移情对亲社会行为决策的两种功能

移情对亲社会行为决策具有动机功能和信息功能。霍夫曼认为,移情忧伤不仅能够作为亲社会道德动机促进亲社会行为的产生,而且能够激活观察者的道德原则,进而引发亲社会行为。巴特森强调移情不仅能够增强解除他人困境的动机,而且带有重视他人福利和想使他人困境得到解除的程度的信息。移情的动机功能依赖于诱发移情的情境,而信息功能具有稳定的倾向性,比动机功能更持久,两种功能共同作用使移情在亲社会行为决策中具有更强的适应性。移情功能理论对道德教育具有启示作用。     

Nonsimultaneous stimulus presentations and their role in listener naming

Previous studies on naming have presented the object and its name simultaneously during both training and testing, and thus the training component may establish a transformation of function directly between the object and the name. Successful tests for listener naming may thus not require the emergence of a novel (entailed) transformation of function. The current study aimed to control for this possibility by presenting the object and the name sequentially and nonsimultaneously. Eight typically developing toddlers participated in the current study. During name training, objects and names were presented nonsimultaneously, and all participants failed to emit listener-naming responses during the first test session. Subsequently, 4 participants received multiple exemplar training, which led to improvements in listener naming for all 4; and speaker naming for only 1 participant. As a control condition, the remaining 4 participants were tested repeatedly, without multiple exemplar training, and did not show any consistent improvements in their listener or speaker performances. Multiple exemplar training thus appeared to be effective in establishing generalized listener responses, which involved generating entailed transformation of functions. The strategy of using nonsimultaneous stimulus presentations could allow for greater precision in identifying the behavioral processes involved in listener-naming.     

不同强度短时有氧运动对执行功能的影响

探讨短时有氧运动对执行功能的影响是否与运动强度和性别有关, 为从运动强度和性别角度选择合理的有氧运动干预方案改善执行功能提供基础。研究采用混合设计, 选取30名大学生(男女人数各半), 使用功率自行车实施30分钟的不同强度有氧运动, 使用Flanker任务、2-back任务和数字More-odd shifting任务分别测查被试基线、小强度短时有氧运动、中强度短时有氧运动和大强度短时有氧运动后执行功能的抑制、刷新和转换三个子功能的变化, 结果表明：不同强度的短时有氧运动对执行功能产生选择性的积极影响, 且不随性别变化而改变。     

A new definition of well-behaved discrimination functions

A discrimination function shows the probability or degree with which stimuli are discriminated from each other when presented in pairs. In a previous publication [Kujala, J.V., & Dzhafarov, E.N. (2008). On minima of discrimination functions. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 52, 116–127] we introduced a condition under which the conformity of a discrimination function with the law of Regular Minimality (which says, essentially, that “being least discriminable from” is a symmetric relation) implies the constancy of the function’s minima (i.e., the same level of discriminability of every stimulus from the stimulus least discriminable from it). This condition, referred to as “well-behavedness,” turns out to be unnecessarily restrictive. In this note we give a significantly more general definition of well-behavedness, applicable to all Hausdorff arc-connected stimulus spaces. The definition employs the notion of the smallest transitively and topologically closed extension of a relation. We provide a transfinite-recursive construction for this notion and illustrate it by examples.     

On the Ranges of Algebraic Functions on Lattices

We study ranges of algebraic functions in lattices and in algebras, such as Łukasiewicz-Moisil algebras which are obtained by extending standard lattice signatures with unary operations.We characterize algebraic functions in such lattices having intervals as their ranges and we show that in Artinian or Noetherian lattices the requirement that every algebraic function has an interval as its range implies the distributivity of the lattice. Presented by Daniele Mundici     

On the exponent in the "generalized" matching equation

A power function equation between ratios of behavior and ratios of reinforcement rates has been called a generalized form of Herrnstein's (1961) matching law, even without a formal relationship having been shown between the two equations. The present work uses a functional relationship to prove that when ratios of reinforcement are not equivalent to ratios of behavior, and the transform leading to this inequality is consistent for every pair of reinforcement rates, the result is a power function relationship between response and reinforcement ratios. The label “generalized matching equation” for the power function equation is thus validated formally.     

Skew lattices and binary operations on functions

A recent study of the override and update operations defined on sets of partial functions placed both operations within the algebraic context of a certain variety of algebras. We show the latter to be term equivalent to the variety of right-handed skew Boolean algebras. Both operations are then studied within the broader context of skew lattices with an eye towards achieving greater insight into their joint algebraic behavior. A decision procedure is given to determine whether an equation in both operations holds for all sets of partial functions.     

