Simulation study of a decision-making model of squash competition, phase one: The analysis of the protocol

This study aims at specifying some of the cognitive processes underlying decision-making in squash competition. More specifically, the study focuses on the strategy of the defending player (D) when chosing among three categories of preparation (total preparation for one particular event, partial preparation in favor of one event and absence of biased preparation). D is viewed as an information processing system (IPS) placed in a problem-solving situation, the problem being what decision to reach. The results obtained in a preceding investigation about the nature of the information processed by a player to anticipate and prepare for the opponent's shot in a real game setting, are used to determine a typical protocol of the behavior of D. The analysis of this protocol allows one to formally define (in Backus-Normal-Form) the problem space of D which is also D's internal representation of the task environment. From the problem space are derived (1) the problem behavior graph depicting the search of D through his problem space for a solution, and (2) the production system (a set of conditional statements, each expressing what to do under specific conditions) defining the logic of the search. The results of this first phase of the simulation study of a decision-making model of squash competition show that the cognitive strategy of D is based upon the use of a specific preformed algorithm. This algorithm could be stored in some long-term memory and activated by the current state of information in short-term memory. Finally, the proposed model also leads to the suggestion that the cognitive strategy of the performer may be influenced by a variety of factors such as the experience of the player, the time pressure, the expectancies, the performer's confidence in his predictions and the mistakes caused by incorrect predictions.     

Development of visuomanual tracking in 5- to 9-year-old boys

Visuomanual sinusoidal tracking is investigated in 5- to 9-year-old children. The proportion of successful performances steadily increases with age, but adult proficiency is never attained even by those who can perform the task. Moreover, the progress in proficiency—as measured by systems analysis techniques—is not monotonic and suggests the presence of distinct stages in the development of visuomotor coordination. Qualitative analysis of unsuccessful performance demonstrates that failures cannot be ascribed only to insufficient motor coordination and emphasizes the role of cognitive and representational factors even in such a simple task.     

Service Needs of Immigrants and Refugees

This paper evaluates the service needs of immigrants and refugees, paying special attention to their entry status, social, and human capital. Analyses are based on administrative data consisting of 2915 clients collected by the YMCA of Western Ontario, Windsor-Essex Branch (YMO). Results reveal that immigrants’ and refugees’ major service need priorities are (1) government services and language skills, (2) information about Canadian life and access to community services, (3) education and work in Canada, and (4) social and professional networks and community involvement. These service needs varied by the entry status of the immigrant as well as human and social capital. Government-assisted and sponsored refugees identified more service needs than economic immigrants relating to Canadian life, language and skill training, and social networks. Sponsored refugees also identified more needs than the economic immigrants with respect to access to community services and work. Convention refugees’ higher service needs over economic immigrants were related to language training and access to community services. Finally, the service needs of clients with higher education, English proficiency, and ethnic networks were lower than those of their counterparts.     

Duration estimation and the phonological loop: Articulatory suppression and irrelevant sounds

Clock-based theories of time estimation propose that clock pulses are accumulated in working memory. Although these theories do not constrain the form of the memory trace, evidence reported in the literature suggests that active manipulation of a verbal trace may be involved. Four experiments are reported in which participants reproduced or verbally estimated short durations (up to a few seconds) either in a single-task condition or in a condition with a phonological load. Experiments 1, 2 and 4 showed that both interval reproduction and verbal estimation were impaired under concurrent articulatory suppression in comparison to a timing only control condition. Neither irrelevant speech (Experiments 1-3) nor irrelevant tones and music (Experiment 3) impaired timing performance. These findings are taken to show that time estimation is mediated by phonological working memory and the involvement of an active articulatory rehearsal process.     

Artificial consciousness, artificial emotions, and autonomous robots

Nowadays for robots, the notion of behavior is reduced to a simple factual concept at the level of the movements. On another hand, consciousness is a very cultural concept, founding the main property of human beings, according to themselves. We propose to develop a computable transposition of the consciousness concepts into artificial brains, able to express emotions and consciousness facts. The production of such artificial brains allows the intentional and really adaptive behavior for the autonomous robots. Such a system managing the robot’s behavior will be made of two parts: the first one computes and generates, in a constructivist manner, a representation for the robot moving in its environment, and using symbols and concepts. The other part achieves the representation of the previous one using morphologies in a dynamic geometrical way. The robot’s body will be seen for itself as the morphologic apprehension of its material substrata. The model goes strictly by the notion of massive multi-agent’s organizations with a morphologic control.     

Openness to experience and boundaries in the mind: relationships with cultural and economic conservative beliefs

The present research investigates whether Openness to Experience and Boundaries in the mind are related to conservatism. In the first study, significant relationships between several scales of the Boundaries in the mind questionnaire and indicators of conservative beliefs were obtained in an adult sample (N=78) as well as in a sample of political party activists (N=44). In the second study, these negative relationships between conservatism and thin boundaries were replicated in an adult sample (N=225). Moreover, two dimensions representing Boundaries in the mind were identified, one positively related to Openness to Experience and negatively to conservatism and the second showing high positive correlations with Neuroticism. The exceptionally strong correlations between conservatism and the Boundaries in the mind facet scales Opinions about organizations, Opinions about beauty, truth, Edges, lines, clothing and Opinions about peoples, nations, groups are discussed, as well as the weak relationships between economic conservatism and Openness to Experience.     

A neurocognitive and socioecological model of self-awareness

In the past, researchers have focused mainly on the effects and consequences of self-awareness; however, they have neglected a more basic issue pertaining to the specific mechanisms that initiate and sustain self-perception. The author presents a model of self-awareness that proposes the existence of 3 sources of self-information. First, the social milieu includes early face-to-face interactions, self-relevant feedback, a social comparison mechanism that leads to perspective taking, and audiences. Second, contacts with objects and structures in the physical environment foster self-world differentiation in infants; this environment also contains self-focusing and reflecting stimuli, such as mirrors and video cameras. Third, the self can develop bodily awareness through proprioception and can reflect on itself using imagery and inner speech. Furthermore, self-awareness is mainly mediated by the prefrontal lobes. The author establishes various links among these different neurological, social, ecological, and cognitive elements of the model.