Gaussian model‐based partitioning using iterated local search

The emergence of Gaussian model‐based partitioning as a viable alternative to K‐means clustering fosters a need for discrete optimization methods that can be efficiently implemented using model‐based criteria. A variety of alternative partitioning criteria have been proposed for more general data conditions that permit elliptical clusters, different spatial orientations for the clusters, and unequal cluster sizes. Unfortunately, many of these partitioning criteria are computationally demanding, which makes the multiple‐restart (multistart) approach commonly used for K‐means partitioning less effective as a heuristic solution strategy. As an alternative, we propose an approach based on iterated local search (ILS), which has proved effective in previous combinatorial data analysis contexts. We compared multistart, ILS and hybrid multistart–ILS procedures for minimizing a very general model‐based criterion that assumes no restrictions on cluster size or within‐group covariance structure. This comparison, which used 23 data sets from the classification literature, revealed that the ILS and hybrid heuristics generally provided better criterion function values than the multistart approach when all three methods were constrained to the same 10‐min time limit. In many instances, these differences in criterion function values reflected profound differences in the partitions obtained.     

The Implicit Life Satisfaction Measure

The Implicit Association Test, developed by Greenwald and colleagues in 1998, was adapted to measure satisfaction with life by assessing the strength of automatic associations of My life with Good- versus Bad-related words. A series of studies explored some psychometric as well as methodological properties of the Implicit Life Satisfaction measure (ILS). The ILS demonstrated good internal consistency and moderate temporal stability. Studies revealed that: (i) the type of stimuli used for target and attribute categories influences the magnitude of the ILS effect; (ii) participants could voluntarily suppress their satisfaction with life on the ILS, but not enhance it; and (iii) handedness of categories did not affect the participants' performance on the ILS. Overall, the ILS measures are: (i) independent of traditional life satisfaction self-report measures; and (ii) positive for most people.     

Classification of loneliness using the T‐ILS: Is it as simple as it seems?

Student well‐being is a growing issue in higher education, and assessment of the prevalence of conditions as loneliness is therefore important. In higher education and population surveys the Three‐Item Loneliness Scale (T‐ILS) is used increasingly. The T‐ILS is attractive for large multi‐subject surveys, as it consists of only three items (derived from the UCLA Loneliness Scale). Several ways of classifying persons as lonely based on T‐ILS scores exist: dichotomous and trichotomous classification schemes and use of sum scores with rising levels indicating more loneliness. The question remains whether T‐ILS scores are comparable across the different population groups where they are used or across groups of students in the higher education system. The aim was to investigate whether the T‐ILS suffers from differential item functioning (DIF) that might change the loneliness classification among higher education students, using a large sample just admitted to 22 different academy profession degree programs in Denmark (N = 3,757). DIF was tested relative to degree program, age groups and gender. The framework of graphical loglinear Rasch models was applied, as this allows for adjustment of sum scores for uniform DIF, and thus for assessment of whether DIF might change the classification. Two items showed DIF relative to degree program and gender, and adjusting for this DIF changed the classification for some subgroups. The consequences were negligible when using a dichotomous classification and larger when using a trichotomous classification. Therefore, trichotomous classification should be used with caution unless suitable adjustments for DIF are done prior to classification.     

Students’ achievement motivation in Finnish and Chinese higher education and its relation to perceived teaching-learning environments

This cross-cultural study of Finnish and Chinese students set out to compare the levels of achievement motivation (AM) in order to investigate whether the differences in them might be explained by the different cultural response styles and whether these response styles could be controlled for with a method which includes response style variables as covariates in ANCOVA. This study also scrutinizes relationships between perceived teaching-learning environments (TLE) and AM within each cultural group. The survey sample consisted of 3,035 Finnish and 2,309 mainland Chinese university students. Finnish students were found to rate the level of AM markedly higher than do Chinese students. It was determined that the method applied for response style controlling is not suitable for cross-cultural studies, even though it is recommended for this use. A modification of the method, which is based on robust statistical tools, was found not to change this conclusion, but it can nevertheless be used to obtain useful information about the effects of response style differences. The results also show that similar relationships between AM and TLE could be identified in the data of both groups. However, for the Finnish group AM is related to perceived suitable workload, whereas for the Chinese group it is related to teacher encouragement.     

