Obtaining the best value for money in adaptive sequential estimation

In [Kujala, J. V., Richardson, U., &; Lyytinen, H. (2010). A Bayesian-optimal principle for learner-friendly adaptation in learning games. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 54(2), 247–255], we considered an extension of the conventional Bayesian adaptive estimation framework to situations where each observable variable is associated with a certain random cost of observation. We proposed an algorithm that chooses each placement by maximizing the expected gain in utility divided by the expected cost. In this paper, we formally justify this placement rule as an asymptotically optimal solution to the problem of maximizing the expected utility of an experiment that terminates when the total cost overruns a given budget. For example, the cost could be defined as the random time taken by each trial in an experiment, and one might wish to maximize the expected total information gain over as many trials as can be completed in 15 min. A simple, analytically tractable example is considered.     

The Functional Complexity of Scientific Evidence

This article sketches the main features of traditional philosophical models of evidence, indicating idealizations in such models that it regards as doing more harm than good. It then proceeds to elaborate on an alternative model of evidence that is functionalist, complex, dynamic, and contextual, a view the author calls dynamic evidential functionalism (DEF). This alternative builds on insights from philosophy of scientific practice, Kuhnian philosophy of science, pragmatist epistemology, philosophy of experimentation, and functionalist philosophy of mind. Along the way, the article raises concerns about the total evidence condition, requirements of certainty or incorrigibility on evidence, and accounts that restrict the type of things that can serve as evidence (to, for example, sense data, facts about particulars). DEF can also help us see the special value of novel predictions and experiments as evidence, as well as help us think about how to critically evaluate the putative evidence to determine whether it is evidence.     

Behavioural markers for autism in infancy: Scores on the Autism Observational Scale for Infants in a prospective study of at-risk siblings

We investigated early behavioural markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the Autism Observational Scale for Infants (AOSI) in a prospective familial high-risk (HR) sample of infant siblings (N = 54) and low-risk (LR) controls (N = 50). The AOSI was completed at 7 and 14 month infant visits and children were seen again at age 24 and 36 months. Diagnostic outcome of ASD (HR-ASD) versus no ASD (HR-No ASD) was determined for the HR sample at the latter timepoint. The HR group scored higher than the LR group at 7 months and marginally but non-significantly higher than the LR group at 14 months, although these differences did not remain when verbal and nonverbal developmental level were covaried. The HR-ASD outcome group had higher AOSI scores than the LR group at 14 months but not 7 months, even when developmental level was taken into account. The HR-No ASD outcome group had scores intermediate between the HR-ASD and LR groups. At both timepoints a few individual items were higher in the HR-ASD and HR-No ASD outcome groups compared to the LR group and these included both social (e.g. orienting to name) and non-social (e.g. visual tracking) behaviours. AOSI scores at 14 months but not at 7 months were moderately correlated with later scores on the autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS) suggesting continuity of autistic-like behavioural atypicality but only from the second and not first year of life. The scores of HR siblings who did not go on to have ASD were intermediate between the HR-ASD outcome and LR groups, consistent with the notion of a broader autism phenotype.     

Parenting Beliefs and Locus of Control Orientation

Parenting beliefs and parents' perceptions of locus of control (LOC) were investigated. Parents (n = 167 dyads) of first-born children, ages 3 months (n = 80) and 3 years (n = 87), representing rural (n = 60) and urban (n = 107) families, completed LOC measure and sorted behavioral statements for actual and ideal parenting beliefs using Q-sort methodology. Factor analysis determined LOC factors for fathers and mothers. Q-sort responses factored into four profiles, each containing four subgroups of parents based on type of sort (actual/ideal) and sex of parent (mother/father). An analysis of variance investigated the relationships between profiles and LOC factors. Mothers who believed in fate stressed educational materials and good nutrition as behaviors of the ideal parent but stressed sharing and educational toys in actual interaction with their children. Mothers who believed they had control over event outcomes emphasized affection and verbal interaction as behaviors of the ideal parent. Fathers who indicated the ideal parent should stress good health habits and teach responsibility believed they had more power over their lives than did fathers who emphasized creativity and verbal interaction. Parents placed daily show of affection for children among the most important behaviors whereas threatening child abandonment was among the least desirable behaviors.     

