Comments on an article by Rips et al. L. J. Rips, S. Blok, and G. Newman (2006) proposed that singular concepts, which support the tracing of individual objects across their existence, are governed by a principle of causal continuity. They purported to show that causal continuity is better than existing theories at explaining judgments of the…

Responds to comments made by Rhemtulla and Xu on the current authors' original paper Concepts of individual objects (e.g., a favorite chair or pet) include knowledge that allows people to identify these objects, sometimes after long stretches of time. In an earlier article, the authors set out experimental findings and mathematical modeling to…

The authors address the 4 main points in S. M. Monroe and S. Mineka's comment. First, the authors show that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis includes an etiology and that it is based on a theoretical model with a…

This paper comments on the articles by Cheng and by Novick and Cheng. It has been claimed that the power PC theory reconciles regularity and power theories of causal judgment by showing how contingency information is used for inferences about unobservable causal powers. Under the causal powers theory causal relations are understood as generative…

A theory of the lay epistemic process is outlined. An integrative framework is provided that allows consideration of diverse attributional models in common theoretical terms and derivation of the necessary applicability conditions of different such models. (Author/RL)

In S. Kanazawa's (see record 2004-12248-010) evolutionary theory of general intelligence (g), g is presented as a species-typical information-processing mechanism. This conceptualization of g departs radically from the accepted conceptualization of g as a source of individual differences that is manifest in the positive manifold. Kanazawa's theory…

Teacher praise typically does not function as a reinforcer. Rather, it is reactive to and under the control of student behavior. Its effects must be understood using concepts from attribution and social learning/reinforcement theories. (Author/GK)