Aristotle on Choosing Virtuous Action for its Own Sake

While Aristotle claims that virtuous actions are choiceworthy for their own sakes, he also claims that many virtuous actions are to be chosen as instrumental means to securing further ends. It would seem that an action is choiceworthy for its own sake only if it would be choiceworthy whether or not it served further ends. How, then, can such virtuous actions be choiceworthy for their own sakes? This article criticizes John Ackrill's and Jennifer Whiting's answers to this question. I propose an alternative, linking the choiceworthiness of virtuous actions to the pleasure, nobility, and beauty to be found in them.     

Learning styles: Self‐reports versus thinking‐aloud measures

Background: Learning styles are often assessed through students' self‐reports on instruments such as Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS). Recent research, however, has questioned the adequacy of questionnaires for the assessment of learning styles. Aims: The objective of this paper is to evaluate methods of learning style assessment as a means for identifying students at risk. Therefore, the ILS as a self‐report instrument will be compared with the students' actual study processes, assessed through the thinking‐aloud method. Sample: In the first study 1,060 students from the Technical University of Delft participated. Thirty‐three of them were selected on the ILS for participation in the second study. Method: The ILS was administered to the 1,060 participants and their study results (GPA and credit points) were collected. Next, the selected 33 participants studied a technical text while thinking aloud. Knowledge acquisition was measured by means of a post‐test. Thinking‐aloud protocols were analysed on frequencies of study activities, thus representing process measures of learning styles. Results: The ILS proved to be a rather weak predictor of study results in Study 1. Results from Study 2 show hardly any correspondence between ILS and study process measures, although principal component structures of both measures were highly similar. Furthermore, study process measures outweighed the ILS in the prediction of study results (post‐test, GPA and credit points). Conclusions: Learning style theory was confirmed by results on the study process measures. The assessment of learning styles through self‐report instruments such as the ILS, however, should be reconsidered.     

The Fire Chief microworld generating program: An illustration of computer-simulated microworlds as an experimental paradigm for studying complex decision-making behavior

Computer-simulated microworlds bridge the gap between the complexity of field investigations and the rigor of laboratory studies. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the major methodological issues involved in developing and using computer-simulated microworlds for the psychological study of complex decision-making behavior. These issues comprise flexibility and generality in the microworlds that can be created, adequate psychological validity, automatic trial administration and data logging, capacity to interface simulations of psychological processes, and adequate testing and documentation. Each of these issues is illustrated by indicating how it has been addressed in Fire Chief, a microworld generating program specifically designed for creating realistic, yet controllable, decision-making task environments in the psychology laboratory. Fire Chief (Omodei & Wearing, 1993a) is introduced as both fully portable to other research teams and suitable for use in many different contexts requiring a complex task situation.     

Two faces of human happiness: Explicit and implicit life satisfaction

Evidence is provided for implicit aspects of life satisfaction. In study 1 the implicit life satisfaction measure (ILS): (i) showed moderate reliability as well as convergent and incremental validity; (ii) appeared to be affected by temporary mood and social desirability to a lesser extent than explicit measures; and (iii) showed cultural invariance in contrast to explicit measures that revealed cross-cultural differences, as found in previous research. Study 2 showed that the ILS replicated theoretically expected differences between those known to have encountered chronically negative life experiences (North Korean defectors) and those without such experiences (South Koreans). Implications of these findings for explicit and ILS are discussed.     

从人类共情走向智能体共情

随着机器人在人类生活中重要性的增强,人们开始关注其传统智能以外的其它能力,如共情。基于共情的经典理论,本文以新兴的智能体共情（artificial empathy）为主题,同时结合人工智能领域的最新研究,系统地阐述了现有与智能体共情有关的理论模型和实证研究,并结合文献计量学分析,对该领域研究宏观现状进行可视化呈现。指出在未来研究中,借鉴心理学、认知神经科学和计算机科学等学科的研究成果,注重机器人理论模型的建构和研究方法的创新,对机器人共情系统的建构有着重要作用,而其间涉及到的伦理问题同样不容忽视。     

The internal clock: Electroencephalographic evidence for oscillatory processes underlying time perception

It has been proposed that temporal perception and performance depend on a biological source of temporal information. A model for a temporal oscillator put forward by Treisman, Faulkner, Naish, and Brogan (1990) predicted that if intense sensory pulses (such as auditory clicks) were presented to subjects at suitable rates they would perturb the frequency at which the temporal oscillator runs and so cause over- or underestimation of time. The resulting pattern of interference between sensory pulse rates and time judgments would depend on the frequency of the temporal oscillator and so might allow that frequency to be estimated. Such interference patterns were found using auditory clicks and visual flicker (Treisman & Brogan, 1992; Treisman et al., 1990). The present study examines time estimation together with the simultaneously recorded electroencephalogram to examine whether evidence of such an interference pattern can be found in the EEG.

