Comparative judgments with numerical reference points

A model of subjective magnitude comparisons is explored, which assumes that subjects compare symbolic stimulus magnitudes with respect to a reference point. The reference point may be established implicitly by the question (e.g., “Which is larger?” vs “Which is smaller?”) or be presented explicitly (e.g., “Choose the stimulus closer to X.”). The model was tested in five experiments in which subjects judged which of two comparison digits was closer to (or further from) a reference digit. Regression analyses in three experiments revealed that reaction time depended on the ratio of the distances from the comparison items to the reference point. The other two experiments provided evidence that subjects can strategically vary the processes by which they compare stimuli to a reference point. The results indicated that subjects can perform various types of “analog arithmetic” using either the linear number scale or a nonlinear scale of subjective digit magnitude.     

Contributions of clinical neuropsychology to the study of schizophrenia

Clinical neuropsychological findings are examined with respect to competing hypotheses about localized neuropathology in schizophrenia. Two general models of structural and functional impairment are described. The first addresses deficits in cortical/subcortical processes concerned with arousal, attention, and higher cortical functions. The second addresses impairments in the balance of lateralized functions consistent with left hemisphere overactivation. Empirical data provide support for both models, and suggest that the explanatory power of these models may vary when they are applied to different subtypes of schizophrenia.     

Reference-dependent utility with shifting reference points and incomplete preferences

Many empirical studies have shown that people's preferences are reference-dependent. Previous theoretical studies of reference-dependence assumed that the reference point was fixed and then imposed the usual assumptions of decision theory, in particular completeness of preferences. This paper gives preference foundations for additive reference-dependent utility when the reference point varies across decisions and is one of the options in the decision maker's opportunity set. This decision situation is common, for example because usually the retention of the status quo is an available option, but is difficult to handle axiomatically because it implies incompleteness of preferences. The results of this paper provide tools to extend existing theories of reference-dependent preferences, such as prospect theory, to new and empirically important decision contexts.     

Acquisition of locational information about reference points during locomotion with and without a concurrent task: Effects of number of reference points

Maintenance of orientation relative to reference points along a locomotion path and acquisition of locational information about these reference points were investigated by requiring subjects with and without a concurrent backwards counting task to walk in alleys and estimate direction and distance to the reference points when stopped. One or three reference points were presented on each trial in different groups of subjects. Acquisition of locational information was indicated by decreased latencies and variable errors with repeated exposure to the same locomotion path. Neither the larger number of reference points nor the concurrent task seemed to affect acquisition, but both lead to increased latencies indicating that the subjects under these conditions were unable to keep track of the locations of the reference points whilst walking. However, they may still have been able to infer these locations after the locomotion path had been traversed.     

The neuropsychology of dreams: a clinico-anatomical study

by Mark Solms, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997. $59.95 (292 pages) ISBN 0 8058 1585 6.     

Cognitive reference points in judgments of symbolic magnitude

Research on speeded symbolic magnitude comparisons indicates that decisions are made more quickly when the magnitudes of the stimuli being compared are relatively close to an explicit or implicit reference point. Alternative explanations of this phenomenon are tested by seeking similar effects in nonspeeded rating tasks. In accord with the predictions of discriminability models, rated magnitude differences between stimuli in the vicinity of a reference point are expanded relative to differences between stimuli far from it. The inferred locations of cities along a west-east axis varies systematically depending on which coast, Pacific or Atlantic, is specified as the reference point. Scales derived from the rating data are correlated with the pattern of reaction times obtained in a comparable speeded comparison task. In addition, the distance between the cities nearest the locale of our subjects is subjectively stretched. Reference point effects are also observed when the form of the comparative specifies an implicit reference point at either end of a continuum of subjective size; however, these effects are very small and do not clearly support a discriminability interpretation. Stronger evidence for discriminability effects is obtained when an explicit reference point is established at an arbitrary size value. An implicit scaling model, related to range-frequency theory, is proposed to account for the influence of reference points on relative discriminability of stimulus magnitudes. The implicit scaling model is used to develop an account of how symbolic magnitudes may be learned and of how habitual reference points can produce asymmetries in distance judgments.     

