An analysis of generative representation systems

Three ideas are basic to generative theory: (a) Subjects are assumed to attend to the relations among stimuli, extracting the transformations relating pairs of stimuli; (b) the set of abstracted transformations is decomposed or reduced to an elementary set of generators; (c) subjects use the elementary generators as the basis for judging similarity. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate these ideas with an experiment in which subjects were asked to rate the similarity between stimulus pairs. The stimulus materials consisted of the permutations of a 4-item pattern with the properties of a dihedral group which insured the existence of sets of elementary transformations. Three analytic techniques were used to determine the generator set of transformations abstracted by subjects. The first analysis consisted of a monotonic regression between dissimilarity ratings and the number of elementary generators of a given permutation. The residual variance of this monotone regression, suitably normalized, was used as a quantitative goodness-of-fit measure. For the stochastic analysis, cumulative distributions of dissimilarity ratings were obtained for permutations requiring one, two, or three generators. The idea was that permutations requiring fewer generators should be associated with distributions of lower dissimilarity values (higher similarity scores) as compared to permutations predicted to be transformationally more complex. The final analysis, a multidimensional scaling of dissimilarity ratings, converted subjects' ratings into spatial structures to determine whether individual subjects' ratings exhibited the predicted spatial arrangement. The monotone regression and stochastic analyses abstracted similar generator sets for individual subjects, some of which provided perfect fits to the data. Although the scaling analysis yielded similar estimates of generators, for some subjects, transformations with the same number of generators yielded unequal “cognitive” distances resulting in some-what deformed spatial structures for these subjects. It was concluded that the results generally supported a generative model as an approximation to subjects' representations of interstimulus relationships.     

“End of the jargon-scandal” – The decline and fall of Yiddish in the Netherlands (1796–1886)

In the nineteenth century the language of the Ashkenazi community in the Netherlands rapidly changed as the Dutch vernacular replaced Yiddish. In the first half of the century a coalition composed of government officials and members of the Jewish elite collaborated in matters of language–politics. The goal was the acculturation of the Jewish community by advocating Dutch and combating Yiddish. Controlling Jewish education and encouraging preaching in the vernacular were the most important means employed, and by the second half of the century, Yiddish disappeared as the language of Dutch Jews. The arguments of the proponents of Dutch were centered on social integration and the belief that Yiddish was not a proper language. The advocates of Yiddish defended their language by stressing it as an international means of Jewish communication.     

Effects of visual center of pressure feedback on postural control in young and elderly healthy adults and in stroke patients

The goal of this study was to compare young and elderly healthy individuals and elderly stroke patients in their capacity to use visual CP feedback (VF) in controlling both quiet standing and weight shifting and to assess their sensory re-weighing when this VF is withdrawn. A total of 40 participants were involved in this study. Participants were asked to either quietly stand on a force platform for a period of 45 s with eyes open (EO), using visual feedback (VF) or without visual feedback (No VF) or to perform a dynamic weight shifting task while using VF or No VF. During the quiet standing trials with VF, only the young (YO) were able to decrease the amplitude and increase the frequency of their sway in either plane. Removal of the VF resulted in a 'destabilizing' effect in both healthy elderly (EL) and stroke patients (ST) in the sagittal plane. With regard to the dynamic task, both the YO and EL were generally more successful at weight shifting in terms of speed and control when compared to the ST. Yet, when VF was removed, only the YO were able to largely maintain speed and precision of control. Hence, providing or removing visual CP feedback during quiet standing or removing VF during visually controlled weight shifting can discriminate healthy young participants from healthy elderly, but does not clearly discriminate healthy elderly from stroke patients in the same age group. Results revealed that sagittal plane imbalance in healthy elderly and stroke patients may be largely due to the effects of aging, whereas frontal plane imbalance is much more specific for the postural problems associated with stroke.     

Visual working memory for global,object, and part-based information

We investigated visual working memory for novel objects and parts of novel objects. After a delay period, participants showed strikingly more accurate performance recognizing a single whole object than the parts of that object. This bias to remember whole objects, rather than parts, persisted even when the division between parts was clearly defined and the parts were disconnected from each other so that, in order to remember the single whole object, the participants needed to mentally combine the parts. In addition, the bias was confirmed when the parts were divided by color. These experiments indicated that holistic perceptual-grouping biases are automatically used to organize storage in visual working memory. In addition, our results suggested that the bias was impervious to top-down consciously directed control, because when task demands were manipulated through instruction and catch trials, the participants still recognized whole objects more quickly and more accurately than their parts. This bias persisted even when the whole objects were novel and the parts were familiar. We propose that visual working memory representations depend primarily on the global configural properties of whole objects, rather than part-based representations, even when the parts themselves can be clearly perceived as individual objects. This global configural bias beneficially reduces memory load on a capacity-limited system operating in a complex visual environment, because fewer distinct items must be remembered.     

