Idealness and similarity in goal-derived categories: A computational examination

The finding that the typicality gradient in goal-derived categories is mainly driven by ideals rather than by exemplar similarity has stood uncontested for nearly three decades. Due to the rather rigid earlier implementations of similarity, a key question has remained—that is, whether a more flexible approach to similarity would alter the conclusions. In the present study, we evaluated whether a similarity-based approach that allows for dimensional weighting could account for findings in goal-derived categories. To this end, we compared a computational model of exemplar similarity (the generalized context model; Nosofsky, Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 115:39–57, 1986) and a computational model of ideal representation (the ideal-dimension model; Voorspoels, Vanpaemel, & Storms, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18:1006-114, 2011) in their accounts of exemplar typicality in ten goal-derived categories. In terms of both goodness-of-fit and generalizability, we found strong evidence for an ideal approach in nearly all categories. We conclude that focusing on a limited set of features is necessary but not sufficient to account for the observed typicality gradient. A second aspect of ideal representations—that is, that extreme rather than common, central-tendency values drive typicality—seems to be crucial.     

Pseudocontingencies derived from categorically organized memory representations

Pseudocontingencies (PCs) allow for inferences about the contingency between two variables X and Y when the conditions for genuine contingency assessment are not met. Even when joint observations X _i and Y _i about the same reference objects i are not available or are detached in time or space, the correlation r(X _i ,Y _i ) is readily inferred from base rates. Inferred correlations are positive (negative) if X and Y base rates are skewed in the same (different) directions. Such PC inferences afford useful proxies for actually existing contingencies. While previous studies have focused on PCs due to environmental base rates, the present research highlights memory organization as a natural source of PC effects. When information about two attributes X and Y is represented in a hierarchically organized categorical memory code, as category-wise base rates p(X) and p(Y), the reconstruction of item-level information from category base rates will naturally produce PC effects. Three experiments support this contention. When the yes base rates of two respondents in four questionnaire subscales (categories) were correlated, recalled and predicted item-level responses were correlated in the same direction, even when the original responses to specific items within categories were correlated in the opposite direction.     

When we like what we know – A parametric fMRI analysis of beauty and familiarity

This paper presents a neuroscientific study of aesthetic judgments on written texts. In an fMRI experiment participants read a number of proverbs without explicitly evaluating them. In a post-scan rating they rated each item for familiarity and beauty. These individual ratings were correlated with the functional data to investigate the neural correlates of implicit aesthetic judgments. We identified clusters in which BOLD activity was correlated with individual post-scan beauty ratings. This indicates that some spontaneous aesthetic evaluation takes place during reading, even if not required by the task. Positive correlations were found in the ventral striatum and in medial prefrontal cortex, likely reflecting the rewarding nature of sentences that are aesthetically pleasing. On the contrary, negative correlations were observed in the classic left frontotemporal reading network. Midline structures and bilateral temporo-parietal regions correlated positively with familiarity, suggesting a shift from the task-network towards the default network with increasing familiarity.     

Konflikt- und Strukturachse der Operationalisierten Psychodynamischen Diagnostik des Kindes- und Jugendalters

This paper presents the advantages of a comprehensive Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnostic in childhood and adolescence (OPD-CA) for subsequent treatment planning. Information about the conflict and structural axes as a function of age, gender, diagnosis and proposed form of treatment (outpatient/inpatient) was analyzed in a group of 116 patients. Independent from the diagnosis, a similar ranking in the importance of conflicts was found. Self-esteem conflicts were more prominent for inpatient children and adolescents and identity conflicts were more prevalent in children and adolescents who were at the start of outpatient therapy. Patients with an indication for inpatient treatment had a significantly lower level in all structural dimensions. This study analyzes the reasons for these findings.     

The World Wide Wait: Exploring Physiological and Behavioral Effects of Download Speed

ABSTRACT

When people use humorous media content, their behavior and assessments of the content may depend on the emotional expressions (e.g., laughter) of those around them. In a laboratory experiment in which 80 participants watched a movie clip with a confederate who either laughed or remained silent, we identified two parallel processes. The confederate’s laughter induced behavioral responses in our participants (laughing or smiling). Through those responses, a corresponding appraisal of the media content was generated: The content was rated funnier in comparison to situations in which the confederate did not laugh. This effect corresponds to emotional contagion processes and was especially pronounced in introverts. Additionally, participants who were low in conscientiousness directly elevated their funniness ratings (more than their own emotional expressions would suggest) when the confederate laughed. Those who were high in conscientiousness, however, lowered their ratings of the content’s funniness in the presence of a laughing confederate. This finding suggests the existence of an additional cognitive process that links confederate’s laughter and participant’s content ratings beyond automatic contagion. Participants with low conscientiousness use the confederate’s laughter as a heuristic cue for the content’s funniness, while highly conscientious participants discount the confederate’s laughter as a cue for content funniness.     