Spatial orientation of a limb using egocentric reference points

Testing the hypothesis that spatial localization can be based on an abstracted spatial location code, rather than on stored proprioceptive information, orientation of an unseen limb was contrasted under intra- and interlimb-movement conditions. In Experiment 1, movements were executed in the midline either vertically upward or horizontally forward in the sagittal plane. These results revealed that intralimb errors were smaller than interlimb errors only at the most distant criterion spatial targets, and it was hypothesized that positioning of a limb could be mediated by a spatial location code if spatial targets were coded in association with body reference points. Experiment 2 tested the egocentric referent hypothesis further by manipulating the availability of body-based spatial reference points under intra- and interlimb conditions. At spatial targets that could be coded in conjunction with body reference points, no difference was found between intra- and interlimb accuracy. In contrast, at spatial targets where body reference points were absent, or at least made difficult to rely on, accuracy was greater in the intralimb condition. It was concluded that spatial reference points, in this instance body-based, are necessary if the spatial positioning of a limb is to be based on the spatial location code. The data were also discussed within a more comprehensive framework of spatial frames of reference.     

Place learning in virtual space III: Investigation of spatial navigation training procedures and their application to fMRI and clinical neuropsychology

This paper describes the utilization of a desktop virtual environment task, the Computer-Generated (C-G) Arena, in the study of human spatial navigation. First, four experiments examined the efficacy of various training procedures in the C-G Arena. In Experiment 1, participants efficiently located a hidden target after only observing the virtual environment from a fixed position (placement learning). In Experiment 2, participants efficiently located a hidden target after only observing an experimenter search the virtual environment (observational learning). In Experiment 3, participants failed to display alatent learning effect in the virtual environment. In Experiment 4, all training procedures effectively taught participants the layout of the virtual environment, but the observational learning procedure most effectivelytaught participants the location of a hidden target within the environment. Finally, two experiments demonstrated the application of C-G Arena procedures to neuroimaging (Experiment 5) and neuropsychological (Experiment 6) investigations of human spatial navigation.     

The debt of neuropsychology to the epilepsies.

Both neuropsychology and psychology in general have been enhanced markedly by brain-behavior models derived from the study of the epilepsies. A significant body of neuropsychological concepts originated or were confirmed through epilepsy-based treatment and research. These concepts include the peri-Rolandic homunculus, the role of the hippocampal-temporal lobe complex in cognitive memory, hemisphere plasticity for speech in childhood, the intracarotid amytal procedure for determining hemisphere memory patency, and hemisphere-based models of cognition confirmed through human commissurotomy. Personality and social-emotional research in epilepsy are additional areas in which new conceptual models grounded in psychological science can both repay our debt to the epilepsies and provide much needed psychological research and treatment.     

Effects of multiple reference points in spatial stimulus-response compatibility.

In two experiments, spatial stimulus-response compatibility effects in situations where the stimulus could appear in eight different locations were investigated. The locations were obtained as a result of orthogonal manipulation of hemispace, visual hemifield within hemispace, and relative position within hemifield. In the first experiment, only relative position within hemifield was relevant for selecting one of two responses (left or right). The results showed that both hemifield and relative position formed the basis of compatibility effects. In the second experiment, which was in most respects identical to the first, all spatial information was irrelevant. Only the geometrical shape of the stimulus determined the correct response. The results showed three S-R compatibility effects, based on hemispace, hemifield, and relative position. These results contradict earlier findings, and have implications for models of stimulus-response compatibility.     

The use of multiple reference points in risky decision making

Among psychologists and economists, prospect theory continues to be one of the most popular models of decision making. The theory's key property is reference dependence; specifically, how an individual's perception of loss or gain is dependent upon their starting point (i.e., the status quo). Although prospect theory is widely accepted, other authors have sought the inclusion of reference points besides the status quo. Initially these extensions focused on the importance of single reference points such as goals. More recently, authors have explained choice data by including multiple reference points within the value function. Multiple‐reference‐point theories generally assume that many choice situations possess an implicit or explicit goal, or point an individual will strive to obtain, and/or a minimum requirement (i.e., a “lower bound”) above which an individual will strive to stay. In two experiments, we present evidence that individuals can utilize the minimum requirement, status quo, and goal within a single risky decision task. Participants most often chose to maximize their chance of reaching reference points even when that decision was riskier, resulted in lower expected value, resulted in lower expected utility, or ran contrary to the predictions of prospect theory. Furthermore, salience and uncertainty moderated the use of goals and minimum requirements as reference points. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alternative reference points and outcome evaluation: the influence of affect

