Efficient search under constraints and not working memory resources supports creative action emergence in a convergent motor task

Creative (original and functional) solutions to problems can be facilitated by guiding search behavior. According to cognitive models, when solving convergent tasks (tasks with few solutions), high available working memory (WM) resources and capacity can guide creative solution emergence via repeated (persistent) search within a solution subcategory. However, no clear associations have been found of WM capacity on creative outcomes when tasks require the individual to enact solutions in divergent doing tasks. This study further tested constraints on WM resources on search behavior and creative outcomes in a convergent doing task. Novices to combat sports were asked to repeatedly strike a target with the intent to achieve an individualized target force. In order to manipulate available WM resources, every ten strikes, participants were asked to recall and then retain a sequence of 5 digits (high load group: n = 21) or 2 digits (low load group: n = 21). The task constraints favored the functionality (or appropriateness) of a qualitatively distinct, non-obvious solution. Functionality was assessed using the force registered for each strike. Originality was assessed in terms of how infrequently actions occurred. Finally, search behavior was quantified based on changes in which limb was used and changes in which part of the limb was used from one strike to the next. There were no significant effects of WM load on creativity outcomes, solution search, or task success. Rather, task success was related to efficient search and creativity. Future research should focus on constraints (other than WM resources) that promote efficient search.     

Judgment in a dynamic task: Microburst forecasting

The major goals of this research are to (a) study professionals engaging in dynamic, representative task conditions, (b) apply lens model theory to these conditions, (c) learn how judgments are changed in response to changing conditions, and (d) utilize a hierarchical judgment model to investigate the judgment process from perception of data to final judgment. The results indicate that (a) agreement regarding inferred cue values is modest, not because of differences in perception of proximal, directly observed cue values but because of differences in inferences drawn from them, (b) agreement in probability judgments is higher when inferred cue values are specified, (c) little change in judgments occurred over time, and (d) confidence increased over time. The results regarding agreement and accuracy over time were ambiguous.     

The Undecidability of Iterated Modal Relativization

In dynamic epistemic logic and other fields, it is natural to consider relativization as an operator taking sentences to sentences. When using the ideas and methods of dynamic logic, one would like to iterate operators. This leads to iterated relativization. We are also concerned with the transitive closure operation, due to its connection to common knowledge. We show that for three fragments of the logic of iterated relativization and transitive closure, the satisfiability problems are fi1 ¹₁–complete. Two of these fragments do not include transitive closure. We also show that the question of whether a sentence in these fragments has a finite (tree) model is fi0 ⁰₁–complete. These results go via reduction to problems concerning domino systems.     

Understanding the supporters and opponents of Myanmar's civil disobedience movement against the military coup in 2021

In February 2021, the Myanmar military carried out a coup d'etat, which was then followed by a wave of civil protests. The present study aims to understand the support among people from Southeast Asia (specifically Indonesia) for the people of Myanmar who are fighting against a military coup. The data were collected from Muslim participants (N = 209) and non-Muslim participants (N = 192) in Indonesia. The findings indicate that the perceived country's internal problems, support for human rights in Myanmar, and the perceived country's important position in Southeast Asia are among the strongest predictors of the intention to support collective movements in other countries. Considerably, lack of empathy and how the victim/disadvantaged groups are perceived, like whether they have a negative rapport in treating other groups, also play a key role in the endorsement of solidarity. It is suggested that the dynamic relationships between these factors need to be considered to find ways to foster humanitarian solidarity. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement .     

Increasing task precision demands reveals that the reach and grasp remain subject to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old human infants

The reach and grasp follow different developmental trajectories, but are often considered to have achieved nearly adult-like precision and integration by 12 months of age. This study used frame-by-frame video analysis to investigate whether increasing precision demands, by placing small reaching targets on a narrow pedestal rather than on a flat table, would influence the reach and grasp movements of 12-month-old infants in a complementary or differential fashion. The results reveal that placing the target atop a pedestal impaired the infants’s ability to direct an appropriate digit towards the small target, but did not produce a corresponding decrease in the frequency with which they used an index-thumb pincer grip to grasp the target. This was due to the fact that, although infants were more likely to contact the target with a suboptimal part of the hand in the pedestal condition, a greater proportion of these suboptimal contacts ultimately transitioned to a successful index-thumb pincer grip. Thus, increasing task precision demands impaired reach accuracy, but facilitated index-thumb grip formation, in 12-month-old infants. The differential response of the reach and grasp to the increased precision demands of the pedestal condition suggests that the two movements are not fully integrated and, when precision demands are great, remain sensitive to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old infants.     

