The dynamic programming matching analysis of handwriting movement in delayed vision

Abstract: Dynamic programming matching analysis of the velocity profile of handwriting was used to examine temporally invariant characteristics of handwriting. This was done by comparing the performance of 12 subjects in writing five words under various delayed visual feedback conditions. The rate of temporally invariant handwriting decreased when delay of visual feedback was introduced. That is, the mean number of fluctuations or hesitations increased as a function of the delay time. This indicates that subjects wrote words by segmenting their movements into submovements. The relative positions of the boundaries of submovements was shown using dynamic programming matching analysis by the distribution of fluctuations along a time axis of templates. The results suggest the development of a segmented "move-and-wait" strategy under conditions of delayed vision. It was shown that in the "move" phase, subjects performed appropriate submovements as smoothly as in the no delay condition and waited during the delay until visual feedback caught up. The increased errors were due to inadequate segmentation of movements.     

Cortical alpha rhythm, biofeedback, and the determinants of subjective state

A critical assumption in the rationale for the clinical application of voluntary control over central nervous system (CNS) activity is that there exists a direct relationship between specific CNS activities and specific subjective mood states. The experiment reported here was based on the idea that a joint manipulation of both cognitive and physiological (i.e., alpha electroencephalographic [EEG]) variables would provide information required for an explication of the processes involved in subjective mood change. Three main variables were considered in the present experiment. First, the instructions were designed to induce a "set" or expectations for either positive or negative changes in subjective mood. Second, the type of feedback (alpha or not alpha) was varied. Those in the not-alpha feedback condition received feedback contingent on the absence of alpha activity, whereas those in the alpha feedback condition received feedback contingent on the presence of alpha activity. Third, an estimate of each individual's baseline alpha density was obtained, and on this basis subjects were classified as high-baseline or low-baseline subjects. Baseline alpha density, alpha density during training, and subjective mood were all considered as continuous variables. The results of the present study indicate that biofeedback of the cortical alpha rhythm is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for changes in subjective mood. In addition, the type of instructions designed to set subjects for positive or negative alterations in subjective states is predictive of changes in subjective state reported during alpha biofeedback training as well as of success at controlling and changing EEG during feedback training. The data presented here permit a direct examination of the actual relationship of EEG changes to changes in subjective mood state. Similar shifts in subjective mood state can be obtained with either increases or decreases in alpha activity. Further, both positive and negative subjective experiences can be associated with increases in alpha activity.     

How mechanical context and feedback jointly determine the use of mechanical variables in length perception by dynamic touch

Earlier studies have revealed that both mechanical context and feedback determine what mechanical invariant is used to perceive length by dynamic touch. In the present article, the authors examined how these two factors jointly constrain the informational variable that is relied upon. Participants were to judge length while wielding a rod or while holding it stationary. In two experiments, it was tested whether perceptual learning effects in the wielding condition transferred to the holding condition and vice versa. There was an asymmetry in transfer across mechanical conditions: Improvements in the holding context transferred to the wielding condition, but not vice versa. Examining the individuals’ exploitation of mechanical variables, we found that, after feedback, participants changed in information usage in both mechanical conditions. For many participants, these changes were not confined to the mechanical context in which the feedback was provided. Indeed, feedback in one mechanical context brought about changes in information usage that often manifested themselves in the other mechanical condition. The authors explore the implications of these findings for research on perceptual learning in dynamic touch and the salience hypothesis.     

Augmented Kinematic Feedback for Motor Learning

Although the study of feedback about goal achievement (knowledge of results, KR) has been important for the development principles of augmented information feedback in simple skills, there is reason to question the generalizability of these findings to many common learning situations. A more appropriate type of information for skill learning appears to be augmented kinematic (or kinetic) feedback regarding the movement pattern. The experiments presented here extend recent findings about KR to a paradigm involving kinematic feedback. In Experiment 1, we examined how several kinds of temporal and spatial kinematic information supplement KR in learning. Spatial kinematic variables were more effective than temporal variables, as indicated by performance in a retention test without kinematic feedback. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the schedule of augmented kinematic feedback in a method that paralleled previous KR work. We contrasted averaged schedules of augmented feedback, in which information was given either after every trial or as averaged information after every set of five trials. On retention tests without kinematic feedback given 1 day and 1 week after acquisition, averaged schedules led to enhanced performance over an every-trial format. Together, these results begin to define the variables important in kinematic feedback, and suggest that this feedback may influence learning in ways parallel to KR.     

Role of feedback in voluntary control of heart rate.

