Developing symbolic capacity one step at a time

The present research examines the ability of children as young as 4 years to use models in tasks that require scaling of distance along a single dimension. In Experiment 1, we found that tasks involving models are similar in difficulty to those involving maps that we studied earlier (Huttenlocher, J., Newcombe, N., & Vasilyeva, M. (1999). Spatial scaling in young children. Psychological Science, 10, 393-398). In Experiment 2, we found that retrieval tasks, where children indicate the location of a hidden object in an actual space are substantially more difficult than placement tasks, where children put a visible object in a particular location in an actual space. We discuss possible implications of the differential difficulty of retrieval and placement tasks for the understanding of symbolic development.     

Matching of visual input to only one item at any one time

When we perform a visual search we know what we are looking for and determine where it is. A representation of the object in our working memory, the ‘search-template’, is compared to the items in the scene until a match is found. So far it is unknown whether observers can search for multiple items at the same time. Here we compare the performance of subjects between a task in which they search for one of two target-items in a stream of visual objects and a task with only a single target. We find that search is effectively limited to one item at a time. This limitation occurs for simple and complex objects and even if the subjects have to look for two features from different domains. We conclude that matching has a fundamental capacity-limitation as the visual input can be matched to only one search-template at a time.     

Momentary time sampling as an estimate of percentage time: A field validation

This study examined the percentage time estimates of momentary time sampling against the real time obtained with handheld computers in a natural setting. Twenty-two concurrent observations were conducted in elementary schools by one observer who used 15-s momentary time sampling and a second who used a handheld computer. Results for the six behaviors showed a close correspondence between the momentary time sampling percentage observation intervals and the real time percentage observation time, although 15-s momentary time sampling tended not to sample low-frequency short-duration behaviors. The results confirmed laboratory findings that short-interval momentary time sampling estimates percentage time accurately for a wide range of behavior frequencies and durations, and suggested that observers using momentary time sampling in a natural setting are able to obtain accurate data.     

The optimal number of alternatives at a choice point with travel time considered

The problem of optimal design is considered for tasks that can be represented as n choice points with a_i alternatives per choice point. Examples are mazes or multiple choice tests. Some fixed time t′ elapses between choice points, say traveling from one to the other or reading a question, and additional time t is spent considering each alternative at the choice point. For fixed total time, the goal is to find the optimum number of choice points and the optimum number of alternatives at each choice point. In general, the longer the time spent between choice points, the greater the optimum number of alternatives at each point.     

Improving body image one step at a time: greater pedometer step counts produce greater body image improvements

This randomized controlled trial examined whether the number of steps walked during an 11-week action planning intervention would mediate changes in sedentary women's body image. Seventy-five healthy, sedentary women were randomly assigned to either a control group, where they were required to self-monitor their daily pedometer-determined step count, or to an experimental group, where they were asked to self-monitor and form specific action plans for walking. Of the 75 participants randomized, 41 were included in the efficacy analyses. Measured outcomes were satisfaction with physical functioning and physical appearance, and daily pedometer-determined step counts. Greater satisfaction with physical functioning and higher step counts were found for the experimental group. Moreover, the total number of steps walked over Weeks 2-11 was shown to partially mediate the effect of the intervention on satisfaction with physical functioning. These findings suggest that walking greater distances is associated with greater improvement in at least one aspect of women's body images.     