Is perceptual space inherently non-Euclidean?

It is often assumed that the space we perceive is Euclidean, although this idea has been challenged by many authors. Here we show that if spatial cues are combined as described by Maximum Likelihood Estimation, Bayesian, or equivalent models, as appears to be the case, then Euclidean geometry cannot describe our perceptual experience. Rather, our perceptual spatial structure would be better described as belonging to an arbitrarily curved Riemannian space.     

Capturing worry in daily life: are trait questionnaires sufficient?

Worry is crucial in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders and has been associated with several other adverse health outcomes. Yet, little is known about the frequency and perseveration of worry in daily life, and its predictability by widely used trait questionnaires. In this study 432 students completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait version (STAI-T) and kept a log of worry frequency and duration during six consecutive days and nights. The results showed that worry is a very common phenomenon that is predicted by the two trait worry questionnaires, independent of trait anxiety. The often clinically utilized PSWQ predicted worry duration better than the WDQ, and exclusively predicted night-time worry and several other indices of perseverative and potentially pathogenic worry. Although this study provides some support for the predictive validity of the PSWQ and the WDQ, these questionnaires did not account for the larger part of variance in daily worry. Future studies of worry and its associated perseverative processes should consider using momentary assessments.     

Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning

In current research on parenting, 2 ways of conceptualizing perceived parental autonomy support can be distinguished. Parental autonomy support can be defined in terms of promotion of independence (PI) or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). This study aimed to establish the empirical distinctiveness of both conceptualizations and to examine their relative contribution to the prediction of adolescents' adjustment. The authors conducted 3 studies, 2 which sampled late adolescents (N=396, mean age=18.70 years, 79% female; and N=495, mean age=19.30 years, 74% female, respectively) and 1 which sampled middle adolescents (N=153, mean age=15.12 years, 70% female). Factor analyses pointed to the distinction between perceived PVF and PI. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that whereas perceived PVF uniquely predicted adjustment (ps<.01), perceived PI did not (ps>.05). SEM also demonstrated that adolescents' self-determined functioning significantly mediates the relationship between perceived parental PVF and adjustment (ps<.001). Results are discussed in terms of the type of autonomy that parents might want to facilitate among their adolescents to foster well-being.     

Psychologically Controlling Parenting and Personality Vulnerability to Depression: A Study in Peruvian Late Adolescents

This study examined associations between two domain-specific manifestations of perceived psychologically controlling parenting (i.e., dependency oriented and achievement-oriented), dimensions of personality vulnerability to depression (i.e., dependency and self-criticism), and depressive symptoms in Peruvian late adolescents (N = 292, 60 % female). Structural equation modeling showed that perceived dependency-oriented psychological control was related specifically to dependency and that perceived achievement-oriented psychological control was related specifically to self-criticism. Both dimensions of personality vulnerability played an intervening role in associations between the domains of psychologically controlling parenting and depressive symptoms. In addition, dependency-oriented psychological control interacted with perceived parental responsiveness in the prediction of depressive symptoms, such that responsiveness exacerbated effects of psychological control on depressive symptoms. Results were similar across maternal and paternal ratings of parenting. Findings are interpreted in light of the debate about the cross cultural generalization of the effects of psychologically controlling parenting.     

Self-Knowledge and Narcissism in Iranians: Relationships with Empathy and Self-Esteem

Self-knowledge is a Muslim psychological ideal, but social theory suggests that the dynamics of narcissism and self-esteem may challenge the stability of Muslim society. In Iranian university students, an Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale displayed relationships with narcissism, self-esteem, and empathy that reflected relative mental health; and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory included factors that pointed toward adjustment as well as maladjustment. Evidence that narcissism predicted positive forms of self-functioning was more obvious in men than in women. Outcomes further confirmed that self-knowledge is as an adaptive process in Iran and that narcissism and self-esteem may have noteworthy implications for understanding Muslim society.