The relative effectiveness of biofeedback techniques on the voluntary control of heart rate was examined by randomly assigning 32 Ss to one of four feedback conditions in a bi-directional heart-rate control task: (1) no feedback, (2) binary feedback--S was signaled when an interbeat interval had changed in the correct direction, (3) "real-time," proportional feedback--S was provided information about the relative duration of successive interbeat intervals, and (4) numerical, proportional feedback--each interbeat interval was represented as a numeral indicating its relationship to pre-trial mean by direction and magnitude. Significant over-all heart-rate changes were evidenced for both increase and decrease directions, but no differences were found between the feedback conditions. While these data suggest that feedback may be a relatively insignificant factor in voluntary heart-rate control, it was recommended that further investigation examine the role of feedback within the context of other training, mediating and motivational variables.     

A covariance structure analysis of employees' response to performance feedback

This longitudinal study used D. R. Ilgen, C. D. Fisher, and M. S. Taylor's (1979) feedback process model as a theoretical framework to determine whether a sequential chain of cognitive variables mediates an individual's response to performance feedback. One hundred two employees were surveyed 2 weeks after their performance appraisal, and performance was assessed 11 months later at the end of the review cycle. Covariance structure analysis supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs underlying the model and the constellation of structural relationships. A set of cognitive variables was found to completely mediate the relationship between an individual's receipt and response to feedback. Implications for the feedback process and future research are discussed.     

Combining Item Response Theory and Diagnostic Classification Models: A Psychometric Model for Scaling Ability and Diagnosing Misconceptions

Traditional testing procedures typically utilize unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models to provide a single, continuous estimate of a student’s overall ability. Advances in psychometrics have focused on measuring multiple dimensions of ability to provide more detailed feedback for students, teachers, and other stakeholders. Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) provide multidimensional feedback by using categorical latent variables that represent distinct skills underlying a test that students may or may not have mastered. The Scaling Individuals and Classifying Misconceptions (SICM) model is presented as a combination of a unidimensional IRT model and a DCM where the categorical latent variables represent misconceptions instead of skills. In addition to an estimate of ability along a latent continuum, the SICM model provides multidimensional, diagnostic feedback in the form of statistical estimates of probabilities that students have certain misconceptions. Through an empirical data analysis, we show how this additional feedback can be used by stakeholders to tailor instruction for students’ needs. We also provide results from a simulation study that demonstrate that the SICM MCMC estimation algorithm yields reasonably accurate estimates under large-scale testing conditions.     

The effect of affine transformation on redundancy analysis

Canonical redundancy analysis provides an estimate of the amount of shared variance between two sets of variables and provides an alternative to canonical correlation. The proof that the total redundancy is equal to the average squared multiple correlation coefficient obtained by regressing each variable in the criterion set on all variables in the predictor set is generalized to the case in which there are a larger number of criterion than predictor variables. It is then shown that the redundancy for the criterion set of variables is invariant under affine transformation of the predictor variables, but not invariant under transformation of the criterion variables.     

Preferences for and evaluation of self‐relevant information depending on the elaboration of the self‐schemata involved

Previous findings have shown that some reactions (e.g. satisfaction with feedback) are guided by self‐enhancement theory, whereas other reactions (e.g. perceived feedback accuracy) have been shown to follow predictions of self‐consistency theory. The Integrative Self‐Schema Model (ISSM) assumes that these effects should be moderated by the elaboration of the self‐schema involved: This assumption was tested in an experimental study: 72 participants received fictitious feedback on different personality dimensions allegedly based on an adjective checklist. This feedback was either consistent with self‐perceptions, more positive than expected, or more negative than expected, and addressed highly elaborated (schematic) or less elaborated (aschematic) personality dimensions. Satisfaction, feedback accuracy and interest in further information were analysed as dependent variables. The experimental results clearly confirmed the hypotheses derived from the ISSM for satisfaction and perceived feedback accuracy. A self‐consistency effect regarding perceived feedback accuracy was found only for feedback on schematic dimensions but was attenuated on aschematic dimensions. A self‐enhancement effect regarding satisfaction was found only on aschematic dimensions. This finding was reversed on schematic dimensions. Finally, interest in further information did not follow the predictions made by the ISSM. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Female and Male College Students' Responses to Negative Feedback from Parents and Peers