Alternative models for the organization of a temporal system consisting of an oscillator or multiple oscillators are considered and predictions derived from them relating to the EEG. An experiment was run in which time intervals were presented for estimation, auditory clicks being given during those intervals, and the EEG was recorded concurrently. Analyses of the EEG revealed interactions between auditory click rates and certain EEG components which parallel the interference patterns previously found. The overall pattern of EEG results is interpreted as favouring a model for the organization of the temporal system in which sets of click-sensitive oscillators spaced at intervals of about 12.8 Hz contribute to the EEG spectrum. These are taken to represent a series of harmonically spaced distributions of oscillators involved in time-keeping.     

Parity, incomparability and rationally justified choice

This article discusses the possibility of a rationally justified choice between two options neither of which is better than the other while they are not equally good either (‘3NT’). Joseph Raz regards such options as incomparable and argues that reason cannot guide the choice between them. Ruth Chang, by contrast, tries to show that many cases of putative incomparability are instead cases of parity—a fourth value relation of comparability, in addition to the three standard value relations ‘better than’, ‘worse than’ and ‘equally good as’. It follows, she argues, that many choice situations in which rationally justified choice seems precluded are in fact situations within the reach of practical reason. This article has three aims: (1) it challenges Chang’s argument for the possibility of parity; (2) it demonstrates that, even if parity would exist, its problematic implications for practical reason would not differ from those of Raz’s incomparability; (3) it discusses the underlying cause of hard cases of comparison: the fact that none of the three standard value relations applies (‘3NT’). It will be shown that the problematic implications for the rational justification of the choice are due to 3NT itself, irrespective of whether 3NT is explained as incomparability or parity.     

The new national framework for RE in England and Wales: a critique

The article sets out to discern the aims and objectives of the proposed National Framework for RE and finds them biased towards the study of other people's religious traditions. It observes the differences between religious studies and religious education and the consequences of confining the latter to the former, notably that moral and attitudinal dispositions are not implicit in religious studies. The article further notes that what the proposed Framework recommends is misleading and does not adhere strictly to the law. Many of the concepts and terms used by the Framework are confused and in some cases are disparaging towards religious life. Finally, it observes that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) did not follow the process set out for agreeing RE syllabi in devising its Framework, to which many of its deficiencies might well be attributed.     

Cybernetics and mind‐body problems 1

It is asked to what extent answers to such questions as ‘Can machines think?’, ‘Could robots have feelings?’ might be expected to yield insight into traditional mind‐body questions. It has sometimes been assumed that answering the first set of questions would be the same as answering the second. Against this approach other philosophers have argued that answering the first set of questions would not help us to answer the second. It is argued that both of these assessments are mistaken. It is then claimed, although not argued in detail, that the following three approaches to the first set of questions are mistaken: (1) machines (and robots) obviously cannot think, feel, create, etc., since they do only what they are programmed to do; (2) on the basis of ah analysis of the meaning of the words ‘machine’ ('robot’, ‘think’, ‘feel’, etc.) we can see that in principle it would be impossible for machines (or robots) to think, feel, create, etc.; (3) machines (and robots) obviously can (or could) think, feel, etc., since they do certain things which, if we were to do them, would require thought, feeling, etc. It is argued that, once it is seen why approach (2) is mistaken, it becomes desirable to decline ‘in principle’ approaches to the first set of questions and to favor ‘piecemeal investigations’ where attention is centered upon what is actually taking place in machine technology, the development of new programming techniques, etc. Some suggestions are made concerning the relevance of current computer simulation studies to traditional mind‐body questions. A new set of questions is proposed as a substitute for the first set of questions. It is hoped that attempts to answer these may provide us with new and detailed portraits of the mind‐body relationship.     

面向“为学习而测评”的纵向认知诊断模型

基于“为学习而测评”的理念,以促进学生学习为目的,客观量化学习现状并提供诊断反馈的测评模式日益受到重视。相比于横断认识诊断测评,纵向认知诊断测评更有利于实现促进学生发展的目标。为使国内学者系统性地了解纵向认知诊断模型,首先,依据建模逻辑将已有纵向认知诊断模型划分为基于潜在转换分析的和基于高阶潜在结构模型的两类,并逐一介绍和说明两类模型的理论基础和应用情景;然后,通过模拟研究为读者呈现如何使用纵向认知诊断模型进行数据分析及如何解读相应的诊断结果。最后,提炼出四个可进一步研究的议题。     

