Sequential estimation in multidimensional scaling

The concept of sequential estimation is introduced in multidimensional scaling (MDS). The sequential estimation method developed in this paper refers to continually updating estimates of a configuration as new observations are added. This method has a number of advantages, such as a locally optimal design of the experiment can be easily constructed, and dynamic experimentation is made possible. Using artificial data, the performance of our sequential method is illustrated.We are indebted to anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. In addition, we thank Dr. Frank Critchley for his helpful comments on our Q/S algorithm.     

An analysis of tactile letter confusions

A confusion matrix of the whole block capital letters of the alphabet was obtained so as to examine the nature of tactile letter recognition, using a 17 by 17 matrix of tactile stimulators placed against blind subjects’ backs. A hierarchical cluster analysis and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling technique were applied to the matrix. The results of the two analyses were consistent with each other and indicated that at least three independent basic letter features—enclosing shapes, vertical parallel lines, andangle of lines—play important parts in tactile letter recognition. Most confusion may be attributable to displacement of the apparent loci, omission or fusion of loci of stimulation, and failure to detect gaps in the tactile letters.     

Instantiae: An introduction to a twelfth century technique of argumentation

An instantia is a technique to refute other's arguments, found in many tracts from the latter half of the twelfth century. An instantia has (or appears to have) the same form as the argument to be refuted and its falsity is more evident than that of the argument.Precursors of instantiae are among the teachings of masters active in the first half of the century. These masters produce counter-arguments against various inferential forms in order to examine their validity. But the aim of producing counter-arguments change in the latter half of the century into refuting other's arguments to win in debate by any means available. Logicians of that period do not care whether the counter-arguments (instantiae) are sophistical or not, viz. the falsity of instantiae is or is not due to the flaw common to the argument to be refuted.Many instantiae they produce involve logical entanglements into which they themselves have little clear insight. Some instantiae and the attempts to explain them grows into the new theories in the terminist texts around 1200 A.D., when instantia literature itself disappears. Some instantiae and the issues they raise have no place in terminist texts, and sink into oblivion.Abbreviations CIMAGL Cashiers de l'Institut du Moyen-Âge grec et latin, Copenhagen 1969. - I. Mon. Min. Introductiones Montane Minores ed. in LM II-2, pp. 7–71. - LM De Rijk, L. M.: 1962, 1967, Logica Modernorum. A Contribution to the Theory of Early Terminist Logic, 2 vols., Van Gorcum, Assen. - Q. Vict. Quaestiones Victorinae ed. in LM II-2, pp. 731–769. - Summa S. E. Summa Sophisticorum Elenchorum ed. in LM I, pp. 257–458. - TLA Tractatus de Locis Argumentationum ed. in Iwakuma (1981), pp. 12–60.     

Cognitive load on working memory both encourages and discourages reasoning bias regarding the mental states of others

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to reason about the mental states of others. An increasing number of studies have revealed that working memory (WM) plays an important role in ToM. The present study applied WM loads to adults during a ToM task in order to investigate the impact on mental‐state reasoning performance. The task required participants to estimate the probabilities of several possible behaviours for a protagonist following the presentation of a ToM story. Participants were also required to maintain a meaningless two‐ (light WM load) or seven‐letter English alphabet string (heavy WM load) during story comprehension and mental‐state reasoning. The results show that the combination of light WM load applied during story comprehension with heavy WM load during mental‐state reasoning results in an overestimation of the probability that the protagonist's behaviour will accord with a participant's knowledge. Conversely, a heavy WM load applied during story comprehension, regardless of the type of WM load during mental‐state reasoning, did not result in this probability estimation bias. We discuss these findings from the perspective of a WM representation account.     

I see into your mind too well: working memory adjusts the probability judgment of others' mental states

Although an increasing number of studies on adults have indicated that working memory (WM) contributes to the ability to understand the mental states of others (i.e., theory of mind), the detailed mechanism by which WM contributes to successful reasoning has not previously been revealed. This study shows that WM modulates the degree of attribution of one's own knowledge to others' mental states. Participants were asked to read a story twice (Experiment 2) or as carefully as possible (Experiment 3) and to estimate the probability percentages of possible choices for a naive protagonist's behavior. The participants were then asked to maintain either a two- or seven-letter alphabet string (i.e., a light or heavy WM load, respectively) during the probability estimation but not during the story comprehension. The results showed that compared to the participants with a light WM load, those with a heavy WM load estimated a significantly higher probability of the choice indicating that the protagonist would behave on the basis of a fact that the participants knew but the protagonist did not. This result indicates that WM moderates the extent to which adults attribute their own knowledge to others' mental states. The role of WM in theory of mind and in heuristic strategy for making probability judgments was then discussed.     