We examine whether female and male collegestudents differ in their tendencies to reject negativeevaluative feedback in transactions with parents andwith male and female peers. The predominantly white respondents described specific,real-life instances of negative feedbackfrom each of four sources (mother, father, female peer,male peer), rating their relationships with eachfeedback sender (closeness, interaction frequency),characteristics of the feedback itself (importance,negativity, directness), their own emotional response(degree of negative affect), and their rejection (vs.acceptance) of the feedback. Participants also completed aglobal self-esteem measure. Though no simple directeffects of gender upon rejection of feedback wereobtained, women showed an overall pattern of greater rejection of feedback as a consequence ofseveral indirect effects. Women reported receivingfeedback on more important topics, and greaterimportance of feedback was related to less rejection.However, women also tended to receive more negativefeedback from others and tended to respond with strongernegative feelings, both of these variables being linkedto greater rejection of feedback. The results challenge various common assumptions in thegender roles literature.     

Inventory responding as a model of people's acceptance of personality interpretations

The hypothesis was tested that inventory responding modeled the acceptance of personality feedback. A barnum group (n=40) was asked to rate the personal accuracies of a list of personality inventory items and then an equivalent list of bogus personality feedback. The two lines of evidence which supported the model were (a) that the correlation between their inventory ratings and their feedback ratings was not only Significant (p < .001) but achieved a ceiling magnitude, as evidenced by a control group's (n = 40) data; and (b) that the variables influencing, inventory responding exerted an equal influence upon feedback acceptance, Contrary to the model, it was found that feedback was accepted more highly than were the inventory items. Conclusions were that inventory responding, as a model of feedback acceptance, is accurate with respect to individual differences but somewhat inaccurate with respect to overall levels of acceptance due to the additional influences of persuasion. It was also concluded that clients' acceptance or rejection of personality feedback is not evidence of the validity or invalidity, respectively, of assessment devices. A reformulated model of personality feedback acceptance was proposed.     

Organizational media choice in performance feedback: a multifaceted approach

This study was designed to examine media choice in performance feedback, an organizational communication process that has been overlooked in the literature. Specifically, we adopted a multifaceted approach and examined how contextual variables in feedback, variables identified from media choice theories, and individual differences in media perception influenced selection of a medium to communicate performance information. A policy‐capturing survey was administered to 178 full‐time employees in Hong Kong. Participants read feedback scenarios and provided media preference ratings of face‐to‐face, telephone, electronic mail, and written communication. Results showed that the three facets jointly influenced media choice. Given that communication quality is partly determined by the medium selected, the present work sheds light on the understanding of initiation process in performance feedback.     

Inventory Responding as a Model of People's Acceptance of Personality Interpretations

The hypothesis was tested that inventory responding modeled the acceptance of personality feedback. A barnum group (n=40) was asked to rate the personal accuracies of a list of personality inventory items and then an equivalent list of bogus personality feedback. The two lines of evidence which supported the model were (a) that the correlation between their inventory ratings and their feedback ratings was not only Significant (p < .001) but achieved a ceiling magnitude, as evidenced by a control group's (n = 40) data; and (b) that the variables influencing, inventory responding exerted an equal influence upon feedback acceptance, Contrary to the model, it was found that feedback was accepted more highly than were the inventory items. Conclusions were that inventory responding, as a model of feedback acceptance, is accurate with respect to individual differences but somewhat inaccurate with respect to overall levels of acceptance due to the additional influences of persuasion. It was also concluded that clients' acceptance or rejection of personality feedback is not evidence of the validity or invalidity, respectively, of assessment devices. A reformulated model of personality feedback acceptance was proposed.     

Development of the perception of invariants: substance and shape

Three experiments investigated the perception of substance and shape as invariant properties of objects by three-month-old infants. In experiment 1, infants were habituated to two differently shaped objects undergoing a rigid motion. After habituation of the infants, the objects were presented undergoing a different rigid motion, or undergoing a deforming motion, or undergoing the same rigid motion. Habituation was maintained to the new rigid motion, indicating that the two rigid motions were perceived as sharing an invariant property. Dishabituation, on the other hand, occurred when a deforming motion followed a rigid one. In experiment 2, infants were habituated to one shape undergoing two different rigid motions. After habituation, the shape was changed but the same two motions continued. Dishabituation occurred, compared to a group with no shape change, indicating that shape is distinguished as an invariant property over two rigid motions. In experiment 3, habituation to a shape undergoing two rigid motions was followed by a new shape presented motionless, or the same shape presented motionless. Cessation of motion did not prevent recognition of shape as invariant. Two properties of an object, substance and shape, thus appear to be detectable as invariant in an event sequence, an instance of "phenomenal doubling" at an early age.     

