Inference and classification learning of abstract coherent categories

Category learning research has primarily focused on how people learn to classify items using simple observable features. However, classification is only 1 way to learn categories. In addition, many concepts have an underlying coherence that explains the featural similarity among exemplars, such as abstract coherent concepts whose instances differ greatly on their observable features. In 3 experiments, the authors investigated how abstract coherent categories are acquired through 2 common means of category learning, classification and inference. Because inference promotes more focus on within-category information than does classification, they hypothesized that inference learning would lead to a better understanding of the underlying coherence of abstract coherent categories. All 3 experiments support this prediction.     

Psycholinguistic norms for action photographs in French and their relationships with spoken and written latencies.

A set of 142 photographs of actions (taken from Fiez & Tranel, 1997) was standardized in French on name agreement, image agreement, conceptual familiarity, visual complexity, imageability, age of acquisition, and duration of the depicted actions. Objective word frequency measures were provided for the infinitive modal forms of the verbs and for the cumulative frequency of the verbal forms associated with the photographs. Statistics on the variables collected for action items were provided and compared with the statistics on the same variables collected for object items. The relationships between these variables were analyzed, and certain comparisons between the current database and other similar published databases of pictures of actions are reported. Spoken and written naming latencies were also collected for the photographs of actions, and multiple regression analyses revealed that name agreement, image agreement, and age of acquisition are the major determinants of action naming speed. Finally, certain analyses were performed to compare object and action naming times. The norms and the spoken and written naming latencies corresponding to the pictures are available on the Internet (http://www.psy.univ-bpclermont.fr/~pbonin/pbonin-eng.html) and should be of great use to researchers interested in the processing of actions.     

Recognition by humans and pigeons of novel views of 3-D objects and their photographs

Humans and pigeons were trained to discriminate between 2 views of actual 3-D objects or their photographs. They were tested on novel views that were either within the closest rotational distance between the training views (interpolated) or outside of that range (extrapolated). When training views were 60 degrees apart, pigeons, but not humans, recognized novel views of actual objects better than their pictures. Further, both species recognized interpolated views of both stimulus types better than extrapolated views, but a single distinctive geon enhanced recognition of novel views only for humans. When training views were 90 degrees apart, pigeons recognized interpolated views better than extrapolated views with actual objects but not with photographs. Thus, pigeons may represent actual objects differently than their pictures.     

Verbal coding and redintegrative memory for shapes.

Four experiments examined the effect of label training on redintegrative memory for novel shapes (remembering the whole shape when only a part is presented). Redintegrative memory was markedly better when subjects were trained with names as compared to unnamed control conditions. The first two experiments demonstrated that the effect of labeling was even stronger when subjects were required to use the labels during the transfer test. This result suggests that the naming effect is not due to attentional differences during training. The last two experiments explored the quality of the assigned labels and the relationship of the label to the visual stimulus. There was a slightly greater effect of relevant meaningful labels on redintegrative memory, but in general all types of names (relevant, irrelevant, and paralog) were facilitative. The experiments suggest that a verbal code can exert a strong influence in tasks that require the integration and retrieval of visual information.     

The number of distinct basic values and their structure assessed by PVQ-40

According to the theory of basic human values (Schwartz, 1992), values form a circular motivational continuum. The original publication and most subsequent research partitioned this continuum into 10 values. In theory, however, it could be partitioned into a larger number of more narrowly defined values. We use multidimensional scaling (MDS) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of data from the Portrait Values Questionnaire in Poland (N = 10,439) to assess a finer partitioning of values. MDS confirmed the circular motivational continuum of 10 values, with benevolence and universalism reversing positions. CFA discriminated 15 hypothesized values: 2 subtypes of universalism (protecting the environment and societal concern), 2 of achievement (ambition and showing success), 2 of self-direction (autonomy of action and autonomy of thought), 2 of security (national security and personal security), and 2 of tradition (tradition and humility), plus stimulation, hedonism, power, conformity, and benevolence. These 15 values were also distinguishable in the MDS projection.     

