The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions

The broaden-and-build theory describes the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment and love. A key proposition is that these positive emotions broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire: joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savour and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of these urges within safe, close relationships. The broadened mindsets arising from these positive emotions are contrasted to the narrowed mindsets sparked by many negative emotions (i.e. specific action tendencies, such as attack or flee). A second key proposition concerns the consequences of these broadened mindsets: by broadening an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire--whether through play, exploration or similar activities--positive emotions promote discovery of novel and creative actions, ideas and social bonds, which in turn build that individual's personal resources; ranging from physical and intellectual resources, to social and psychological resources. Importantly, these resources function as reserves that can be drawn on later to improve the odds of successful coping and survival. This chapter reviews the latest empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory and draws out implications the theory holds for optimizing health and well-being.     

The information theory of emotions in heuristic learning

The well-known P. V. Simonov structural formula of emotions shows that the level of emotional experience depends on need and difference between known information and that necessary for solving of the arising problem by the subject. Adopting the interpretation of this formula in the heuristic method of learning based on Socratic dialogue reasoning, it is possible, by varying the difficulty of prompting questions, to attain maximum emotional stimulation of lesson conduction and thus to promote effective mastering of the material.     

Medicine, methodology, and values: trade-offs in clinical science and practice

The current guidelines of evidence-based medicine (EBM) presuppose that clinical research and clinical practice should advance from rigorous scientific tests as they generate reliable, value-free knowledge. Under this presupposition, hypotheses postulated by doctors and patients in the process of their decision making are preferably tested in randomized clinical trials (RCTs), and in systematic reviews and meta-analyses summarizing outcomes from multiple RCTs. Since testing under this scheme is predominantly focused on the criteria of generality and precision achieved through methodological rigor, at the cost of the criterion of realism, translating test results to clinical practice is often problematic. Choices concerning which methodological criteria should have priority are inevitable, however, as clinical trials, and scientific research in general, cannot meet all relevant criteria at the same time. Since these choices may be informed by considerations external to science, we must acknowledge that science cannot be value-free in a strict sense, and this invites a more prominent role for value-laden considerations in evaluating clinical research. The urgency for this becomes even more apparent when we consider the important yet implicit role of scientific theories in EBM, which may also be subjected to methodological evaluation and for which selectiveness in methodological focus is likewise inevitable.     

Debunking morality: evolutionary naturalism and moral error theory

The paper distinguishes three strategies by means of which empirical discoveries about the nature of morality can be used to undermine moral judgements. On the first strategy, moral judgements are shown to be unjustified in virtue of being shown to rest on ignorance or false belief. On the second strategy, moral judgements are shown to be false by being shown to entail claims inconsistent with the relevant empirical discoveries. On the third strategy, moral judgements are shown to be false in virtue of being shown to be unjustified; truth having been defined epistemologically in terms of justification. By interpreting three recent error theoretical arguments in light of these strategies, the paper evaluates the epistemological and metaphysical relevance of empirical discoveries about morality as a naturally evolved phenomenon.     

Ethnographic film: Technology,practice and anthropological theory

Despite the enthusiasm of the pioneer generation of anthropologists for the camera as a means of ethnographic research, filmmaking remained marginal to the anthropological project for most of the course of the last century. However a combination of technological developments and recent theoretical paradigm shifts within anthropology generally now offers the possibility of greater integration of filmmaking into ethnographic research. This article1 seeks to identify the basis for this theoretical incorporation and discusses some of the practical ways in which film can now be used as a means of generating ethnographic understanding,     

The phenotypic gambit: selective pressures and ESS methodology in evolutionary game theory

The ‘phenotypic gambit,’ the assumption that we can ignore genetics and look at the fitness of phenotypes to determine the expected evolutionary dynamics of a population, is often used in evolutionary game theory. However, as this paper will show, an overlooked genotype to phenotype map can qualitatively affect evolution in ways the phenotypic approach cannot predict or explain. This gives us reason to believe that, even in the long-term, correspondences between phenotypic predictions and dynamical outcomes are not robust for all plausible assumptions regarding the underlying genetics of traits. This paper shows important ways in which the phenotypic gambit can fail and how to proceed with evolutionary game theoretic modeling when it does.     

全基因组关联分析的进展与反思

全基因组关联分析(genomewide association study,GWAS)是应用人类基因组中数以百万计的单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymorphism,SNP)为标记进行病例-对照关联分析,以期发现影响复杂性疾病发生的遗传特征的一种新策略。近年来,随着人类基因组计划和基因组单倍体图谱计划的实施,人们已通过GWAS方法发现并鉴定了大量与人类性状或复杂性疾病关联的遗传变异,为进一步了解控制人类复杂性疾病发生的遗传特征提供了重要的线索。然而,由于造成复杂性疾病/性状的因素较多,而且GWAS研究系统较为复杂,因此目前GWAS本身亦存在诸多的问题。本文将从研究方式、研究对象、遗传标记,以及统计分析等方面,探讨GWAS的研究现状以及存在的潜在问题,并展望GWAS今后的发展方向。     

The information theory of emotions: the psychophysiological study of the mental imagination of joy

An interhemisphere distribution of the EEG frequency and amplitude and its dependence on intensity of an imagined emotional experience, was studied in 20 subjects. A positive correlation was found between the information scale and the EEG alpha-frequency band, as well as between the intensity of imagined desire and EEG delta- and theta-waves in the left hemisphere.     

The theory and practice of distance geometry

The mathematics of distance geometry constitutes the basis of a group of algorithms for revealing the structural consequences of diverse forms of information about a macromolecule's conformation. These algorithms are of proven utility in the analysis of experimental conformational data. This paper presents the basic theorems of distance geometry in Euclidean space and gives formal proofs of the correctness and, where possible, of the complexity of these algorithms. The implications of distance geometry for the energy minimization of macromolecules are also discussed.     

Accommodating ethnic diversity in a modernizing democratic state: theory and practice in the case of Mauritius

This article examines the accommodation of diverse ethnic communities in developing democratic states. We examine those means of managing or reducing ethnic conflicts identified in the literature that have actually been employed in Mauritius, one of the most successful ethnically-diverse developing states in the world. Our findings suggest that traditional elite-dominated means of regulating conflicts are becoming less effective in an age of growing populism and declining deference to elites, and that new means of incorporating ethnic communities into the functioning of the state are required. The key means in the case of Mauritius seem to have been the development of a competent and representative public service; the incorporation of civic associations, including those with an ethnic character, in the policy process by means of a civic network; and the evolution of political parties into ethnically diverse organizations. Inclusiveness appears to be more important than strict proportionality.     

Evolutionary theory and the foundation of moral principles

Evolutionary biology is supposed to be relevant to ethics by a number of authors. Some of them believe that it may provide and justify basic moral values. Others argue that evolutionary biology is relevant only in a negative way. They assume that it reveals the illusory nature of any attempt to justify basic moral values. In this paper one example of either approach is criticized. An analysis of examples can hardly offer sufficient grounds for a general conclusion. Nevertheless I believe that evolutionary theory is of little help when we deal with the most basic ethical questions. Three themes which are often though to provide a link between evolutionary biology and (meta)ethics — altruism, sociality and human nature — do not in fact establish that link.