The influence of standard-opponent tests on blood androgen and corticoid levels of high- and low-ranking swordtail males (Xiphophorus helleri) before and after social isolation

The blood androgen levels of both high- and low-ranking swordtail males show a reduction to one third of initial levels after social isolation but are returned to normal following a 20-minute exposure to a small male of the same species behind a transparent partition (standard-opponent test). Experiments to determine the cause of this effect revealed that the social contact involved in the test was not responsible, but that rather the presence of the fish in a new environment (the test-aquarium) for 20 hours itself sufficed to restore the normal androgen concentrations. The blood corticoid levels of both high- and low-ranking males are also reduced to one third of initial levels by social isolation. The normal level of this hormone was, however, restored following a standard-opponent test only in the case of the high-ranking males; the corticoid levels of the low-ranking males remaining depressed. Transfer to a new environment in itself did not account for the effect on the high-ranking males. This result suggests that the pituitary-adrenal systems of high- and low-ranking males are differentially responsive to the social situation represented by the standard-opponent test.     

Interregional and intraregional variability of intergroup attitudes predict online hostility

To what extent are intergroup attitudes associated with regional differences in online aggression and hostility? We test whether regional attitude biases towards minorities and their local variability (i.e. intraregional polarization) independently predict verbal hostility on social media. We measure online hostility using large US American samples from Twitter and measure regional attitudes using nationwide survey data from Project Implicit. Average regional biases against Black people, White people, and gay people are associated with regional differences in social media hostility, and this effect is confounded with regional racial and ideological opposition. In addition, intraregional variability in interracial attitudes is also positively associated with online hostility. In other words, there is greater online hostility in regions where residents disagree in their interracial attitudes. This effect is present both for the full resident sample and when restricting the sample to White attitude holders. We find that this relationship is also, in part, confounded with regional proportions of ideological and racial groups (attitudes are more heterogeneous in regions with greater ideological and racial diversity). We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these relationships, as well as the dangers of escalating conflict and hostility when individuals with diverging intergroup attitudes interact. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

Truth as Translation – Part A

According to Tarski's Convention T, the adequacy of a truth definition is (implicitly) defined relatively to a translation mapping from the object language to the metalanguage; the translation mapping itself is left unspecified. This paper restates Convention T in a form in which the relativity to translation is made explicit. The notion of an interpreted language is introduced, and a corresponding notion of a translation between interpreted languages is defined. The latter definition is stated both in an algebraic version, and in an equivalent possible worlds version. It is a consequence of our definition that translation is indeterminate in certain cases. Finally, we give an application of our revised version of Convention T and show that interpreted languages exist, which allow for vicious self-reference but which nevertheless contain their own truth predicate. This is possible if only truth is based on a nonstandard translation mapping by which, e.g., the Liar sentence is translated to its own negation. In this part of the paper this existence result is proved only for languages without quantifiers; in Part B the result will be extended to first-order languages.     

A choice model for paired comparison data based on imperfectly nested sets

A ratio scale of subjective magnitude is developed from paired-comparison data. The model attempts to combine arguments of Restle, Ekman, and Luce relating data obtained from paired comparisons and corresponding data from direct psychophysical scaling methods at the ratio level. The basic set-theoretical model involves the use of imperfectly nested sets. A numerical example illustrates the application of the theory.This research was supported by the Swedish Social Science Research Council and by the Swedish Board of Computing Machinery. I am indebted to Mr. U. Forsberg for computational assistance.     

On theoretical and realizable ideal conditions in psychophysics: Magnitude and category scales and their relation

By spacing 10 stimuli (white noise) between 40 and 110 dB according to two criteria [equal response ambiguity (ERA) and equal discriminability (ED)], an attempt was made to construct an “ideal” case for magnitude estimation and category rating. The “ideal” case is defined by linear and constant Weber functions (SDs as a function of scale values) for the two scales, respectively. Altogether, three group and two individual magnitude and category rating experiments were run with these two spacings. It was found that the ERA spacing approximated the ideal case well for both Weber functions and the ED spacing only for the Weber function of the category scale. The general psychophysical differential equation that relates scale values and Weber functions for the two scales allowed good prediction of the category scales from the magnitude scales and the Weber functions. The data suggested a distinction between phenotypic (empirical) and genotypic Weber functions, analogous to “real” and “ideal” cases in physics.     