Social enrichment improves social recognition memory in male rats

The social environment is thought to have a strong impact on cognitive functions. In the present study, we investigated whether social enrichment could affect rats’ memory ability using the “Different Objects Task (DOT),” in which the levels of memory load could be modulated by changing the number of objects to be remembered. In addition, we applied the DOT to a social discrimination task using unfamiliar conspecific juveniles instead of objects. Animals were housed in one of the three different housing conditions after weaning [postnatal day (PND) 21]: social-separated (1 per cage), standard (3 per cage), or social-enriched (10 per cage) conditions. The object and social recognition tasks were conducted on PND 60. In the sample phase, the rats were allowed to explore a field in which 3, 4, or 5 different, unfamiliar stimuli (conspecific juveniles through a mesh or objects) were presented. In the test phase conducted after a 5-min delay, social-separated rats were able to discriminate the novel conspecific from the familiar ones only under the condition in which three different conspecifics were presented; social-enriched rats managed to recognize the novel conspecific even under the condition of five different conspecifics. On the other hand, in the object recognition task, both social-separated and social-enriched rats were able to discriminate the novel object from the familiar ones under the condition of five different objects. These results suggest that social enrichment can enhance social, but not object, memory span.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting in rats

“Retrieval-induced forgetting” in rats was evaluated using a modified spontaneous object recognition test. The test consisted of a sample phase, retrieval or interference phase, and a test phase with 60-min delay period inserted between the phases. Rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups (control, retrieval and interference) and allowed to explore the field in which two different objects (A, B) were placed in the sample phase. In the retrieval phase, two identical objects (B, B), which were the same as one of the objects presented in the sample phase, were placed again. In the interference phase, two identical objects (C, C), which were novel for animals, were placed. In the test phase, two different objects (A, D), one of which was identical to that presented in sample phase (familiar object) and the other was novel, were placed and the time spent exploring each object was analyzed. While the exploration of the novel object was significantly longer than that of the familiar object in rats subjected to the interference phase, rats subjected to the retrieval phase could not discriminate between the familiar and the novel objects at the test phase. These results demonstrate the “retrieval-induced forgetting” phenomenon in a spontaneous object recognition test in rats.     

Degeneracy of the local structure renormalizing infinite time and space

A model for a system consisting of elements which detect the measurement apparatus of other elements is proposed. By any apparatus one can observe locally, however it can refer to non‐local property because apparatus itself is indefinite. In taking this aspect into consideration, I formulate expressions for a local interaction referring to non‐local property. This formalization can satisfy the aspect of what is called, internal measurement. This system shows teleological global motion toward criticality which is relevant to the degeneracy of a specific element featuring D ? Hom(Z), E) by which infinite time and space are renormalized.     

Cross-lingual measurements of interconsonantal differences

Native speakers recorded pairs of consonant-vowel (CV) and vowel (V) syllables in Japanese, American English, Serbo-Croatian, and Italian. All initial consonants of each language were paired with each other. For example, a speaker would read a-a, a-pa, a-ma, etc., through all of the consonants. The next series would commence pi-i, pi-pi, pi-bi, pi-mi, etc., through the consonants. Five vowels were used. Following typical instructions of the method of magnitude estimation, native panels of 20 to 26 listeners, all university students, individually assessed the sameness or difference of a pair of syllables. The measures were normalized and averaged for each series of pairs of syllables.Sixteen of the prevocalic sounds, including the absence of a consonant, were deemed phonetically similar from language to language. First, intercorrelations were computed among the languages with respect to the 16 judgments made of the differences between each consonant and the consonants of that language, itself included. Second, a factor analysis was made of each matrix of interconsonantal distances. Third, a cluster analysis was made of the 64 (=16×4) sounds of the four languages.