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La logique contemporaine a connu de nombreux développements au cours de la seconde moitié du siècle dernier. Le plus sensationnel est celui de la logique modale et de sa sémantique des mondes possibles (SMP) dû à Saul Kripke dans les années soixante. Ces dans ce cadre que David Lewis exposera sa sémantique des contrefactuels (SCF). Celle-ci constitue une véritable excroissance de l’architecture kripkéenne. Mais sur quoi finalement repose l’architecture kripkéenne elle-même ? Il semble bien que la réponse soit celle d’une ontologie raffinée ultimement basée sur la notion de mondes possible. Ce mémoire comporte quatre objectifs. Dans un premier temps, nous allons étudier ce qui distingue les contrefactuels des autres conditionnels et faire un survol historique de la littérature concernant les contrefactuels et leur application dans différent champs du savoir comme la philosophie des sciences et l’informatique. Dans un deuxième temps, nous ferons un exposé systématique de la théorie de Lewis telle qu’elle est exposée dans son ouvrage Counterfactuals. Finalement, nous allons explorer la fondation métaphysique des mondes possible de David Lewis dans son conception de Réalisme Modal. / Modern logic since the end of the Second World War has undergone many developments. Two of the most interesting of these are the Kripkian Possible World Semantics and Lewis’ system of Counterfactuals. The first was developed by Saul Kripke in the 1960s and the second was developed by David Lewis in the 1970s. In some senses we can say that Lewis’ system of counterfactuals or Counter Factual Semantics (CFS) is built on top of the architecture which Kripke created with his Possible Worlds Semantics (PWS). But, what is the Kripkian Possible World Semantics itself built on? The answer it seems is very finely tuned ontology founded on the notion of possible worlds. This paper will attempt to do the following. First, attempt to draw a distinction between on the one hand conditionals and the other counterfactuals and at the same time attempt to look at some of the historical literature surrounding counterfactuals and their application in various fields like the philosophy of science. Second, recapitulate Lewis’ system of counterfactual semantics as developed primarily in Lewis’ book Counterfactuals. Finally this paper will attempt to explore the metaphysical foundations of the possible worlds account argued for by David Lewis in his conception of Modal Realism.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the problems that use of idealizations in science leads to. Idealizations are simplifications and therefore false descriptions of how actual objects behave. Presence of idealizations in scientific theories is the reason for the problems in our understanding of confirmation of theories and also of scientific explanations. Nevertheless, idealizations are ubiquitous especially in natural sciences. Scientists have to employ idealizations because of the complexity of the real world and our limited capacity of computation. The roots of the methodology of modern science are in Cartesian philosophy. I propose that Descartes also employed idealizations in his theory of motion in the universe. Idealized worlds can be regarded as simplifications of the real world. Scientific theories are literally false but they are true in the possible worlds which are similar to the real world. Models provide the connections between idealized laws and the real world. Construction of models of the actual world is based upon idealizations which are indispensable in the theoretical sciences. Theories can be indirectly confirmed by models denoting different aspects of the phenomena.

La créativité occupe une place centrale dans la conception. Dans une perspective de conception participative, de co-conception, cette créativité est d’autant plus importante qu’elle est celle des futurs utilisateurs, permettant alors d’aboutir à de l’innovation utile. Notre thèse est qu’il est possible d’améliorer la pensée innovante des utilisateurs en quantité (nombre de propositions) et en qualité (degré d’originalité des propositions) en ayant une méthode d’interrogation des participants-utilisateurs basée sur le contrefactuel. En s’intéressant à la Créativité-Utilisateur dans les processus de co-conception sous l’angle de l’optimisation de ces processus, cette thèse s’inscrit dans une approche psycho-ergonomique de l’innovation avec l’objectif d’étudier la possibilité de favoriser la créativité chez les utilisateurs grâce à l’utilisation du raisonnement contrefactuel.Basée sur un modèle de l’apport du contrefactuel à la créativité et à l'innovation, notre hypothèse générale est que (i) la fixité fonctionnelle est un obstacle cognitif majeur dans des tâches nécessitant la créativité mais (ii) elle peut être contrariée par l’utilisation du raisonnement contrefactuel. Ainsi, de la forme « si [OBJETi] alors [pour ACTIONi ] », - par exemple « si Boîte d’allumettes alors Pour Allumer du feu » -, la fixité fonctionnelle serait contrariée en demandant aux participant d’envisager le cas où « si [OBJETi] et [ NON pour ACTIONi ] alors [pour quelles AUTRES ACTIONS] » par exemple « si Boîte d’allumettes et non Pour Allumer du feu ; alors Pour Quoi faire