BRIGHTNESS SCALES FOR MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT

By means of amethod of ratio estimation, scale values were obtained for the subjective brightness of various physical intensities of monochromatic light of various wave lengths. In a second experiment the scale was constructed by a method of magnitude estimation. The brightness functions were studied by plotting the scale values against stimulus intensity for each wave length. The two experiments gave essentially the same results. It was shown: (1) Brightness of monochromatic light is a power function of stimulus intensity. The exponent of the function is approximately one-third for all wave lengths. (2) Properties of the brightness functions can explain certain empirical relations between brightness, hue and saturation.     

EMPIRICAL TEST OF A MODEL RELATING MAGNITUDE AND CATEGORY SCALES

E isler , H. Empirical test of a model relating magnitude and category scales. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 88–96.—The function K =α log( φ+ q/k) +β seems to describe the relation between category scale values K and subjective magnitudes φ. The additive constant q/k is obtained from the S ds of the magnitude estimates.
The model was empirically confirmed for the loudness and softness of white noise scaled by the methods of magnitude estimation and category rating.     

Syntax- und Semantikkoordination im Dialog

Coordination of Syntax and Semantics in Discourse Summary. 'Coordination' as used here is understood in the following way: Agents solve problems in on-going dialogue under mutual control and according to stable, well-understood patterns. In task-oriented dialogue the social frame for coordination is fixed. The need for coordination among agents arises because of differences in information, the dominant dialogue pattern 'directive - reply', and because of incompatibilities with respect to speakers' ontologies, language variation and agents' focus management. We discuss three dialogue examples showing coordination in some detail. In all of them the coordination problem is solved via a side sequence. Side sequences can be implemented either as autonomous dialogue contributions or they can be fused into the utterances they start from. Grammars treating 'syntax-in-dialogue' and, above all, side sequences, have to meet several constraints: They must describe various forms of extraposition to the right and long distance dependencies, produce and analyse by increments, and shift from production to reception and vice versa. All these patterns will be of relevance for the man-machine-interaction focused upon in the research unit “Situated Artificial Communicators“. It is suggested to set up the theory of grammar needed to accomplish all that within a theory of n-Person Cooperative Games. Zusammenfassung. Koordination im Dialog bedeutet, daß auftretende Probleme unter wechselseitiger Kontrolle der Agenten nach festgelegten Verfahren gelöst werden. In aufgabenorientierten Dialogen ist der soziale Rahmen für Koordination festgelegt. Koordination wird erforderlich wegen des Informationsgefälles zwischen Instrukteur und Konstrukteur, des dominanten Dialogmusters “Direktive geben“ - “Direktive befolgen“ sowie der Unterschiede in den Bereichen Sprecherontologie, Sprachvariation und Fokussteuerung. Wir geben drei Dialogbeispiele für Koordination, bei denen das Koordinationsproblem über eine Nebensequenz gelöst wird. Nebensequenzen, sog. “Verständigungssequenzen“, können als klar begrenzter, autonomer Subdialog realisiert oder in die Ausgangsäußerung eingefügt sein. Eine Syntax für den Dialog, insbesondere für Nebensequenzen und deren Einbettung, muß spezielle Konstruktionen wie Ausklammerung und Nachtrag erfassen, inkrementell operieren und zwischen Produktion und Rezeption hin- und herschalten können. Über alle diese Fähigkeiten sollte ein Situierter Künstlicher Kommunikator verfügen. Es wird vorgeschlagen, das dazu benötigte Grammatikmodell im Rahmen einer Theorie der Kooperativen Mehr-Personen-Spiele zu konzipieren.     

Individual ambidexterity: the duality of exploration and exploitation and its relationship with innovative performance

Organizational ambidexterity has been established as an important antecedent of organizational innovation and performance. Recently, researchers have started to argue that ambidexterity is not only essential at the organizational, but also at the individual level. Thus, to be innovative, individuals need to engage in both explorative and exploitative behaviours. However, questions remain regarding the optimal balance of explorative and exploitative behaviours and how ambidexterity can be operationalized. At the organizational level, most empirical research utilized either the difference between, or the product of, exploration and exploitation. In this article, we criticize these approaches on conceptual and methodological grounds and argue for an alternative operationalization of ambidexterity: polynomial regression and response surface methodology. In two diary studies with daily and weekly data, we demonstrate the advantages of this approach. We discuss implications for ambidexterity research and innovation practice.