Directional uncertainty in visually guided pointing

Studies of the relationship between stimulus-response uncertainty and reaction times indicate three qualitatively different functions: Hick's law, simple-choice step function, or flat curve (no effect at all). The extent of stimulus-response S-R) compatibility appears to interact with the effects of uncertainty on response times. One possible hypothesis regarding these various S-R uncertainty functions is that uncertainty will have an effect whenever the stimuli and their associated responses are not within the same egocentric spatial coordinates. We tested this hypothesis in 5 undergraduate participants (2 men, M age 18.7 yr., range 18-20) by investigating the time-course of pointing to peripherally located visual targets under four different levels of uncertainty (1, 2, 4, or 8 possible locations). Surprisingly, the resulting response function does not match any of those previously reported. Visually guided pointing produced a quadratic reaction time function as S-R uncertainty increases in log2 steps from 1 to 8.     

金钱概念激活与金钱功能偏好对自我损耗后利他的影响

金钱启动能够提高自我损耗后个体的利他,而金钱功能也可能对损耗后个体利他产生不可忽视的影响。实验让处于自我损耗状态的被试数金钱或白纸,然后测量其利他水平及其对金钱功能的内隐偏好。结果证实了金钱启动的积极效应。此外,在数金钱和数白纸两种条件下,金钱象征性功能偏好对自我损耗后个体利他的效应是相反的。这表明,激活金钱概念与偏好金钱象征性功能都有可能补偿自我损耗后的消极影响,但两者的补偿作用是相互独立的。     

Social discounting and delay discounting

Social discounting was measured as the amount of money a participant was willing to forgo to give a fixed amount (usually $75) to another person. In the first experiment, amount forgone was a hyperbolic function of the social distance between the giver and receiver. In the second experiment, degree of social discounting was an increasing function of reward magnitude whereas degree of delay discounting was a decreasing function of reward magnitude. In the third experiment, the shape of the function relating delayed rewards to equally valued immediate rewards for another person was predicted from individual delay and social discount functions. All in all, the studies show that the social discount function, like delay and probability discount functions, is hyperbolic in form. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of white matter hyperintensities and medial temporal lobe atrophy in age-related executive dysfunctioning

Various studies support an association between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and deficits in executive function in nondemented ageing. Studies examining executive functions and WMH have generally adopted executive function as a phrase including various functions such as flexibility, inhibition, and working memory. However, these functions include distinctive cognitive processes and not all may be affected as a result of WMH. Furthermore, atrophy of the medial temporal lobe (MTA) is frequently observed in ageing. Nevertheless, in previous studies of nondemented ageing MTA was not considered when examining a relationship between white matter and executive function. The goal of the present study was to examine how WMH and MTA relate to a variety of executive functions, including flexibility, fluency, inhibition, planning, set shifting, and working memory. Strong correlations were observed between WMH and MTA and most of the executive functions. However, only MTA was related to flexibility and set shifting performance. Regression analysis furthermore showed that MTA was the strongest predictor of working memory, after which no further significant association with WMH was noted. Alternatively, both MTA and periventricular hyperintensities independently predicted inhibition performance. These findings emphasize the importance of MTA when examining age-related decline in executive functioning.     

The Profinite Hull of Special Groups and Local-Global Principles

We introduce the Profinite Hull functor of special groups, showing that it gives rise to a new (and strong) local-global principle, the subform reflection property. We also indicate applications of this principle to the abstract algebraic theory of quadratic forms.     

Algebraic Semantics for Deductive Systems

The notion of an algebraic semantics of a deductive system was proposed in [3], and a preliminary study was begun. The focus of [3] was the definition and investigation of algebraizable deductive systems, i.e., the deductive systems that possess an equivalent algebraic semantics. The present paper explores the more general property of possessing an algebraic semantics. While a deductive system can have at most one equivalent algebraic semantics, it may have numerous different algebraic semantics. All of these give rise to an algebraic completeness theorem for the deductive system, but their algebraic properties, unlike those of equivalent algebraic semantics, need not reflect the metalogical properties of the deductive system. Many deductive systems that don't have an equivalent algebraic semantics do possess an algebraic semantics; examples of these phenomena are provided. It is shown that all extensions of a deductive system that possesses an algebraic semantics themselves possess an algebraic semantics. Necessary conditions for the existence of an algebraic semantics are given, and an example of a protoalgebraic deductive system that does not have an algebraic semantics is provided. The mono-unary deductive systems possessing an algebraic semantics are characterized. Finally, weak conditions on a deductive system are formulated that guarantee the existence of an algebraic semantics. These conditions are used to show that various classes of non-algebraizable deductive systems of modal logic, relevance logic and linear logic do possess an algebraic semantics.     