Perceptual grouping based on temporal structure: Impact of subliminal flicker and visual transients

In two experiments we examined the perceived grouping of grids of equidistant dots, which are rapidly modulated over time so that alternate rows or columns are presented out of phase. In Experiment 1, we report that observers were able to group the grids consistent with the temporal modulation reliably, even at contrasts/frequencies for which flicker was not detectable. Moreover, flicker thresholds decreased with stimulus duration, whilst grouping thresholds did not change. In Experiment 2, we examined the impact of visual transients, by measuring performance when, either a mask or a contrast ramp was presented before and after the stimulus. Performance dropped substantially for both conditions, but remained significantly above chance. The results are discussed in relation to the role of temporal correlations in stimulus modulations and visual transients in grouping.     

Mind-reading without the scanner: Behavioural decoding of working memory content

ABSTRACT

Sophisticated machine learning algorithms have been successfully applied to functional neuroimaging data in order to characterize internal cognitive states. But is it possible to “mind-read” without the scanner? Capitalizing on the robust finding that the contents of working memory guide visual attention toward memory-matching objects, we trained a multivariate pattern classifier on behavioural indices of attentional guidance. Working memory representations were successfully decoded from behaviour alone, both within and between individuals. The current study provides a proof-of-concept for applying machine learning techniques to simple behavioural outputs (e.g., response times) in order to decode information about specific internal cognitive states.     

Can the Paradox of Forgiveness Be Dissolved?

The “paradox of forgiveness” can be described as follows: Forgiving, unlike forgetting, is tied to reasons. It is a response to considerations that lead us to think that we ought to forgive. On the other hand, acts of forgiveness, unlike excuses, are responses to instances of culpable wrongdoing. If, however, the wrongdoing is culpable, there is (or seems to be) no reason to forgive it. So two mutually exclusive theses about forgiveness both seem to be equally warranted: Forgiveness is related to reasons, but there can be no reasons for forgiveness. In this paper, I attempt to dissolve this paradox. I argue that the paradox arises as a result of a too narrow conception of “reason” and that it can be dissolved if we acknowledge different kinds of reasons for forgiveness. More specifically, I examine three kinds of reasons for forgiving an act of wrongdoing: (1) Moral reasons that make forgiveness morally mandatory. (2) Prudential reasons for forgiveness. (3) Moral reasons that pertain to the character of the forgiver and that favor forgiveness without making it morally mandatory. I show that while the paradox of forgiveness arises when we consider reasons of the first kind, it can be dissolved with recourse to reasons of the second and third kind. The upshot of the argument is that we can be rational in deciding to overcome our feelings of resentment towards an act of unjustified and unexcused wrongdoing—and this is a strong point in favor of forgiveness.     

Textures shape the attentional focus: Evidence from exogenous and endogenous cueing

The spatial cueing paradigm (Posner Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 32:3–25, 1980) has often been used to investigate the time course of the deployment of visual attention in space. In a series of eight experiments we investigated whether spatial cues would not only enhance processing of stimuli presented at cued locations, but also enhance processing of the entire texture in which the stimuli were presented. Results showed highest accuracy for responses to stimuli presented at cued locations, a replication of the traditional cueing effect (Posner 1980). Additionally, stimuli presented at uncued locations were responded to with higher accuracy when they were presented inside the same texture as the cued location, as compared with stimuli presented outside the texture with the cued location. To investigate this texture advantage for both automatic and voluntary attention deployment, exogenous and endogenous cues were used. The texture advantage was observed for short interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 50 and 100 ms for exogenous cues and for a longer ISI of 200 ms for endogenous cues. These findings indicate that the arrangement of task-irrelevant visual stimuli also can have a large impact on the cueing effect. This suggests that visual spatial attention spreads texture-wise across the visual field. Control experiments revealed that the homogeneity within texture elements contributes most to the effect but that the texture advantage is a function of both orientation contrast at the texture border and homogeneity within texture elements.     

Fractal Dynamics of Heart Beat Interval Fluctuations in Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Subtype 2 Deficient Mice

Non-linear fractal analysis of cardiac interbeat time series was performed in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtype 2 (CRFR2) deficient mice. Heart rate dynamics in mice constitutes a self-similar, scale-invariant, random fractal process with persistent intrinsic long-range correlations and inverse power-law properties. We hypothesized that the sustained tachycardic response elicited by intraperitoneal (ip) injection of human/rat CRF (h/rCRF) is mediated by CRFR2. In wildtype control animals, heart rate was increased to about maximum levels (approximately 750 bpm) while in CRFR2-deficient animals baseline values were retained (approximately 580 bpm). The tachycardic response elicited by ip-application is mediated by CRFR2 and is interpreted to result from sympathetic stimulation. However, the functional integrity of CRFR2 would not present a prerequisite to maintaining the responsiveness and resiliency of cardiac control to external environmental perturbations experimentally induced by extrinsic ip-application of h/rCRF or under physiological conditions that may be associated with an increased peripheral release of CRF. Under stressful physiological conditions achieved by novelty exposure, CRFR2 is not involved in the cardiodynamic regulation to external short-term stress. While the hypothesis of involvement of CRFR2 in cardiac regulation upon pharmacological stimulation cannot be rejected, the present findings suggest that the mechanism of action is by sympathetic stimulation, but would not unambiguously allow to draw any conclusions as to the physiological role of CRFR2 in the control of cardiac dynamics.