Generalization and similarity in exemplar models of categorization: Insights from machine learning

Exemplar theories of categorization depend on similarity for explaining subjects’ ability to generalize to new stimuli. A major criticism of exemplar theories concerns their lack of abstraction mechanisms and thus, seemingly, of generalization ability. Here, we use insights from machine learning to demonstrate that exemplar models can actually generalize very well. Kernel methods in machine learning are akin to exemplar models and are very successful in real-world applications. Their generalization performance depends crucially on the chosen similarity measure. Although similarity plays an important role in describing generalization behavior, it is not the only factor that controls generalization performance. In machine learning, kernel methods are often combined with regularization techniques in order to ensure good generalization. These same techniques are easily incorporated in exemplar models. We show that the generalized context model (Nosofsky, 1986) and ALCOVE (Kruschke, 1992) are closely related to a statistical model called kernel logistic regression. We argue that generalization is central to the enterprise of understanding categorization behavior, and we suggest some ways in which insights from machine learning can offer guidance.     

Rehearsal in immediate serial recall

We report for the first time overt rehearsal data in immediate serial recall (ISR) undertaken at three presentation rates (1, 2.5, and 5 sec/word). Two groups of participants saw lists of six words for ISR and were required either to engage in overt rehearsal or to remain silent after reading aloud the word list during its presentation. Typical ISR serial position effects were obtained for both groups, and recall increased with slower rates. When participants rehearsed, they tended to do so in a cumulative forward order up to Serial Position 4, after which the amount of rehearsal decreased substantially. There were similarities between rehearsal and recall data: Both broke down toward the end of longer sequences, and there were strong positive correlations between the maximum sequence of participants' rehearsals and their ISR performance. We interpret these data as suggesting that similar mechanisms underpin both rehearsal and recall in ISR.     

Problem-Solving Ability and Stress Mediate the Relationship Between Creativity and Happiness

Many studies have found that creativity tends to promote happiness, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study proposed and tested a serial mediation model to investigate the relationships among creativity, problem solving, stress, and happiness on emerging adults and adolescents (N = 1,146). It is hypothesized that creativity is conducive to happiness indirectly through (a) problem-solving ability, (b) stress, and (c) problem-solving ability and then stress (i.e., serial mediating effect). Undergraduate students and secondary school students self-reported their creativity, social problem-solving ability, stress, happiness, and life satisfaction. The mediating role of problem-solving ability and the serial mediating effect were found statistically significant while controlling the effect of life satisfaction. The mediating role of stress, however, was not supported. The findings not only lend further support to the beneficial effect of self-perceived creativity on happiness, but also extend our understanding on the relationship by revealing the underlying process.     

Worth the wait: Children trade off delay and reward in self‐ and other‐benefiting decisions

Human prosocial behaviors are supported by early‐emerging psychological processes that detect and fulfill the needs of others. However, little is known about the mechanisms that enable children to deliver benefits to others at costs to the self, which requires weighing other‐regarding and self‐serving preferences. We used an intertemporal choice paradigm to systematically study and compare these behaviors in 5‐year‐old children. Our results show that other‐benefiting and self‐benefiting behavior share a common decision‐making process that integrates delay and reward. Specifically, we found that children sought to minimize delay and maximize reward, and traded off delays against rewards, regardless of whether these rewards were for the children themselves or another child. However, we found that children were more willing to invest their time to benefit themselves than someone else. Together, these findings show that from childhood, other‐ and self‐serving decisions are supported by a general mechanism that flexibly integrates information about the magnitude of rewards, and the opportunity costs of pursuing them. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/r8S0DGe7f8Q     

Open or close the door to the outgroup? Diversity beliefs moderate the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward the outgroup

The present research investigated the moderating role of diversity beliefs with the aim of reconciling inconsistent findings regarding the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward outgroup. In Study 1, all variables were measured with self‐report scales completed by Chinese participants. In Study 2, diversity beliefs were manipulated by randomly assigning Chinese participants to a high or low diversity belief condition. In Study 3, we replicated the moderating model with American participants. Results of all three studies indicated that diversity beliefs moderated the relationship between group boundary permeability and attitudes toward outgroup. Individuals with high diversity beliefs held more positive attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). Conversely, individuals with low diversity beliefs held more negative attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). These findings suggest that when the inflow of the outgroup members is inevitable, attitudes toward the outgroup may be effectively improved by increasing diversity beliefs.     

Contemporaneous Statistics for Estimation in Stochastic Actor-Oriented Co-evolution Models

Psychometrika - Stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) can be used to analyse dynamic network data, collected by observing a network and a behaviour in a panel design. The parameters of SAOMs are...     

积极错觉:基于进化论和社会互动的视角

积极错觉是积极心理学的一个重要研究领域,对于维持个体的身心健康至关重要。本文主要从进化论和社会互动论的视角对积极错觉进行阐述。从进化论的视角看,积极错觉有助于身心健康和认知适应; 从社会互动论视角看,积极错觉有助于维持良好的社会关系。未来的研究需要深化积极错觉的跨文化研究,重视对特殊群体积极错觉的研究,并加强积极错觉的应用研究和脑机制研究。     

中国人获得感的结构研究

获得感是一个具有心理内涵与时代特色的新生概念。为了探究获得感的结构内涵,通过自由联想法形成量表的初始项目,先后进行两次预测并根据结果修订量表。然后对量表进行正式施测并检验其信效度,同时采用中文版生活满意度量表和幸福倾向量表进行效标效度检验。结果显示,中国人的获得感是个体对获取自身需求满足的内容、实现途径与所需条件的认知评价以及在此过程中的心理体验,包括获得体验、获得环境、获得内容、获得途径和获得分享五个维度。信效度分析表明,编制的中国人获得感量表符合心理测量学的标准,可用于相关的社会心理研究与应用。     

Mainland Chinese and Canadian adolescents’ judgments and reasoning about the fairness of democratic and other forms of government

This study examined the judgments and reasoning of adolescents (ages 12–19 years) from three sites in urban and rural China (n = 270) and in an urban Canadian comparison sample (n = 72), about the fairness of various forms of democratic and non-democratic government. Adolescents from both China and Canada preferred democratic forms of government, such as representative or direct democracy, to non-democratic systems, such as a meritocracy and an oligarchy of the wealthy, at all ages. Adolescents appealed to fundamental democratic principles, such as representation, voice, and majority rule, to justify their judgments. Similar age-related patterns in judgments and reasoning were found across cultures and across diverse settings within China.     

Confucian Democracy as Pragmatic Experiment: Uniting Love of Learning and Love of Antiquity

This paper argues for the pragmatic construction of Confucian democracy by showing that Chinese philosophers who wish to see Confucianism flourish again as a positive dimension of Chinese civilization need to approach it pragmatically and democratically, otherwise their love of the past is at the expense of something else Confucius held in equal esteem, love of learning. Chinese philosophers who desire democracy for China would do well to learn from the earlier failures of the iconoclastic Westernizers, and realize that a Chinese democracy cannot come about by ignoring or dismissing such an important part of China's history, its Confucian tradition. The best chances for democracy in China lie in transforming that tradition without destroying it. Eagerness to learn from others must be united with a proper appreciation of one's own past to nurture democracy as a way of life.