d’autre ? ». En appliquant cette consigne, on devrait voir émerger plus d’idées créatives que dans des tâches habituelles de production d’idées innovantes. La thèse restitue la menée de série de six études, avec la participation d’utilisateurs finaux adultes et enfants, en situation de co-conception créative, allant du plus conceptuel (concevoir les propriétés sur de futurs objets) au plus pratique (la réalisation d’un prototype). Les deux premières études montrent l’apport de la pensée contrefactuelle à la technique de l’entretien semi-direct de recherche (sections 1.1 et 1.2) lorsque des items contrefactuels y sont intégrés. La deuxième et la troisième étude évaluent l’apport de la pensée contrefactuelle à la technique du Focus Group (sections 2.1 et 2.2) ; des items contrefactuels étant intégrés au guide des questions adressées au Focus Group. La quatrième et la cinquième étude analysent l’apport de la pensée contrefactuelle au Brainstorming (sections 3.1 et 3.2) en intégrant des contextes contrefactuels lors des séances de brainstorming et de brainwriting.En résumé, les travaux de thèse mettent en évidence que l’utilisation du raisonnement contrefactuel dans des tâches de créativité amoindrit la fixité fonctionnelle relative à une catégorie en optimisant la production d’idées créatives issues d’autres catégories. / Creativity has a core function in design. Creativity is even more important in the perspective of a participatory design, «co-design», when it comes from future users as it leads to useful innovation. By focusing on users’ creativity in the co-conception processes in terms of the optimization, this thesis is part of a psycho-ergonomic approach to innovation with the objective of studying the possibility of fostering creativity among users. Our proposal is that it is possible to improve users' innovative thinking in quantity (number of proposals) as well as in quality (degree of originality of the proposals) by using a counterfactual-based method for participant-user queries.Based on a model of counterfactual contribution to creativity and innovation, our general assumption is that (i) functional fixity is a major cognitive obstacle in tasks requiring creativity and (ii) functional fixity may be counteracted by the use of counterfactual reasoning. Thus, from rules such as "if [OBJETi] then [for ACTIONi]" - (for instance "if Matchbox then to ignite"), functional fixity would be thwarted by asking participants to consider the following counterfactual " If [OBJETi] and [NOT for ACTIONi] then [for what OTHER ACTIONS] (for instance " if Matchbox and not to ignite; Then for what else? "). By applying this guideline, more creative ideas should emerge than in usual tasks of producing innovative ideas.The thesis is reporting a serie of six studies, with the participation of adult and child end-users embedded in creative co-design situations, ranging from conceptual (designing functional and procedural properties on future objects) to the most practical (the making of a prototype). The first two studies show the contribution of counterfactual thinking to the technique of semi-directed research interviewing (sections 1.1 and 1.2) when counterfactual items are integrated into it. The second and third studies evaluate the contribution of counterfactual thinking to the Focus Group technique (sections 2.1 and 2.2) with counterfactual items included in the questions list. The fourth and fifth studies analyze the contribution of counterfactual thinking to Brainstorming (sections 3.1 and 3.2) by integrating counterfactual contexts during brainstorming and brainwriting sessions.In summary, the thesis works show that the use of counterfactual reasoning in tasks of creativity reduces the functional fixity relative to a category by optimizing the production of creative ideas coming from other categories.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:30:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5153.pdf: 1533597 bytes, checksum: 4d50c160cb28cf78883c1c4b06d79d88 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-15 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Counterfactual thinking (CT) corresponds to the idea of mental constructions of alternatives for past event and serves an important function in an individual s adaptation and emotional coping. The aims of this study were to: (1) produce material to access and evaluate the counterfactual thinking of adults and (2) investigate the counterfactual thinking of depressed and non-depressed people, in order to determine if there are differences in how these two groups think about alternatives to reality. Five stories were prepared, using materials extracts from studies of counterfactual thinking, newspaper report and magazines articles. For each story, we formulated questions about thoughts related to the content read and about how these stories might have been different. The alternatives were formulated using aspects of reality most commonly modified by people, according to the literature: action or inaction, obligation, time and unusual events. Judges evaluated the texts and the questions, and ranked the alternatives provided according to aspects of reality that were modified. These materials were then used with 42 adults (85% female, mean age of 43 years). Subjects