Landscape of Machine Implemented Ethics

Science and Engineering Ethics - This paper surveys the state-of-the-art in machine ethics, that is, considerations of how to implement ethical behaviour in robots, unmanned autonomous vehicles, or...     

Equivalence of human odometry by walk and run is indifferent to self-selected speed

Humans and other animals can measure distances nonvisually by legged locomotion. Experiments typically employ an outbound measure (M) and an inbound report (R) phase. Previous research has found distance reproduction to be maximally accurate, when gait symmetry and speed of M and R are of like kind: Successful human odometry manifests at the level of the M-R system. In the present work, M was an experimenter-set distance produced by a blindfolded participant using a primary gait (walk, run). R was always by walk. Fast and slow versions of walk and run were adopted by participants, such that when M was fast R was slow, and vice versa. Distance was underestimated when M was slower than R and overestimated when M was faster than R. However, the pattern of participant-adopted velocities indicated that it was the instructions, not the speed as such, that yielded the pattern of results. The results are interpretable through a dynamical perspective and indicate speed is an imperfection parameter acting on the attractors of the M-R system.     

Integration of Analytic Hierarchy Process with Regression Analysis to Identify Attractive Locations for Market Expansion

Selection of new geographies in which to expand is a key decision for businesses aspiring to go beyond the opportunities in the existing markets. The conventional approaches of market selection can only provide a set of systematic steps for problem solving without considering the relationships between the decision factors. Decision models based on statistical techniques are able to examine the relationship between decision factors but are unable to effectively assist decision makers in identifying the most promising market, particularly in terms of prioritizing across decision factors. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a commonly used approach for choosing alternatives by prioritizing across multiple decision factors. The typical AHP modelling requires knowledge of criteria and/or alternatives along with their relative weights, generally elicited from field experts. Quite often, firms encounter situations where decision makers are aware of only the overall objective and a set of earmarked geographies for setting up market locations while being relatively unaware of decision criteria and relative weights. This precludes using AHP to identify promising market locations. This paper conceptualizes a market selection decision model that integrates AHP with statistical modelling techniques to identify the attractive market locations for the purpose of expansion. The model first uses principal component analysis and multiple regression to determine significant decision criteria and their weights. Thereafter, it applies AHP to prioritize the market locations across the decision criteria. This integrative approach is illustrated for identifying the attractive locations in rural markets for a steel firm in India. The major advantage of this approach is that unlike the existing models, it works in situations when firms have not enough knowledge about factors for evaluating alternative market locations. Another key advantage of the proposed model is that of economizing resources for data collection on variables representing decision factors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of executive functioning difficulties on verbal aggression in adolescents: Moderating effects of winning and losing and increasing and decreasing levels of provocation

We examined the extent to which executive functioning difficulties were related to verbal aggression under conditions of gradually increasing or decreasing provocation over both winning and losing trials. Sixty adolescent boys and girls completed a modified Taylor aggression paradigm in which verbally offensive remarks were sent and received. Results showed (a) that during increasing levels of provocation, verbal aggression increased on both winning and losing trials, (b) that verbal aggression decreased during decreasing levels of provocation but only on losing trials, and (c) that difficulties on two measures of executive functioning were related to verbal aggression, but only in the context of increasing verbal provocation. Individuals with executive functioning difficulties responded with more verbal aggression than did individuals with less severe executive functioning difficulties. Results have implications for the manner in which provocation is studied and for understanding the conditions in which executive functioning difficulties contribute to verbal aggression. Aggr. Behav. 29:475–488, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A comparison of latent inhibition and learned irrelevance pre-exposure effects in rabbit and human eyeblink conditioning

The learning of an association between a CS and a US can be retarded by unreinforced presentations of the CS alone (termed latent inhibition or LI) or by un-correlated presentations of the CS and US (termed learned irrelevance or LIRR). In rabbit eyeblink conditioning, there have been some recent failures to replicate LI. LIRR has been hypothesized as producing a stronger retardation effect than LI based on both empirical studies and computational models. In the work presented here, we examined the relative strength of LI and LIRR in eyeblink conditioning in rabbits and humans. In both species, a number of pre-exposure trials sufficient to produce LIRR failed to produce LI (Experiments 1 & 3). Doubling the number of CS pre-exposures did produce LI in rabbits (Experiment 2), but not in humans (Experiment 4). LI was demonstrated in humans only after manipulations including an increased inter-trial interval or ITI (Experiment 5). Overall, it appears that LIRR is a more easily producible pre-exposure retardation effect than LI for eyeblink conditioning in both rabbits and humans. Several theoretical mechanisms for LI including the conditioned attention theory, stimulus compression, novelty, and the switching theory are discussed as possible explanations for the differences between LIRR and LI. Overall, future work involving testing the neural substrates of pre-exposure effects may benefit from the use of LIRR rather than LI.     

