Time and order effects on causal learning

Five experiments were conducted to explore trial order and retention interval effects upon causal predictive judgments. Experiment 1 found that participants show a strong effect of trial order when a stimulus was sequentially paired with two different outcomes compared to a condition where both outcomes were presented intermixed. Experiment 2 found that a 48-h retention interval eliminates the trial order effect, so that participants gave a global judgment about the relationship between the stimulus and the two outcomes equivalent to the one given by participants that received the two phases intermixed. This result was replicated in Experiment 3 in a situation in which the probability of the outcome in the presence of the cue was changed from .5 for both outcomes (Experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5) to .75 and .25 for outcomes 1 and 2, respectively. Experiment 4 found that retention intervals ranging from 45 min to 48 h eliminated the trial order effect similarly. Experiment 5 found that a 10-min retention interval replicated the effect of time upon sequential training found in precedent experiments, regardless of whether participants remained within the laboratory during the retention interval or spent it outside. The combined results of this experimental series suggest that retention intervals reduce retroactive interference in causal learning by allowing participants to use all the information presented across phases, rather than differentially increasing or decreasing retrieval of information about each of them.     

Brainwave classification without the help of limb movement and any stimulus for character-writing application

Recently, Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have been extensively popular for employing Electroencephalography (EEG) signals to control devices with different applications. The use of BCIs currently involves for lots of applications to help the disabilities who cannot communicate with other people, as it is an alternative way for communication by passing the need of speech. Although the applications to spell the character with BCI systems (e.g., P300-speller, SSVEP-speller, Hex-O-spell) have been already developed, but these techniques are not flexible in the real scenarios because they require the stimulus all the time or stopping the activity to focus on the limb movement in order to provide the accuracy of brain responses. In this paper, the feasibility of brainwave classification for the applications of character-writing by considering only the EEG signals without the need of stimulus unlike the literature is newly introduced. This paper adopts a classification technique named Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and focuses on two different characters; straight line and circle. From the experimental results, the suitable position of electrodes are the pair of electrodes (F3 and F4) at the frontal lobe, which provide the best result as compared to other areas due to its important role in perception, maintenance and revival of the information. The experimental results indicate that the classification accuracy of the proposed technique is about 70%, which in turn leads to a significant achievement for the development of character-writing applications.     

Supporting Integrity of Discrete Trial Teaching via Tiered Consultation: A Pilot Study

Empirically supported consultation procedures for supporting implementation of evidence-based interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as performance feedback, may be challenging to implement in public schools. Educators may find performance feedback aversive, and support personnel may find its directiveness incompatible with their professional roles. This pilot study extends recent advances in implementation science, by investigating the influence of tiered consultation on intervention integrity of Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT). A less intensive form of implementation support was examined for its feasibility and effectiveness. Collaborative Student Data Review (CSDR) includes discussion, general feedback, and modeling. Preliminary findings indicate that CSDR is a feasible and acceptable form of implementation support, and that it shows potential as a form of implementation support for DTT.     

Parent Education for Migrant Mothers of Left‐Behind Children in China: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Although numerous studies have indicated the significance of parental support and parent–child communication in alleviating the adverse effects of parental departure on left‐behind children, researchers have rarely addressed the impact of parent education on migrant parents. On the basis of the results of a pilot randomized controlled trial, the study reported here involved examining the possible outcomes and feasibility of a parent education program for rural‐to‐urban migrant mothers of left‐behind children in China. Informed by an existential–narrative approach to parent education, the program was composed of six 2.5‐hour sessions. The sample included 56 migrant mothers recruited from a social service center in Shenzhen, China, who were randomly assigned to either the immediate group (n = 28, M = 34.82 years, SD = 4.12, aged 23–43) or the waitlist control group (n = 28, M = 34.68 years, SD = 4.53, aged 28–43). The hypotheses of the trial were twofold: that the program would positively affect participants’ parental identity and that it would improve mother–child relationships and parenting practices. The results revealed no significant difference in parental identity between the intervention group and the waitlist control group at the post‐test assessment after ruling out the effects of pretest survey scores. However, significant differences did emerge in parent–child relationships and parenting practices. Overall, the results corroborate the feasibility of examining the current program for migrant mothers in China in a full trial. The findings also offer insights into developing empirically supported parent education programs for migrant parents.     

