Impulsivity and paced tapping

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to both the intraindividual variability and the rate of performance of a paced tapping task. The independent variable in the tapping task were: feedback vs. no feedback; tempo; concurrent cognitive task (counting) vs. no concurrent cognitive task. Three measures of tapping performance were computed: absolute or total error of tapping, tapping rate, and the intraindividual variability of tapping. The results confirm the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to rate of paced tapping, although the degree of relationship varied under different experimental conditions within the paced tapping task. Intraindividual variability of tapping was not significantly related to impulsivity, but the results were suggestive of a positive relationship.     

How to maximize reward rate on two variable-interval paradigms

Without assuming any constraints on behavior, we derive the policy that maximizes overall reward rate on two variable-interval paradigms. The first paradigm is concurrent variable time-variable time with changeover delay. It is shown that for nearly all parameter values, a switch to the schedule with the longer interval should be followed immediately by a switch back to the schedule with the shorter interval. The matching law does not hold at the optimum and does not uniquely specify the obtained reward rate. The second paradigm is discrete trial concurrent variable interval-variable interval. For given schedule parameters, the optimal policy involves a cycle of a fixed number of choices of the schedule with the shorter interval followed by one choice of the schedule with the longer interval. Molecular maximization sometimes results in optimal behavior.     

Self-control in pigeons under the Mischel paradigm

Walter Mischel studied self-control in preschool children in the following manner: if the child waited for an interval to end, he or she received the more preferred of two reinforcers; if the child responded to terminate the interval by ringing a bell, the less preferred reinforcer was given. We used an analogous procedure to study self-control in pigeons: if the bird waited for a trial to end, it received the more preferred reinforcer; if the bird terminated the trial by pecking a key, the less preferred reinforcer was given. We explored the effects on self-control of a number of variables analogous to those studied by Mischel and co-workers, e.g., presence versus absence of reinforcers, of alternative responses, and of stimuli during the wait interval; prior experience of the subjects; and test paradigm. The results obtained with pigeons paralleled the results obtained by Mischel with human children.     

Stimulus generalization and the peak shift with movement stimuli

Stimulus generalization is suggested as an alternative method for examination of the "novelty" problem in motor learning. These experiments demonstrated that stimulus generalization occurs using simple movements as stimuli. The phenomenon of the "peak shift" in post-discrimination generalization gradients was also examined. The first experiment demonstrated that a peak shift occurred using linear movements as stimuli and that the magnitude of the peak shift increased as the difference between the training stimuli decreased. The second experiment showed similar results when the stimuli consisted of a range of movements rather than single movement length. The final experiment provided evidence that perception of movement length is influenced by the magnitude of an immediately preceding movement. The relevance of these studies to current motor-learning theory is discussed.     

IQ的生物学基础

智力研究的名声,已经被骗子的欺骗行径所败坏,为种族主义所沾污,就象炼丹术士的罐子一样黑。最近的争论集中在:智力是不是天生的?种族之间有没有区别?智力测验能否真正测量智力,或者只是表征一个人接受特定的文化的程度?目前有两个英国     

《古兰经》的伦理道德思想(续)

三、敬畏 敬畏是一种宗教美德,《古兰经》用它来确定人与人、人与造物主之间的关系。“敬畏”一词及其派生词大都出现在《古兰经》中有关道德和社会主张的经文中。所谓“敬畏”就是要人类谨防那些使真主恼怒和损人害己的行为。因为“敬畏”一词本意为保护自己。人之所以保护自己,是因有可惧怕的东西存在。安拉是最值得惧怕的,所以因安拉而保护自己是特别重要的。既然惧怕,就     

《古兰经》的伦理道德思想(续)

七、公正 伊斯兰教的理想之一就是责成其信徒要丢掉一切与自身利害有关的考虑,主持人间公道。安拉说:“信教的人们!你们应主持公正,应为安拉而作见证,即使不利于自身,或自己的父母和亲属。不论被见证者是富人或贫人,那安拉是最宜于对付他们的。你们不要徇私,以免偏离公正;如果你们歪曲事实,或拒绝作证,那安拉对你们的作为将是一清二楚。”(4:135)     

A behavioral perspective on college teaching

Much of the subject matter learned in college, particularly during the first two years, is taught in relatively large classes with text and lecture as the primary source of the information being learned. If students make effective and prolonged contact with these sources, they can acquire extensive verbal repertoires in many areas of knowledge. Unfortunately there are many other activities that compete for the typical student's study time. Several factors are often cited as variables that will support study behavior in competition with other activities, but the only powerful one available to the teacher is the exam grade, as it is related to the course grade. However, unless exams are clearly related to appropriate study behavior, require through and extensive coverage of the subject matter, occur frequently (preferably no less often than once a week), and are also clearly related to the course grade, even this factor will not generate prolonged and effective study behavior. Effective college teaching is essentially a form of aversive control, but if done properly the aversiveness is quite mild, and such aversive control can be responsible for the development of large and valuable intellectual repertoires.