Prayer Utterances as Aligning Actions

Social actors use prayer utterances (e.g., statements such as “prayed over,”“prayed about,” or “spent time in prayer”) as aligning actions that justify problematic or questionable courses of action and prevent possible negative characterizations. The prayer utterance functions as an aligning action in American society because of Americans’ beliefs and actions concerning the efficacy of prayer in solving problems and because prayer is viewed as a sign of personal morality and trustworthiness. Three examples of individuals who use the prayer utterance as an aligning action serve as illustrations of this argument (Oprah Winfrey, Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Sue Bell Cobb, and President Barack Obama). Scholars should investigate the uses and functions of prayer utterances in social life and should also investigate the possible uses of other religious talk as aligning actions.     

Dynamic Bayesian Network Modeling of Game-Based Diagnostic Assessments

Abstract

Digital games offer an appealing environment for assessing student proficiencies, including skills and misconceptions in a diagnostic setting. This paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian network modeling approach for observations of student performance from an educational video game. Drawing from and advancing methods in dynamic Bayesian networks, cognitive diagnostic modeling, and analysis of process data, a Bayesian approach to model construction, calibration, and use in facilitating inferences about students on the fly is described, and implemented in the context of an educational video game.     

Infant Movement Motivation Questionnaire: Development of a measure evaluating infant characteristics relating to motor development in the first year of life

This paper highlights the development and testing of the Infant Movement Motivation Questionnaire (IMMQ), an instrument designed to evaluate qualities of infant characteristics that relate specifically to early motor development. The measurement development process included three phases: item generation, pilot testing and evaluation of acceptability and feasibility for parents and exploratory factor analysis. The resultant 27-item questionnaire is designed for completion by parents and contains four factors including Activity, Exploration, Motivation and Adaptability. Overall, the internal consistency of the IMMQ is 0.89 (Cronbach's alpha), with test–retest reliability measured at 0.92 (ICC, with 95% CI 0.83–0.96). Further work could be done to strengthen the individual factors; however it is adequate for use in its full form. The IMMQ can be used for clinical or research purposes, as well as an educational tool for parents.     

Side-effect actions,acting for a reason,and acting intentionally

What is the relation between acting intentionally and acting for a reason? While this question has generated a considerable amount of debate in the philosophy of action, on one point there has been a virtual consensus: actions performed for a reason are necessarily intentional. Recently, this consensus has been challenged by Joshua Knobe and Sean Kelly, who argue against it on the basis of empirical evidence concerning the ways in which ordinary speakers of the English language describe and explain certain side-effect actions. Knobe and Kelly's argument is of interest not only because it challenges a widely accepted philosophical thesis on the basis of experimental evidence, but also because it indirectly raises an important and largely neglected question, the question of whether or in what sense an agent can perform a side-effect action for a reason. In this article, I address this question and provide a positive answer to it. Specifically, I argue that agents act for a reason whenever they perform side-effect actions as trade-offs. Thus, I claim that there are three distinct types of rational action: actions performed as ends in themselves, actions performed as means to further ends, and side-effect actions performed as trade-offs. Given this multiplicity of types of rational action, the question of whether or not actions performed for a reason are necessarily intentional is in need of refinement. The more specific question that lies at the heart of this article is whether or not side-effect actions performed as trade-offs are necessarily intentional. I conclude that, contrary to what Knobe and Kelly suggest, the question remains open.     

Endless forms most beautiful 1

Beautiful form rather than efficient cause is the crucial category for understanding living processes, especially evolution. Drawing on the fields of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and citing Darwin's own observations, the author proposes a new understanding of form that corresponds to the dynamism present in living forms and overcomes the limitations of other metaphysical notions of form. Form as beautiful “dynamic form” promises an enriched empiricism, which not only can speak “correctly” about nature but also “well” of nature. In other words, an enriched empiricism of beautiful dynamic forms allows for a fruitful dialogue between science and theology. It avoids theological explanations that call for special divine intervention in the world of Nature which threaten the dignity and self-integrity of Creation. It opens up a view, however, of a divine “milieu,” a divine “Openness,” that providentially calls for beautiful dynamic forms to emerge and entangle through the evolutionary process of nature.