belonged one of two groups: depressed and non-depressed. Individual interviews were conducted. Initially, participants indicated their reactions to the stories then indicated modifications they would make, and then selected one of a pre-determined list of possible changes. The verbal responses of both groups were categorized using content analysis, and the frequency of responses, for each category, was compared using Student s t-Test. There were similarities in the CT for both groups. The majority of the CT was categorized as upward, subtractive, self-directed and refered to modifications in action or inactions. Few differences between the two groups were observed, mostly found through directed modifications. / O pensamento contrafactual corresponde à ideia de construções mentais de alternativas para eventos passados e apresenta uma importante função adaptativa e de elaboração de sentimentos. Este estudo teve como objetivos: (1) elaborar um material para acessar e avaliar o pensamento contrafactual de adultos e (2) investigar os pensamentos contrafactuais de pessoas com indicativos de depressão e sem indicativos de depressão, a fim de verificar se há diferenças na forma como essas pessoas buscam alternativas para a realidade vivenciada. Para a elaboração do material buscou-se estórias retiradas de estudos da literatura e de jornais e revistas, tendo sido selecionadas cinco estórias. As estórias foram adaptadas e, para cada uma, foram formuladas questões abertas sobre pensamentos evocados pela leitura e, ainda, quatro alternativas de modificações do curso da estória. As alternativas foram formuladas a partir dos aspectos da realidade mais comumente modificados pelas pessoas, de acordo com a literatura: ação/inação, obrigação, tempo e evento não usual. Após a composição do material, foi feita uma avaliação de juízes, quanto à redação e classificação das alternativas de acordo com os aspectos da realidade. Em seguida foi realizada a coleta de dados, sendo a amostra de participantes composta por 42 adultos, 85% do gênero feminino e com idade média de 43 anos. Os participantes foram divididos em dois grupos: com indicativos de depressão e sem indicativos de depressão, sendo cada grupo composto por 21 pessoas. A coleta foi realizada com cada participante individualmente. As modificações a respeito das estórias foram feitas, em um primeiro momento, por meio de relato livre, em seguida por meio de modificações direcionadas e, por fim, por meio de escolha de alternativas previamente elaboradas. As respostas abertas foram categorizadas por meio da análise de conteúdo e as frequências de pensamentos contrafactuais entre os grupos com e sem indicativos de depressão foram comparadas por meio do Teste-t de Student. Os resultados apontam estilos similares entre pensamentos contrafactuais de pessoas com e sem indicativos de depressão. A maioria dos pensamentos encontrados foram categorizados como ascendentes, subtrativos, autorreferentes e modificavam um aspecto referente à ação/inação. Foram observadas poucas diferenças significativas entre os grupos, sendo a maioria encontrada por meio de modificações direcionadas.

A utilização do valor justo, na avaliação de ativos biológicos, decorrentes da adoção de padrões internacionais de contabilidade, tem provocado efeitos econômicos significativos sobre o valor das empresas e, consequentemente, nos seus resultados correntes e futuros. Dessa maneira, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar se os usuários da informação contábil reconhecem a relevância do uso do valor justo na mensuração de ativos biológicos. Por meio de experimentos com alunos de MBA, sob a perspectiva da Teoria do Pensamento Contrafactual, foram considerados os seguintes estímulos sobre o julgamento da relevância do uso do valor justo para ativos biológicos: (i) se o resultado (perdas ou ganhos) decorrentes da avaliação a valor justo, (ii) se o tipo de ativo biológico (com ou sem liquidez) e (iii) se a decisão gerencial (manter o ativo até o vencimento ou disponibilizar para a venda) interferem no julgamento da relevância do uso do valor justo. Os resultados apontam que, mesmo com a presença dessas variáveis, o uso do valor justo é relevante para mensuração dos ativos biológicos. / The use of fair value in the measurement of biological assets resulting from the adoption of international accounting standards, has caused significant economic effect on the value of firms and hence on their current and future results. Thus, this study aims to examine whether users of accounting information recognize the relevance of the use of fair value measurement of biological assets. Through experiments with MBA students from the perspective of the Theory of Counterfactual Thinking, we considered the following stimuli on the trial of the relevance of the use of the fair value of biological assets: (i) if the result (gain or loss) arising from measurement at fair value, (ii) the type of biological assets (with or without liquid) and (iii) if the decision management (maintaining the asset to maturity or available for sale) interfere with the judgment of the relevance of the use of value fair. The results show that, even with the presence of these variables, the use of fair value is relevant for measurement of biological assets.