A counterexample to Fishburn's conjecture on finite linear qualitative probability

Kraft, Pratt and Seidenberg (Ann. Math. Statist. 30 (1959) 408) provided an infinite set of axioms which, when taken together with de Finetti's axiom, gives a necessary and sufficient set of “cancellation” conditions for representability of an ordering relation on subsets of a set by an order-preserving probability measure. Fishburn (1996) defined f(n) to be the smallest positive integer k such that every comparative probability ordering on an n-element set which satisfies the cancellation conditions C₄,…,C_k is representable. By the work of Kraft, Pratt, and Seidenberg (1959) and Fishburn (J. Math. Psychol. 40 (1996) 64; J. Combin. Design 5 (1997) 353), it is known that n-1?f(n)?n+1 for all n?5. Also Fishburn proved that f(5)=4, and conjectured that f(n)=n-1 for all n?5. In this paper we confirm that f(6)=5, but give counter-examples to Fishburn's conjecture for n=7, showing that f(7)?7. We summarise, correct and extend many of the known results on this topic, including the notion of “almost representability”, and offer an amended version of Fishburn's conjecture.     

An Empirical Analysis of Interspersal Research: Evidence, Implications, and Applications of the Discrete Task Completion Hypothesis

Because assignment completion is often reinforced, researchers have posited that when students work on assignments with many discrete tasks (e.g., 20 mathematics problems), that each completed discrete task may be a conditioned reinforcer (e.g., Skinner et al., 1999). If the discrete task completion hypothesis is accurate, then relative task completion rates should influence choice behavior in the same manner as relative rates of reinforcement. In the current study, previous interspersal research was combined across experiments and regression analysis revealed a linear relationship between relative problem completion rates (RPCR) and choice in accordance with the matching law (Herrnstein, 1961, 1970). These results support the discrete task completion hypothesis and suggest that interspersing additional brief tasks enhances interval schedules of reinforcement. Theoretical and applied implications of the current study and the discrete problem completion hypothesis are discussed and directions for future research are provided.     

Evidence of teaching in atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) by mother dolphins foraging in the presence of their calves

Teaching is a powerful form of social learning, but there is little systematic evidence that it occurs in species other than humans. Using long-term video archives the foraging behaviors by mother Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) were observed when their calves were present and when their calves were not present, including in the presence of non-calf conspecifics. The nine mothers we observed chased prey significantly longer and made significantly more referential body-orienting movements in the direction of the prey during foraging events when their calves were present than when their calves were not present, regardless of whether they were foraging alone or with another non-calf dolphin. Although further research into the potential consequences for the naïve calves is still warranted, these data based on the maternal foraging behavior are suggestive of teaching as a social-learning mechanism in nonhuman animals.     

服部宇之吉的《心理学讲义》

日本学者服部宇之吉的《心理学讲义》（中文版）形成于他自1902年在中国京师大学堂开始的心理学教学活动,出版于1905年11月。该书在日本发行而在中国发售,它是面向中国学生的心理学教材。服部宇之吉将中国传统文化融入了科学心理学教材,肯定了中国传统文化的心理学意义。《心理学讲义》具有明显的进化论取向以及为教育服务的倾向。服部宇之吉的心理学教学是现代科学心理学在中国高等教育体系中传播的开端。《心理学讲义》是以知、情、意三分法为基础的心理学体系。中国早期心理学术语与日本心理学中的同形汉字有着紧密联系,服部宇之吉直接采用日本心理学界通用的术语以解决汉语心理学术语的创制困难。     

The dynamic infrastructure of mind—A hypothesis and some of its applications

A mechanism underlying the computational properties of the cognitive architecture is construed based on a minimal list of operational clusters. This general processing mechanism constitutes the dynamic infrastructure of mind (DIM). DIM consists in categories of mental operations foundational for learning that contain inborn components called inner operations, which are self-developing in the interaction mind-environment. Within the DIM paradigm, the input cognitive systems are not domain specific or core-knowledge specific, they are operational specific and capable of further developments that become domain specific while experiencing the environment. Arguments for this construal come from three sources: literature review, data collected through classroom observations, and a four-year experimental study of teaching and learning mathematics in primary grades. The outcomes of that experiment led to a methodology of learning based on activating the operational infrastructure of mind, which enhances students' flexibility of thinking and predicts the capacity to solve creatively a variety of problems.     

进化论与医学教学

达尔文主义在生物学中是一个很重要的理论,它对医学事实所做的进化论解释同样是不应忽视的。但是由于偶然的原因,它一直不能走上医学院的讲台。尽管要克服许多困难,我们还是应该把一些最重要的进化理论传授给我们的医学生,因为这对于他们未来行医是大有益处的。