Dawn Vernon

Precall refers to the explicit recall of target material, such as words or images, which incorporates the unusual notion that practice occurring after the recall test will influence previous recall performance. A recent attempt to elicit such an effect using arousing images was unsuccessful. However, it was noted that the failure to elicit a precall effect may have been the result of relying on images that were not sufficiently arousing and that the participants completing the task had lower than average levels of belief in psi. Hence, the current study addressed these points by utilizing both positive and negative images and by selectively recruiting participants with high levels of belief in psi. The prediction was that post-recall practice would lead to greater precall of those items practised compared to items not practised. Comparison of recall accuracy between images that were subsequently repeated and those that were not showed no evidence of a precall effect. Nevertheless, post-recall practice did improve recall performance. The failure to find any evidence of a precall effect is consistent with the notion that such effects do not exist and echoes the claims and findings of others who take a more sceptical approach to psi-based effects. Nevertheless, reflection on the methodology of the current experiment offers some speculative possibilities as to why no precall effect was elicited.

Open peer commentary on the article “Homeostats for the 21st Century? Simulating Ashby Simulating the Brain” by Stefano Franchi. Upshot: The association of heteronomy with Ashby’s work in the target article follows from a direct interpretation of the second edition of Ashby’s book Design for a Brain. However, the first edition allows for an alternative – opposite – interpretation that is compatible with autonomy and autopoiesis. Furthermore, a more balanced perspective is suggested to avoid unintentionally giving the casual reader a misleading impression that the homeostat is Ashby’s ultimate position on homeostasis and that it is an adequate model of the brain

Open peer commentary on the article “Investigating Extended Embodiment Using a Computational Model and Human Experimentation” by Yuki Sato, Hiroyuki Iizuka & Takashi Ikegami. Upshot: The target article’s findings on the focus of attention in extending an agent’s body schema are consistent with those in developmental psychology and neuroscience on goal-directed action. The consequences of these findings are that embodiment can be extended in a variety of ways, not all of which require direct physical manipulation