Firefighters respond to a wide range of critical incidents in which they face exposure to multiple stressors. Previous studies have reported prevalence rates of various symptomatology and identified some risk factors for firefighters, but accord has not been reached across studies on the extent of vulnerability or resilience and potential predictors of each have not all been identified. Studies with firefighters in the United Kingdom are comparatively rare. The purpose of this series of studies was, therefore, to investigate the prevalence of PTSD symptomatology and that of its associated comorbid conditions (depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse) in UK firefighters. On the basis of a literature review, the role of thought control, counterfactual thinking and humour style in predicting symptoms was examined. Study I examined this together with the demographic, occupational, event-specific and cognitive factors associated with these conditions in a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of multiple exposure in firefighters. Results indicated that these firefireghters demonstrated high levels of resilience, recording relatively low rates of PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse symptomatology. No DSM-IV Criterion A1 exposure variable independently predicted symptomatology of PTSD, but A2 responses of fear and helplessness predicted PTSD symptomatology, and A2 fear predicted alcohol misuse. Individual aspects of A1 exposure did predict symptomatology of depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse; one operating schedule predicted symptomatology of depression and anxiety; and both previous divorce and previous psychiatric diagnosis predicted symptomatology of alcohol misuse. Of the three cognitive predictors, nonreferent counterfactual thinking and self-defeating humour independently predicted higher levels of PTSD symptomatology, whilst self-enhancing humour predicted lower symptomatology of depression. Results were essentially the same in both regression models, indicating no difference between the predictive power of these cognitive constructs between the models where humour was used at work and when used with the person closest to the participant. Study 2 evaluated the same symptomatology in a longitudinal investigation of firefighters exposed to a single critical incident in which the casualty's life could not be saved, again addressing the cognitive factors of thought control strategies, counterfactual thinking and humour style. Results showed high levels of resilience with firefighters recording relatively low rates of PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse symptomatology, although symptomatology of depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse increased over time for a small number. Factors associated with development of symptomatology were firefighter type and rank, A2 horror, body recovery, and the use of thought suppression and 'if only' counterfactuals). However, these were not long-lasting. Similarly, associations between depression/anxiety symptomatology and A2 helplessness; anxiety and previous psychiatric diagnosis also had a short term effect on symptoms. Those who were younger and who had not been involved in body handling had higher depression scores at T2 although the sample size was small and these results may be anomalies. Study 3 explored the firefighters' responses to the same critical incident in greater depth in order to draw out any aspects of it which caused distress and any factors which were found to be helpful in coping with such distress. This qualitative exploration was designed to identify the meaning attached to aspects of critical incidents and how firefighters individually experienced such a critical incident response in comparison with other critical incidents. Results showed positive emotions, professional pride and a strong sense of duty were expressed far more than 'negative' emotions, suggesting a high degree of resilience. Identification with the dying or dead is a marker for distress because meaning has been attributed to the event through recognition of the deceased's humanity. Dissonance arose because of the struggle between this recognition and the desire to protect colleagues and it appears that it is this dissonance which adversely affects those with responsibility for making decisions. Feelings of helplessness arose through operational limitations and are also a marker for distress. Avoidance techniques were utilised, but thought suppression was not identified as such, although the transposition of distressing images through humour was reported. Downward counterfactuals were reported more frequently than upward, and the latter related to decision making and operational difficulties. The type of humour commonly used is banter which includes 'taking the piss' out of colleagues and situations although it was not experienced the same way by all firefighters. The purpose of banter is to cope with the stressors inherent in the job of firefighting and to facilitate bonding through its use as a private language. This study identified three 'rules of banter': it is reciprocal, the timing of it is critical, and it has contextual restrictions. Adaptive banter may be expressed as the self-enhancing or affiliative styles of humour and maladaptive as self-defeating, or banter may itself be a separate style of humour. Together, the studies' findings show that these firefighters were resilient to exposure to a range of stressors but that suffering may be seen on a spectrum. This has implications for theory and further research, and for the development of psychoeducational interventions to increase resilience in those first responders who may be at risk of developing symptoms.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / James C. Shanteau / A training protocol was developed to teach an implicit reasoning strategy to encourage the consideration of alternatives, specifically in behavioral trap decision environments. Engaging the strategy would thereby decrease the effect of focusing on traps, resulting in more rational behavior. In two studies, training was delivered in an instructor-less environment using paper-pencil and multimedia examples. The main training components consisted of analogical problem solving and counterfactual thinking. The potential moderators between training and performance outcomes consisted of an information processing disposition Need for Cognitive Closure, an individualized approach to decisions, Decision-Making Style, and a capacity to process information Working Memory Capacity. Arousal and mood were also measured before, during, and after the training as both have been linked with learning. In Study 1, participants engaged in analogical problem solving, additive counterfactual thinking, subtractive counterfactual thinking, or none of these (i.e., control group). Results revealed that the training was minimally effective, although some comparisons revealed a large shift from pre- to post-training in commitment score away from trap options. Likewise, the Need for Cognitive Closure was the best predictor of decision behavior revealing that a predisposition for amount of information processed during decision making is indicative of behavioral outcomes in this decision environment. Based on results from Study 1, the training was reformatted in Study 2 to obtain the maximum potential benefit. Analogical problem solving was coupled with each form of counterfactual thinking so participants engaged in both critical thinking processes. When training was effective, the two forms were differentially effective as related to behavioral trap problem type. Forward-looking training assisted problem types that force explicit cost recognition and immediate decision outcomes. Past-looking training assisted problem types that force little cost recognition and delayed decision outcomes. Results of this project could be used to enhance the acquisition of critical thinking as well as improve educational practices. Both information processing disposition and decision approach style predicted learning whereas capacity to process information and training manipulations did not. Future projects will examine how long the training effects last and if critical thinking training can be successfully applied to other decision environments.