Feature-based versus category-based induction with uncertain categories

Previous research has suggested that when feature inferences have to be made about an instance whose category membership is uncertain, feature-based inductive reasoning is used to the exclusion of category-based induction. These results contrast with the observation that people can and do use category-based induction when category membership is known. The present experiments examined the conditions that drive feature-based and category-based strategies in induction under category uncertainty. Specifically, 2 experiments investigated whether reliance on feature-based inductive strategies is a product of the lack of coherence in the categories used in previous research or is due to the use of a decision-only induction procedure. Experiment 1 found that feature-based reasoning remained the preferred strategy even when categories with relatively high internal coherence were used. Experiment 2 found a shift toward category-based reasoning when participants were trained to classify category members prior to feature induction. Together, these results suggest that an appropriate conceptual representation must be formed through experience with a category before it is likely to be used as a basis for feature induction.     

Latent inhibition and asymmetrical visual-spatial attention in children with ADHD.

The research was designed to determine whether the purported hemispheric asymmetries that are associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect performance on a selective attention visual search task, and whether any obtained asymmetry will be modulated by methylphenidate. Two groups of children (8-15 years) with ADHD, one with methylphenidate treatment (ADHD+) and one without (ADHD+), were compared to matched controls on a two-stage visual search task. The task assessed right-left visual field asymmetries and the effects of changing a previous distractor into a target. Such a procedure, related to latent inhibition (LI; poorer performance to a previously irrelevant stimulus than to a novel one), can provide evidence for dysfunctional processing of irrelevant stimuli. All three groups exhibited the LI effect. The ADHD group, however, exhibited less LI for left- than right-side targets, an effect absent in the control and ADHD+ groups, suggesting a lateralized attentional deficit for ADHD+ that was normalized by methylphenidate.     

Is There a Correlation Between Static and Dynamic Postural Balance Among Young Male and Female Dancers?

Aimed to investigate whether young male and female dancers have different patterns of association between static and dynamic postural balance (PB), 60 dancers from the Australian Ballet School (14–19 years old) were tested for static and dynamic PB with head and lumbar accelerometers. Monotonic relationships between static and dynamic PB were found in head movements among young female dancers in all three directions, but were found for young male dancers in the mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions only. In lumbar movements, monotonic relationships were found for young female dancers in the AP direction only. Comparing head with lumbar movements in static PB, young male dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements in all 3 directions; however, young female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships in the AP direction only. In the dynamic measurements, both male and female dancers demonstrated monotonic relationships between head and lumbar movements for all parameters measured in the ML and vertical directions (p < .05). In conclusions, among female dancers static PB ability is correlated with their dynamic ability, whereas among male dancers, no relationship between the static and dynamic PB in the AP direction exists. Male dancers showed head and lumbar coordination in the static PB movement, but both genders manifested no head and lumbar coordination in the AP direction measured for dynamic PB.     

Selective attention in human associative learning and recognition memory

Four experiments examined the role of selective attention in a new causal judgment task that allowed measurement of both causal strength and cue recognition. In Experiments 1 and 2, blocking was observed; pretraining with 1 cue (A) resulted in reduced learning about a 2nd cue (B) when those 2 cues were trained in compound (AB+). Participants also demonstrated decreased recognition performance for the causally redundant Cue B, suggesting that less attention had been paid to it in training. This is consistent with the idea that attention is preferentially allocated toward the more predictive Cue A, and away from the less predictive Cue B (e.g., N. J. Mackintosh, 1975). Contrary to this hypothesis, in Experiments 3 and 4, participants demonstrated poorer recognition for the most predictive cues, relative to control cues. A new model, which is based on N. J. Mackintosh's (1975) model, is proposed to account for the observed relationship between the extent to which each cue is attended to, learned about, and later recognized     

Electronic records of undesirable driving events

The cause of the majority of road crashes can be attributed to drivers’ behavior. Recent in-vehicle monitoring technologies enable continuous and high resolution measurements of drivers’ behaviors. We analyzed the information received from a novel in-vehicle technology which identifies the occurrences of undesirable driving events such as extreme braking and accelerating, sharp cornering and sudden lane changing. We undertook an exploratory analysis to provide better understanding of events frequency (EF) statistical properties. Our findings show higher EF in trip edges (trip beginning and trip end) than in the middle of the trip, higher EF for males than for females and higher EF at nighttime than at daytime. Use of the in-vehicle technology’s continuous and high resolution measurements enabled interesting advanced statistical analyses. Future research can use our findings to build similar statistical models to predict the occurrence of undesirable driving events by other independent variables.