Learning emergent behaviours for a hierarchical Bayesian framework for active robotic perception

In this research work, we contribute with a behaviour learning process for a hierarchical Bayesian framework for multimodal active perception, devised to be emergent, scalable and adaptive. This framework is composed by models built upon a common spatial configuration for encoding perception and action that is naturally fitting for the integration of readings from multiple sensors, using a Bayesian approach devised in previous work. The proposed learning process is shown to reproduce goal-dependent human-like active perception behaviours by learning model parameters (referred to as "attentional sets") for different free-viewing and active search tasks. Learning was performed by presenting several 3D audiovisual virtual scenarios using a head-mounted display, while logging the spatial distribution of fixations of the subject (in 2D, on left and right images, and in 3D space), data which are consequently used as the training set for the framework. As a consequence, the hierarchical Bayesian framework adequately implements high-level behaviour resulting from low-level interaction of simpler building blocks by using the attentional sets learned for each task, and is able to change these attentional sets "on the fly," allowing the implementation of goal-dependent behaviours (i.e., top-down influences).     

Life review therapy using autobiographical retrieval practice for older adults with clinical depression

The aim of this experiment was to examine the efficacy of life review based on autobiographical retrieval practice for treating depression in older adults. Thirty-seven clinically depressed older adults aged 64-83, who were also receiving pharmacological treatment, were randomly assigned to life review therapy or to a placebo condition with supportive therapy. Results indicated decreased depression for both conditions, with no significant differences between the two therapies. There was some indication of greater gain in production of specific memories among those in life review therapy. Patients who produced higher numbers of specific memories decreased their depression scores at a faster rate.     

A junior sensation seeking scale (J-SSS)

Taking as a model the Sensation Seeking Scale, Form V (SSS), we constructed a 50-item Spanish experimental version of a Junior Sensation Seeking Scale (J-SSS), 10 items for each subscale: Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS), Experience Seeking (ES), Disinhibition (Dis) and Boredom Susceptibility (BS), as well as a 10-item Lie (L) scale. After administering the J-SSS to two primary and secondary pupil samples from around Barcelona, the Spanish version of the J-SSS showed acceptable 1-month test-retest and α-reliabilities and acceptable validity.     

Decrease of Precurrent Behavior as Training Increases: Effects of Task Complexity

The Psychological Record - When someone is described as memorizing a phone number, part of what is being asserted is that the person is capable of dialing the number without looking it up in the...     

Inhibition Tasks Are Not Associated with a Variety of Behaviours in College Students

Executive functions are (EF) top-down control processes involved in regulating thoughts, ignoring distractions, and inhibiting impulses. It is widely believed that these processes are critical to self-control and, therefore, that performance on behavioural task measures of EF should be associated with individual differences in everyday life outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to test this assumption, focusing on the core executive function facet of inhibition. A sample of 463 undergraduates completed five laboratory inhibition tasks, along with three self-report measures of self-control and 28 self-report measures of life outcomes. Results showed that although most of the life outcome measures were associated with self-reported self-control, only one of the outcomes was associated with inhibition task performance at the latent-variable level, and this association was in the unexpected direction. Furthermore, few associations were found at the individual task level. These findings challenge the criterion validity of lab-based inhibition tasks. More generally, when considered alongside the known lack of convergent validity between inhibition tasks and self-report measures of self-control, the findings cast doubt on the task's construct validity as measures of self-control processes. Potential methodological and theoretical reasons for the poor performance of laboratory-based inhibition tasks are discussed. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Family play,reading, and other stimulation and early childhood development in five low-and-middle-income countries

This paper used longitudinal data from five studies conducted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes (N = 4904; M_age = 51.5; 49% girls). Results from random-effects and more conservative child-fixed effects models indicate that across these studies, family stimulation, measured by caregivers’ engagement in nine activities (e.g., reading, playing, singing), predicted increments in children's early numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills (standardized associations ranged from 0.05 to 0.11 SD). Study-specific models showed variability in the estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies. These findings indicate the need for additional research on culturally specific ways in which caregivers may support early development and highlight the importance of promoting family stimulation to catalyze positive developmental trajectories in global contexts.

Research Highlights

• Research on the links between family stimulation and early childhood development in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited.
• We used longitudinal data from studies conducted in five LMICs to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes.
• Results suggest that family stimulation predicted increments in children's numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills.
• We found variability in the observed estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies, suggesting the need for additional research in LMICs.