Risky decision: Attention and path dependency as a function of response mode

It was previously shown and was here replicated that the amount of money required to induce a subject to exchange one gamble for a second and then the second for a third depends on the second (intermediate) gamble. This path dependency cannot be explained by any of the algebraic models (including SEU), nor can it be explained as a simple attention effect. A model was put forward which explains the effect in terms of differential masking depending on a kind of stimulus—response compatibility. The effect of response mode on path dependency was examined in this study; similarity judgements showed no consistent path dependency nor did difference in rated attractiveness of gambles presented in pairs, but rated attractiveness was different for gambles presented singly. Since it might be that monetary response emphasises the monetary aspects, that is, the winning amount of the gamble, it was thought that a probability response would emphasise the probability of winning. However, when subjects were asked to set the probability of winning $ 12 which would induce them to exchange one gamble for another, not only was no path dependency observed, but the subjects' responses seemed to depend only on the difference in expected value of the gambles. This suggests the possibility of developing response-display modes which would eliminate or at least attenuate the inconsistencies observed in risky decision processes.     

Better to Exploit than to Neglect? International Clinical Research and the Non‐Worseness Claim

Clinical research is increasingly ‘offshored’ to developing countries, a practice that has generated considerable controversy. It has recently been argued that the prevailing ethical norms governing such research are deeply puzzling. On the one hand, sponsors are not required to offshore trials, even when participants in developing countries would benefit considerably from these trials. On the other hand, if sponsors do offshore, they are required not to exploit participants, even when the latter would benefit from and consent to exploitation. How, it is asked, can it be worse to exploit the global poor than to neglect them when exploitation is voluntary and makes them better off? The present article seeks to respond to this challenge. I argue that mutually beneficial and voluntary exploitation can be worse than neglect when — as is typically true of exploitative international research — it takes advantage of unjust background conditions. This is because, in such cases, exploitation overlaps with another, less familiar wrong: complicity in injustice. Recognising complicity as a distinct wrong should make us judge exchanges arising from background injustice more harshly than we typically do, in research and elsewhere.     

父母的经济人信念对自身信任及儿童信任的影响

经济人信念认为人是自私的与理性的,研究者发现,经济人信念会破坏人际信任。然而,以上研究均是以大学生为被试的启动研究,限制了结论的可推广性。本研究编制了经济人信念量表,测量了351名成年被试的经济人信念及他们在投资博弈中的信任水平,以及其子女的信任水平,以考察父母的经济人信念对自身信任和其子女信任的影响。结果发现:(1)研究所编制的经济人信念量表信效度良好;(2)父母和儿童在投资博弈中均表现出了一定水平的信任;(3)父母的经济人信念能够预测其在投资博弈中的信任水平;(4)父母的经济人信念能够预测男孩在投资博弈中的投资额,主要表现为父亲的经济人信念能够负向预测男孩的投资额。     

CREATING SINGLE-SUBJECT DESIGN GRAPHS WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL™

Because single-subject design methodology is the cornerstone of behavior-analytic research, behavior analysts are often engaged in the practice of graph production. There are a variety of computer software packages on the market that can be used to create graphs; however, not all of them are suitable for producing single-subject design line graphs. Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows 95/NT and MacOS operating systems contains a variety of features that are conducive to producing reversal, multiple baseline, and multielement graphs (among others) that conform to many of the technical recommendations for publication in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. We present detailed instructions on creating these graphs using Microsoft Excel.     

The Empirical Status of Cue Exposure and Response Prevention Treatment for Binge Eating: A Systematic Review

Approximately 50% of individuals fail to obtain treatment benefits when undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for binge-eating behaviors, making it necessary to evaluate additional approaches. Cue exposure and response prevention (CERP) is one such approach, although its effectiveness across studies has been inconsistent. This may be due to inconsistent implementation of theoretically based CERP strategies. This possibility has not yet been systematically investigated. To address this gap, this review investigated which CERP strategies have been incorporated into treatment protocols for binge eating, and if the use of certain strategies improves treatment effectiveness. Relevant studies were identified through reference lists, grey literature, and searches of electronic databases using multiple search terms related to CERP and binge eating, which resulted in 18 eligible studies. Most studies were underpowered, many were of low methodological quality, and none of the included studies utilized all of the strategies that have been recommended to optimize CERP. Despite these weaknesses, CERP appeared to reduce the frequency of binge eating in the short and long term. This review underscores the need for higher quality research that utilizes larger samples and uniform outcome measures that are more strongly grounded in theory. Such research would help improve treatment outcomes for binge eating.