A framework for Bayesian optimality of psychophysical laws

The Weber–Fechner law states that perceived intensity is proportional to physical stimuli on a logarithmic scale. In this work, we formulate a Bayesian framework for the scaling of perception and find logarithmic and related scalings are optimal under expected relative error fidelity. Therefore, the Weber–Fechner law arises as being information theoretically efficient under the constraint of limited representability. An even stronger connection is drawn between the Weber–Fechner law and a Bayesian framework when neural storage or communication is the dominant concern, such as for numerosity. Theoretical results and experimental verification for perception of sound intensity are both presented.     

Testing conclusions from functional imaging of working memory with data from acute stroke

Functional imaging studies indicate that the left hemisphere mediates verbal working memory, while the right hemisphere mediates both verbal and spatial working memory. We evaluated acute stroke patients with working memory tests and imaging to identify whether unilateral dysfunction causes deficits in spatial and/or verbal working memory deficits. While left cortical stroke patients had verbal working memory impairments (p<0.003), right cortical stroke patients had both verbal p<0.007) and spatial working memory (p<0.03) impairments, confirming functional imaging results. Patients with transient ischemic stroke and patients with non-cortical stroke did not have significant deficits in working memory in either modality.     

A study of time management: the correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers.

This study analyzes the correlation between video game usage and academic performance. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point average (GPA) scores were used to gauge academic performance. The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students' GPA and SAT scores. As video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease. A chi-squared analysis found a p value for video game usage and GPA was greater than a 95% confidence level (0.005 < p < 0.01). This finding suggests that dependence exists. SAT score and video game usage also returned a p value that was significant (0.01 < p < 0.05). Chi-squared results were not significant when comparing time spent studying and an individual's SAT score. This research suggests that video games may have a detrimental effect on an individual's GPA and possibly on SAT scores. Although these results show statistical dependence, proving cause and effect remains difficult, since SAT scores represent a single test on a given day. The effects of video games maybe be cumulative; however, drawing a conclusion is difficult because SAT scores represent a measure of general knowledge. GPA versus video games is more reliable because both involve a continuous measurement of engaged activity and performance. The connection remains difficult because of the complex nature of student life and academic performance. Also, video game usage may simply be a function of specific personality types and characteristics.     

When less is more and when more is more: The mediating roles of capacity and speed in brain-behavior efficiency

An enduring enterprise of experimental psychology has been to account for individual differences in human performance. Recent advances in neuroimaging have permitted testing of hypotheses regarding the neural bases of individual differences but this burgeoning literature has been characterized by inconsistent results. We argue that careful design and analysis of neuroimaging studies is required to separate individual differences in processing capacity from individual differences in processing speed to account for these differences in the literature. We utilized task designs which permitted separation of processing capacity influences on brain-behavior relationships from those related to processing speed. In one set of studies, participants performed verbal delayed-recognition tasks during blocked and event-related fMRI scanning. The results indicated that those participants with greater working memory (WM) capacity showed greater prefrontal cortical activity, strategically capitalized on the additional processing time available in the delay period, and evinced faster WM-retrieval rates than low-capacity participants. In another study, participants performed a digit-symbol substitution task (DSST) designed to minimize WM storage capacity requirements and maximize processing speed requirements during fMRI scanning. In some prefrontal cortical (PFC) brain regions, participants with faster processing speed showed less PFC activity than slower performers while in other PFC and parietal regions they showed greater activity. Regional-causality analysis indicated that PFC exerted more influence over other brain regions for slower than for faster individuals. These results support a model of neural efficiency in which individuals differ in the extent of direct processing links between neural nodes. One benefit of direct processing links may be a surplus of resources that maximize available capacity permitting fast and accurate performance.