Category and feature identification

This paper considers a family of inductive problems where reasoners must identify familiar categories or features on the basis of limited information. Problems of this kind are encountered, for example, when word learners acquire novel labels for pre-existing concepts. We develop a probabilistic model of identification and evaluate it in three experiments. Our first two experiments explore problems where a single category or feature must be identified, and our third experiment explores cases where participants must combine several pieces of information in order to simultaneously identify a category and a feature. Humans readily solve all of these problems, and we show that our model accounts for human inferences better than several alternative approaches.     

Design-Based Guidelines for the Semantic Perception of Emergency Signs

The current study applies semantic differential to explore the semantic perception of emergency signs, in an attempt to analyze the meanings of emergency signs in regard to the psychological exigencies of the general public. The results indicate that problems concerning recognition accuracy have been observed, but also that the evaluation of the semantic meaning of the signs is positive. However, a number of emotional factors also emerge, indicating that if improvements should be made to the existing emergency signs, it would better facilitate evacuation in the event of an emergency. As for the design guidelines, the emergency signs should be readily recognizable and have a single meaning. Multiple symbolic meanings should be eliminated. Concrete design guidelines include: (a) safety movement, (b) clarity, and (c) safety. To avoid confusion in sign recognition, in addition to the improvements made based on the abovementioned guidelines, educational promotional activities carried out by the government would also prove very beneficial.     

Kinetics of photoinduced changes in Ag nanoparticles deposited on an indium tin oxide surface

An enhancement of the UV-visible optical absorption spectra of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces of different resistance by a seed-mediated growth technique is presented. A bicolour coherent beam, obtained from a pulsed Nd:YAG laser providing a 1060-nm fundamental wavelength and a double-frequency one at 530?nm, was used. A significant change in the optical density is observed for Ag NPs on low-resistance ITO surfaces (≈4?Ω/square), while almost nothing occurs with high-resistance (≈50?Ω/square surfaces). The spectral position of the maximal absorption at 440?nm is almost preserved in both cases. This result is explained in terms of a local photoinduced static field and surface-plasmon polaritons interacting with photoexcited phonons. A grating effect, arising from the coherent bicolour light forming a superstructure as for quantum crystals, could be another contribution.     

Belief in an Unjust World: When Beliefs in a Just World Fail

Past research has attempted to delineate personality differences between insomniacs and good sleepers but has failed to control for type of insomnia or severity of the disorder. The purpose of this study was to compare MMPI scores of mild and severe sleep onset insomniacs with a control group of noninsomniacs. Results demonstrated that sleep onset insomniacs, regardless of degree of severity, differed significantly from noninsomniacs; and that mild and severe insomniacs differed from each other on only one MMPI scale.     

The effects of team strategic orientation on team process and information search

We tested the effects of team strategic orientation on team member perceptions, work strategy and information search. In Experiment 1, 80 teams worked on a hidden profile decision-making task. A defensive team strategic orientation increased members’ perceptions of the problem’s scope, leading to a more process-focused work strategy and broader information search compared to an offensive team strategic orientation. When teams needed critical information from the environment, defensive teams outperformed offensive teams; offensive teams performed better when critical information resided within the team. In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated with 92 teams performing a different decision task. When making a second decision, half of the teams were led to change their strategic orientation; teams shifting from offense to defense altered their information search behavior more readily than did teams shifting in the opposite direction, suggesting an asymmetric adaptation effect.     

Core Knowledge Employee Creativity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Riskiness Orientation,Firm Size,and Realized Absorptive Capacity

In this study, we examine when creativity is positively or negatively related to firm performance. Building on the creation–implementation tension theorized in the literature and the attention capacity perspective, we argue that the relationship between creativity and firm performance is contingent on riskiness orientation, firm size, and realized absorptive capacity. Data were collected from 761 core knowledge employees, 148 CEOs, and 148 HR executives from 148 high‐technology firms. The results indicated that core knowledge employee creativity was negatively related to firm performance when riskiness orientation was high. The relationship was positive when realized absorptive capacity was high. Finally, the relationship was more positive in small firms than in large firms. We discuss the implications of our findings for creativity research and managerial practices.     

Electromechanical behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube thin films

Carbon nanotubes have been intensively studied owing to their great potential in nanoelectronics and nanomechanical devices. Recently, experimental results have shown that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) change their electronic properties when subjected to strain. In this study, the electromechanical characteristics of SWCNT networks were investigated for the application of printable strain sensors on flexible substrates. SWCNT films were formed on plastic substrates of poly(ethylene terephthalate) using a spray process. In this manner, we were able to control the transparency and obtain uniform electrical properties of the films. The films are isotropic on account of the random orientation of bundles of SWCNTs. Experimental results showed a nearly linear change in the resistance across a film when it was subjected to tensile strain, even in the inelastic range of the flexible substrate. The results demonstrate the potential use of SWCNT films for highly sensitive printable strain sensors on a macroscale.