General Introduction
PSYCHE (ISSN: 1039-723X) is a refereed electronic journal dedicated to supporting the interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of consciousness and its relation to the brain. PSYCHE publishes material relevant to that exploration from the perspectives afforded by the disciplines of cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, physics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence and anthropology. Interdisciplinary discussions are particularly encouraged.
PSYCHE publishes a large variety of articles and reports for a diverse academic audience. As an electronic journal, the usual space limitations of print journals do not apply; however, the editors request that potential authors do not attempt to abuse the medium.
Book Reviews
Publishers who wish to have books reviewed should send copies for consideration to:
Cory D. Wright
P-N-P Program/Department of Philosophy
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1073
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130–4899
USA
cwright@wustl.edu
Gabriel Kreiman
Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School
gabriel.kreiman@childrens.harvard.edu
http://klab.tch.harvard.edu
The Executive Editor, Associate Editors and Editorial Board
Executive Editors
Gabriel Kreiman
Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School
gabriel.kreiman@childrens.harvard.edu
http://klab.tch.harvard.edu
Robert VanGulick
Syracuse University
rnvangul@syr.edu
Associate Editors
Yigal Agam, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School
George Buckner, Lockheed Martin
David Chalmers, Australian National University
Geraint Rees, University College London
Editorial Board
Bernard Baars, The Wright Institute
William Banks, Pomona College
John Bigelow, Monash University
Ned Block, New York University
Luciano da F. Costa, University of Sao Paulo
Nelson Cowan, University of Missouri
Eric Dietrich, University of Hertfordshire
Winand Dittrich, University of London
Owen Flanagan, Duke University
Güven Güzeldere, Duke University
Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona
Stevan Harnad, University of Southampton
Frank Jackson, Australian National University Stephen Jackson, University of Nottingham
Kevin Korb, Monash University
Gert-Jan Lokhorst, Erasmus University
Peter Ludlow, SUNY Stony Brook
Bruce Mangan, UC, Berkeley
David Milner, University of Durham
Thomas Metzinger, Johannes Gutenberg-Universit”t Mainz
Adriano Palma, National Chung Cheng University
David Rosenthal, City University of New York
Subscriptions to PSYCHE
Subscriptions to the plain ASCII version of PSYCHE may be initiated by sending the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
SUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-L YourFirstName YourLastName
PSYCHE is also available on the web. Check out: http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au
To receive short announcements of new papers published send the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
SUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-A YourFirstName YourLastName
Psyche-D & Psyche-B
Guidelines For Posting To Psyche-D & Psyche-B
The study of consciousness covers a broad range of questions, and is likewise relevant to many fields of study. The neuroscientist who explores the biological basis of consciousness, the philosopher concerned with how age old questions of human experience are explained, the psychologist seeking a more comprehensive view of the nature and dynamics of subjective experience, and the cyberneticist who dreams of a robot that thinks for itself, all work with closely related and overlapping subjects, and all stand to benefit from and contribute to a common pool of knowledge.
The rapid growth of information technology has paralleled a revival of interest across disciplines in the nature of consciousness. However, these forums are only the latest in a long history of deeply involved and often heated dialog on the nature of the mind and the meaning of human experience. In the interest of fostering constructive dialog on a very complex subject, we ask that you observe the following guidelines when posting:
1. The basic aim of the lists is to encourage discussion and exchange information on research on consciousness in cognitive science, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines in the sciences and humanities; with the aim of understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of consciousness.
2. As the overall goal of this discussion is communication toward the advancement of knowledge, simple courtesy calls for patience and an attitude of mutual respect when disagreement or misunderstanding arises. Please save rhetoric for constructive use, and take personal issues off list.
3. Please keep in mind that the study of consciousness crosses many disciplinary boundaries, and Psyche is intended to provide a nexus for this dialog. Arguments over the finer points of disagreement, and extended discussion concentrated within a specialization, should be taken off list. Keep your posts relevant to the main topic, and be sensitive to the disciplinary diversity of your audience.
4. Please take care to direct your dialog to the appropriate list:
PSYCHE-D: Areas of discussion appropriate for Psyche-D, where the focus is on theory related issues, include the following:
A) How do we define consciousness? In the broader sense, what natural phenomena are we trying to understand? What needs to be explained, and why?
B) What theoretical approaches are being offered in the study of consciousness, and how do they contribute to our understanding withreference to our definition of the problem?
C) Just how big is this problem, and why?
Feel free to draw from research, but focus on what it means for theory, not on issues of research methodology.
PSYCHE-B: Areas of discussion appropriate for Psyche-B, where the focus is on research issues from an empirical point-of-view, include the following:
A) What directions in research are suggested by theory? What questions are ripe for research?
B) What can we put our hands on? How can the neural (or other) correlates of consciousness be operationally defined and tested?
C) What research has been done, and what does it contribute to our understanding with reference to our definition of the problem?
Feel free to draw from theory, but focus on what it means for research, not on issues of theoretical differences.
5. The lists are moderated. Messages will not be automatically forwarded back to the lists. Think of this as like a letter column in some newspaper or magazine. Only letters that have something substantial to say will be forwarded on to the group. This is not to say that controversial messages won't be posted, rather that all messages need to be argued well.
6. Please include the following information in all messages: subject header; name and email address at the bottom; when quoting research include references. As for formatting, please don't exceed 72 characters per line. Paragraphs should not be indented; please leave a space between each paragraph. Avoid quoting previous messages any more than absolutely necessary --we've already read them once.
