Error is proportional to distance measured by honeybees: Weber’s law in the odometer

Honeybees were trained to fly a specific distance, the same over trials, down a tunnel for a reward. After training, they were tested occasionally with the reward absent. On tests, bees fly to or just past the expected place of reward, then turn around and fly back. After some distance, they turn back again, and may continue turning back and forth a number of times. Past research has shown that distance estimation in this task is based on the retinal flow of visual texture on the walls of the tunnel. Here we measured the errors in distance estimation as a function of training distance. Errors were measured as the standard deviation across trials of the positions of the first two turns (Turn1 and Turn2), and of the Middle (average of Turn1 and Turn2) and Spread (difference between Turn1 and Turn2). All errors were proportional to the training distance, thus obeying Weber’s law. Models of possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are discussed. The mean Spread matches the errors in Turn1 and Middle, suggesting that the bee chooses the spread of its search to match the expected odometric error. Received: 28 April 1998 / Accepted after revision: 19 November 1998     

Estimating the weights for multiple attributes in a composite criterion using pairwise judgments

This paper presents a new methodology for estimating the weights or saliences of subcriteria (attributes) in a composite criterion measure. The inputs to the estimation procedure consist of (i) a set of stimuli or objects with each stimulus defined by its subcriteria profile (set of attribute values) and (ii) the set of paired comparison dominance (e.g., preference) judgments on the stimuli made by a single judge (expert) in terms of the global criterion. A criterion of fit is developed and its optimization via linear programming is illustrated with an example. The procedure is generalized to estimate a common set of weights when the pairwise judgments on the stimuli are made by more than one judge. The procedure is computationally efficient and has been applied in developing a composite criterion of managerial success yielding high concurrent validity.This methodology can also be used to perform ordinal multiple regression—i.e., multiple regression with an ordinally scaled dependent variable and a set of intervally scaled predictor variables. The approach is further extended to internal analysis (unfolding) using the vector model of preference and to the additive model of conjoint measurement.     

Evidence for counting in insects

Here we investigate the counting ability in honeybees by training them to receive a food reward after they have passed a specific number of landmarks. The distance to the food reward is varied frequently and randomly, whilst keeping the number of intervening landmarks constant. Thus, the bees cannot identify the food reward in terms of its distance from the hive. We find that bees can count up to four objects, when they are encountered sequentially during flight. Furthermore, bees trained in this way are able count novel objects, which they have never previously encountered, thus demonstrating that they are capable of object-independent counting. A further experiment reveals that the counting ability that the bees display in our experiments is primarily sequential in nature. It appears that bees can navigate to food sources by maintaining a running count of prominent landmarks that are passed en route, provided this number does not exceed four.     

Pharmacotherapy for the Pseudobulbar Affect in Individuals Who Have Sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury: a Systematic Review

Neuropsychology Review - Pseudobulbar affect is a debilitating condition that significantly reduces quality of life for many individuals following traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is characterized...     

Client supportiveness in contingent employment: The role of relationship quality

Extant literature dealing with nonstandard employment relationships reveals that contingent (“temporary”) workers are influenced by the supportiveness levels of their client organizations. However, the antecedents and consequences of client supportiveness remain underinvestigated. Specifically, the link between client supportiveness and relationship quality (i.e., the relationship between client organizations and temporary help services [THS] firm) has received minimal attention. I proposed that (1) the quality of the relationship between client organizations and the THS firm will influence client supportiveness, (2) client supportiveness will influence contingent workers’ job attitudes, (3) these job attitudes will influence future levels of relationship quality, and (4) relationship quality will predict unit-level profitability. A time-lagged, unit-level test of this model using large samples of worker and client data obtained from 89 business units of a THS firm provided complete support for the first three proposed relationships. Further, the association between relationship quality and profitability was found to be significant for medium-sized and large business units, but not for small business units.     

Emotion perception is mediated by spatial frequency content

Spatial frequencies have been shown to play an important role in face identification, but very few studies have investigated the role of spatial frequency content in identifying different emotions. In the present study we investigated the role of spatial frequency in identifying happy and sad facial expressions. Two experiments were conducted to investigate (a) the role of specific spatial frequency content in emotion identification, and (b) hemispherical asymmetry in emotion identification. Given the links between global processing, happy emotions, and low frequencies, we hypothesized that low spatial frequencies would be important for identifying the happy expression. Correspondingly, we also hypothesized that high spatial frequencies would be important in identifying the sad expression given the links between local processing, sad emotions, and high spatial frequencies. As expected we found that the identification of happy expression was dependent on low spatial frequencies and the identification of sad expression was dependent on high spatial frequencies. There was a hemispheric asymmetry with the identification of sad expression, especially in the right hemisphere, possibly mediated by high spatial frequency content. Results indicate the importance of spatial frequency content in the identification of happy and sad emotional expressions and point to the mechanisms involved in emotion identification.     

The Role of Regulatory Focus in the Experience and Self‐Control of Desire for Temptations

This research examines the role of regulatory focus in the experience and control of desire for temptations, the fulfillment of which conflicts with other salient goals of the consumer. Relative to a prevention focus (i.e., an orientation away from negative outcomes), our findings demonstrate that a promotion focus (i.e., an orientation toward positive outcomes) not only increases the intensity of desire experienced on encountering a temptation, but also increases success of its subsequent resistance. Differences in self‐control efficacy are found to be mediated by the type of self‐control strategies consumers use in the 2 foci. Convergent evidence obtained in 4 studies, considering situational and dispositional aspects of regulatory focus, indicates that when temptations are encountered by consumers, regulatory focus is an important determinant of the degree of desire, and the nature and outcome of self‐control.     

Human perceptual performance with nonliteral imagery: region recognition and texture-based segmentation

In this study the authors address the issue of how the perceptual usefulness of nonliteral imagery should be evaluated. Perceptual performance with nonliteral imagery of natural scenes obtained at night from infrared and image-intensified sensors and from multisensor fusion methods was assessed to relate performance on 2 basic perceptual tasks to fundamental characteristics of the imagery. Specifically, single-sensor imagery and fused multisensor imagery (both achromatic and false color) were used to test performance on a region recognition task and a texture segmentation task. Results indicate that the use of color rendering and type of scene content play specific roles in determining perceptual performance allowed by nonliteral imagery. The authors argue that the usefulness of various image-rendering methods should be evaluated with respect to multiple perceptual tasks.