Chapter 4. Entry into the Field

SUMMARY

In this chapter, I describe the nursing home setting of this study and my experience in recruiting the study volunteers, including the problems and resistance I had to overcome in gaining their permission to be interviewed. It should be noted that when describing the meetings, I refer to the volunteers generally as “Ms.” or “Woman,” as I had not yet gained their consent. When I refer to the volunteers as “the girls,” it is in a specific context in relation to how their supervisors referred to them or how they were referring to each other. In subsequent chapters, I use pseudonyms for the volunteers.     

Action observation modulates auditory perception of the consequence of others' actions

We can easily discriminate self-produced from externally generated sensory signals. Recent studies suggest that the prediction of the sensory consequences of one’s own actions made by forward model can be used to attenuate the sensory effects of self-produced movements, thereby enabling a differentiation of the self-produced sensation from the externally generated one. The present study showed that attenuation of sensation occurred both when participants themselves performed a goal-directed action and when they observed experimenter performing the same action, although they clearly reported that the tones were produced by other during action observation and by themselves during their own action. These results suggest that sensory prediction of action modulates ongoing auditory processing irrespective of who produces the sounds and that the explicit judgment of agency does not necessarily rely on the same mechanisms on which implicit perceptual measures such as sensory attenuation rely.     

Your own actions influence how you perceive other people: A misattribution of action appraisals

The attribution of personal traits to other persons depends on the actions the observer performs at the same time (Bach & Tipper, 2007). Here, we show that the effect reflects a misattribution of appraisals of the observers’ own actions to the actions of others. We exploited spatial compatibility effects to manipulate how fluently—how fast and how accurately—participants identified two individuals performing sporty or academic actions. The traits attributed to each person in a subsequent rating task depended on the fluency of participants’ responses in a specific manner. An individual more fluently identified while performing the academic action appeared more academic and less sporty. An individual more fluently identified while performing the sporty action appeared sportier. Thus, social perception is—at least partially—embodied. The ease of our own responses can be misattributed to the actions of others, affecting which personal traits are attributed to them.     

Observation of early childhood physical aggression: a psychometric study of the system for coding early physical aggression

We investigated the reliability and (convergent and discriminant) validity of an observational measure of physical aggression in toddlers and preschoolers, originally developed by Keenan and Shaw [1994]. The observation instrument is based on a developmental definition of aggression. Physical aggression was observed twice in a laboratory setting, the first time when children were 1-3 years old, and again 1 year later. Observed physical aggression was significantly related to concurrent mother-rated physical aggression for 2- to 4-year-olds, but not to maternal ratings of nonaggressive externalizing problems, indicating the measure's discriminant validity. However, we did not find significant 1-year stability of observed physical aggression in any of the age groups, whereas mother-rated physical aggression was significantly stable for all ages. The observational measure shows promise, but may have assessed state rather than trait aggression in our study.     

Automatic imitation of intransitive actions

Previous research has indicated a potential discontinuity between monkey and human ventral premotor-parietal mirror systems, namely that monkey mirror systems process only transitive (object-directed) actions, whereas human mirror systems may also process intransitive (non-object-directed) actions. The present study investigated this discontinuity by seeking evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions--hand opening and closing--in humans using a simple reaction time (RT), stimulus-response compatibility paradigm. Left-right and up-down spatial compatibility were controlled by ensuring that stimuli were presented and responses executed in orthogonal planes, and automatic imitation was isolated from simple and complex orthogonal spatial compatibility by varying the anatomical identity of the stimulus hand and response hemispace, respectively. In all conditions, action compatible responding was faster than action incompatible responding, and no effects of spatial compatibility were observed. This experiment therefore provides evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions, and support for the hypothesis that human and monkey mirror systems differ with respect to the processing of intransitive actions.