From anticipation to behavioral intention: Insights into human processing of multiple retrieval cues in road traffic

Anticipation in road traffic enables safer and more comfortable driving. Anticipatory driving is achieved through effective retrieval of prior driving-relevant knowledge using mental models and appropriate cues. Knowing when and which retrieval cues have a critical impact on the anticipation process and how information compatibility affects anticipation can be the basis for supporting people in anticipating and appropriate behavior in road traffic.For generating in-depth insights into the processing of retrieval cues, a video-based experimental study was conducted combining specific compatible and incompatible retrieval cues in urban driving scenarios. From a driver's perspective, participants were asked to anticipate in a two-step approach (measuring low and high certainty anticipation) whether a vehicle ahead would enter their lane or turn onto another street due to a lane blockage ahead. Further, they choose their preferred behavioral intention (accelerate, decelerate or maintain speed). In general, drivers strived for coherent situation representation, and in this process, multiple retrieval cues influenced anticipation in different ways. Participants were more likely to be consistent in their anticipation response. That is, they tend to follow their first intention (equivalent low and high certainty anticipation for either lane change or turn) even in the presence of incompatible stimuli. Inconsistent compared to consistent anticipation responses, however, led to reduced subjective confidence, and in part to increased criticality. Not only anticipation but also intended behavior was influenced by retrieval cues. In accordance, the anticipation of others' behaviors can be considered a predictor of specific intended behavior in road traffic.     

Toward integrating cognitive components with computational models of emotion using software design patterns

Computational models of emotion (CMEs) are software systems designed to imitate particular aspects of human emotions. The main purpose of this type of computational model is to capture the complexity of the human emotion process in a software system that is incorporated into a cognitive agent architecture. However, creating a CME that closely imitates the actual functioning of emotions demands to address some challenges such as (i) sharing information among independently developed cognitive and affective components, and (ii) interconnecting complex cognitive and affective components that must interact with one another in order to generate realistic emotions, which may even affect agents’ decision making. This paper proposes an architectural pattern aimed at cataloging and describing fundamental components of CMEs and their interrelationships with cognitive components. In this architectural pattern, external cognitive components and internal affective components of CMEs do not interact directly but are extended by including message exchange methods in order to use a publish-subscribe channel, which enables their intercommunication, thus attenuating issues such as software heterogeneity. This structural approach centralizes communication management and separates the inherent complexity of the cognitive and affective processes from the complexity of their interaction mechanisms. In so doing, it enables the design of CMEs’ architectures composed of independently developed affective and cognitive components. The proposed architectural pattern attempts to make progress in capturing the complex process of human emotions in a software system that adheres to software engineering best practices and that incorporates quality attributes such as flexibility and interoperability.     

Causal cognitive architecture 1: Integration of connectionist elements into a navigation-based framework

The brain-inspired Causal Cognitive Architecture 1 (CCA1) tightly integrates the sensory processing capabilities found in neural networks with many of the causal abilities found in human cognition. Causality emerges not from a central controlling stored program but directly from the architecture. Sensory input vectors are processed by robust association circuitry and then propagated to a navigational temporary map. Instinctive and learned objects and procedures are applied to the same temporary map, with a resultant navigation signal obtained. Navigation can similarly be for the physical world as well as for a landscape of higher cognitive concepts. There is good explainability for causal decisions. A simulation of the CCA1 controlling a search and rescue robot is presented with the goal of finding and rescuing a lost hiker within a grid world. A simulation of the CCA1 controlling a repair robot is presented that can predict the movement of a series of gears.     

Bio-inspired cognitive model of motor learning by imitation

Learning, and even more so by imitation, is an essential Cognitive Functions because it is carried out throughout life and allows us to adapt our behaviors from other beings through observation. In this work, we propose a model, and implementation of the cognitive function of imitation motor learning (IML), based on psychological and neuroscientific evidence. According to the evidence, learning by imitation includes imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes. The imitation of action consists of the movement of the limbs. The imitation of action over an object consists of the interaction with an object within the environment. We achieve an implementation of the proposed model for IML and endow a virtual entity with it. In order to validate the proposal, we use a case study to analyze the sub-processes performance. From results, we conclude that both imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes play an essential role in getting the agent to interact with stimuli within the environment.     

The Daily Mile™: Acute effects on children’s cognitive function and factors affecting their enjoyment