The magic spell of language: linguistic categories and their perceptual consequences

Language is a tool that directs attention to different aspects of reality. Using participants from the same linguistic community, the authors demonstrate in 4 studies that metasemantic features of linguistic categories influence basic perceptual processes. More specifically, the hypothesis that abstract versus concrete language leads to a more global versus local perceptual focus was supported across 4 experiments, in which participants used (Experiment 1) or were primed either supraliminally (Experiments 2 and 3) or subliminally (Experiment 4) with abstract (adjectives) or concrete (verbs) terms. Participants were shown to display a global versus specific perceptual focus (Experiments 1 and 4), more versus less inclusiveness of categorization (Experiments 2 and 3), and incorporation of more rather than less contextual information (Experiment 3). The implications of this new perspective toward the language-perception interface are discussed in the context of the general linguistic relativity debate.     

Using and being used by categories. The case of negative evaluations and daily well-being

Three studies involving 257 undergraduates examined whether a simple choice reaction time task could predict daily experiences of affect. Individuals who were fast to make negative evaluations experienced more negative affect and more somatic symptoms and were less satisfied with their lives, compared with individuals who were slow to make negative evaluations. A fourth study, involving 89 undergraduates, indicated that performance on the task was relatively unaffected by transitory mood states. The results support the idea that categorization provides a useful perspective on personality functioning.     

Better mood and better performance. Learning rule-described categories is enhanced by positive mood

Theories of mood and its effect on cognitive processing suggest that positive mood may allow for increased cognitive flexibility. This increased flexibility is associated with the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, both of which play crucial roles in hypothesis testing and rule selection. Thus, cognitive tasks that rely on behaviors such as hypothesis testing and rule selection may benefit from positive mood, whereas tasks that do not rely on such behaviors should not be affected by positive mood. We explored this idea within a category-learning framework. Positive, neutral, and negative moods were induced in our subjects, and they learned either a rule-described or a non-rule-described category set. Subjects in the positive-mood condition performed better than subjects in the neutral- or negative-mood conditions in classifying stimuli from rule-described categories. Positive mood also affected the strategy of subjects who classified stimuli from non-rule-described categories.     

Psycholinguistic norms and face naming times for photographs of celebrities in French

A set of 105 photographs of celebrities has been standardized in French on distinctiveness, proper name agreement, face agreement, age of acquisition (AoA), and subjective frequency. Statistics on the collected variables for photographs are provided. The relationships between these variables have been analyzed. Face naming latencies have also been collected for the photographs of celebrities, and several multiple regression analyses have been carried out on naming latencies and percentages of tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomena. Themain determinants of naming speed included AoA, face agreement, and name agreement. In addition, AoA, together with distinctiveness and face agreement, reliably predicted the percentages of TOTs. The norms, photographs of the celebrities, and spoken naming latencies corresponding to the celebrities are available on the Internet at norms.celebrities.googlepages.com and should be of great use to researchers interested in the processing of famous people.     

A probability model for errors of classification. II. Particular cases

General features of a probability model for errors of classification are recapitulated as an introduction to particular cases and applications. Several models for dichotomous and nondichotomous systems are examined in sufficient detail to elaborate a procedure for dealing with any particular case. The systemO =f(T,E) has empirical reference where, as statistic or parameter, probability of occasional subclass membership is given by observation, and one seeks to recoverT andE values fromO. A procedure for relating models and data is described. Applications of the concepts and methods are illustrated for several areas of psychological research.With grateful acknowledgment to the Rockefeller Foundation; and to the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, for N. I. M. H. Grant M-3950.     

A probability model for errors of classification. I. General considerations

This paper seeks to meet the need for a general treatment of the problem of error in classification. Within an m-attribute classificatory system, an object's typical subclass is that subclass to which it is most often allocated under repeated experimentally independent applications of the classificatory criteria. In these terms, an error of classification is an atypical subclass allocation. This leads to definition of probabilitiesO of occasional subclass membership, probabilitiesT of typical subclass membership, and probabilitiesE of error or, more generally, occasional subclass membership conditional upon typical subclass membership. In the relationshipf: (O, T, E) the relative incidence of independentO, T, andE values is such that generally one can specifyO values givenT andE, but one cannot generally specifyT andE values givenO. Under the restrictions of homogeneity ofE values for all members of a given typical subclass, mutual stochastic independence of errors of classification, and suitable conditions of replication, one can find particular systemsO =f(T, E) which are solvable forT andE givenO. A minimum of three replications of occasional classification is necessary for a solution of systems for marginal attributes, and a minimum of two replications is needed with any cross-classification. Although for such systems one can always specifyT andE values givenO values, the solution is unique for dichotomous systems only.With grateful acknowledgement to the Rockefeller Foundation; and to the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, for N. I. M. H. Grant M-3950.     

Effects of visual presentation of caloric values on food buying by normal and obese persons.