Two studies examined the effect of affective states on decision outcome evaluation under the presence or absence of salient alternative reference points. Alternative reference points exist when there are 2 possible referents from which an outcome can be evaluated, and the outcome is judged as good from the perspective of one referent and bad from the perspective of the other. The results support a motivational process of evaluating outcomes in which individuals select the reference point that allows them to maintain positive mood or improve negative mood. Mood measurements taken before and after the task revealed that those in positive moods maintained their mood whether or not they had alternative reference points in the evaluation of their outcomes. Those in negative affective states improved their mood only when there was an alternative reference point that allowed the outcome to be compared favorably; when there was no such alternative reference point, they maintained their negative mood.     

Prolegomenon to the structure of emotion: Gleanings from neuropsychology

Abstract

This article presents a model of the structure of emotion developed primarily from a consideration of neuropsychological evidence and behavioural data which have bearing on neuropsychological theories. Valence is first considered and highlighted as a defining characteristic of emotion. Next, the use of facial behaviour and autonomic nervous system patterns as defining characteristics of discrete emotions is questioned on empirical and conceptual grounds. The regulation of emotion is considered and proposed to affect the very structure of emotion itself. If there is an invariant pattern of biological activity across different instantiations of the same emotion, it is likely to be found in higher-order associative networks of central nervous system activity, the very same networks that subserve goal-directed behaviour and other cognitive functions. Drawing upon evolutionary considerations, it is argued that what is basic about emotion are the dimensions of approach and withdrawal. The nature of the linkage between such action tendencies and emotion is discussed.     

Introducing counselling in secondary schools: A case study with reference to frame issues

Abstract

I am a deputy headteacher in a comprehensive school. I believe that the widespread re-introduction of counselling into secondary schools offers possibilities for great benefit, both in terms of the personal well-being and emotional health of students, and also in terms of academic results and other educational indicators. It is my view that, currently, this may particularly be true for boys.

This paper is a double case study: first, of the failure of a student to cope with ordinary schooling because of his emotional difficulties; and, second, of the establishment of a counselling service which resulted from his permanent exclusion from the school.

I allude to some of the theoretical issues which meshed with the practical details of establishing the counselling service, and offer some tentative conclusions about the rationale for counselling in secondary schools and the kind of model which seems most likely to be beneficial.     

The role of subtractions and comparisons in comparative judgments involving numerical reference points

Experiments in which subjects are asked to decide which of two digits is closer in magnitude to a third raise problems for many theories of linear orders. Holyoak (1978), for example, performed a number of these reference point experiments and concluded that they posed serious difficulties for a number of leading models. In their place, he offered the distance ratio model in which the ease of the decision in a reference point task is a function of the ratio of the distances between each stimulus and the reference point. In the present article, three experiments are presented that bear on the adequacy of Holyoak's position. In the first two studies, we present evidence that an important assumption of the distance ratio model is incorrect. In the third experiment, we compare the empirical adequacy of the distance ratio model with our own subtraction model. This model treats the reference point task as a concatenation of two subtractions and a simple digit comparison. This comparison operation is equivalent to the magnitude comparison required in standard linear order experiments. Overall, the subtraction model gives a somewhat better account than the distance ratio.     

Indifference sets of reference points in multi‐objective integer linear programming

Reference point approaches for multi‐objective problems rely on the definition of an achievement scalarizing function that projects reference points onto the non‐dominated solution set. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of reference points using a Tchebycheff metric‐based scalarizing function in multi‐objective pure integer linear programming (MOILP). Since the non‐dominated solutions are discrete in MOILP, there are multiple reference points that lead to the same solution, i.e. there are indifference sets on the reference point space. We investigate some properties of the reference points in MOILP and also the graphical representation of indifference sets for tri‐objective problems. We further investigate properties of the reference points when additional limitations on the objective function values are introduced. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.