The Daily Mile™ is a widely implemented school-based physical activity initiative. However, only two studies have explored the acute effects of participation in The Daily Mile on children’s cognitive functioning, reporting conflicting findings. Moreover, enjoyment of exercise is a determining factor in children’s motivation for, and adherence to, initiatives. However, factors affecting children’s enjoyment of The Daily Mile are unknown. Therefore, this study examined the acute effects of The Daily Mile on cognition and explored children’s enjoyment of participation in the initiative. Following familiarisation, 104 children (10.4 ± 0.7 years) completed a Daily Mile and resting control trial in a randomised, counterbalanced order. Prior to, immediately following and 45 min following The Daily Mile and resting, children completed the Stroop test (inhibitory control), Sternberg paradigm (visual working memory) and Flanker task (inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility). Additionally, 87 children took part in focus groups to explore factors affecting enjoyment. Cognitive data were analysed using two-way (trial*time) and three-way (trial*time*sex; trial*time*fitness) repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Focus group data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. There were no statistically significant effects of The Daily Mile on cognition, compared to rest (all p > 0.05). However, accuracy on the one-item level of Sternberg paradigm (p = 0.073, η_p² = 0.028) and complex level of the Stroop test (p = 0.057; η_p² = 0.031) tended to improve immediately following The Daily Mile, compared to resting; though this did not reach statistical significance. Children enjoyed participating in The Daily Mile, particularly due to its outdoor location, social context, and self-paced nature. However, some children found The Daily Mile boring due to its repetitive nature. Findings suggest that The Daily Mile does not significantly influence children’s immediate or delayed (45 min) cognition. However, there was a tendency for improved accuracy in visual working memory and inhibitory control immediately following The Daily Mile. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that The Daily Mile promotes enjoyment, particularly through social relatedness and autonomy. However, future research could consider whether adding variety into the initiative may help to sustain engagement in the children experiencing boredom.     

如何解决团队创新悖论?基于成员认知风格“组型”与“构型”视角的探究

如何提升团队创新绩效?这是近年来管理实践界与学术界共同关注的热门话题。鉴于创新是一项兼具“探索”与“利用”双元特征的活动, 懂得如何平衡二者之间的悖论关系就成为提升团队创新绩效的关键。基于成员认知风格的微观视角, 从“组型”与“构型”两方面探索了解决这一悖论关系的方法。具体而言：(1)成员认知风格组型与团队领导行为之间的互补效应有助于解决团队创新悖论; (2)在合理的“成员认知风格-工作角色要求”构型基础上, 营造良好的团队协作氛围, 有助于解决团队创新悖论。进一步地, 还基于阴阳哲学思想研究了解决团队创新悖论的内在机制。为论证相关理论命题, 将开展三个研究模块, 采用定量与定性相结合的研究方法对提出的研究模型进行检验。相关发现不仅有助于丰富从微观视角研究团队创新前因、悖论管理方法的理论成果, 还将为企业的创新管理实践提供建议。     

Children’s scale errors and object processing: Early evidence for cross-cultural differences

Scale errors are observed when young children make mistakes by attempting to put their bodies into miniature versions of everyday objects. Such errors have been argued to arise from children’s insufficient integration of size into their object representations. The current study investigated whether Japanese and UK children’s (18–24 months old, N = 80) visual exploration in a categorization task related to their scale error production. UK children who showed greater local processing made more scale errors, whereas Japanese children, who overall showed greater global processing, showed no such relationship. These results raise the possibility that children’s suppression of scale errors emerges not from attention to size per se, but from a critical integration of global (i.e., size) and local (i.e., object features) information during object processing, and provide evidence that this mechanism differs cross-culturally.     

Religion and Spirituality among American Indian,South Asian,Black, Hispanic/Latina,and White Women in the Study on Stress,Spirituality, and Health

Social scientists have increasingly recognized the lack of diversity in survey research on American religion, resulting in a dearth of data on religion and spirituality (R/S) in understudied racial and ethnic groups. At the same time, epidemiological studies have increasingly diversified their racial and ethnic representation, but have collected few R/S measures to date. With a particular focus on American Indian and South Asian women (in addition to Blacks, Hispanic/Latinas, and white women), this study introduces a new effort among religion and epidemiology researchers, the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health. This multicohort study provides some of the first estimates of R/S beliefs and practices among American Indians and U.S. South Asians, and offers new insight into salient beliefs and practices of diverse racial/ethnic and religious communities.     

Effet du niveau d’études sur les performances en mémoire épisodique chez des adultes âgés : rôle médiateur de la métamémoire

Educational level is a factor of cognitive reserve and older adults with a higher level of formal education have a better memory performance than those having a lower educational level (Angel et al., 2010; Van Der Elst, Van Boxtel, Van Breukelen, & Jolles, 2005). Memory functioning can also be modulated by the beliefs and knowledge of a person about his/her own memory, that is, by his/her metamemory (Hultsch, Hertzog, & Dixon, 1987). The objective of this study was to examine the role of metamemory as a potential mediator of the effect of educational level on memory performance. Eighty-three older adults (60–80 years) participated in the experiment, they have been divided into two subgroups according to their educational level (high: 14.36 years and low level: 9.85 years). Episodic memory was evaluated with a cued recall task and metamemory by the Metamemory in Adulthood questionnaire (MIA). As shown by previous studies, results indicated that educational level had a significant effect on memory and metamemory, higher educational level was associated to better memory and metamemory capacities. At the MIA questionnaire, older adults with a high educational level affirmed using more internal and external strategies for learning, having higher motivation and perceiving less memory change with aging than older adults with a lower educational level. They also showed that the metamemory dimensions associated to the memory performance differed according to the educational level. For participants with a lower educational level, memory performance was correlated to the participants’ perception about their memory capacity and their knowledge about memory tasks, while for participants with a higher educational level, memory performance was correlated to the dimensions linked to memory control (strategies and motivation). Finally, the group effect was mediated by metamemory, specifically by the use of internal strategies. These results suggest that a prolonged educative experience would be associated to a better capacity to implement adapted strategies, which led individuals to maintain an optimal memory performance.