Evolving conformity: Conditions favouring conformist social learning over random copying

There is a growing interest in the relative benefits to the learner of the different social learning strategies used to transmit information between conspecifics, and in the extent to which they require input from individual learning. To date, theoretical models have tended to examine the success of particular strategies in relation to specific parameters or circumstances. This study employs individual-based simulations to derive the optimal proportion of individual learning that co-exists with random copying and conformist social learning strategies in populations experiencing wide-ranging variation in levels of environmental change, reproductive turnover, learning error, and individual learning costs. Predictions derived from the literature – that optimal levels of individual learning will be higher for both strategies when the rate of environmental change is higher, and when reproductive turnover and individual learning costs are lower, are supported. Contrary to the theoretical prediction, optimal levels of individual learning are sometimes higher under higher levels of learning error, particularly when reproductive rates are low. Results for the two strategies are qualitatively similar, but demonstrate numerous parameter combinations under which random copying is fitter than conformist social learning. Contrary to established expectations, the strategy employing the lesser proportion of individual learning is not always the fittest.     

共同方法变异是“致命瘟疫”吗?——论争、新知与应对

共同方法变异是由构念间相似的测量方法特征引起的系统变异, 可歪曲构念间的关系, 造成共同方法偏差。60年来, 这一问题在社会科学研究中被反复提及, 但它是否严重威胁研究效度尚无定论。虽然实证证据表明, 共同方法变异普遍存在, 数据来源、测量时间、问卷设计等因素可导致共同方法偏差, 使自我报告的横断式调查研究饱受质疑, 但部分学者从测量误差和非共同方法变异的制约作用等角度做出了回应和辩护, 认为无需过度担忧。以测量为中心的新视角强调共同方法变异是测量方法和被测构念交互作用的产物, 应从方法和构念两个维度评估共同方法变异风险。建议研究者树立均衡无偏的态度, 接纳共同方法变异的存在, 纠正对自我报告的偏见, 着重通过改进研究设计做好预先应对。     

线索靶子关联和搜索策略对注意捕获的作用

采用线索化范式, 通过实验任务设计线索与靶子不同的关联并鼓励被试采用不同的搜索策略, 探讨线索与靶子间的知觉关联、语义关联及特征独子检测模式、特征搜索模式对注意捕获的作用。通过线索无效条件和线索有效条件反应时之差判断每一条件下的捕获量, 并综合各条件的反应情况做出结论如下：(1)线索与靶子的知觉关联调控注意捕获, 其效应不受语义关联和搜索策略影响; (2)线索与靶子的语义关联只在排除知觉关联后调控注意捕获; (3)控制知觉关联和语义关联后, 特征搜索模式不影响注意捕获, 而特征独子检测模式对注意捕获有影响。这表明语义知识和知觉经验根据当前任务要求共同作用指导个体的视觉加工, 表现了人类加工系统的灵活性和可调节性。     

Ontogenesis and Phylogenesis in the Analysis of Chinese Classifiers： Remarks on Philosophical Method

Philosophical analysis is commonly assumed to involve decomposing the meaning of a sentence or an expression into a set of conceptually basic constituent parts. This essay challenges this traditional view by examining the potential semantic roles that classifier phrases play in Chinese. It is suggested that the conceptual resources necessary for justifying claims about the semantical status of natural language classifier phrases should be informed in part by methods that accommodate ontogenic and evolutionary contexts. Evidence is provided for the view that many Chinese classifiers （but not all） are features regimented in the grammar of Chinese that have no functional role in normal adult communication, but which play an ontogenetic role in the child＇s development of linguistic competency. Furthermore, it is suggested that this ontogenetic role has features in common with the phylogenetic processes by which Chinese or its classical variants came about, as a later product of mechanisms that evolved in the species in accordance with varying demands for successful communication.     

随机截距因子分析模型在控制条目表述效应中的应用

本研究用中文修订版罗森博格自尊量表(RSES-R)考察随机截距因子分析模型在控制条目表述效应时的表现。用RSES-R和过分宣称问卷组成的量表调查621名中学生。结果表明,随机截距模型在建模时,拟合指数良好、因子方差与负荷合理,自尊因子分与RSES-R总分有极高相关,表明该模型能有效分离RSES-R得分的特质与表述效应。分离的表述效应因子分与受测者的自我提升水平具有显著但较弱的相关,表明表述效应与自受测者的社会赞许性有共同的成分。     

Using the dual‐criteria methods to supplement visual inspection: An analysis of nonsimulated data

The purpose of our study was to examine the probability of observing false positives in nonsimulated data using the dual‐criteria methods. We extracted data from published studies to produce a series of 16,927 datasets and then assessed the proportion of false positives for various phase lengths. Our results indicate that collecting at least three data points in the first phase (Phase A) and at least five data points in the second phase (Phase B) is generally sufficient to produce acceptable levels of false positives.     