Notes on factorial invariance

Lawley's selection theorem is applied to subpopulations derived from a parent in which the classical factor model holds for a specified set of variables. The results show that there exists an invariant factor pattern matrix that describes the regression of observed on factor variables in every subpopulation derivable by selection from the parent, given that selection does not occur directly on the observable variables and does not reduce the rank of the system. However, such a factor pattern matrix is not unique, which in turn implies that if a simple structure factor pattern matrix can be satisfactorily determined in one such subpopulation the same simple structure can be found in any subpopulation derivable by selection. The implications of these results for parallel proportional profiles and factor matching techniques are discussed.     

A mechanism for elliptic-like bursting and synchronization of bursts in a map-based neuron network

A system consisting of two Rulkov map-based neurons coupled through reciprocal electrical synapses as a simple phenomenological example is discussed. When the electrical coupling is excitatory, the square-wave bursting can be well predicted by the bifurcation analysis of a comparatively simple low-dimensional subsystem embedded in the invariant manifold. While, when the synapses are inhibitory due to the artificial electrical coupling, a fast–slow analysis is carried out by treating the two slow variables as two different bifurcation parameters. The main result of this paper is to present a mechanism for the occurrence of a kind of special elliptic bursting. The mechanism for this kind of elliptic-like bursting is due to the interaction between two chaotic oscillations with different amplitudes. Moreover, the generation of antiphase synchronization of networks lies in the different switching orders between two pairs of different chaotic oscillations corresponding to the first neuron and the second neuron, respectively.     

Self-consciousness, outcome expectancy, and persistence

A study investigated persistence as a function of two variables: the disposition to be self-attentive (called private self-consciousness) and outcome feedback on a prior task that was described as closely related to the target task. More specifically, subjects first completed a concealed-figures test and were told that their performances were either very good or very poor. The second test, which ostensibly measured the same abilities, was an insolvable design problem that is commonly used to measure persistence. Feedback concerning prior outcomes had a direct influence on expectancies for the second task, but persistence on that task was a joint function of feedback and self-consciousness. That is, favorable feedback led to greater persistence than did unfavorable feedback, but only among subjects high in self-consciousness. This finding replicates and extends the results of several previous studies. Discussion centers on the relationship between the present research and an earlier experiment which yielded apparently different results.     

Feedback seeking as a means of self-assessment and affect optimization

Previous research on feedback choice found considerable inter- and intraindividual differences. It is proposed here that these differences can in part be explained by personality factors (i.e., anxiety and competence) that influence the informational value of external feedback and the congruence between internally generated and externally provided feedback. Feedback seeking was analyzed in two studies in which subjects, working on long series of tasks, had the opportunity to request various forms of achievement feedback. Since complex tasks were used, feedback only marginally affected learning. Anxiety, competence, and expenses for obtaining feedback served as independent variables. Results showed that subjects intending to optimize their affective state (i.e., reduce anxiety) have a strong preference for external feedback, and use such feedback mainly to neutralize aversive internal feedback. In contrast, persons who tried to use feedback as a means to enhance or assess performance suffered from an increased affective load.     

A service-delivery paradigm for personality assessment

This paper describes a human science approach to the delivery of the feedback component of assessment services. The feedback process is now central to a collaborative assessment that is integrated with intervention. Research has suggested that subject, situational, and assessor variables are relevant for feedback, but such research has been unsystematic. A service-delivery paradigm for feedback of assessment findings is described that includes four levels of increasing client participation: information, emotional contingencies, transfer of power, and functioning of an assessment system. Communication of assessment findings has been incomplete historically because motivation for feedback, resource accessibility for feedback utilization, and criteria for adequate feedback have been considered as unrelated ingredients. The components of Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence construct--meaningfulness, manageability and comprehensibility--provide one conceptualization for interaction of these ingredients. It is now feasible to do systematic research on assessment that includes feedback of assessment findings and the service-delivery process.     

Generation of multiple ratio scales with a fixed stitnulus attribute

Psychophysical theories differ in the relative weight given to sensory and cogruuve variables. Two opposing theories are described and tested in an experiment designed to vary a cognitive factor while maintaining a constant sensory factor. The method of magnitude estimation was used with the constant stimulus attribute of line length. The cognitive factor was varied by providing Ss with different feedback concerning the numerical values assigned to the largest and smallest lines in the series. This procedure led to multiple ratio scales for the same stimulus attribute. It is argued that these results support a theory which stresses both cognitive and sensory variables in the explanation of psychophysical functions.