Informed Consent at Gunpoint: When Psychiatry Affects Gun Ownership

As states take more steps to connect patients’ gun ownership to their mental health, psychiatrists are being asked to provide mental health information after clinical interviews as well as after confiscation. This move into the patient–physician relationship raises new questions about how psychiatrists should obtain informed consent when interviews may result in reports to legal authorities. Consent warnings are already practiced more in the breach than in the observance and informed consent is imperfect at its best. In communities torn by controversies surrounding gun control, vehement political views will further influence these established themes to result in unprecedented pressures on patient confidentiality. This analysis draws on new movements in ethical theory and behavioral medicine that go beyond balancing principles to question the use of psychiatry in firearm reporting, and support a vigorous practice of informed consent to protect both individuals and the communities they live in. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From solidarity to autonomy: towards a redefinition of the parameters of the notion of autonomy

Starting from examples of concrete situations in France, I show that autonomy and solidarity can coexist only if the parameters of autonomy are redefined. I show on the one hand that in situations where autonomy is encouraged, solidarity nevertheless remains at the foundation of their practices. On the other hand, in situations largely infused with family solidarity, the individual autonomy may be put in danger. Yet, based on my ethnographic observations regarding clinical encounters and medical secrecy, I show that while solidarity may endanger individual autonomy, it does not necessarily endanger autonomy itself. The social practices observable in France reflect the reality of an autonomy that goes beyond the individual, a reality that involves a collective subject and includes solidarity. The opposition between these two values can then be resolved if the content of the notion of autonomy is understood to be dependent on its cultural context of application and on its social use.     

Maximizing data quality and shortening survey time: Three-form planned missing data survey design

Simulation studies have shown the three-form planned missing data design efficiently collects high quality data while reducing participant burden. This methodology is rarely used in sport and exercise psychology. Therefore, we conducted a re-sampling study with existing sport and exercise psychology survey data to test how three-form planned missing data survey design implemented with different item distribution approaches effect constructs’ internal measurement structure and validity. Results supported the efficacy of the three-form planned missing data survey design for cross-sectional data collection. Sample sizes of at least 300 (i.e., 100 per form) are recommended for having unbiased parameter estimates. It is also recommended items be distributed across survey forms to have representation of each facet of a construct on every form, and that a select few of these items be included across all survey forms. Further guidelines for three-form surveys based upon the results of this resampling study are provided.     

知情同意权在手术同意书中的法律探讨——李丽云死亡案引发的思考

李丽云因为丈夫拒签手术同意书而造成“一尸两命”的事件,“拒签”事件击中了医疗法规知情同意权在医疗实施过程中的软肋。如何保护病人的生命权、被救助权和手术权,如何让医院救死扶伤而没有后顾之忧,建议政府部门应该建立相应的“国家担保”制度,使病人得到最为及时有效的抢救和治疗。以免类似的悲剧再次发生。     

Attention to one word at a time in reading is still a viable hypothesis: rejoinder to Inhoff, Radach, and Eiter (2006)

A. W. Inhoff, R. Radach, and B. Eiter argue that the current version of the E-Z Reader model (A. Pollatsek, E. D. Reichle, & K. Rayner) cannot explain 2 key findings in their data, and as a result, the assumption of words being attended to 1 at a time is likely to be false. In this rejoinder, the authors argue that the E-Z Reader model can easily explain the 1st of the 2 phenomena and that the 2nd phenomenon is likely to be at least partially an artifact of changing displays during fixations. The authors also argue that their assumptions about attention shifting are not contrary to the attention literature and that the assumption that A. W. Inhoff et al. deem to be unrealistic (i.e., instantaneous shifting of attention) is easily modified within the architecture of the model.     

Bratman on identity over time and identification at a time

According to reductionists about agency, an agent’s bringing something about is reducible to states and events (such as desires and beliefs) involving the agent bringing something about. Many have worried that reductionism cannot accommodate robust forms of agency, such as self-determination. One common reductionist answer to this worry (which I call “identification reductionism”) contends that self-determining agents are identified with certain states and events, and so these states and events causing a decision counts as the agent’s self-determining the decision. In this paper, I discuss Michael Bratman’s well-known identification reductionist theory and his general strategy of grounding an agent’s identification at a time in the agent’s identity over time. I develop two constraints that an adequate identification reductionist theory must satisfy, argue that Bratman’s theory cannot satisfy both, and show that his general strategy for grounding an agent’s identification at a time in the agent’s identity over time is without merit.