Bayesian SEM for Specification Search Problems in Testing Factorial Invariance

Specification search problems refer to two important but under-addressed issues in testing for factorial invariance: how to select proper reference indicators and how to locate specific non-invariant parameters. In this study, we propose a two-step procedure to solve these issues. Step 1 is to identify a proper reference indicator using the Bayesian structural equation modeling approach. An item is selected if it is associated with the highest likelihood to be invariant across groups. Step 2 is to locate specific non-invariant parameters, given that a proper reference indicator has already been selected in Step 1. A series of simulation analyses show that the proposed method performs well under a variety of data conditions, and optimal performance is observed under conditions of large magnitude of non-invariance, low proportion of non-invariance, and large sample sizes. We also provide an empirical example to demonstrate the specific procedures to implement the proposed method in applied research. The importance and influences are discussed regarding the choices of informative priors with zero mean and small variances. Extensions and limitations are also pointed out.     

Do adapted vignettes improve medical decision‐making capacity for individuals with Alzheimer's disease?

Medical decision‐making capacity (MDC) is known to decline in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The vignette method uses hypothetical information as a prerequisite for measuring the capacity to make well‐informed decisions to clinical trials. Our aim was to investigate if adapted vignettes can help individuals with mild AD to assimilate information, make decisions and express them in an understandable way, compared to corresponding decisions based on linguistically more demanding vignettes, as measured by the Swedish Linguistic Instrument for Medical Decision‐making (LIMD). Two vignettes from LIMD were altered linguistically with the aim to facilitate understanding for individuals with AD. An experimental within‐subject design was used to study the influence on MDC of readability (original/adapted vignettes) and content (two different clinical trials). We included 24 patients with mild AD in this prospective study, which read all four vignettes along with a few other tests. This allowed us to investigate the association between MDC and cognitive function. Adapted vignettes did not yield significant differences regarding MDC as compared with original vignettes using a two‐way repeated measures analysis of variance. A difference was found between the two clinical trials where LIMD score was significantly higher for Kidney disease than hypertension vignettes. Our results indicate that adapted vignettes may not improve MDC for individuals with mild AD. MDC was affected by which clinical trial the vignettes regarded, which implies that other factors affecting MDC need to be investigated, like length of text and vocabulary used.     

Should metacognition be measured by logistic regression?

Are logistic regression slopes suitable to quantify metacognitive sensitivity, i.e. the efficiency with which subjective reports differentiate between correct and incorrect task responses? We analytically show that logistic regression slopes are independent from rating criteria in one specific model of metacognition, which assumes (i) that rating decisions are based on sensory evidence generated independently of the sensory evidence used for primary task responses and (ii) that the distributions of evidence are logistic. Given a hierarchical model of metacognition, logistic regression slopes depend on rating criteria. According to all considered models, regression slopes depend on the primary task criterion. A reanalysis of previous data revealed that massive numbers of trials are required to distinguish between hierarchical and independent models with tolerable accuracy. It is argued that researchers who wish to use logistic regression as measure of metacognitive sensitivity need to control the primary task criterion and rating criteria.     

Bridging novelty and familiarity-based recognition memory: A matter of timing

Novelty detection is essential to adapt to changes. However, the relationship between novelty detection and visual recognition memory remains unclear. To characterize the temporal dynamics of novelty and its connection to familiarity, we probed early behavioural performance of novelty and familiarity in 31 participants using a speeded go/no-go recognition task with a 600-ms response deadline. Responses to familiarity and novelty produced symmetrical biases and correlated accuracies and biases, but novelty decisions were less accurate and had slower minimal reaction times (410?ms). These processes thus appear to be independent, as suggested by a more efficient system in the case of familiarity, but with common factors bringing overlapping contributions to both processes. This may possibly be explained by the more fluent processing of repeated stimuli, but with familiarity and novelty potentially relying on one decision criterion, as suggested by the correlated and remarkably symmetrical biases. This study supports models that conceptualize novelty and familiarity decisions as two partly overlapping processes.