Prior distributions on symmetric groups

Fully and partially ranked data arise in a variety of contexts. From a Bayesian perspective, attention has focused on distance-based models; in particular, the Mallows model and extensions thereof. In this paper, a class of prior distributions, the Binary Tree, is developed on the symmetric group. The attractive features of the class are: it provides a closed-form solution to the posterior distribution; and a simple way to interpret the parameters of the prior distribution. The advantages of the proposed method are illustrated by comparing it to metric-based models using data analyzed by other researchers in this context.This revised article was published online in August 2005 with the PDF paginated correctly.     

Prior probabilities

The theoretical construction and practical use of prior probabilities, in particular for systems having many degrees of freedom, are investigated. It becomes clear that it is operationally unsound to use mutually consistent priors if one wishes to draw sensible conclusions from practical experiments. The prior cannot usefully be identified with a state of knowledge, and indeed it is not so identified in common scientific practice. Rather, it can be identified with the question one asks. Accordingly, priors are free constructions. Their informal, ill-defined and subjective characteristics must carry over into the conclusions one chooses to draw from experiments or observations.     

Prior knowledge on the illumination position

Visual perception is fundamentally ambiguous because an infinite number of three-dimensional scenes are consistent with our retinal images. To circumvent these ambiguities, the visual system uses prior knowledge such as the assumption that light is coming from above our head. The use of such assumptions is rational when these assumptions are related to statistical regularities of our environment. In confirmation of previous visual search experiments, we demonstrate here that the assumption on the illumination position is in fact biased to the above-left rather than directly above. This bias to the left reaches 26 degrees on average in a more direct shape discrimination task. Both right-handed and left-handed observers have a similar leftward bias. We discuss the possible origins of this singular bias on the illumination position.     

Visual Prior Entry

It has long been claimed that attended stimuli are perceived prior to unattended stimuli–the doctrine of prior entry. Most, if not all, studies on which such claims have been based, however, are open to a nonattentional interpretation involving response bias, leading some researchers to assert that prior entry may not exist. Given this controversy, we introduce a novel methodology to minimize the effect of response bias by manipulating attention and response demands in orthogonal dimensions. Attention was oriented to the left or right (i.e., spatially), but instead of reporting on the basis of location, observers reported the order (first or second) of vertical versus horizontal line segments. Although second-order response biases were demonstrated, effects of attention in accordance with the law of prior entry were clearly obtained following both exogenous and endogenous attentional cuing.     

Prior on an insolubilium of Jean Buridan

We present Prior??s discussion of a puzzle about valditity found in the writings of the fourteenth-century French logician Jean Buridan and show how Prior??s study of this puzzle may have provided the conceptual inspiration for his development of hybrid logic.     

Prior and rennie on times and tenses

One of Arthur Prior’s constructions of the relational calculus for times within tense logic plus propositional quantifiers is considered using Malcolm Rennie’s multimodal semantics and found wanting in two respects: Prior’s use of an independent necessity operator was both incorrect and unnecessary, and his system imported an objectionable metaphysics namely temporal relationism.When these defects are repaired it is shown that temporal relationism is not entailed by the modified system.Finally, there is considered the possibility of describing an inconsistent temporal structure in which distinct, classically incompatible conceptions of time can be unified within an inconsistent framework     

Effects of Prior Juror Experience on Juror Behavior

A psychological assumption underlying the common and legally sanctioned use of jurors with previous jury experience is that such prior experience has little effect on a juror's behavior. The empirical evidence on this assumption is reviewed. Special attention is devoted to recent research that indicates two types of potential bias among experienced jurors. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.     

Prior knowledge and recognition

The purpose of this series of experiments was to determine if and when word recognition would depend on the number of related concepts represented in permanent memory. Words defining either large or small rhyme or meaning categories were studied and tested under various conditions. The results indicated that rhyme category size influenced recognition whenever rhyme was emphasized during both study and testing phases. Words belonging to larger rhyme sets were not recognized as well as those belonging to smaller rhyme sets. In contrast, meaning-related set size had no effect on recognition. These and other findings indicate that the breadth of prior knowledge can influence recognition but only under limited conditions that reactivate this knowledge at test.     

跨通道的优先登录现象

优先登录现象是指注意所投向的客体或通道能够更快地进入我们的意识之中,是注意的一个重要时间特性。本文首先介绍了三种主要的研究方法（时序判断范式、同步判断范式和线运动错觉范式）,并比较了三者之间的差异。然后,回顾了跨通道优先登录现象的研究历史,根据围绕优先登录现象的历史争论,归纳出各种影响优先登录效应的因素（包括眼动、刺激的相对强度、刺激的相对空间位置和反应偏向）。最后,对未来跨通道优先登录的研究进行了展望。     

一致的先前知识对类别学习影响机制探讨

探讨一致的先前知识对类别学习的影响,包括2个实验。被试是112名大学生,分别探讨不同实验任务和不同项目呈现时间引发的机械特征在类别学习中的重要程度和加工程度不同的情况下先前知识对类别学习的影响。结果表明:(1)在实验任务为项目类别归属判断任务时,机械特征重要程度低,主题特征与机械特征在学习上存在竞争关系;在实验任务为项目类别归属及记忆任务时,机械特征重要程度高,主题特征与机械特征在学习上存在促进关系。(2)在限制步速呈现项目时,机械特征加工程度低,主题特征与机械特征在学习上存在竞争关系;而在自定步速呈现项目时,机械特征加工程度高,主题特征与机械特征在学习上不存在竞争关系。     

Arthur Prior and Hybrid Logic

Contemporary hybrid logic is based on the idea of using formulas as terms, an idea invented and explored by Arthur Prior in the mid-1960s. But Prior’s own work on hybrid logic remains largely undiscussed. This is unfortunate, since hybridisation played a role that was both central to and problematic for his philosophical views on tense. In this paper I introduce hybrid logic from a contemporary perspective, and then examine the role it played in Prior’s work.     

Prior experience and complex procedures

The role of prior knowledge in learning complex procedures was investigated in a transfer task in which subjects learned two related procedures in sequence. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the conceptual and structural similarity between the two procedures; in Experiment 2, we manipulated whether the order of the steps within subprocedures was the same or different during training and transfer, or whether the order of the subprocedures was the same or different. The results lead us to hypothesize that transfer in complex procedures is mediated primarily by a memory for specific steps rather than by conceptual understanding or problem solving. In particular, we were able to model the results precisely on the assumption that subjects use superficial similarity to retrieve the sequences of steps needed to perform segments of the procedure.     

论"公正"先于"关护"

在应用伦理学的论证过程中,尽管各种不同的伦理学派、道德理论或价值诉求相互差异、彼此竞争,但在当代境遇下,它们都可以归溯为一个以凸显人权原则为特征的共同的道德视点。换言之,在诉诸一个根基性的价值诉求———人权理念———方面,它们大体上是一致的。正如哈贝马斯所言:“当宗教与形而上学的世界图景丧失了其普遍约束力时,我们(或者我们的大多数)在向宽容的世界观多元主义过渡之后,既没有变成冷漠的玩世不恭者,也没有变成什么都行的相对主义者,因为我们已经、并且愿意坚守着有关正确或错误的道德判断的二元规则。我们将生活世界及政治…