7. To avoid a flood of email a limit of around 10 messages per day will be forwarded to each list.
8. While it is expected that all messages will have something substantial to say, posts that are very large are less likely to be approved. As a general rule of thumb messages that are longer than 2000 words (approx. 12k) are getting too large to post to the group. An ideal size appears to be somewhere between 500 to 1500 words.
9. While I would like to respond directly to every writer who's posting I reject I simply do not have time. If your message does not appear within 48 hours there is a high probability that it has been rejected for one or more of the reasons listed above. Writers are welcome to resubmit posts that do not appear, but no correspondence will be entered into as to why posts are rejected.
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Subscription
To subscribe to PSYCHE-D send the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
SUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-D YourFirstName YourLastName
To unsubscribe send the the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
UNSUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-D
PSYCHE-D is mirrored by the Usenet group 'sci.psychology.consciousness'.
To subscribe to PSYCHE-B send the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
SUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-B YourFirstName YourLastName
To unsubscribe send the the following message to <listserv@listserv.uh.edu>:
UNSUBSCRIBE PSYCHE-B
There is no Usenet group mirroring Psyche-B at this time.
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Searching Psyche-B or Psyche-D
The digests of either Psyche-B or Psyche-D can be searched. The University of Huston has provided a very nice interface from their website. The following links will take you to the appropriate links:
* Psyche-B: http://listserv.uh.edu/archives/psyche-b.html
* Psyche-D: http://listserv.uh.edu/archives/psyche-d.html
It is also possible to directly query databases of the lists via email. To do so follow the following guidelines:
A basic database session
Let's say that you are looking for messages in the psyche-d mailing list that pertain to the list header keyword "implicit memory". You set up a very simple CJLI job as follows and mail it to listserv@listserv.uh.edu:
// JOB Echo=No
Database Search DD=Rules
//Rules DD *
Select 'implicit memory' in psyche-d
Index
/*
Sample CJLI job
The above script when sent to LISTSERV, says: "Look for the string 'implicit memory' in all of the archives you have for list psyche-d. Then, send me back an index of all messages in the archives that include that string."
LISTSERV obligingly searches the psyche-d archives, finds the following, and sends it back to you in an e-mail message:
> Select 'implicit memory' in psyche-d
--> Database PSYCHE-D, 5 hits.
> index
Item # Date Time Recs Subject
------ ---- ---- ---- -------
000057 93/05/04 17:52 223 Re: Consciousness and Reduction
000126 94/03/21 00:09 1255 Tucson Conference Information
000835 95/10/11 19:24 51 Re: psyche-95-2-15-implicit-1-willingham
000895 95/10/23 22:30 35 Re: psyche-95-2-15-implicit-1-willingham
001001 95/11/18 02:34 47 TOC for Consciousness & Cognition 4(4)
The next step is to send a CJLI job to request the specific message(s) you are interested in. Let's say that you are interested in an article published by PSYCHE by Willingham and you therefore would like to see messages 835, 895. You set up the following CJLI framework:
// JOB Echo=No
Database Search DD=Rules
//Rules DD *
Select 'implicit memory' in psyche-d
Print 835 895
/*
This example says: "Look for the string 'implicit memory' in all of the archives you have for list psyche-d. Then, send me back message numbers 835 and 895."
LISTSERV will repeat the search above and will package the two messages you have requested into a return mail message and send it back to you.
You will get the following information:
>>> Item number 835, dated 95/10/11 19:24:25 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 19:24:25 -0400
Reply-To: PSYCHE Discussion Forum
Sender: PSYCHE Discussion Forum
From: Andrew Leeds
Subject: Re: psyche-95-2-15-implicit-1-willingham
With apologies should these comments be out of context due to joining the
list in the middle of a thread, the following is offered as a potentially
useful perspective.
Implicit memory is memory at encoded in memory networks which hold somatic
(sensory) memory elements such as kinesthetic, auditory, imaginal or
olfactory impressions processed by the evolutionary older parts of the brain
stem (limbic system) and the sensory cortex.
[snip.snip.snip]
Any interest in a memory classification scheme which "carves nature at its
joints" must take into account the evolutionary structure of the brain and
the research on the neurological and biochemical foundations of memory
formation in both normal and traumatic life experiences.
Andrew M. Leeds
>>> Item number 895, dated 95/10/23 22:30:49 -- ALL
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 22:30:49 0000
Reply-To: PSYCHE Discussion Forum
Sender: PSYCHE Discussion Forum
From: Michael D
Organization: Simon Fraser University
Subject: Re: psyche-95-2-15-implicit-1-willingham
Hello, just found this area on my computer. Unfortunately, I can't read
the entire article/posting because the monitor is giving me a headache.
However, I do have two comments:
1) On point 5.9 What about implicit measures other than priming? Do
they show specificity?
[snip.snip.snip]
Michael Dorken --Simon Fraser University
Narrowing the search
It is possible to add further parameters to your search in order to narrow it. You can limit a search by date with a "since. . . " predicate. Likewise, you can limit by sender and/or by the subject line with a "where . . ." predicate. For instance:
Select 'implicit memory' in psyche-d since 94/01/01
Select 'implicit memory' in psyche-d where sender contains 'Thomas'
Select * in psyche-d where sender is ERIC@SEARN
Select * in psyche-d since 94/01/01 where subject contains 'Digest'
are all valid search commands that will (hopefully) dramatically reduce the number of index or print entries returned to you.
Where to find more information on Database Functions
You can get more detailed information on database functions and the database command syntax by requesting the file LISTDB MEMO from listserv@listserv.uh.edu or from any other LISTSERV host. You can send either a "GET LISTDB MEMO" command or an "INFO DATABASE" command to retrieve the file.
