerimientos y formas de aplicación. Se realizó un estudio bibliográfico acerca del tema y se llegó a las siguientes conclusiones: el trabajo independiente es un medio de organizar metodológicamente la actividad cognoscitiva independiente de los estudiantes que se expresa a través de un conjunto de tareas y (...) puede utilizarse durante la actividad docente y fuera de ella, así como en cualquiera de las formas de organización de que se trate. Es imprescindible que se tengan en cuenta al organizar el trabajo independiente las etapas de la actividad humana: planificación, orientación, ejecución y control. El trabajo independiente es un factor importante para estimular la independencia de los futuros profesionales de las Ciencias Médicas por lo que su perfeccionamiento exige al profesor una alta profesionalización de sus acciones. The objective of the work was to stablish the theorical bases that sustain the importance of the independent work in the teaching learning process in the medical education, as well as, relative aspects to its conception, requirements and application forms. A bibliographical study about the topic was carried out reaching the following conclusions the independent work is a way of organizing methologically the independent cognitive activity of the students that is expressed through out a group of tasks and it can be used during the teaching - learning in and out of the classroom; as well as in any of the forms of teaching organization. It is indispensable when organizing the independent work of the students to keep in mind the different stages of the human activity planning, orientation, execution and control. The independent work is an important factor to stimulate the independent of the future professionals of the medical sciences that is why its improvement demands a higher professionalism of its actions. (shrink)

En este trabajo se presenta la doctrina de Polo sobre la luz física, señalando su papel esencial en el universo, especialmente en la emergencia y evolución de la vida. La luz es la analogía real y comunicación formal, algo semejante a un lenguaje físico.

La persona humana busca hacia dentro su verdad más íntima; o bien omite esa búsqueda y se olvida generosamente de sí. Entonces encuentra: advirtiendo sin llegar a ver, y también mirando y vigilando. Es el despliegue metalógico de la libertad personal: un don que aceptamos y devolvemos buscando la aceptación divina.

En este trabajo se exponen las dimensiones superiores del abandono del límite mental, distinguiendo algunos pasos en ellas. Como consecuencia se enfrenta a la persona humana con el entero ámbito de la existencia, y se distinguen los distintos niveles de su inclusión en ella. La libertad trascendental es, según Polo, la inclusión atópica en el ámbito de la máxima amplitud de la existencia.

In this article, we postulate three items that are considered fundamental for the construction of cultures of peace through a coexistence with dignity and in a fair framework. Together ethics, creativity and imagination rise to face and challenge the various situations of violence that occur in social constructs, as they are realities that involve serious opprobrium for humanity. Thinking of a more humane world will be possible only if we are in it actively from ethical postulates and through procedures that (...) demand creativity and imagination, which are crossed in various situations such as listening and dialogue, involving mutual respect. Imagining oneself in the place of others as an ethical category and articulating it with creative forms allows us to aspire to situations that are different and diverse from those we live in, in order to achieve the construction of peace. (shrink)