The effects of the visual presentation of the caloric values of food on the food buying behavior of 450 normal, overweight, and obese female subjects were studied, in a cafeteria setting. The caloric signs significantly decreased the total number of calories bought across all three weight groups. No differences were found among the three weight groups, either in the effect of the presentation of the caloric signs or in the total number of calories bought. The implications of these results were discussed, both in terms of present-day research on obesity as well as in terms of a large scale modification of eating behavior.     

Courtroom Interrogation of Rape Victims: Verbal Response Mode Use by Attorneys and Witnesses During Direct Examination vs. Cross-Examination1

The verbal behavior of attorneys and witnesses (rape victims) in direct and cross-examinations was coded according to a taxonomy of verbal response modes (VRMs). Significant differences were found between the verbal behavior of attorneys and witnesses on direct and cross-examination. The differences are those that would be expected on the basis of the advice given by legal authors concerning the techniques that should be used in the two types of interrogation. The VRMs reflect the different techniques that attorneys use in their efforts to influence juries' impressions of witnesses' credibility.     

Identifying stimuli of different perceptual categories in pure and mixed blocks of trials: evidence for stimulus-driven switch costs.

Responding to stimuli of different perceptual categories is usually faster when the categories are presented isolated from each other, in pure blocks, than when they are presented randomly intermixed, in mixed blocks; a difference denoted as perceptual mixing costs. The present study examined the contribution of strategic and stimulus-driven factors to these costs. The first two experiments showed that perceptual mixing costs were not reduced when participants were informed at the start of each trial in mixed blocks about the impending category. Furthermore, Experiments 1 and 3 showed that mixing costs were concentrated on those trials of mixed blocks where the perceptual category was different from that of the preceding trial. These results support the view that perceptual mixing costs derive from stimulus-driven trial-by-trial adjustments in processing. Some general implications for processing models are discussed.     

Transmission of values from adolescents to their parents: the role of value content and authoritative parenting

The intergenerational transmission of values is a bidirectional process. To date, however, adolescents' influence on parental values has rarely been investigated. In the present study, we analyzed the transmission of values from adolescents (aged 11 to 17 years) to their mothers and fathers across a one-year interval in 431 mother-child dyads and 346 father-child dyads. Transmission of values from adolescents to parents was observed regarding topics that are salient in adolescence (the usefulness of new technology, beliefs concerning the traditional way of life, the importance of religion) but not regarding topics that become salient later. In addition, the transmission of adolescents' values to their parents was mainly observed in families with above-average levels of authoritative parenting (i.e., parents are receptive and supportive). However, adolescents' religious values were also transmitted to their parents in families with below-average levels of authoritative parenting. Transmission of values from parents to adolescents was also investigated.     

Cultural variation in management of attention by children and their caregivers.

Cultural variation occurred in time-sharing of attention during videotaped home visits with sixteen 14-20-month-old toddlers and their caregivers from a Guatemalan Mayan community and a middle-class community of U.S. European-descent families. The Mayan caregivers and their toddlers were more likely to attend simultaneously to spontaneously occurring competing events than were the U.S. caregivers and their toddlers, who were more likely to alternate their attention between competing events and, in the case of the caregivers. to focus attention on one event at a time. This cultural contrast in prevalence of simultaneous or nonsimultaneous attention occurred in both a 10-min segment of child-focused activities and a 10-min segment of adult-focused activities, replicating and extending the findings of B. Rogoff, J. Mistry, A. G?ncü, and C. Mosier (1993), which implicated cultural processes in attention.     

Maximum vs. minimum values: Preferences of speakers and listeners for upper and lower limit estimates

Estimates about uncertain quantities can be expressed in terms of lower limits (more than X, minimum X), or upper limits (less than Y, maximum Y). It has been shown that lower limit statements generally occur much more often than upper limit statements (Halberg & Teigen, 2009). However, in a conversational context, preferences for upper and lower limit statements will be moderated by the concerns of the interlocutors. We report three studies asking speakers and listeners about their preferences for lower and upper limit statements, in the domains of distances, durations, and prices. It appears that travellers prefer information about maximum distances and maximum durations, and buyers (but not sellers) prefer to be told about maximum prices and maximum delivery times. Mistaken maxima are at the same time regarded as more “wrong” than mistaken minima. However, this preference for “worst case” information is not necessarily shared by providers of information (advisors), who are also concerned about being blamed if wrong.