On Holland's Dutch identity conjecture

The manifest probabilities of observed examinee response patterns resulting from marginalization with respect to the latent ability distribution produce the marginal likelihood function in item response theory. Under the conditions that the posterior distribution of examinee ability given some test response pattern is normal and the item logit functions are linear, Holland (1990a) gives a quadratic form for the log-manifest probabilities by using the Dutch Identity. Further, Holland conjectures that this special quadratic form is a limiting one for all smooth unidimensional item response models as test length tends to infinity. The purpose of this paper is to give three counterexamples to demonstrate that Holland's Dutch Identity conjecture does not hold in general. The counterexamples suggest that only under strong assumptions can it be true that the limits of log-manifest probabilities are quadratic. Three propositions giving sets of such strong conditions are given.     

Estimating the imputed social cost of errors of measurement

If a loss function is available specifying the social cost of an error of measurement in the score on a unidimensional test, an asymptotic method, based on item response theory, is developed for optimal test design for a specified target population of examinees. Since in the real world such loss functions are not available, it is more useful to reverse this process; thus a method is developed for finding the loss function for which a given test is an optimally designed test for the target population. An illustrative application is presented for one operational test.This work was supported in part by contract N00014-80-C-0402, project designation NR 150-453 between the Office of Naval Research and Educational Testing Service. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.     

Weber laws,the Weber law,and psychophysical analysis

In failing to define the units in which the stimulus is to be measured, the Weber law might seem to make no definite assertion, and indeed, it is shown that any single empirical function, supposed to relate a given stimulus intensity with that intensity which is just noticeably greater, can be put into the Weber form by a suitable change of scale in which the stimulus intensity is to be measured. Nevertheless, it turns out that if different individuals have different Weber functions, when the intensities are measured on a given scale, then it is by no means always possible to transform the scale so that all of the functions can take on the Weber form. Some necessary conditions are given for the possibility of such a transformation when there is at hand a finite number of functions, and when the functions depend upon a single parameter the necessary and sufficient condition is easily derived. The same discussion leads to a generalization of Thurstone's psychophysical scale and shows that such a scale is always possible.     

The Distance Function in Commutative ℓ-semigroups and the Equivalence in Łukasiewicz Logic

The equivalence connective in ukasiewicz logic has its algebraic counterpart which is the distance function d(x,y) =|x–y| of a positive cone of a commutative -group. We make some observations on logically motivated algebraic structures involving the distance function.     

脑卒中的康复治疗

讨论和研究了遵循生物-心理-社会医学模式,从生物功能、心理功能、社会功能三个纬度综述脑卒中的康复治疗理论.一个以躯体生物功能损害为突出表现的脑卒中患者,要综合考虑他的受损的躯体功能、心理状态和社会功能,三者不宜偏废.     

Suboptimality in human categorization and identification

Categorization and identification decision processes were examined and compared in 4 separate experiments. In all tasks, the critical stimulus component was a line that varied across trials in length and orientation, and the optimal decision rules were always complex piecewise quadratic functions. Evidence was found that identification is mediated by separate explicit and implicit systems. In addition, a common type of suboptimality was found in both categorization and identification. In particular, observers apparently approximated the piecewise quadratic functions of the optimal decision rules with simpler piecewise linear functions. A computational model, which was motivated by a recent neuropsychological theory of category learning, successfully accounted for this suboptimal performance in both categorization and identification. The model assigns a key role to the striatum and assumes the observed suboptimality was largely due to massive convergence of visual cortical cells onto single striatal units.     

Comparing and unifying slope estimates across psychometric function models

The psychometric function relating stimulus intensity to response probability generally presents itself as a monotonically increasing sigmoid profile. Two summary parameters of the function are particularly important as measures of perceptual performance: the threshold parameter, which defines the location of the function over the stimulus axis (abscissa), and the slope parameter, which defines the (local) rate at which response probability increases with increasing stimulus intensity. In practice, the psychometric function may be modeled by a variety of mathematical structures, and the resulting algebraic expression describing the slope parameter may vary considerably between different functions fitted to the same experimental data. This variation often restricts comparisons between studies that select different functions and compromises the general interpretation of slope values. This article reviews the general characteristics of psychometric function models, discusses three strategies for resolving the issue of slope value differences, and presents mathematical expressions for implementing each strategy.